Hi everyone,

I had a sinus infection 3 weeks ago and I am still congested. the sudafed made me very anxious, so I am not taking it anymore. Last night I had a headache in the back of my head near the neck that was really bad. I took 400 mg. of ibuprofen and laid down. My temples hurt, my cheeks too. I had a lousy night sleep. Today I feel like my head is in a vise. I took ibuprofen again, but hate to do that. I worked a few hours and now my stomach is queasy. (last night too). I feel like a ball of goo is in my throat and my head is stuffy. Was this headache a migraine or sinus or maybe tension. My eyes hurt too. I was at the opthalmologist Mon. and got an all clear on my eyes.

Anyone have this or thoughts about it and what to do?

Please?

Hey cutie: First of all, let me give you my opinion on sudafed. I think it is a bad medicine. It's cousin, phenopropanolamine (also called PPA, you gals may remember the cold drug "Contact" with the tiny little multi-colored pills in a capsule...it's that stuff)..was taken off the market after it was shown to raise the likelihood of strokes, especially in women, or in general, for anyone who has an underlying cardiac condition. I think it's still approved for use in animals, but the FDA is trying to ban that too. 25 years ago, while in pharmacy school, I did a paper on ppa and sudafed. I predicted both drugs would be banned someday. So far one of them has.

Okay, enough of my sermon.

I think you probably still have a sinus headache. Sinuses are notoriously difficult to clear up; did you go on antibiotics? You may need to...traditionally, the course for sinus infections is much longer than for a strep throat...sometimes 3 weeks or longer. The sinuses are deep within your cranial cavity and it's hard to achieve and maintain a high enough drug level there to wipe out the bug.

My advice: Drown the enemy. Drink as much water as you can. Take steamy, hot showers, and sit in a room with the door closed and the steam pouring out of the faucet. Avoid any mucous forming foods, which means no milk products, cheese, yogurt, etc. That ball of goo in your throat is mucous and it just traps all the gunk and makes the whole thing worse. If you can, try to sleep with your head elevated, so you can get some draniage going on.

Some people clean out their own sinuses with a saline solution. It's a rather bizarre routine...involves sort of 'snorting' the saline in through your nose and out of your mouth. I can't bring myself to do it, but my ex husband used to practice this all time time and claimed he could wipe out a sinus infection pronto. The sell the stuff in drugstores...I'm sure if you ask a pharmacist they could give you the details.

Hope you feel better soon...

Sounds like a combo tension and sinus headache to me. Tension headaches are classic to start in the back of the head at the base of the neck. There are trigger points there that refer pain to the temples. The cheek pain is probably from your sinuses. Neither are fun. A long hot shower should help both types of headaches, as will warm moist packs. Take care and I hope you feel better soon.

Did you see your doctor for that sinus infection 3 weeks ago? If so, did you get antibiotics? My feeling is, that after 3 weeks, if you are still feeling so bad, you may need antibiotics to clear this up. I would go to the doctor. I know that some people do not like taking antibiotics, and I really don't either, but I also know from past experience, that sometimes that is what it takes to clear up my sinus infections. If you have a stuffy head, pain in your temples, cheeks, eyes and a lump in your throat, it sounds like sinus to me. I've had many myself.

Hope you feel better. gardenbear

I WORK WITH AN ENT DOCTOR AND I ALSO GO TO AN ALLERIST. BOTH SAY ITS VERY RARE TO HAVE A TRUE SINUS INFECTION. IF YOU DO, YOU ARE VERY VERY SICK AND WILL SOMETIMES BE HOSPITALIZED. WHEN PEOPLE (OR DOCTORS) SAY THEY HAVE A SINUS INFECTION, ITS USUALLY SINUSITIS. ANTIBIOTICS DO NOT HELP SINUSITIS, IT FACT, I LEARNED THE HARD WAY THAT IT MAKES IT WORSE. I WAS PUT ON ANTIBIOTICS FOR ALMOST 2 MONTHS STRAIGHT FOR A "SINUS INFECTION" MY FAMILY DOC DIAGNOSED WITH ME. I ACTUALLY JUST KEPT FEELING WORSE. MY ALLERGIST TOLD ME THE ANTIBIOTICS MAKE THE TISSUE IN THE SINUS SWELL AND THE SINUSITIS SYMPTOMS WORSE. THEN I HAD TO DEAL WITH THE TERRIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF THE LONG ANTIBIOTIC USE. SINUS PROBLEMS ARE NOT FUN, I ALSO AM AGAINST SUDAFED (BECAUSE OF THE HEALTH RISKS). SO FOR ME ITS JUST ALLERGY PILLS AND SOMTIMES OCEAN NASAL SPRAY. LIKE SOMEONE ELSE SAID TENSION AND SINUS ARE PROBABLY THE CULPRITS.

Sinus problem had come severe headache and tension. To reduce this problem, goggling the salt water everyday til it cures.

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