Self-Diagnosis: Know when to call the doctor
I know it can be difficult not to try and self-diagnose - especially if you are a nurse or someone else in the health care professions. We tend to do that naturally I believe. Well sometimes common symptoms can lead a person on a wild goose chase if they try to sit back and figure it out on their own.
Why is it health care professionals tend to be the last ones to seek health care when they need it? Perhaps it is because they are too busy to do so. Most health care professionals live very busy lives. They tend to work long hours and keep putting things off until they absolutely have to address them. I guess I have joined this group of folks.
I have been feeling dizzy on and off for quite some time. I felt maybe my blood sugars were fluctuating and that was making me feel dizzy and lightheaded at times. I really couldn't make rhyme nor reason out of it though. There didn't seem to be any real pattern.
This past weekend I woke up with a major headache that lasted much of the day. It felt like a sinus headache and a migraine wrapped into one. Well several months ago, I had similar symptoms that left me incapacitated and bed-bound. Finally I went to the doctor's office because I thought I was having a stroke. My blood pressure had been up lately and I thought the pounding in my head was from that.
The rest of my weekend was quiet and I just didn't feel well at all. Monday morning, I woke earlier than usual with severe dizziness, pain, facial pressure nausea and vomiting. I wanted to curl up and die. My face was swollen around my eyes and it hurt to look at anything. My forehead was bulging forward. I went to the doctors and he read the results of a recent scan. It showed I had thickened walls in my sinuses. The deep sinuses located behind the eyes were full of fluid that wasn't draining freely. I was treated with very large doses of antihistamines to help dry things up, antibiotics, and medications for nausea and severe pain.
The last time this happened, I pushed to get back to work. I didn't take the time to let the medications work as much as they could have. This time I was resigned to the fact I needed to get these symptoms under control once and for all. So I called my boss and told her the news and I took my meds and went to bed. I have followed my doctor's orders and have been pretty much asleep more than awake due to the side effects of the meds - but that is ok. I have a lot of work ahead of me when I return tomorrow but it will be good to be back to work.
So what did I learn from all of this? Stop putting off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. I needed to see a doctor. The dizziness had nothing to do with my blood sugars. I was way off in my self-diagnosis. The dizziness and other symptoms were from the fluid in my head that had no place to go. When it became too much, it put pressure on my eyes and caused visual disturbances. The dizziness and pressure caused nausea and vomiting. It was all a chain reaction.
The treatment has helped a great deal and I know I may need to eventually see an ears, nose, throat specialist if I keep having these problems. But at least I know what I am dealing with and I know how it is usually treated. It was a good thing I stopped trying to diagnose myself and went to see my doctor. As health care professionals and providers, we need to do that. We need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others and tend to all of our other responsibilities besides.
Related Topics: Is Coffee a Headache Cure?, FDA Approves Clarinex 12-Hour
Technorati Tags: healthcare, diagnosis, sinusheadache
Why is it health care professionals tend to be the last ones to seek health care when they need it? Perhaps it is because they are too busy to do so. Most health care professionals live very busy lives. They tend to work long hours and keep putting things off until they absolutely have to address them. I guess I have joined this group of folks.
I have been feeling dizzy on and off for quite some time. I felt maybe my blood sugars were fluctuating and that was making me feel dizzy and lightheaded at times. I really couldn't make rhyme nor reason out of it though. There didn't seem to be any real pattern.
This past weekend I woke up with a major headache that lasted much of the day. It felt like a sinus headache and a migraine wrapped into one. Well several months ago, I had similar symptoms that left me incapacitated and bed-bound. Finally I went to the doctor's office because I thought I was having a stroke. My blood pressure had been up lately and I thought the pounding in my head was from that.
The rest of my weekend was quiet and I just didn't feel well at all. Monday morning, I woke earlier than usual with severe dizziness, pain, facial pressure nausea and vomiting. I wanted to curl up and die. My face was swollen around my eyes and it hurt to look at anything. My forehead was bulging forward. I went to the doctors and he read the results of a recent scan. It showed I had thickened walls in my sinuses. The deep sinuses located behind the eyes were full of fluid that wasn't draining freely. I was treated with very large doses of antihistamines to help dry things up, antibiotics, and medications for nausea and severe pain.
The last time this happened, I pushed to get back to work. I didn't take the time to let the medications work as much as they could have. This time I was resigned to the fact I needed to get these symptoms under control once and for all. So I called my boss and told her the news and I took my meds and went to bed. I have followed my doctor's orders and have been pretty much asleep more than awake due to the side effects of the meds - but that is ok. I have a lot of work ahead of me when I return tomorrow but it will be good to be back to work.
So what did I learn from all of this? Stop putting off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. I needed to see a doctor. The dizziness had nothing to do with my blood sugars. I was way off in my self-diagnosis. The dizziness and other symptoms were from the fluid in my head that had no place to go. When it became too much, it put pressure on my eyes and caused visual disturbances. The dizziness and pressure caused nausea and vomiting. It was all a chain reaction.
The treatment has helped a great deal and I know I may need to eventually see an ears, nose, throat specialist if I keep having these problems. But at least I know what I am dealing with and I know how it is usually treated. It was a good thing I stopped trying to diagnose myself and went to see my doctor. As health care professionals and providers, we need to do that. We need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others and tend to all of our other responsibilities besides.
Related Topics: Is Coffee a Headache Cure?, FDA Approves Clarinex 12-Hour
Technorati Tags: healthcare, diagnosis, sinusheadache
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