Anyone else gotten sick recently?

It's extra bad since you rely on good hearing more than, i suppose, most people do. A small tear or puncture will luckily heal up pretty quickly though, so i think you'll be singing in tune soon enough.

As for the pain in the throat, that could be something somewhat specific if it's cased by an actual throat infection, not just swollen lymph nodes. The migration route from throath to ear is fairly short, which would explain how it got there and caused your problems: it moved so fast your immune system couldn't fully respond to it yet.

As far as something to 'be done about it' or even further research: I don't think it will happen. While the symptoms are very inconvenient for you, it doesn't sound like it is something particularly life threathening. Maybe it took a bit longer than you wanted to get an immune respons, but as you seem to be recovering from it without any medical intervention it doesn't make a very interesting virus to study further.

Benm said:

It's extra bad since you rely on good hearing more than, i suppose, most people do. A small tear or puncture will luckily heal up pretty quickly though, so i think you'll be singing in tune soon enough.

As for the pain in the throat, that could be something somewhat specific if it's cased by an actual throat infection, not just swollen lymph nodes. The migration route from throath to ear is fairly short, which would explain how it got there and caused your problems: it moved so fast your immune system couldn't fully respond to it yet.

As far as something to 'be done about it' or even further research: I don't think it will happen. While the symptoms are very inconvenient for you, it doesn't sound like it is something particularly life threathening. Maybe it took a bit longer than you wanted to get an immune respons, but as you seem to be recovering from it without any medical intervention it doesn't make a very interesting virus to study further.

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Indeed. I suppose it not being particularly interesting is also a bit of a blessing, as that means it isn't serious, only very uncomfortable.

my singing is already almost back to normal, still have to get rid of some tension that built up while i was sick, and my ears still have a little bit of recovery to do.

Yeah, being infected with something uninteresting usually is better that catching something interesting

From the pharmaceutical industries standpoint viral infections are rarely that interesting at all though. The spread, develop and disappear in a season, not enough time to develop and test any cure even if you could make one.

Bacterial infections are more interesting because antibiotics can be developed and marketed against them.

Downside of that is that some doctors will actually prescribe antibiotics for ailments that are most likely caused by a virus. These will be of no help to the patient at all, but can increase development of resistance and such.

The best defense against most viral infections is still your own immune system, apart from a few where you would want to be vaccinated because the outcome can be particularly bad while the vaccine causes you little problems (stuff like hep a).

Benm said:

Yeah, being infected with something uninteresting usually is better that catching something interesting

From the pharmaceutical industries standpoint viral infections are rarely that interesting at all though. The spread, develop and disappear in a season, not enough time to develop and test any cure even if you could make one.

Bacterial infections are more interesting because antibiotics can be developed and marketed against them.

Downside of that is that some doctors will actually prescribe antibiotics for ailments that are most likely caused by a virus. These will be of no help to the patient at all, but can increase development of resistance and such.

The best defense against most viral infections is still your own immune system, apart from a few where you would want to be vaccinated because the outcome can be particularly bad while the vaccine causes you little problems (stuff like hep a).

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i cant agree more! my fathers a doctor, and he almost never gets sick, and he always says that its because he exercises daily and eats healthy (most of the time). I think that stress may play a huge part in why i got sick, since the day before i got sick i was worried about a choir concert (since we had little time to prepare for it) and i had a project in history that was due the next day that i had to mostly complete in one day.

Id say for vaccines, that you should get all of them for serious illnesses, and the flu vaccine if it is predicted to be useful that year (like this year).

I got almost the same thing not too long ago. It started with unbelievable pain when swallowing. Then, the whole inside of my mouth was covered in huge ulcers. (there was more white than pink in my mouth) It finished up with a 4 day long fever of 102. It was absolutely horrible because it was much worse than the common cold, but the doctor couldn't figure out what it was. So basically i just had to tough it out. :banghead: there is defiantly something new here.

Sounds pretty bad too! If you actually get ulcers like that they could swab it and take a look if the infection is bacterial. If it turns out not to be you are back to square 1 though.

Stress can be a factor in how well the immune system works. It's not something easily predicted, and not something that can prevent infection as such. It can however make a difference on how badly something works out overall.

Viral infections are frustrating to doctors as well: usually there is nothing effective they can do about it, yet they don't want to disappoint the patient with a 'go home, take some tylenol and see how things are in a week'. This is, however, exactly what they should do.

