When It Rains, It Pours

[Ursa Major]

Well, I've had a violent case of the stomach flu a little over three weeks ago. I have still not recovered, I still have explosive, watery D several times a day, and get terrible stomach aches after every food intake, no matter what I eat.

These past few days I have also had unbearable tooth aches from the last molar, left side on the bottom. Plus my glands are very swollen and are aching a lot. Really, my whole left side of my face is painful, including an earache!

This morning I saw my dentist. He took an x-ray that shows that the root in that tooth is dying, plus an abscess is starting.

I need a root canal. But because the roots on that particular tooth are long and narrow and sort of twisted, he doesn't want to do it and is sending me to an oral surgeon. Their first appointment is for May 7th! That is in THREE weeks.

Until then I am on Tylenol three, plus an added regular strength Tylenol with each one of those pills. And I am on an antibiotic to hopefully help that abscess (unfortunately, I have NEVER seen an abscess respond to antibiotics before, not in me, my husband or any of my kids).

I have SO much to do right now! The Tylenol 3 is making me dopey, and I am still in pain, even with it. And of course, this is only going to make my gastrointestinal problems worse.

I have been on lots of probiotics for a week now, and they have done no good whatsoever. I am at my wits end.

I could sure use some prayers!

[dbmamaz]

I'm not much for praying, but I sure hope you feel better soon . . . and that those three weeks go fast!

Is it possible you picked up a stomach bug or parasite while traveling? My mom got very sick once while in Boston - she thinks it was bad seafood - and she stayed sick for over a month. Finally it just went away and her doctor said something along the lines of it was just a bad infection that set off her stomach and it took a while to recover, or something vauge like that. She lost a lot of weight she didnt need to lose, which unfortuneatly kicked her in to some old anorexia tendencies . . .she loved being so thin, and has only gained back a little of it. How can a 72 yo woman still be anorexic, I dont understand.

Anyways, you just might want to get checked for parasites if you can, and again, wishing you speedy recovery/relief

[Phyllis28]

I hope you feel better soon. If you call the Oral Surgeon everyday you might get be able to get in earlier if there is a cancellation.

[Ursa Major]

Is it possible you picked up a stomach bug or parasite while traveling? My mom got very sick once while in Boston - she thinks it was bad seafood - and she stayed sick for over a month.

Anyways, you just might want to get checked for parasites if you can, and again, wishing you speedy recovery/relief

I went to Ottawa to visit my daughter and her family, and got sick the day after I got there (meaning that I was already infected). A few days after I got sick, my daughter and four of the five grandchildren got the stomach flu (and none of them were sick for more than two days). So, it must have been just the stomach flu, if I gave it to my daughter and grandkids.

I ordered the Humaworm parasite cleanse, it is on the way. I am going to do it as soon as it arrives, and hope that it will help.

If you call the Oral Surgeon everyday you might get be able to get in earlier if there is a cancellation.

That is a good idea, thanks for the suggestion.

[jerseyangel]

Ursa,

That's a good idea about calling to see if there's been a cancellation--call first thing in the mornings

Actually, the same thing happened to my 23 year old son last year--he had to have a root canal, but had to wait for an appt. with an endodonic dentist since the tooth root was crooked.

He took the pain meds when needed (in his case, the pain came and went) and the antibiotics and was just fine when it was finally taken care of.

I'm sorry that you're still suffering with the stomach bug--perhaps if there's a bacterial component at work there, the antibiotics will help? Just a thought.

At any rate, I hope you get feeling much better soon--prayers and a hug

[Ursa Major]

Yeah, my dentist suggested that the antibiotics might help my stomach. We'll see.

I just called the oral surgeon and was told that May 7th is only a consultation! Meaning that it will likely be over a month before the actual root canal will be done.

But the receptionist said that the antibiotics should work within 48 hours and the pain should subside then. But she told me to call if things don't settle down within that time. She also put me on their cancellation list, and will call me if a date becomes free. So, I won't need to call them unless things don't improve, they'll call me.

[jerseyangel]

Yes, as soon as the antibiotics kick in, you'll feel better as far as the tooth. My son actually got by on regular Tylenol for work and only took the RX painkiller when needed.

[Cinnamon]

I don't have any advice, but I will be praying.

[Cheri A]

((hugs)) and prayers for your health, Ursa. I'm sorry to hear that you are still struggling!

[elye]

Hi, Ursula!

So sorry you're going through all this.

I've had two abcesses that were due to infection under the same tooth, about a year apart. The pain was considerable, and there was a lot of swelling. Both times I was prescribed an antibiotic, and once I started it, the swelling and pain were gone in less than 48 hours. So, I'm sure this will happen with you!

[Green12]

Sorry you are having such a rough time Ursa

I hope you can get in to the dentist sooner, I would think you would feel better with the tooth pain once you start treatment.

I will keep you in my thoughts

[blueeyedmanda]

Hi Ursa, sorry to hear you are not doing well. I am keeping you in my thoughts. I agree with everyone keep calling the oral surgeon, it might get you in earlier.

