A week ago (Monday) I came down with a cold. By Thursday the congestion in my head was so bad I was dizzy and felt sicker than I have in years. I visited the walk-in clinic on Friday, where I was told I had an ear infection and a sinus infection, and given a prescription for amoxicillin. I generally try to steer clear of antibiotics but the pain and malaise were so bad I figured it warranted the drugs. On Saturday some of the congestion had subsided and a thin, mucousy, greyish-pink discharge started coming out of my left nostril. This continued all day, and I didn't feel much better. By last night the discharge had increased and was pretty bloody. The pain was terrible, so after consulting a 4th-yr med student friend of mine, I went to the ER. The ER doc basically said "it's good it's draining, antibiotics aren't going to do anything, here's a decongestant nasal spray, sorry it hurts." I mean I appreciated his candor, but it didn't give me much immediate help. I quit taking the amoxicillin.
Now today I felt okay, albeit congested, until around noon when I felt some nastiness in my throat and sucked out a big glob of brown mucus (yuck...sorry). That seemed to unblock my left maxillary sinus again, because at that point the bloody drainage kicked back in and has been going ever since. The pain has also returned, and is so bad that I am having a hard time concentrating on anything. I'm absolutely dreading going to work tomorrow.
I'm just really not sure what to do at this point. Do I just suck it up and wait for it to go away? Is there something I can do to speed healing? Is it normal to have this much pain and bloody discharge? Advice would be very much appreciated!
Now today I felt okay, albeit congested, until around noon when I felt some nastiness in my throat and sucked out a big glob of brown mucus (yuck...sorry). That seemed to unblock my left maxillary sinus again, because at that point the bloody drainage kicked back in and has been going ever since. The pain has also returned, and is so bad that I am having a hard time concentrating on anything. I'm absolutely dreading going to work tomorrow.
I'm just really not sure what to do at this point. Do I just suck it up and wait for it to go away? Is there something I can do to speed healing? Is it normal to have this much pain and bloody discharge? Advice would be very much appreciated!
