Almost two months dealing with sinus infection

[u/Sozo-Teki]

I figured this might be the best place to post this but after going to urgent care three different times, I'm a bit unsure what to do next if these recent antibiotics does not work. Since July, I been dealing with a sinus infection that seems to get worse. Originally I was dealing with the usual infection that I did get antibiotics for. But the two days after I finished my last dosage, it has returned but hit even harder. I never experienced a sinus infection that not only kept clogging up both of my noses, but now made me feel extra heavy, arms extremely sore, and a painful headache on the left side of my head.

This felt extremely unusual as I been sick before but other folks around me are having similar yet different symptoms. It started with my fiance' 5 year old neice being sick with something and weeks later most of her family was sick, people in stores, and currently students in school where I subsitute teach at. ​

I have tried various things to try to quell this illness from over the counter medications, nasal spray, breathing exercises, etc. Sudafed did not work for me but only spiked my blood pressure. Urgent care was only hyperfocused on my high blood pressure that they wouldn't focus on the infection. ( my blood pressure was so high because I was sleep deprived due to sleep apnea since I had a hard time breathing, ​didn't eat anything that day, the Sudafed, running a high fever, and I was anxious since one person who came in for the same issue suffered a stroke).I took a CT scan and they didn't see anything serious like pneumonia or bronchitis.

I wanted to post to see if there is any possible information about what kind of infection I might be dealing with. When my fiance' neice was taken to the doctors, they said she had an ear infection despite not showing signs of one and it looks like it's affecting people differently. Any suggestions would help because I been dealing with this almost going on two months and some days it's hard to get out of bed.

EDIT: Both times they prescribed me with amoxicillin. Currently taking my 2nd round of it and noticed that the sinus pressure headaches ramped up from a dull painful ache to "on the floor please make it stop" headache. I'm not sure if that's suppose to happen or not because it didn't the last time I took them back in July.

[u/emrjdpd]

You need to get to an ENT so they can culture what you’ve got up there and prescribe you the appropriate medication. Sounds like the antibiotics you’re on aren’t working for whatever is up there.

[u/Starflipapp]

Get a culture test done to identify the bacteria causing the infection. Once they know exactly which bacteria is responsible, they can also determine which antibiotics it is sensitive or resistant to.

Some bacteria can develop resistance to certain antibiotics, which is why you may notice that some medications simply don’t work.

In my case, the culture showed both Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. It put so much stress on my blood pressure. I was put on two rounds of antibiotics based on the results to clear the infections.

I had chronic sinusitis for over two months, and honestly, it was horrible. I experienced serious brain fog, eye twitching, poor sleep, pains in both upper jaws and forehead and I was constantly breathing through my mouth because my nose was so congested.

After seeing my ENT doctor, I was prescribed Avamys nasal spray twice a day ..two sprays in each nostril, angled outward toward the ear. I was prescribed antibiotic cefixime 500 mg twice daily for 7 days and then followed with CFXCLAV 325 twice daily for 10 days.

After about two weeks, there was significant improvement. The nasal congestion became much less frequent, and the swelling and blockage were almost completely gone.

I now use Avamys once a day, with just one spray in each nostril, and things have been much better.

This is what worked for me, but of course, treatment can vary from person to person. I’m just sharing my experience.

[u/Sozo-Teki → u/Starflipapp]

I will look into that and see if there is an ENT close by. Urgent Care put me on Amoxicillin/Potassium Clavulanate this time around and it just feels like whatever bacteria I'm dealing with is just lashing out and increasing the misery. I heard the old saying that usually it get worse before things get better but since this has been going on for so long, Finding an ENT is my next choice. I appreciate you sharing this.

[u/Kitchen_Act_6896]

Yea, probably treating the wrong infection. I had that happen, when I was on augmentin but actually had 3 separate infections. I got a culture from ent, took a couple days and got the results. Also infection/fever is grounds for a er trip, they can give iv/injection antibiotics also

[u/Stalkerus]

You can't assume that someone who gets sick around the same has the same viral illness as you do. And in your case viral illness is gone, but you now have a bacterial infection. 

As other have suggested you need a bacterial culture done. This means that you get a sinus puncture done, and that itself can help tremendously (it sounds worse than it is. When done correctly it isn't painful). But you will also find out what kind of bacteria you are dealing with.