I started out with a nasty cold on Thursday which has progressed into a hideous sinus infection. I have 2 parent teacher conferences to get through today and DH is out of town.
Thankfully, no cakes to do this week! I don't think I could do it.
*bangs keyboard on head*
I am notorious for getting a fall cold and subsequent sinus infection. I need to start snorting Airborne through October to hold it off! :p
I hope you feel better. I've had a sinus infection and they are so horrible. 
yuck .... my dh caught a cold two weeks ago and kept it for a week .. was fine over the weekend and ended up having the same symptoms the next week .... he decided to go to the doctors after he asked me if his throat was red ... I checked it with a flashlight and saw the roof of his mouth was covered in white bumps ... I immediately thought strep throat and got real paranoid I was going to catch it too .... he made an appointment with the dr, they did a culture test, determined it was not strep throat, it was a massive sinus infection and the roof of his mouth and upper throat were inflamed from all his drainage ... dr gave him a ten day antibiotic script and told him to take it three times a day for ten days no matter how good he feels, cause otherwise it would just come back ... he also got a shot in the toosh and said he felt better within the hour of the shot ....
I'm thinking I may have to cave and head to the doctor. I'm on day 6 now and I'm not one to rush for antibiotics but it is getting to the point where it hurts to even open my mouth wide because of the intense pressure. I just went to Walgreens and bought some Sudafed sinus and if that doesn't help I'm heading to the doctor.
I'm sorry you're sick Mosmom! Sinus infections are the worst! I really hope you get better sooonnn!!! I know exactly how you feel because up until this past Saturday I had a sinus infection! I came down with a cold the day of my last Aine2 workshop (Oct. 17) and it progressed into a sinus infection within a day or two. I waited until last week to take the antibiotics and I wish I hadn't! I missed my own birthday party and trick-or-treating was horrible! 
I've had a lifetime of chronic sinus and horrible allergies. I even had sinus surgery 4 years ago after 6 months of antibiotics to try and clear an infection.
One suggestion: take Musinex (I buy the generic). I take it twice a day. It thins mucus. Once all that yuck gets so thick and packed in your sinus decongestants and antibiotics can't touch it. The Musinex thins it, and it'll start draining. Then you can get rid of the infection. I start taking it whenever I feel my sinus getting congested and I've only had one bad infection this year. It really doesn't have any side effects, so that's a huge bonus.
Give it a try! It sure can't hurt! Feel better!
Jodie
Musinex is fantastic for sinus infections! It's the Guafenessin (sp?) that helps get the crap out of your system and dries you up. If you have a lot of pain, take a clean sock and fill it up with old rice or beans and warm it in the microwave for 10 seconds until it's just warm. Lay it on the bridge of your nose and the tops of your cheekbones. It has helped me and I hope it will help you.
Hope you feel better!
Had my nose roto-rooted about 15 years ago because I was experiencing so many sinus infections.
Guess having even BIGGER holes in my head WAS the trick since now I'm only bothered by sinus headaches.
I also recommend Mucinex, but the only formula that works for me is the one that's stored behind the pharmacist's
work station (although no prescription is required).
My preferred formula is Mucinex D Maximum Strength (which has 1200 mg. guaifenesin and 120 m.g. pseudoephedrine HCI) in a bright orange package.
Here's a picture of the box:
Had my nose roto-rooted about 15 years ago because I was experiencing so many sinus infections.
Guess having even BIGGER holes in my head WAS the trick since now I;m only bothered by sinus headaches.
I also recommend Mucinex, but the only formula that works for me is the one that's stored behind the pharmacist's
work station (although no prescription is required).
My preferred formula is Mucinex D Maximum Strength (which has 1200 mg. guaifenesin and 120 m.g. pseudoephedrine HCI) in a bright orangey red package.
Here's a picture of the box:
http://store.facevaluesonline.com/363824041247.html
HTH
Ugh, I had a rash of sinus infections all year this year, and nothing would get rid of the buggers but antibiotics. I know what you mean about not wanting to take them. I tried so hard to let my body fight it off but sometimes the infection reaches a point where it is NOT going away w/o help, there are just too many bacteria multiplying in there. I usually let them go like 4...6 weeks before caving in and going to the Dr, but the last one I just nipped in the bud after 4 days because I was flying to Hawaii.