Some doctors will prescribe antibiotics that will only help if it's bacterial (fairly rare) and only make things worse if it's viral. Apart from resistance risk prescibing antibiotics will often make things worse for the patient as they often have side effects - you'll basically be coughing your lungs out from the virus whilst shitting liquid from the antibiotics ruining your intestinal equilibrium at the same time. And lets say that severe coughing and liquid stools are not an ideal combination of symptoms at all unless you have a toilet for a desk chair

EDIT: TL;DR - Antibiotics have their place, and uses. Don't be afraid to tell your doctor and their rationalizations to fuck off, and get a second opinion. Especially if you already have personal experience with the same issue for a second time.

It's interesting to observe how far we've come in terms of medicine, and understanding about the human body, bacteria, viruses, etc,. and then experience, and learn first hand how much we still don't know, understand. and just don't have the ability to affect.

I certainly, completely understand the position of doctors not wanting to prescribe antibiotics, and yet, from the standpoint of a patient, and someone who has suffered due to a doctors reluctance to do so, I also appreciate fully the desire of a patient to want the doctor to do EVERYTHING within their power to help.

In my own case it was something utterly mundane. As mundane as it gets. An ingrown toenail. Despite knowing how to avoid it, knowing what it wast, and otherwise reasonable practices, was still unlucky enough to have a tiny tiny open wound, and whether through getting soaked in some rain puddles, mud and a swamp, or just some crappy luck at home, well, I obviously had a problem. It's genetic. My father hand a problem with it, my brother has issues with it, I already had to have a minor operation on another occasion.

Bottom line is, I had an obviously enflamed, ingrown toenail that was beyond the scope of home treatment. Nothing to worry about.

Went to a podiatrist, and he promptly cut it out. In fact it was kind of a treat for me because he did so with a laser, as opposed to my previous similar surgery done with manual tools.

Unlike my previous surgery, he didn't prescribe me any medications. Despite me specifically asking for it. (Having received both some antibiotics and painkillers for the same procedure previously.)

Fast forward to 3 days later. Instead of healing, my would and irritation only got worse. Called the doctors office and his response was to prescribe me some decidedly weak antibiotics, and tylenol 3. Again despite my objections that I cared less for the painkillers of any kind, and wanted a strong antibiotic.

Cue "Hur durr, I'm doctor, I know best, take it call me in a week if it's not better."

Fast forward 4 more days. My FOOT, not my toe, but by goddamn foot, has swollen, I'm in severe pain upon waking. There are sign of infection spreading on my my skin... kind of veiny branches, and redness.

Call the doctor's office, the bastard is on vacation. After 10+ calls get through to him, and he tells me to go to emergency room at a hospital at which he practices, and that he'd speak with a doctor there to let him know what's going on.

On getting there, on one quick look, the new doctor tells me I have a severe infection. I get local anesthesia, and against their advice, watch as they cut open my toe, and rip out much more nail, nail bed(not sure what the proper term is), and just seem to carve meat from the inside of my large toe. Sew it up, and give me 3 prescriptions (painkiller, strong broad-spectrum antibiotic, and topical creme).

Within literally a day the swelling is gone, skin color on the rest of my foot is back to normal, and within 2 more days, aside from having to regularly change bandages and some twinges of pain, I'm basically back to normal.

A week later, going back to the original doctor, he opened up the wound again, and cut out a bit more of nail tissue, and more of what he though might be infected tissue, though frankly at that point things looked well on their way back to normal anyway.

After all that, I'm left with a very small, but ugly, scar on my toe, any about a quarter of my nail not growing where it should. Adding insult to injury a small spur of nail, for lack of a better term, still grows from the spot.

So yes, I can completely appreciate from an intellectual standpoint where doctors are coming from in not wanting to prescribe antibiotics without good cause. I can even understand from a detached standpoint why I would be exactly the kind of person not to require additional antibiotics... patient in late 20's at the time, otherwise completely healthy, aside from being overweight.

That said, as a patient, selfish as it may be, I don't care about the potential for hypothetically contributing to antibiotic resistance as a global issue. I want all measure possible, within reason, to be taken to prevent my own infection.

Not to mention that hospitals, not outpatient procedures are largely breeding grounds for antibiotic resistance.

As for viral infections... there unfortunately, it seems medicine in general is utterly in the dark. For the most part, the absolute best option is just rest and lots of fluids. Can't help but to hope for a day where the profession of doctors is mostly eradicated due to advances in nanotech.

