I have been coughing for over three weeks, taking Nyquil whenever it is bad. Yesterday was the day of reckoning. I felt dizzy from coughing, almost wanting to throw up. My head hurt so bad, it was almost disabling. I’ve been having these terrible headaches for over two months now. Although I have them everyday, on some days they are so wicked that they seem characteristic of the devil. On one such occasion almost a month ago, I was in the metro heading back home, when my head began to throb. I felt acute pain on the sides of my head and soon the room felt smaller and unusually hot, my heartrate went up, I began to sweat. I couldn’t stand the lights or the piercing noise of people conversing around me. I just had to get out. I rushed out of the train in the next stop and sat on a bench, called my husband and declared emergency. He reached after 40 minutes, by which time I began to feel better. The same throbbing pain came back two weeks ago. Each time, there’s also a stinging pain in my right ear. Nothing helps, Tylenol, Advil, Excedrin.
The cough, the headache and the ear pain had to be related. There is no way I am suffering form three different ailments at the same time.

There’s this website called familydoctor.org that I go to whenever my body does something it shouldn’t. This time it is the cough and the headaches.

So I went through their self-diagnosis table a couple of times, each time very unhappy with the diagnosis.

I started with the table for cough.

TRIAL 1:

1. Has your cough begun recently? No
2. Are you very short of breath, and are you coughing up pink, frothy mucus? No
3. Does your cough produce clear or pale yellow mucus? Yes

Diagnosis: You may have a viral illness such as a Cold and Flu. Get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids. Try over-the-counter medicines to treat your symptoms.

This is what I have been doing for the last three weeks. My cough is only getting worse. I concluded that maybe my answer to Question 3 was a No. After all, I am not feeling particularly phlegmy. So I tried again.

TRIAL 2:

3. Does your cough produce clear or pale yellow mucus? No
4. Does your cough produce yellow, tan or green mucus? No
5. Does the cough come with shortness of breath and wheezing? No
6. Do you have swelling in your legs and/or shortness of breath when you are active or after you have been lying down? No
7. Do you have heart problems? No
8. Have you recently started coughing up blood or bloody sputum? No
9. Did you inhale dust, particles or an object? No

Diagnosis: For more information, please talk to your doctor. If you think your problem is serious, call your doctor right away.

For some reason, I wasn’t satisfied with this diagnosis either. I wonder why the chart doesn’t ask me if I feel heavy in my chest, tingly in my throat, nauseated, feverish, have throbbing pain in both sides of my head and if l am sensitive to light and sound.

I try the diagnosis chart for headaches next.

TRIAL 1:

1. Do you have a fever, cold symptoms, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea? No
2. Do you have a severe headache, stiff neck and vomiting, and does normal light hurt your eyes? Yes

Diagnosis: You may have MENINGITIS, a serious infection of the fluid around your brain and spinal cord, or INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE, bleeding inside the brain. See your doctor or go to the emergency room right away.

I don’t think I’m hemorrhaging. Maybe, I’m exaggerating my pain. Maybe pain is when you see the light of heaven from the sky calling you towards it. I try again, this time answering my last question with a No.


TRIAL 2:

2. Do you have a severe headache, stiff neck and vomiting, and does normal light hurt your eyes? No
3. Have you injured your head or been knocked out recently? No
4. Do you have numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms and legs? No
5. Do you have pressure around your eyes, or do you have yellowish-green nasal discharge with a sore throat and a fever? Yes

Diagnosis: You may have a SINUS INFECTION. Treat fever, headache and sore throat with over-the-counter medicines, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. An over-the-counter decongestant and saline nasal spray may help relieve other symptoms. See your doctor if the pain becomes severe or your fever persists.

Hmmm, well I am not phlemy but I have a cough. Everything else seems more or less consistent with my symptoms. But the over-the-counter medicines haven’t been helping. So I call for a doctors appointment, and continue to play with my trials.

TRIAL 3:

5. Do you have pressure around your eyes, or do you have yellowish-green nasal discharge with a sore throat and a fever? No
6. Do you have mild to moderate pain around your temples and does the pain occur during times of stress or after you have been sitting in one position for a long time? Yes

Diagnosis: You may have a TENSION HEADACHE. Use over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, to relieve pain. Getting plenty of rest, taking a hot shower and applying ice packs to painful areas may also help.

I can’t be having tension headaches. I don’t have long stressful work hours, I am not sleep deprived, I am anything but unhappy with my life.

TRIAL 4:

6. Do you have mild to moderate pain around your temples and does the pain occur during times of stress or after you have been sitting in one position for a long time? No
7. Do you have intense, throbbing pain, often with nausea or vomiting, and is the pain sometimes preceded by seeing flashing lights or spots? YES

Diagnosis: You may suffer from MIGRAINE headaches. See your doctor. He or she can diagnose your problem and may prescribe prescription medicine for migraines. In the meantime, use over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, to relieve pain. You can also rest in a dark room and apply ice packs and gentle pressure to painful areas.

I finally conclude that mine is either a sinus infection or a migrane, although I am not coughing green mucus consistent with a sinus infection and my symptoms also include cough, making it more than just a migrane.

So the doctor calls me over. I walk to the clinic, which is about three blocks away. Strangely the cold breeze outside has a soothing effect, and my pain almost instantly evaporates. I sit in the doctors office waiting to be called, coughing and repelling patients around me. I notice that they have all moved to the other side of the room. After almost an hour I am called in. My doctor is a messiah from heaven. I have never seen him use a stethoscope in my 5 years in DC. He looks at me and observes my cough, I tell him my headaches are quite severe and that my right ear is screaming for attention too. He tells me I have a sinus infection. Sends me back home with antibiotics. I feel so much better now. No headaches and the cough has almost disappeared. Of course, I had to read every article there was on the net about sinus infections and see what these antibiotics do, especially since they seem to be working wonders. Life is beautiful, the sky is clear and there is no light from heaven.