Being sick. What would you do??

[sammyj1993]

Hello!
Basically on Monday night at around 9pm I was woken up by a severe headache. I would rate it a 10/10, I didn't sleep through the night. I tried to take paracetamol, naproxen, ibuprofen etc and nothing touched it.
So on tuesday morning I made an emergency appointment at the doctors. He prescribed me some migraine tablets. I took them as directed and still no help.
So he sent me to the hospital. My symptoms were, a 10/10 headache all at the front that felt like a lot of pressure that painkillers wouldn't touch, nausea, blurred vision and light sensitivity. The doctors on A&E were fantastic and got me on oramorph which helped enough that j could get a little dose for an hour or so.
They did some blood tests, they came back with high white blood cells and high inflammation marker. (Not sure what this is) the doctor sat and spoke to me through the possibilities. They were going to put me on an antibiotic drip straight away incase it was meninjitis. They were going to do a CT scan to rule out a bleed on the brain and then the following day they were going to do a lumbar puncture.

So I stayed over night and we managed to get the pain under control by alternating 3 drugs every 2 hours - this meant I wouldn't go over the maximum 4 dose over 24 hours.
They changed my ward in the night which is when my problems started.
Maybe now is the time to add that I am autistic so i need time, and patience to process information and i struggle to be on my own.

So a different doctors did the round yesterday morning. He wasnt understanding and spent no more than about 3 minutes with me. Said it was a sinus infection and they were going to give me antibiotics and send me home with paracetamol and codeine (these weren't touching the pain)
When I told him I didn't feel comfortable going home because I couldn't control the pain at home initially he said fine we will let you stay for another 24 hours and left. .
Then in the day when I asked the nurse for my next lot of medication she told me I couldn't have it because I would go over the 24 hour limit if I kept taking it the way I was. (Even though I had already made a plan with another nurse which ensured that wouldn't help.) Because of this my pain totally spiralled again.
I had a massive panic attack because no one was giving me any information (I'm the kind of person that needs information as often as possible.)

So last night, the doctor came back round and basically told me I was being discharged. I got a little worked up and explained that my pain has spiralled and that I couldn't go home because it was too much. The doctor replied that if I was in pain I should ask for painkillers, why hadn't I done that? Etc. When I explained that I didn't feel I had enough information and I didn't feel they explained enough to me I was met with a very abrupt and intimidating "well there are 36 other patients you cant expect us to spend hours with you, but we gave you all information I dont see the problem". I brought up the fact that even though the A&E doctor was run off her feet she took all the time to explain everything to me. She even visited me at midnight at the end of her shift to explain the next steps when I was admitted and came back the following day to check I was okay.

Anyway, I got very distressed. I didn't feel that I could stay there longer so I asked if I could be prescribed the medication and go home. They prescribed me oramorph, paracetamol and codeine and some antibiotics.

I've taken 3 doses of antibiotics so far and I am on top of my painkillers, but the pain is getting worse. I'm back to not being able to sleep concentrating is hard so it's taken me an hour and half to write this. 😂 .
I havent eaten in 3 days because I feel so sick, and I just feel horrendous. I'm just wondering how long you would leave it before you got back in touch with the doctors?
Also, has anyone had a sinus infection that causes THIS much pain?
I'd like to think I have quite a high pain threshold but the way the doctor spoke about it they didn't believe it to hurt so much that I need oramorph.

Basically I think it is the anxiety and autism that wants more information that I obvuously cant seem to get.
Thanks if you read it all!

Did you have a scan ot lumbar punctures? If the pain is still 10/10 then you must go back. I would probably present to A and E again to be honest.

I had a CT scan, apparently the scan showed that my sinuses were swollen.
The pain is unbearable and I've actually just fallen over trying to get to the toilet from dizziness

I once had sinusitis - the pain was off the scale, I thought my head was going to explode. I couldn't believe it was legal to leave me in that state.

But the antibiotics cleared it up in a few days. Horrendous but I got over it. Do you find it slightly better in the mornings?

What would you like a&e to do or tell you about OP? Genuine question. I find that if you have a specific plan in mind then you need to state it. They have assessed you and ascertained that it doesn't seem life threatening, raised white blood cell count indicates some sort of infection or inflammation and the CT scan supports that- and although I appreciate it was difficult, you sound very cogent.

A lumbar puncture is very invasive and they will have been monitoring your outputs, temp, bp etc while you were admitted so those must be fairly stable or you'd have been kept in and it done if meningitis was a concern after the second set of obs.

Sinus pain can be horrendous, as can the likes of cluster headache and migraine and it does feel like you're dying sometimes it really bloody does. I would make a phone appointment with your GP and ask what they suggest, a lot of the medications you're taking WILL make you feel sick. Any one of antibiotics, codeine or oramorph would have me with my head in the toilet let alone all three.

You need to avoid dehydration and be drinking as much as possible or you will almost certainly be feeling worse, and will feel dizzy.

You can ask your GP for anti sickness/nausea meds but I would buy some electrolyte rehydration salts from the chemist to rehydrate, get some steam going, head over a steaming bowl or the bath, try a saline nose spray of you can manage them. If you really arent eating you need to source something like a meal replacement shake and try to force it.

But mainly OP, if you really arent feeling well enough to perform that self care, have no help at home and can't keep down liquids, call 111 or return to a&e. It is always better safe than sorry. Sorry to hear as well that you felt your autism was ignored, that sounds upsetting. Hope all is well soon and you get some relief

It's not better in the mornings unfortunately. But I will muddle through. Good to hear that others get it this painful as that was my biggest concern.

I didn't want the A&E doctors to do anything. They were amazing and started what the plan was and what they intended to do.
My issue came with the second doctor. That Didnt bother to sit with me and explain what they had found. I was basically told that my sinuses were inflamed end of story. However, during the night etc I did have low grade fever and my BP was very high, I listened to nurses um and ah about my heart rate etc..
When you are being told lots of different things from different people it's difficult to process. I never once WANTED a lumbar puncture, infact I didnt even want to be in the hospital. They flare my anxiety up 10 fold and I struggle to be places on my own, I struggle with communication etc. All I wanted was more information. I dont think that's cogent at all I think that's needing the right information to feel reassured and looked after. All I expected was a little bit more communication which I dont think is actually a lot to ask when you are in so much pain and also struggle with such debilitating anxiety.

I have been drinking plenty, at least a cup of water every hour - what the nurses suggested.
I will keep your advice in mind. Thanks.

Just wondering if you're feeling better, OP?