I regained the use of two senses this week. If that sounds like I wasn't having too much fun up until then, well, you're right. See, for the past eight or nine weeks I've had sinusitis – for the layman the German name is probably much more explanatory, since it means (translated) "Nose-next-to-cavities-infection". All those who had Latin at school and know that the cavities next to your nose are your sinuses, and that "-itis" means "infection of", can go and bugger off. In Latin, if they please.
For the first few weeks I thought I just had a cold. A relatively mild cold, that left my lungs, eyes, head and everything else unaffected, just blocked up my nose. My better half told me to go to the doctor anyway, and I, of course, promptly followed her advice. Well, almost. I sorta met a chap in the hall who studies medicine and mentioned that I'd had a cold for weeks, whereupon he prodded various parts of my face and rolled my head around for 30 seconds, told me I probably had sinusitis and recommended a doctor. So then I went.
The doc stuck a huge needle up my shnozz and used ultrasound to show me just how clogged up I was, then gave me some herbal pills to take for a week and told me to inhale steam every day with a towel over my head. "Whatever works," I thought. This didn't, unfortunately. I just ended up smelling like tea-tree oil for a week from the pills – which no-one told me for four days! – and sweating through my face a lot.
So, back the next week to the doc and the new diagnosis read: "see above". This time antibiotics were on the menu: Amoxycillin. The ol' doc must have been in a bit of a rush, because he forgot to tell me that people who take antibiotics shouldn't play sport, since high-intensity activity can damage the cardiac muscles (them's the heart). No, that I found out from a colleague the day after football training. Hmmph.
Alright, so a week off football wouldn't kill me. I could handle that. After five days taking this Amoxycillin – a member of penecillin family – I started suffering what would turn out to be an allergic reaction to the drug. It started off with a slight rash on my feet and belly, and a bit of shaking in the evenings when I would feel cold. It very quickly progressed into a full-body rash (pretty much like measles: everywhere except my footsoles was red and itchy), the aforementioned shivering, a total lack of energy and appetite, and an upset stomach. Oh, and everything tasted weird: I couldn't taste the salt in chicken soup, chocolate tasted awful, and camomile tea tasted great. The list of side-effects to this drug read like a checklist, and I was ticking all the boxes.
Back to the doc: I didn't have an appointment, but a full-body rash does wonders in that respect. Off the Amoxycillin, on to a new antibiotic. A week in bed to recuperate, and now I'm – finally – almost back to normal. I can taste things again (including the camomile tea, which has gone back to tasting rubbish), have appetite, a bit more energy, and most importantly I don't look or feel like I have been giving up my body for mosquito biting practice. After nine weeks of not smelling burnt milk, overheated oil, or smokers standing right next to me I can even smell things again. My message announcing this fact to my girlfriend read as follows:
"I have good news and bad news: I can smell my apartment again."
For the first few weeks I thought I just had a cold. A relatively mild cold, that left my lungs, eyes, head and everything else unaffected, just blocked up my nose. My better half told me to go to the doctor anyway, and I, of course, promptly followed her advice. Well, almost. I sorta met a chap in the hall who studies medicine and mentioned that I'd had a cold for weeks, whereupon he prodded various parts of my face and rolled my head around for 30 seconds, told me I probably had sinusitis and recommended a doctor. So then I went.
The doc stuck a huge needle up my shnozz and used ultrasound to show me just how clogged up I was, then gave me some herbal pills to take for a week and told me to inhale steam every day with a towel over my head. "Whatever works," I thought. This didn't, unfortunately. I just ended up smelling like tea-tree oil for a week from the pills – which no-one told me for four days! – and sweating through my face a lot.
So, back the next week to the doc and the new diagnosis read: "see above". This time antibiotics were on the menu: Amoxycillin. The ol' doc must have been in a bit of a rush, because he forgot to tell me that people who take antibiotics shouldn't play sport, since high-intensity activity can damage the cardiac muscles (them's the heart). No, that I found out from a colleague the day after football training. Hmmph.
Alright, so a week off football wouldn't kill me. I could handle that. After five days taking this Amoxycillin – a member of penecillin family – I started suffering what would turn out to be an allergic reaction to the drug. It started off with a slight rash on my feet and belly, and a bit of shaking in the evenings when I would feel cold. It very quickly progressed into a full-body rash (pretty much like measles: everywhere except my footsoles was red and itchy), the aforementioned shivering, a total lack of energy and appetite, and an upset stomach. Oh, and everything tasted weird: I couldn't taste the salt in chicken soup, chocolate tasted awful, and camomile tea tasted great. The list of side-effects to this drug read like a checklist, and I was ticking all the boxes.
Back to the doc: I didn't have an appointment, but a full-body rash does wonders in that respect. Off the Amoxycillin, on to a new antibiotic. A week in bed to recuperate, and now I'm – finally – almost back to normal. I can taste things again (including the camomile tea, which has gone back to tasting rubbish), have appetite, a bit more energy, and most importantly I don't look or feel like I have been giving up my body for mosquito biting practice. After nine weeks of not smelling burnt milk, overheated oil, or smokers standing right next to me I can even smell things again. My message announcing this fact to my girlfriend read as follows:
"I have good news and bad news: I can smell my apartment again."
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