Does this sound like a sinus infection? Help, I'm miserable

[1pinkone1blueone]

It has been about 5 weeks now.

One nostril is bunged up to high heaven, I have ear discomfort on the same side and an inflamed sore lymph node on the same side of my throat also. My teeth and jaw ache in the morning and I've had a small amount of coughing and sneezing but not excessively. My head feels fuzzy and I feel so drained.

I've waited it out and it isn't shifting so I'm wondering whether it's a sinus infection that needs antibiotics.

Does any of this ring true for a sinus infection? I've never had one before, that I can remember and I don't want to waste the doctors time.

Sounds like it, with teeth pain, and if your ear is hurting I wouldn’t recommend trying a neti pot to clear it.. 5 weeks is long enough to suffer, book an appointment :)

in the meantime of your appt, try something like sinutab nasal spray. really helped me with puffy face, tenderness around eyes at 6 week cold :)

It could be OP. Get yourself an appointment and get it checked if it’s just not budging.
I had a very bad sinus infection last winter. Ended up on antibiotics. It took months for my sense of smell to fully return.

What happens if you look at the ground - does it feel like there's an unbearable pressure and your head is about to explode? And do you have a constant stream of snot down the back of your throat? In my experience, whether you are bunged up in your nose is irrelevant, it's the head-exploding that's key. Also irrelevant is whether your face hurts if you press it, but all doctors try that. But if it's been bad for 5 weeks, something is wrong and no doctor is going to say you are wasting their time. In the meantime try steaming your head over a bowl of boiling water with a bit of menthol or olbas oil in it.

I had what I thought was a sinus infection for about 2 months. Turned out to be a bad tooth draining into the sinus. The pain was horrific. So maybe consider seeing the dentist if you have have pain too.

Garlic often works as well as antibiotics. Eat one or two raw whole cloves of garlic.

It has cleared up numerous infections for me and my family. And if it doesn’t work you’ve lost nothing.

Definitely get it checked out. Rule of thumb is two weeks for infections.

Be careful of rinsing, you may push the infection up. Not to worry you but it can become worse if it festers.

Also - may help for future prevention - I use Neilmed Nasal Spray. Easier than netipot faff.

A paramedic recommended it to me, he said the most unhygenic part of the an ambulance is the controller!

Pain if you lean forwards is the classics sinus sign.That and copious amounts of snot,the sort where you don't go to far from a roll of kitchen paper.

Thanks for the replies!

I'll try the suggestions mentioned here and make an appointment first thing Monday morning.

I've just tested the "head exploding when looking at the ground" and I have to say, that doesn't feel the case with me. For me, it's more so an overall feeling of head fuzziness (not extreme pain, though)

The inflamed sore lympth node and ear pain are driving me absolutely bonkers now, I'm well aware of both every time I swallow and I seem to be swallowing more often in what I can only describe as a subconscious effort to "shift" it

Gah, this time of year is a PITA

I don't have copious amounts of snot either, so if that is a tell-tale sign of a sinus infection then it sounds like this could be something different.

Very interesting suggestion for the garlic, I had no idea that could help infections.. I have some so more than happy to try. Hopefully I won't be sick! The stuff stinks raw

Also, I'm pretty sure i require a filling at the moment..

That has given me pause for thought.

Hmm. Maybe it's a dentist app needed instead/aswell

I usually have something similar every winter, head feels fuzzy, post nasal drip, bad taste in mouth. No snot (coming out that is), no exploding feeling. Nostrils not bunged up. I do steam inhalation and sinus rinse, on alternate days. Gp has prescribed stuff in the past but I'm afraid of allergic reactions so haven't taken it.

Sounds more like an ear infection. I would get it checked out as it's been a few weeks!

I'm going to phone my GP surgery Monday morning and see if i can get a same day appointment. I should have gone sooner really, but given the time of year and the bugs floating about in general I didn't want to take an appointment just to be told viral and have wasted my/their time

This should help www.nhs.uk/conditions/sinusitis-sinus-infection/. When I get sinus infections the Strongest symptom is facial pain and head pain when leaning over. I also suffer severely with jaw pain and dental pain and have ended up in accident emergency a couple of times. One time I had an absess that the dentist couldnt find in xray, it took the hospital to find it. Good luck in getting sorted op whatever it is

Chopped one large garlic clove in half, chewed and swallowed the first half but by the second part my mouth was burning bad @45BlueGingerale

That is supposed to happen, right? Ouch

Thank you MSIR I'll check out the link now!

Burning in the place that is infected?

My whole mouth

Although, it was definitely extra 'tingly' around the area of my throat where the lympth note is sore.

I looked up how to do a garlic press with oil and paper towel and did that too for good measure.

Go garlic

I reckon the burning is it working. I can always feel it go straight to the infected site and start to work.

Report back tomorrow and tell me if it’s starting to feel better - or if you’re just keeping vampires away for no other benefit.

Garlic report! I do feel slightly better

I still feel drained and crappy, but at least %30 better than yesterday.

3 x cloves yesterday and 1 today so far. I'll be doing it again before bed.

My ear pain is more of a 'tickle' now.

3 x cloves yesterday and 1 today so far. I'll be doing it again before bed.

You ground them up and snorted through your nostril right? 3 cloves is going some to do that.

Brilliant news.

Thanks for reporting back.

Have you got wisdom teeth still? I used to get really bad bouts of sinusitis, until I had one of my upper wisdom tooth out (which was growing at an odd angle and difficult to clean so think that's where the infection started). Anyway, not had sinusitis since then, which was 2/3 yrs ago.

I haven't had my wisdom teeth out, but am having a huge amount of sensitivity at the back of my top row on an already filled tooth.

I'm at the dentist today to have the tooth looked at, so I may need a root canal or extraction myself