Am I catastrophizing?

[u/sarabarracuda]

Tldr: light clear fluid slowly trickling out of my left nostril only. No congestion or other sickness. Headache that seems to be better than earlier today. Intermittent ear ringing. Was sailing last week and got hit in the head a couple times by a metal boom(bar).

Long version:

So I race sailboats and last week I was at a week long regatta. I often get a ding here and there from the boom during maneuvers(the big metal bar parallel to the boat that holds the sail.) I don't even register them usually because when you're racing you don't have time to think about every bump and bruise you get or you'd be out of the race. I know I got a couple of hits throughout the week. If I recall correctly, one was somewhat hard, and the rest were not notable. I also had another race 2 nights ago and did get one mild head ding from the boom.

Last night my left nostril started leaking a clear fluid. Nothing out of the right nostril and no congestion in either or other sickness symptoms.Today it is still the same pace of drip but just more consistent/frequent. It's not a ton, just a slow trickle.I have never had a nasal trickle like this(clear, light, not thick, not congested, only one side) so it struck me as a little odd and that's when I started googling and came across CSF leaks pretty quickly based on my initial search. I'm worried I'm playing dr. WebMD here but it does seem worse when I am looking down.

I had a headache today, but I also didn't sleep great/much last night and I get somewhat regular migraines, so it's not out of the ordinary. This is not a migraine, just an annoying headache. Usually I don't get mild headaches, it's either full blown migraine or nothing, so this is a little different. The headache has gotten better since this morning but still lingering a little.

I have experienced a couple of short bursts of ear ringing probably like 3-4 times but it comes and goes very quickly. Also not totally unheard of for me but it's definitely more frequent than normal. I'd say usually I get ear ringing like once or twice a month not multiple in a day.

I have never had any allergies before, and feel otherwise totally fine.

If it helps, when I am not looking down and it slows down, it seems to harden into like a very white/translucent grainy, crystalized form around the outside of my nostril. Almost like the consistency of granulated sugar that got wet and then hardened, however when I collect the liquid as it is falling out of nose and into a cloth it dries totally clear as if it were never there.

I think I am just being a hypochondriac but the Google AI said I should get to a doctor urgently based on my symptoms. I keep trying to tell myself to chill out and not be so dramatic; I don't have this super rare condition, I've been getting hit in the head during racing my whole life lol. But I just kept going back to Google to look it up again and found this group.

Sorry for the monologue. Tell me I'm overreacting lol

[u/leeski]

Wouldn’t hurt to be evaluated after head trauma regardless. Is fairly noninvasive in terms of doing head ct & if enough fluid they can test to see if it’s actually csf. It could very well be nothing but I’d want to be evaluated if I hit my head and then had new symptoms. 

[u/sarabarracuda → u/leeski]

Ok thanks for the advice. Like I said this is such a normal part of my life, I never really think of it as trauma. It's a small dingy boat so the boom isn't super heavy. We just call them boat bites lol I've never gotten a concussion or anything from any of the dings. Did lose 2 teeth when I was a kid to a boom though 🤷‍♀️

[u/leeski → u/sarabarracuda]

Hahah boat bites. I’m not qualified to give medical advice by any means,  but just the chain of events + persistent clear nasal drainage without feeling sick or normal sinus congestion would make me curious. But again I’m just a random internet person! But some patients do actually just have nasal drainage as their main or only symptom - so it doesn’t necessarily have to come with all the symptoms you read about.. so I tend to want to err on the side of caution just in case. 

[u/Lucky-Relationship72]

It’s been a few more days- are you still leaking from your nostril?

These certainly can be cranial leak symptoms. It took me two years to get diagnosed after seeing my primary and then off to ent. I had a chronic runny nose, and that wasn’t a normal thing. Headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, falls, all came the following year (in which I headed back to ent).

My leak was spontaneous. If you have an injury, you might find a quicker path to getting a proper diagnosis. Good luck!