It's been a rough few weeks for me! In spite of rarely going out and wearing a mask when I do, I caught some sort of respiratory virus in early February (probably from my rare dinner out in a restaurant!). It didn't feel like the flu or COVID, as the symptoms developed gradually (those two both tend to hit hard all at once). Just to be sure, I tested for COVID four times (in the past, I haven't tested positive until day 4 of symptoms)--all negative.
I mostly just had sinus congestion and was exhausted, so I treated the symptoms and added in extra herbal antivirals, plus some extra vitamin C, vitamin D3, and zinc, to support my immune system. After about 10 days, I started to feel better, which was pretty surprising. It seemed I'd had a normal cold, lasting about the normal time--crazy! I haven't had a plain old cold in about 20 years; I don't normally catch viruses (other than COVID, since I don't make the antibodies against it). I had two days of feeling really good, almost back to "my normal" baseline. Then, the sinus congestion worsened again, and I felt like I'd been knocked down, totally wiped out again.
That pattern--mostly recover from a virus and feel good, only to suddenly worsen again--usually means a secondary bacterial infection (which is also pretty normal!). For decades, I got bacterial bronchitis 5-6 times a year, but this was not in my chest but definitely in my sinuses. I sent a note to the Nurse Practitioner now caring for me, since my doctor retired in January. But it was a Saturday night, so I also started taking antibiotics I had here (a recent prescription I hadn't used). I knew it was the right one because I have so many allergies and intolerances that there are only two types I can usually tolerate, and I knew which one was used for bronchitis and which one was preferred for sinus infections.
The congestion began to improve again in a couple of days, though I am still pretty wiped out. I avoid antibiotics if at all possible, since they make my chronic yeast overgrowth much worse (that's why I had some I hadn't taken last year). There are always complications with this crazy disease--nothing is ever simple! At this point, I'm not sure if I'm still worn out from the infection or if it's now due to yeast overgrowth, but I am a little better than I was yesterday. I know I need to stay on the antibiotics for another day or two, to make sure the sinus infection is completely cleared up--I wouldn't want to have to take another round of them!
I made a chronic illness vlog during the worst of the virus. It provides a peek into my daily life when I'm badly crashed, as well as the treatments I use to ease viral symptoms and help me get over a virus faster, plus some insight into my usual ME/CFS treatments as well. You can watch the vlog on YouTube or I'll include it below:
I finished recording that vlog last Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday were my good days!
I'm getting pretty nervous because we're supposed to be leaving on a long road trip to Texas with our camper in less than two weeks (our son will be here to watch the house). We have plans to visit lots of friends and family and have made campground reservations and other plans, so I really hope we don't have to cancel. Hopefully, I will be feeling better well before then so we can get ready. I will post some videos to my YouTube channel from the road but may not be able to post anything here on the blog.
