Sick of Being Sick: A Trip to the ER

A few months ago, I wrote a post about my awful joint pain that flares up from time to time. It was back last week in my left elbow, and it was miserable. It was while we were visiting friends in Philadelphia, but my husband is awesome and helped me through it. There's no medicine I can take that makes it better, so it's really just a waiting game.

We do think that it was for sure caused by an antibiotic in the 'flox' category, though. It's promising knowing where it came from, but.... unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about it, so I may just be stuck with this crazy pain from time to time for... ever.

On top of that, I had a crazy sinus infection and ear infection. Actually, I think I still do. I've been drinking all kinds of green juice and trying to pump my body full of nutrients. I'm using my Neti pot (nasal irrigation) once or twice a day to clear everything out. And yet, it got worse and worse until finally, it triggered my asthma to act up.

On Saturday, I had a hard time breathing throughout much of the day. I kept using my nebulizer machine for albuterol breathing treatments, but ultimately, Dan took me to the ER around 9PM. It wasn't fun, but they fixed me up quickly at Wright-Patterson AFB and sent me on my way home.

It was like a miracle... except that as I write this (on Sunday evening), my chest tightness is back. I hate this, and I just want to feel better.

At least my husband cheers me up with cupcakes. It's all a girl can ask for, right?

[My half birthday was last week, and all I wanted was a cupcake. My husband thought it would be humorous to bring me lots of different kinds because he thought celebrating a half birthday was ridiculous. Oh well - I still got lots of muffins / cupcakes.]

[carrot cake muffins from Panera are the best]

Sorry for ranting about this. I am not really posting this to ask for sympathy but moreso just to get it off my chest. If you're the praying type, I would appreciate some prayers to kick this nasty bug.

Sick of Being Sick

Yep, I'm sick again. Actually, I have been. I thought I had kicked my sinus infection from last fall, but apparently it never went away.

When I had that diagnosed in October, I quickly started taking an antibiotic. A few days later, I had an AWFUL reaction to the antibiotic, so I stopped taking it. (The reaction, by the way, was EXTREME joint pain - think not being able to move your shoulder, elbow, wrist, finger, hip, knee, etc. all at the same time - for TWO MONTHS. It was on and off, at least, and at first the doctors thought I was allergic to the Penicillin {which still hasn't been completely ruled out}, but it's pointing more toward a sulfite allergy now... which is a major bummer because WINE. Every time I drank wine, I started feeling achey, and it seemed to exacerbate my symptoms. The joint pain finally subsided; I think the sulfites from the medicine finally got out of my system.)

Since I never finished the antibiotic, the sinus infection stayed. I grew accustomed to what that pain felt like, and it became my new normal.

After my nine mile run last Saturday (not this past one), I was sneezing like crazy (stupid allergies) and wheezing (I also have asthma... I am just the picture of health, huh?). It didn't stay for just one day. I couldn't breathe properly for five days before I decided to go to urgent care because it was getting scary.

They diagnosed me with a sinus infection AND bronchitis AND an acute asthma flare-up. All at the same time.

I've taken an entire round of antibiotics and steroids this time around (no sulfites, thank goodness), and I'm actually starting to clear up. I feel like I have more energy, and I'm not as congested (again, I thought that was normal after having it for so long).

Despite all of that progress, however, I am still struggling to breathe, so my doctor sent me home with a nebulizer breathing treatment system, and I do it twice a day now (down from three times). It helps, but it feels awful not being able to breathe properly on my own. Luckily, I've been able to get a few good runs in despite the whole breathing issue... I just make sure I take my inhaler along these days.

• Have YOU been sick this winter?
• What's the worst part of being sick to you?