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Sinus symptoms and body aches, fatigue?

Hi,

This is my first post.  I am an otherwise healthy 32 year old male, but frustrated by this recent baffling problem.

For the last 2-3 weeks, I've had mild sinus congestion & pressure, along with strange "flu-like" body aches, weakness & fatigue.  I have no fever or night sweats, and nasal mucous is clear.

I do get a lot of allergies, but never these "flu-like" symptoms.  I went to the doc and have been taking Septra for a possible sinus infection, but no improvement.

I don't know what's linking the sinus condition with the other symptoms... virus (like chronic fatigue), allergies, infection, autoimmune disorder (hope not)?

Any advice or comments welcome.
-Dan
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Avatar universal
Hi, I’ve suffering from sinus related condition for more than a decade now. Been to docs in london several times but they just waved me off saying I needed breaks from my work and relax and they didn’t prescribe anything for me. My whole body just keeps aching every few days and the spell lasts for weeks! Now your mention of “adrenal fatigue” just rang a bell and and I think it makes a huge sense for my condition. May I get some more updates of your condition? Thanks in advance.
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17114931 tn?1453829722
I have the same symptoms.  Moved to Maryland a few years ago and that's when it started.  Was diagnosed with severe allergies.  No medicine worked, shots worked minimally.  why? I believe all of us are suffering from adrenal fatigue.  Your body works to give off the histamine response which means you overproduce cortisol.  long term this is dangerous and the adrenal gland becomes fatigue.  Once it's fatigue you need to treat it before allergy shots or anything will work   Body aches, etc are all a part of adrenal fatigue.  BTW most docs don't believe in adrenal fatigue.  Thoughts?  ty
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Avatar universal
I have been having these same symptoms for months.  I have been put on multiple rounds of antibiotics and  just keep feeling worse and worse.  Yesterday I decided to quit taking my antibiotic and see if that may be the cause.  I felt 50 percent better when I woke up this morning and am continuing to feel better as the day goes on.  I am just having some kind of reaction to the antibiotics.  Taking Cephalexon, but I believe you could have this reaction to other antibiotics.  I was miserable and am feeling so much better.
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Avatar universal
I have had a cough since may, with post nasal drip.  They put me on the z pak, with prednisone.  I felt great, no more coughing, no nasal congestion. A week after I finished the meds, the cough and post nasal drip is back. I have an apt.  for this Friday, can't wait to see what they put me on this time.  The cough is killing me.
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Avatar universal
Please note that if you have tried allergy meds, including the non drowsy types, you may have found that they don't work. BUT if you take them early before the histamine has a chance to build up in your body they may work very well. Thank goodness I figured this out for my husband! He no longer suffers such debilitating illnesses. We short circuit it before it starts. In our case Allegra D works only if taken very early.
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Avatar universal
Please note that if you have tried allergy meds, including the non drowsy types, you may have found that they don't work. BUT if you take them early before the histamine has a chance to build up in your body they may work very well. Thank goodness I figured this out for my husband! He no longer suffers such debilitating illnesses. We short circuit it before it starts. In our case Allegra D works only if taken very early.
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Avatar universal
I am a 40yr old woman who for the last year (probably longer) has been suffering aches everywhere! My sinuses are always clogged, I wake up exhausted, i mean EXHAUSTED! During the nite my back ( both lower and middle) hurts so bad I am awakened by it. My chest feels like an elephant is on it, but probably the worst pain is MY SHOULDERS AND KNECK, ALSO SHOULDER BLADES!!! But really everywhere, if my 8yr old son goes to lean on me or just put his elbow lightly on my legs or arms it hurts so bad I have to move it, my muscle ache is unbearable. It hurts to breath in deeply, I can not exercise as I get so winded and to just walk down the street my muscles begin hurting. It seems as though my kneck is a big problem, I think my nodes are swollen, I even get pain in my jaw and teeth???? My ears are always "itchy" inside. I banged my ankle the other day not too hard but it instantly bruised badly and it is still sore 8 days later?????? Why am I feeling this way??????????????? SOMEONE PLEASE HELP
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Avatar universal
You're symptoms sound surprisingly close to my own. I'm currently awaiting blood work to see what it may be. The doctor thinks it's a virus/sinus issue and prescribed Flonase but, I've never had anything like this. I'm skeptical of the doctor and her diagnoses. I don't think that the blood test are going to show anything. It feels like I'm shaky and feverish at times, almost like flu like symptoms but, very faint. I don't seem to ever have a temperature. The fatigue is extremely annoying. I will say this, the people that are posting about anxiety would be way off the mark in my case. I was working out about 4-5 times a week prior to this and felt healthier than I've ever felt in my life. This hit me like a ton of brick and I felt too weak and too fatigued to do anything.

