I rarely ever visit the doctor or take antibiotics. I realized they seldom do any good. It usually takes the same time to heal because most infections are viral. The last time I went to a doctor was almost three years ago because of excruciating jaw pain. I was diagnosed with mumps. The last time I took an antibiotic was even before that.
I'm a healthy 22 year old and I suffered with allergic bronchitis during my adolescent years. Years 13 and 14 were particularly bad. Every November when the weather changed and became dry, my cough would start. It would go on for months. The third year I went to my GP who diagnosed me with allergic bronchitis and gave me a light dose of Ebastine (anti-histamine). I quickly got better.
So every November I started coughing and a couple of doses of Ebastine made me much better. The allergy might have been from dust and pollution. My school at the time was in the most polluted part of the city. As I grew older, the cough stopped coming and I never needed Ebastine again.
Three weeks ago, I developed bronchitis again. It was weird. It's still not November and the weather has not changed. Also, the cough followed a fever and runny nose. After two weeks of severe coughing I went to an ENT specialist. He said this was not the asthamtic kind of bronchitis I used to have. He gave me a list of medication which included a cough syrup, double the Ebastine I used to take and a dangerous and powerful antibiotic - levofloxacin. I'm guessing that the doctor wasn't sure if it was a baterial or viral infection because he diagnosed using only a stethoscope. It was just trial and error to be on the safe side.
I did not object much. The first couple of days were fine. Then I developed diarhea and insomnia. I couldn't sleep for more than four hours a day. I was constantly anxious. The third day was when the really bad adverse reactions started. My knees were stiff and there was mild pain. I knew that the medicine was causing this. But since it was very mild I thoght it would go away.
The doctor had said that if I don't feel better on the third day I should call him. He told me to add betnyzol (a steroid) to the list of medicine I was taking. I took one dose. However, the next day my joint pain got worse. It spread to my arms. I was really anxious and scared especially after reading cases of tendon rupture caused by this medince which rendered some of its victim crippled for life.
I called the doctor and after his initial refusal of the medicine being the cause of this, he said if I had doubts I should discontinue it. I did. However the pain kept on getting worse and it kept on spreading. It wasn't bad during the day but it kept waking me up at night. I would still consider this mild-moderate pain. It wasn't that bad but the feeling and thought of injuring myself further was bad.
My right knee, my left elbow, my right foot, my right wrist and finger hurt most. They continued hurting for 3-4 days. The effected joints include both my wrists, fingers, knees, elbows, shoulder, feet, jaw, and one Achilles tendon. Most of the pain has been mild. I'm much better now and while there is still pain in some of these joints, it has receded. I'm still scared though.
All in all, I feel very lucky to have gotten away with this.
I have learned much from this ordeal. I have learned to value my health and not take anything for granted. From today, I will be watching much more closely at my health habits and hopefully improve them. Second, I vow never to visit a doctor unless I really need to and never take an antibiotic unless the doctor is 100% sure it's a bacterial infection and I need it. I will never take the Fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics because they are dangerous unless I'm dying.
I had posted in another thread that I was going to start GOMAD to gain weight, but now I think I will have to rest my tendons for a couple of weeks. I've read that they take very long to heal.
My bronchitis is much better too. The best eid gift I can get is my health
I'm a healthy 22 year old and I suffered with allergic bronchitis during my adolescent years. Years 13 and 14 were particularly bad. Every November when the weather changed and became dry, my cough would start. It would go on for months. The third year I went to my GP who diagnosed me with allergic bronchitis and gave me a light dose of Ebastine (anti-histamine). I quickly got better.
So every November I started coughing and a couple of doses of Ebastine made me much better. The allergy might have been from dust and pollution. My school at the time was in the most polluted part of the city. As I grew older, the cough stopped coming and I never needed Ebastine again.
Three weeks ago, I developed bronchitis again. It was weird. It's still not November and the weather has not changed. Also, the cough followed a fever and runny nose. After two weeks of severe coughing I went to an ENT specialist. He said this was not the asthamtic kind of bronchitis I used to have. He gave me a list of medication which included a cough syrup, double the Ebastine I used to take and a dangerous and powerful antibiotic - levofloxacin. I'm guessing that the doctor wasn't sure if it was a baterial or viral infection because he diagnosed using only a stethoscope. It was just trial and error to be on the safe side.
I did not object much. The first couple of days were fine. Then I developed diarhea and insomnia. I couldn't sleep for more than four hours a day. I was constantly anxious. The third day was when the really bad adverse reactions started. My knees were stiff and there was mild pain. I knew that the medicine was causing this. But since it was very mild I thoght it would go away.
The doctor had said that if I don't feel better on the third day I should call him. He told me to add betnyzol (a steroid) to the list of medicine I was taking. I took one dose. However, the next day my joint pain got worse. It spread to my arms. I was really anxious and scared especially after reading cases of tendon rupture caused by this medince which rendered some of its victim crippled for life.
I called the doctor and after his initial refusal of the medicine being the cause of this, he said if I had doubts I should discontinue it. I did. However the pain kept on getting worse and it kept on spreading. It wasn't bad during the day but it kept waking me up at night. I would still consider this mild-moderate pain. It wasn't that bad but the feeling and thought of injuring myself further was bad.
My right knee, my left elbow, my right foot, my right wrist and finger hurt most. They continued hurting for 3-4 days. The effected joints include both my wrists, fingers, knees, elbows, shoulder, feet, jaw, and one Achilles tendon. Most of the pain has been mild. I'm much better now and while there is still pain in some of these joints, it has receded. I'm still scared though.
All in all, I feel very lucky to have gotten away with this.
I have learned much from this ordeal. I have learned to value my health and not take anything for granted. From today, I will be watching much more closely at my health habits and hopefully improve them. Second, I vow never to visit a doctor unless I really need to and never take an antibiotic unless the doctor is 100% sure it's a bacterial infection and I need it. I will never take the Fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics because they are dangerous unless I'm dying.
I had posted in another thread that I was going to start GOMAD to gain weight, but now I think I will have to rest my tendons for a couple of weeks. I've read that they take very long to heal.
My bronchitis is much better too. The best eid gift I can get is my health
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