Swollen nose symptoms and conditions

I am glad that I found this website! I have been trying to find out how long it takes for my moon face to go away. I was prescribed 60mgs daily of Prednisone while 35 weeks pregnant for 3 weeks. When pregnant, I developed a condition called Thyromocypenia (my white blood cells die off during my pregnancies). In order for my OB to not have to put me under again for a repeat c-section, she referred me to a hematologist who put me on this drug. I asked him about side effects and he stated that the most common is increased appetite, which did not affect me. Even though I was pregnant at the time, my appetite did not change, but what did change was my face after I stopped taking the Prednisone. While in the hospital after the birth of my son, they did taper the dosage for 3 days and at the point of discharge, I was completely off the drug. I left the hospital on a Wednesday and overnight my face had swollen so strangely that I went back to the hospital on Friday. I had no idea that there was such a thing as this moon face syndrome. The nurse that attended to me in the emergency room told me about it. She said that she had taken Prednisone before for asthma and it took her face 3 weeks to return to normal.

I just had my son on 5/4, and my face has been swollen exactly a week today. I can see where some areas are reducing, but it is still not back to normal. My face did not swell at all during my pregnancy and I only gained 18lbs, so this was really startling for me to have been through 9 months looking great and after giving birth sitting up with a pie face, swollen nose, swollen lips, a swollen neck, and swollen shoulders. I also experienced a couple of migraines that nearly took me out. I hope to never have to take this drug again!

About 2 months ago, I was prescribed Sulfameth/Trimethoprim 800/160 tabs for an inflamed, swollen nose which extended to puffiness and an apparent fluid sac under my left eye -- the actual cause for this infection has not been determined.

The doctor prescribed a 14-day supply (1 tablet, twice daily), and said I could stop taking it after 10 days if I wanted, or finish out the supply if I so desired. After about 5 days, the swelling had pretty much subsided, particularly under the eye, but I continued taking the medication through the 13th day. During the first 12 days, I did not notice any adverse reactions.

However, on the 13th day, just after getting out of the shower, I noticed red welts on my chest and back, purple splotches on the underside of my upper arms, and generalized redness across the rest of my body and limbs. I did not immediately associate these symptoms with the antibiotic, because the first 12 days had not caused me any problems.

However, a friend theorized that it might be an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, and suggested I stop taking it to see if the symptoms subsided. Since I had only two tablets left, I decided to heed the suggestion, and the redness did go away after about 2 days. I resolved to tell the doctor about this reaction on my next visit, but have not been back there yet.

Earlier this week, I experienced the beginnings of similar tenderness and swelling on the left side of my nose, and still do not know what might be the cause for this. I decided on Wednesday morning to take one of the remaining two tablets of Sulfameth/Trimethoprim, and within an hour or two began to itch a lot -- primarily on the back but also on the arms. I thought that taking a shower might relieve the symptoms, and it did somewhat.

Around dinner time, I took the second (my last one) remaining tablet, and about an hour later went out to join some friends. I had a slight headache and took an Ibuprofin tablet just before going out. Within the second hour, I began to feel chills (even though I was wearing ample layers of clothing), and the headache had not diminished -- so I took another Ibuprofin. The symptoms seemed indicative of a low-grade fever.

After excusing myself and going home, I laid down to watch TV, and the chills got so bad that I was obliged to curl up under a blanket, even after turning up the central heat. The headache got so intense, I had to hold an icepack against my temples and forehead for some relief. Later, when I took my temperature, the fever had progressed to 102 degrees; still later, it had climbed to 104. This worried me, since I have read that brain damage can occur at 105 degrees.

During this time, I decided to switch (from Ibuprofin) to taking three aspirins, to see if that might be more effective in reducing the fever, but it persisted at 104 degrees for all of the night and into the next morning. I made a point of drinking lots of fluids (water & juice) and tried sleeping, but woke up about every two hours.

On Thursday, about mid-day, the fever finally began to subside -- though I noticed a fatigue and soreness in my calf muscles, most pronounced if I stood in one position for more than a minute or so. The only relief was to move about, or to sit down.

By evening, my temperature was back to normal and I felt well enough to visit with some friends again. However, several hours after returning home, I felt dehydrated and had another headache; my temperature was back at 102 degrees. I drank more fluids, took aspirins, and had another night of fitful sleep.

By Friday afternoon, my temperature had reduced to about 100 degrees, and my calf muscles still displayed the same symptoms of soreness, as though I had over-exercised them. It's a very uncomfortable feeling.

Lesson learned: I will be asking my doctor to note in my file that I am allergic to sulfa-based meds, and hope that normalcy returns over the next few days. I have also gained a deeper appreciation for the manner in which the human body fights off foreign substances! ;-)