Based on what I've read, I'm starting to get concerned about this thing lingering on. The only thing that I see that may be a possibility is the corn allergy angle but, I'm skeptical of that too. Let me know if you've had any luck since your last post.
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Avatar universal
Hi. For the past several weeks or so. living in the NYC area, there has been a lot of high pollen, etc. Often I will react to this in the typical way, with sneezing, etc. I've found Nasalcrom to help in this regard.

But lately, I haven't sneezed much, nor have I had much of a runny nose or eye itching. What I HAVE had is a kind of achy-ness, as though from a very mild fever, which I don't think I have - kind of the way I might feel on rare exposure to too much sun - which IO haven't done. It's not debilitating, but annoyingly there. I can't prove it, but I feel that it is a more internalized allergic reaction. Other that that, I function well, have a lot of energy, etc.

Any thoughts?
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Avatar universal
Had the same sinus thing for years. Same symptoms over and over.  Pretty constantly sick Would even blow up pus, and yet over and over, my CT scan was negative.  Finally, I took a picture of the stuff coming out, next to a quarter to give the doc an idea of the amount ( alot).  FINALLY somebody REALLY looked carefully at the CT scan  because of the picture of the pus. And mind you 3 ENT docs I work with and are my friends had looked and 2 had missed it.   They discovered I had an anomaly in the turbinates, basically a space that should not have been there with a tract that emerged right at the opening of my sinus.  So Once it started oozing into the sinus I would get the symptoms, but really I always had a subclinical case.  My advice:  If your CT is clear, take a picture of whats coming out of your nose for your doctor.  If it is like me, have them really really look closely, these tracts are hard to see.  But if they have the proof of the pus so to speak, they will have to look closer.  Then Have surgery and get it out.  That was the only way.  After thirty years, I have not had a sinus reoccurance.  To all who may benefit SG, RN
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Avatar universal
I had a flu shot about 10 days ago and I have suffered with body aches and sinus pressure since.  Do you think it is related.  Nothing is helping.  I have a blood pressure problem which is under control with drugs but there is alot of meds I cannot take.  I am trying a nose spray and nettie pot.  Not helping much.
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Avatar universal
Symptoms I read here all sound very familiar. Stomach (and general abdominal) pain. Sinus issues. Joint pain. Non-localized headache. And so on. This has been beating me down for months now. It's physically and mentally exhausting. Thus far, the treatments have not helped. The physical examinations and the blood work show nothing. I ought to be "well", I suppose. Yet I feel like ****. I have always exercised and tried to keep in shape. Now fifty-two. Feeling eighty-two, and on my last legs. What does a person do when the medical community tells you they can find nothing, and yet you feel, all day every day, like death warmed up? Sure, I have suffered from depression. But this isn't all in the mind, I know that for sure. I am feeling pretty hopeless about now. Suggestions?
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Avatar universal
i'm 29 had bad allergies ever since i was a kid went to an allergy specialist they tested me i was allergic to everything they tested me on. shots included.
they had me drink soy milk i think for a week stop drinking it because it made me sick. i'm still suffering today as well just worse. fall and spring the worse time i always feel sick. than feel better.
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Avatar universal
hi everyone,pleasse me to get out of frustation due to this bloody sinusitis.
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Avatar universal
In the fall, I go through a bout of aches, chills, fatigue, etc.  Usually lasts a week or more, then goes away.  Ragweed pollen is at its worst here, and I have finally realized that allergic reaction is causing my symptoms.  Just took loratadine and hope it will help.  Recently had some brain fog that made me wonder if I had dementia!!  Reading these posts has given me new information.  No wonder I have been feeling so yucky the past week.
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Avatar universal
If I can make a suggestion Jonny. I suffered from many symptoms listed on here as well as IBS, for 20 years in fact.  I went to so many doctors and none of them could help.  I read on the web that these symptoms could be associated with food intolerance so I started a detection diet.  I first started cutting out all products containing lactose.  Basically you have to do this for 2 weeks, noting the difference in your health and any symptoms, after 2 weeks you eat something containing the food you have cut out and see how you react to it. I wasnt actually intolerant to lactose, it was gluten.  You cannot cut out all food types in one go, you have to break them down into the main food intolerance groups, lactose, wheat, gluten, fructose and yeast. After 4 days of cutting out gluten I knew the little bugger was the culprit as I felt so much better and after 2 weeks I ate a meal containing gluten and it hit me like a brick wall. I swore from that day I would never eat gluten again and I havent.  My life has changed completely because of finding this out.  A good website to start with is foodintol.com, they have a very good symptoms matrix you fill out to see which foods coulld be the problem. If you want to seek preffessional help them find a dietician that specialises in food intolerance. Its worth a try for all of you.  I feel for you all.  Good Luck
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Avatar universal
I got sick with a sinus and ear infection last summer and took three bouts of antibiotics and about 7 months to feel better symptoms included body aches back and neck pain sinus pain and headaches naseu vertigo and constant fatigue. And now about a year later starting to feel the same symptoms again I'm going to the doc Friday but I'm not very optimistic, they never gave me a definitive answer to what was wrong also got tested for valley fever and it came back neg. Also I have a bad really bad taste in my mouth and throat like poop. I'm scared please someone help me.

