another NSAID question | Arthritis Information

TOnight I went to my PCP because I "think" I have a sinus infection...why "think" ?? because I don't feel the pain of one.. but I feel the pressure and have a slight headache.

Sure enough...... I get there and he says yes! I most definitely have a sinus infection...

crap!!

another 10 days of antibiotics...... and no enbrel..

but that's not my question...

How worried should I/We be that we get things but don't FEEL it? That we don't know we are sick... but we are!! Should we be concerned that meds are preventing us from feeling things we need to feel? I don't get fevers either.... well, not exactly... My normal body temp is below "normal" and with the NSAIDs I never have a fever...

This is the third sinus infection since October... I just don't KNOW about them at first.......it because I didn't feel it... my only clue was a weird feeling in my throat and ears and the colored mucus when I use my sinucleanse....

boys and girls..... is this some scarey stuff ??

babs102009-01-21 21:01:50I have stopped going to my PCP when I think there is trouble brewing in my sinuses. My ENT now wants to hear from me when I suspect one as the folks at the PCP's office just keep throwing antibiotics at me and the last several times I probably haven't needed them. I worry about the same thing but because of prednisone. No real fevers, no terrible inflammation and the ENT says that a little bit of color to the mucous, especially in the am is not a definitive sign of infection. He feels that the single best way to diagnose is by CT scan and mine have been fine the last three times. He also scoped my sinuses last week....not a thing...perfectly clean.

Scary indeed when our meds hide symptoms of infections.

I have a similar question babs. I wonder if our immune systems can burn out from working overtime. That is a really good question. Since I've gotten sick, I get sinus infections more often, but they are less severe than what I got before. I still get fevers with my NSAID's, as a matter of fact I get low-grade fevers more often than not. But between my NSAID's and my painkillers, the sinus headaches while still bothersome but nothing like I remember having. Plus with all my allergies, it can be difficult to distinguish between that and an actual infection.

What we don't feel can be a problem...like the pain I had when unbeknownst to me my appendix burst. Perhaps if I hadn't been on painkillers then (for fibro) it would have been bad enough that I insist they do something rather than send me home for the weekend telling me it was just more of the same virus I had a few weeks earlier. And then maybe I wouldn't have RA at all (I believe the appendix was the trigger).

Who was it on this forum that had a broken elbow for several days before seeing a doctor about it? We have to pay close attention to our bodies.yes...you guys understand! My husband looks at me like I'm crazy! LOL

Inner! I had my appendix rupture in 1992 and I thought I had a virus for two days - , but I wasn't taking any meds way back..... now THAT was some really scarey times....... peritonitis and I thought I was going to die....

I guess I didn't explain the fever part well.. I DO run a fever, but because my normal is low and the NSAID reduces the fever, it isn't showing as anything more than 99 degrees.... so they think nothing of it.... though it is most likely much higher.

I don't see an ENT, bob.... one specialist I have yet to add to my repertoire......

If it was only slightly discolored for mucus, I would have not gone to the PCP but held off and did the nasal rinse ..... (which my PCP thinks is NOT good for me...putting unclean water into my nasal cavities and compared it to ocean water.... WTH? because he would get infections from swimming in the oceans and getting water up his nose --- so NOT the same!! ) I am not wanting to take antibiotics four times a winter!! or any med if I can avoid it.

lorster... what would be the result? no more RA? getting infections every time we blink (like on these meds?) how would we ever know?

Gimp... I've had such severe pain at times in my right foot that I think It feels like a small bone is broken..... Ugh.

My RD told me that we do have to be more vigilant about our bodies with RA. Symptoms of other problems are masked . Be aware of the slightest change, keep a diary if necessary.

Sinus infections are so common but I am sorry you have one, they make you feel lousy.

I'm sorry I have this infection too.. thanks for the sympathy

I feel worse today than yesterday...... UGH.

I guess that I will need to become the hypochondriac these meds can make us... to be attentive to what my body is saying and not pooh pooh off the discomforts as just another RA or Sjogrens' symptom (which is what I was doing w/ the nasal issue that led to the sinus infection) ...

I've practically been on an antibiotic all winter. Literally one sinus infection after another. But my immune system has got to be active because the RA is giving me hell too. Does anyone know if there is any test that can measure immune system function? The only thing I can think of is an absolute T-cell and absolute B-cell count to determine the amount of each type of lymphocyte in circulation. The weird thing is that I've been exposed to people with the stomach bug, strep, and the flu and nothing happened. Sinus infections seem to be my plague though and they have truly made my life hell this winter.

Feel better Babs

Bob H.

Babs- is the Enbrel making you more prone to these sinus infections?

Hope you feel better soon!

bob, maybe our sinuses are our weakest link??

IDK, wantto... is it the enbrel? I think it may be... though I also think I may have skipped as many shots as I've taken since October.

I've always had issue w/ my sinuses... with one bad infection a year...but this year has been unbelieveably brutal for me...

Truly kicking my butt!!!

and don't let LinB hear me say this.. but sometimes, I feel like I need to roll over and play dead like a possum so the RA thinks it's won and moves on to the next unsuspecting victim.

LOL- well I sure hope you start feeling better soon! Babs, I heard you.....and I won't let you!!!!!!! I know how you feel all too well. All of my problems were and are associated with RA/PsA/OA and not the meds. The meds so far have been good to me, very little problems associated with them. That could change in a New York second and I know that, but considering how I was before them........well, I don't even want to go there. Hang in there. Lindy oops.

thanks.