TennisShoes said:

I ate something bad and had many poopies last night. I must have gone through 3 rolls of toilet paper. My hand still stinks

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ElectricPlasma said:

I feel extremely lucky with everything going around, I haven't got sick for about a couple years

Everyone I know has gotten sick this winter, from family to friends, even people I keep connections with in the USA have all got very sick. I'm not exaggerating when I say 'everyone', I don't know anyone who hasn't got sick this winter... I'm preparing for when I get the virus, but so far I haven't had any symptoms at all in fact; I don't usually handle winters very well as I'm sensitive to the cold (very dry and flaky skin, easy numbness, frostbite when I was a child) but I seem to be doing much better this year around, even with the virus going around.

Anyone know why/what virus is going around? It's not uncommon for people to get sick during winter but it's a lot worse this year.

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Parents aren't letting kids be kids. I grew up playing in the backyard, playgrounds, abanded houses, jumping in *****ters "not all the time" I picked up bugs, poked them, dead birds, put fire crackers in dog poo, drank from outside water hoses, etc. We all remember those days? You can't tell me we didn't build up natural tolerances and our immune system. All this antibacterial soap and hand sanitizers can't be helping us build up are natural defenses. Is there proof out there that they work? I'm not seeing it.....Edit I didn't type any dirty word but the system blanked out what I referring as a big trash container.

There's actually quite a lot of evidence that shows sanitizes and antibacterial agents do a lot more harm then good in the long run.

It's literally how MRSA came into being such a bit problem. And yes, we all certainly remember those days. Then I look at the news, read about a couple that's been threatened with having their kids taken away for playing a block away from the house, and walking to and from school and bus stop, and wonder :wtf: happened to common sense.

GSS said:

Parents aren't letting kids be kids. I grew up playing in the backyard, playgrounds, abanded houses, jumping in *****ters "not all the time" I picked up bugs, poked them, dead birds, put fire crackers in dog poo, drank from outside water hoses, etc. We all remember those days? You can't tell me we didn't build up natural tolerances and our immune system. All this antibacterial soap and hand sanitizers can't be helping us build up are natural defenses. Is there proof out there that they work? I'm not seeing it.....Edit I didn't type any dirty word but the system blanked out what I referring as a big trash container.

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I remember my childhood and am glad I had it before technology took over. I had fun in a backyard cabin, hanged out with friends and dos stupid stuff like pranking people etc....



-Alex

Obviously you went through an ordeal that could possible have been prevented by using atibiotics in the first place.

But:

InfinitusEquitas said:

That said, as a patient, selfish as it may be, I don't care about the potential for hypothetically contributing to antibiotic resistance as a global issue. I want all measure possible, within reason, to be taken to prevent my own infection.

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It is not only the global issue at all, the first place resistance occurs is in the bacteria that specifically live in and on YOU.

Every human lives in symbiosis with hundreds or thousands of strains of bacteria, populating their skin, gut, and several other tissues. Normally this is no problem, and as long as balance is preserved these will not 'turn on you' and become pathogenic.

If you take antibiotics they will all develop resistance to that antibiotic, still not harming you.

But when the time comes one of them does become pathogenic, this one will also be resistant to the antibiotic you used before, limiting options for further treatment.

There can be quite a big time gap between the events as well. Perhaps you'll take an antibiotic now that makes bacteria living in your gut resistant to it. In 10 years you may somehow get a bit of your own feces into your eye, causing an infection there. That antibiotic you took 10 years ago will not be much good to cure your eye infection then.

So this is not something altruising like heard immunity, but something that could directly influence your personal future health without concern for anyone else.

It must be something, a bug, from chatrooms going around that causes discomfort and difficulty swallowing.

Nothing to worry about on LPF as it is a text forum. :crackup:

I for one am not convinced about the text-only nature of this forum.

Also, if you sneeze or have a sore throath after reading this post, don't blame me for it ;p

So I found out I have had medical coverage. I got a 1095 in the mail saying I had coverage for all of 2015 through the VA since I have a disability rating from the military. I don't even care about getting the money. I just wanted it on my records in case something comes up. With all the bad stuff about the VA in the news, it doesn't bother me that much.

It had been 2 years since the last time I went to a doctor. Then I went last Monday since I've had pretty bad pain starting in my neck, running through my left shoulder and down to my left wrist. The hydrocodone had helped relieve the pain a little bit. I'm not sure if the muscle relaxer has helped at all. It's time to make another visit though. Various people I work with also seemed to think if was a muscle sprain of some sort. That doesn't seem to be the problem though.