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Avatar universal
I have traveled the country and the world and never had allergy symptoms until i got to western washington, then i started to get this chronic cough that started in sep or oct and lasted until the weather warmed up. I was diagnosed with upper respitory infection, bronchitis, they even tried to give me an inhaler for asthma...the only thing that worked was antibiotics after the infection set in. I transfer to Cali..no allergies...go back to washington same issues.....i got out of the navy and took a job in cali..no issues....took a different job in central washington....a dry desert climate and now i get hit with about every symptom from april to october....its horrible....hard to build a career when you miss 6 - 10 days a year due to sickness.
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Avatar universal
again, my best advice is to avoid irritants or if you know you've been near them, get your nasal passages rinsed out asap, keep saline spray on you if possible.  Some irritants that really affect me are fumes from vehicles I might be parked behind on the road in traffic, paint fumes, springtime molds from dead leaves etc, dust from roads, household dust ie when vacuuming, pollen when it's super thick in the spring and early summer.  Heat has even caused sinus infections as when you are in the heat a lot, it dries out the nasal mucosa and the sinuses become extremely dry.  The mucosa, that slimy clear stuff in your passages, acts as a barrier from irritants, so if it's dry the irritants stick in the sinuses and nasal passages.  I find walking past someone wearing heavy perfume will just kill my sinuses and I can feel them swelling within minutes.  It's hard to always keep your nose sprayed out, but it helps.  Avoid the decongestant type of nasal sprays as they can make symptoms actualy worse as they dry out the sinues.  Just saline and if you don't have that, just squirt plain, clean water up there.  Drink LOTS of water daily, not juice, coffee, tea or other liquids, but water is waht will keep the sinuses and nasal passages healthy and moist.  They have to be moist.  But if you've been in contact with an irritant, spray the sinuses out as soon as you can.  I find i have about two days to treat an irritant, before it goes into a full blown infection from the sinuses being blocked too long.  
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Avatar universal
not sure if this will help but, here is what I've figured out over 20 years of sinus problems.  A bit of explaining but reading some of your posts it sounds like the confusion is whether it is caused from allergies, though it is not really.  I've been the allergy route too and nothing was found.  

