Chest infection - 'anxious' sensation

[baroqueandblue]

Sorry if this is a bit rambly, not sure what to think.

Last week had phone appointment with GP, told him I thought I had a sinus infection that had been brewing for weeks. Had woken up that morning feeling particularly crap with it. He prescribed amoxicillin, which I decided to delay starting until the following morning (Saturday) because I was due my 2nd Covid jab on the Monday and thought, well, if the sinus symptoms aren't as awful tomorrow, then I might get away with taking the antibiotics and having side effects from the jab at the same time (first shot made me poorly for weeks).

Saturday came, wasn't feeling as bad, so went for my jab on Monday and although it knocked me for 6 for about 36 hours, I recovered well enough by Wednesday (compared to the first shot). However, I've been feeling exhausted and yesterday and today my nose has started running again, lots of sneezing and blowing and generally feeling v rundown. I've got a cough but it's nowhere near constant, and also some back pain and twinges in my ribs, probably costochondritic because I get that on and off. The worst of it all though, getting increasingly more alarming today, has been some shortness of breath and this awful 'anxious' feeling in my solar plexus and chest. I took antihistamine at teatime, thinking it might be pollen-related, but that didn't help, and then remembered the amoxicillin and took a dose of that an hour or so ago.

Since then the jittery, doomy feeling has receded a bit and doesn't feel as intense - it's more coming in waves now, rather than full-on. Does anyone know if that can be a symptom of a chest and/or sinus infection? I was this close to popping some diazepam, but reasoned that there was nothing particularly anxiety-provoking happening at the moment, other than the awful edgy feeling that was making me a bit 'air hungry' and panicky

It sounds like an allergic reaction to me as the feeling of doom can be related to anaphylaxis. Your histamine bucket may have been full, hence the sinus infection feeling, and the vaccine has tipped it over hence all your other symptoms which are indicative of dyautonomia.

Have a look at histamine intolerance. Or it could be mast cell related.

A fast heart rate can give you that feeling, which can be a sign that the infection might be worsening along with the shortness of breath. Call 111 for advice and get a Covid test just in case. When I had Covid it started with sneezing, runny nose and generally feeling unwell then headaches, body aches and breathlessness as it progressed.

Thank you both for replying, it's very thoughtful of you

I've looked at dysautomnia symptoms but my heart rate is fine, no dizziness or nausea or gastrointestinal trouble. I'm 54 and am always told my blood pressure is perfect, so don't have any concerns in that respect. But allergies, yes absolutely, had a horrendous reaction to the beech and ash pollens from end of March to earlier this month, but don't generally react too badly to grass pollen, which is the prevailing active pollen here at this particular time in the season. It could be that the vaccine has tipped things in that respect, which would be all I'd need But not sure how I'd go about establishing that. Also, the antihistamine I took earlier didn't touch the sides, which made me disinclined to think it was allergy-related. But it may be that the dose wasn't high enough I guess.

Hadn't really thought it could be Covid, especially now I'm more or less fully vaccinated, but your symptoms of it @Choconuttolata are making me wonder. Maybe I should try and get a walk-in test tomorrow, although with the timeline I'm not sure there'd be much point now? This has been bothering me on and off for weeks, it's just that I delayed starting the antibiotics.