Could the tooth be what is causing the GI problems?

[home-based-mom]

Let me add my prayers for you as well. You must be beyond miserable. Hopefully the antibiotics will help the pain and the infection without worsening the "D" and an earlier appointment will open up for you ASAP. {{{ }}}

[kayavara]

I too hope you're feeling better soon.A toothache can cause such terrible pain.Wishing you better days very soon and a cancellation in your dentist's office.

Kay

[confused]

I will be thinking about you and hope the pain goes away soon. I am also going to be starting the humaworm. Maybe we can start at the same time and compare notes lol

[Ursa Major]

I will be thinking about you and hope the pain goes away soon. I am also going to be starting the humaworm. Maybe we can start at the same time and compare notes lol

I got the e-mail yesterday, saying that they have shipped it. Since I am in Canada it could take up to three weeks for me to get it (when the slow US mail joins up with the snail paced Canadian mail, it REALLY slows down!). Hopefully it won't take that long.

Thanks for your kind words, everybody, it helps when I know people care.

This far, the antibiotics have made my D twice as bad. I just hope that it won't continue to get worse. Because it can't get much worse than it is already! I don't dare leave the house, and my life is on hold.

[flourgirl]

Hi Ursa Major! I like the name, but the way. You have my prayers, for relief and for a cancellation that they'll give to you. I can commiserate completely! I blame Celiac for my mouth troubles. I've had 3 abcesses, 4 if you count the one a year ago. By the time I could get into a dentist, the root had broken in the gum and I lost the tooth. Happened 2 times more this year. Was able to salvage the last one....asked to be put on a list to be called in the event of a cancellation. God smiled on me that time.

I DO know that the infection was wreaking havoc on my system! Besides still in the healing process with Celiac, my heart was doing irregular beats, blood pressure up and down like a yoyo, and continuing to feel absolutely sick to my stomache all of the time. I KNOW it wasnt' gluten, but the infection seemed to exacerbate all of those symptoms.

Good luck, hope you feel better and get fast relief! Check with the dentist about a call list for cancellations...and make lots of noises about the agony that you are in!

[de caps]

HI,

I hope you start feeling better soon. One of the good side effects of Tylenol 3 is constipation. Maybe this will help you D. It helped mine in the past when I took it for my Fibromyalgia.

Donna

[Ursa Major]

HI,

I hope you start feeling better soon. One of the good side effects of Tylenol 3 is constipation. Maybe this will help you D. It helped mine in the past when I took it for my Fibromyalgia.

Donna

Yes, codeine is supposed to cause constipation. But never in me. I took 50 to 100 mg codeine contin every 12 hours (it is 12 hour slow release) for five years for fibromyalgia, and got D anyway.

But in the meantime the antibiotics appear to be starting to work, and the D is getting better, too! My dentist was saying that maybe I have unfriendly bacteria in the gut, that might be helped by the Penicillin. And he might have been right.

Last night was absolutely awful. If I didn't wake up from my own moaning, having to take more painkillers (several times last night), I'd be having dreams filled with pain and trying to alleviate it! In one dream I asked my sister (who is in Germany, but we all lived in the same house in my dream) to get me some water to take more painkillers, and she told me to suck it up and stop being such a wimp, there was nothing wrong with me! I woke up sort of upset.

Now the pain is starting to be much less, and I hope that tomorrow I won't need any painkillers any more. Hopefully I can get some better sleep tonight.

Flourgirl, that sounds awful! I am glad that I have had relatively good teeth (apart from needing braces from ages 44 to 47 to fix a dual bite and TMJ). I am so tense at the dentists!

[OBXMom]

I missed this earlier, so I just said a prayer. You are definitely due for a healthy, painfree streak, and I hope it is here soon. I also wanted to say thank you for doing so much thinking about other folks, like my little guy you've given all the good ideas for, when you probably feel like tearing your hair out.

-Jane

[ksymonds84]

My husband so feels for you! He went through the same thing except they didn't know the tooth was causing the problems. They did a sonagram on his sinuses first, found nothing and told him to take pseudephed PE, Ibuprofen, and a nasal spray. 2 weeks later, he still has horrible pain shooting mostly on his left cheek, temple and ear so they sign him up for a cat scan. Again, they find nothing but think it could be an infection and give him high powered anitbiotics. Three days into the anitbiotics his top back molar gives him such huge pain that he cant function (he normally has a very high pain threshold) so we call the dentist, he got in that day and did a partial root canal (that's all he had time for, he basically killed the nerves) and my husband felt the best he's ever felt in 2 months! Hoping the same goes for you, that as soon as you have it done everything will go away. Definatley call everymorning and ask to be on the cancellation list. Hugs and prayers your way!

[confusedks]

Ursa,

Sorry you're going through this. I just wanted to make sure you're taking the probiotics at least 2 hours away from the antibiotics. Otherwise they will do nothing...