'My migraine was actually sinusitis'
Living with sinusitis
I went to stay with some friends for the weekend and thought I was coming down with a cold, because I started feeling a bit blocked up and had a headache.
Gradually, the headache got worse and I decided to go home and go to bed. The next time I woke up, my head was pounding. So I took some painkillers and went back to bed.
The following day, I felt terrible. My vision was a bit blurry, my head was pounding, I was dizzy and my balance wasn't good. My boyfriend drove me to A&E. The doctors thought I had a migraine, so they sent me home with strong painkillers.
That night, I woke up and still felt terrible. I could also feel that my face was a bit swollen. I went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and saw that the right side of my face had swollen up. My eye had shut due to the swelling and I couldn't open it.
I blacked out, but luckily my boyfriend heard me and took me back to hospital. That morning, I saw an ear, nose and throat specialist, who quickly diagnosed me with acute sinusitis.
He told me that when you get a cold, you're constantly getting rid of everything by blowing your nose. What had happened was my sinuses had blocked, and all the fluid was getting stuck and had become infected, so my face had swollen up.
He gave me some antibiotics, and within one day I was feeling a lot better. My face swelling went down, and after a week I was back to normal again.
Claire Emerson, 26, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
More help and advice
- Get all the facts about sinusitis
- Get more information on headaches
- Your tips on coping with sinusitis
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Janet Geddis, about 1 year
How interesting! I'm glad you figured it out and didn't keep treating your affliction as Migraine. So many articles have come out recently regarding how "sinus headaches" are very often Migraine attacks. This is the first time I've read about a case wherein the opposite scenario was true! -Janet G. http://themigrainegirl.blogspot.com
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