Anyway that said, unless I missed it because it's so late at night (!!) I didn't see anyone mention a sinus rinse or neti pot. Those can help a lot. I have the sinu-cleanse pot, but it is kind of living torture to use (replicates the feeling of when you get the ocean up your nose!) and also doesn't help much if you are so inflamed that nothing can get through. A friend of mine swears by the same thing, but the kind in the squeeze bottle. I second the Mucinex, that becomes one of the 4 food groups during an infection. Use that in conjunction with the sinus rinse and you might, just MIGHT have a shot at getting the infection down thru homeopathic remedies. Also for 1-3 days you can use Afrin spray or something to reduce the inflammation. You need to reduce the inflammation in order to get that mucus rinsed out! The other remedies don't help much if you are completely stuffed up. If you can get into a daily regimen of cleansing out your sinuses enough to rinse that bacteria out of there, you might start to see some results in a few days
Sheesh I never thought I would be online at 12:30am on a cake website talking about mucus. 
p.s. Whatever happened with Airborne? I thought they had a class-action against them for falsely implying that the product boosts your immune system, yet I see the pkgs out there with the same writing they always had?? Anyway skip the Airborne, time to start wearing a mask all the time. Michael Jackson made the look soooo fashionable.
I'm glad the Neti pot worked for you, but I had a horrible experience with one. I used it for awhile, no problems, but then I was using it and all of a sudden I felt the water filling up my ear. I got a terrible, terrible ear infection because of it.
I'm sure it was something I did wrong, but I just wanted to warn folks that it can happen.
As to the Musinex D, the only issue with that is if you're sensitive to Sudafed. If I take it after 5 in the afternoon, I'm up all night. It gives me insomnia. So, I take the straight Musinex, and then Sudafed separately, so I can't avoid that.
Jodie
I have a sinus infection too. You'll need to see the doctor and get on antibiotics. Hope you feel better soon.
I started the Mucinex the night it was suggested and yesterday started to feel better. Today I feel 90% better. I'm still taking the Mucinex, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen combo and I feel SO much better. Almost normal. Thanks so much for the Mucinex suggestion. I guess I always had "chest congestion" on the brain when I thought of Mucinex and the fact it would do the same thing for sinus congestion never clicked in.
Not sure if this has been said or not, since I didn't read through the entire thread, but I get sinus infections a lot. Or, used to.
What I do now, since I know the symptoms leading up to one, is take Sudafed. Not the PE crap on the shelf, the REAL one that you have to get from the pharmacy counter (the one with pseudophedrine in it, the other stuff doesn't work on my sinuses). I take the 12hr caplet. If 1 every 12hrs isn't working, I take 2 every 12 hrs. It's still less than the dose the doctor will give (which I think in my case is 3 or 4 times the dose on the box), and will usually head off the sinus infection before it really starts. I also take ibuprofen with the sudafed, helps clear out the sinus cavaties.
If I wait too long to start taking the Sudafed, I end up at the doctor with a sinus infection 
Hope that helps!
~Chelle
That makes a lot of sense Chelle. The reason is, the bacteria multiply rapidly if they can't get out. When you are stuffed up, they can't get out (similarly, w/the Mucinex, the mucus is thinned so that it's easier to drain). That's why they also suggest irrigation - the more of those buggers that you can get out of there, the less they fester and multiply. EW GROSS. 
(I do understand the pp's concern about the irrigation backing into your ears tho).
So that little cocktail MosMom took probably helped clear out the bacteria and let her body start healing.
Of course I can say all that, but last time I had one it was hopeless. Antibiotics were the only thing that could cure it, and after about 4 sinus infections this year that didn't go away w/the above remedies, I think the bugs I get only respond to the heavy duty medicine .
Of course I can say all that, but last time I had one it was hopeless. Antibiotics were the only thing that could cure it, and after about 4 sinus infections this year that didn't go away w/the above remedies, I think the bugs I get only respond to the heavy duty medicine
.
That's why I decided to have the surgery and get roto-rootered.... 
The holes in my head (nose/sinuses) were too small (or deviated) to allow for proper drainage so they were clogging up on a regular basis and becoming infected.
So happy to say that I haven't had a sinus infection since the surgery (16 years ago)!
That is good to know although surgery scares me, probably because I am on an HMO LOL. My dr did say, if I got another one this year she was going to refer me to an ENT to find out if something more serious needed to be done. Ironically I DID get another one but had an unfilled prescription for antibiotics from a previous sinus infection, so I knocked it out without a another trip to the dr.
I must say, the image of being roto-rooted is not a pleasant one! 
Before I had my sinus surgery my ENT sat me down and said "now, let me explain exactly what I'm going to do.". 
I held my hand up and said "nope, don't need to know the details.....you're the one who needs to know, not me!".
I had the basic idea....I didn't need to hear all about drilling out that bone!
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