What it is, is something whether a temporary allergen or just dust or as in my case two weeks ago, dust from a load of rocks we put along our house, but anything that gets up into the sinus passage, sits there, creates a bit of a reaction in the sinuses (called irritants)  It can even be paint fumes, perfumes, etc that are irritating the sinuses, but are not actually allergies.  Then what happens is the sinuses become swollen in reaction to whatever it was that irritated them.  Then they block up a bit, because they are swollen (this is when you feel the pressure in the sinuses) From there, if you do not get the irritant flushed out copiously within two to three days, the sinuses remain blocked and back up the normal drainage and because it's all sitting in the sinus cavity, the infection begins to ensure.  

Then from there, you need to get onto antibiotics.  I've tried many antibiotics and they seemed to never work.  Now, I go in, ask for SUPRAX as it will literally kill out an infection in 48 hours, then you just finish the 7 day course of one pill per day, but it works like nothing else.  Regular antibiotics don't get rid of sinus infections.  You can take regular antibiotics and still be sick if they are not the right type of antibiotic.

My symptoms are very weird, I not only get sinus pressure, but I get dizziness, pain in the eyes, light sensitivity, mild to bad headache that won't go away, sometimes jaw pain or teeth pain, temporal pressure, then I get neck pain, upper shoulder muscle ache, general fatigue and overall body pain and just feel wiped right out.  I also get verrrry short of breath with sudden exertion with a sinus infection and never do otherwise.  So it really does affect your whole system  and shouldn't be left alone, it basically makes your whole body toxic.  Took me a long time to figure all that out.  

Preventatively, use saline spray to your sinuses every day.  Just spray them a few times to clear "irritants" out.  Irritants, and not "allergies" can get into the sinuses and boom, cause a sinus blockage, that leads to infection.  So it doesn't mean you are allergic to anything, but springtime molds from dead leaves will cause my sinuses to block. so I use sprays in the spring time. If I'm around a lot of dust of any kind indoors or outdoors, ie vacuuming or walking outside in the woods, I use sprays.  Usually now i can keep a sinus infection to once or twice every couple of years, whereas before it was about every 3 months.  So  I hope that helps.  Sinus infections will make you feel completely unwell, even nauseated and if bad enough, severe migraine.  Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day also to keep your nasal mucosa really moist.  The more moist it is, the less chance irritants can settle in there.
Hope that helps!  Again, ask for Suprax if you feel you have an infection, it kills upper respiratory infections dead within 24 hours you start to feel way better but be sure to finish your 7 day course.  It's the only stuff I've found works and I've been doing this since 1987 :( trying to figure out what works best.
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Avatar universal
I know my flu like symptoms are due to allergies because they are seasonal.  I just visited a new allergy doctor and he said flu like symptoms are not a symptom of allergies.  He said I most likely have an autoimmune disorder. I said, "seasonally"? I feel for all of you who suffer all the time.  It would be hard to pinpoint it to allergies. I currently take zyrtec D, flonase and astelin.I also do nasal rinses each morning and night.  These help, but not completely.  I have been suffering with this for the last 22 years.  The symptoms start in late summer and are gone by the end of January. I can be completely miserable and spend a lot of time in bed.  I am sorry to hear people suffer year around.  It can be terrible.
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Avatar universal
Also, starchy veggies like potatoes and sweet potatoes have to go as well.
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Avatar universal
I have found this is not sufficient. If you really want to give diet a serious try as the source of your problems, you need to stop eating many more things for a little while (probably not good long term). No grains, beans, nuts, sugars, fruits or processed anything. If you really want to eliminate all the toxic crap you're eating you'll have to try eating nothing but (1) simple whole organic veggies (raw or cooked, but ideally from a local farmer's market or your own garden) and (2) organic meats (preferably wild caught fish and game). Drinking should be limited to absolutely nothing but water. Do this for one month and see what happens. This means absolutely no meal where you cannot identify all the ingredients visually from several feet away. Ideally nothing ground, stored, shipped or processed in any way unless you did it yourself. It sounds like a lot of work and you will definitely feel some hunger and lose a bit of weight, but it's most likely to identify the problem. And what's more work, really eliminating all the crap for a month or trying this and that as the months and years slip away from you?
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Avatar universal
Have you checked for a UTI?
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