Posts by Austin Fowler

I’d probably head in, but honestly, the doctor will just immediately blame it on my protein intake, creatine, or whatever else I'm taking...
Besides, I have a feeling there's something much more serious going on with my head if these headaches are hitting this frequently.

I'm 18 and a half years old. I've been hitting the gym consistently for seven months now—five days a week, sessions lasting anywhere from an hour to ninety minutes. Regarding supplements, my rotation has included Optimum Nutrition, MuscleTech, Serious Mass, and Creatine monohydrate. Generally speaking, I'm in good health; aside from the occasional minor cold, I haven't dealt with any medical issues. Headaches have never been a factor for me until recently. This started yesterday and happened again today. Specifically, when I'm mid-set and fatigue sets in—right when my breathing becomes heavy—I develop this intense pain at the base of my skull on the right side. It’s sharp enough that I have to stop the exercise immediately. Once I rest for three or four minutes, the pain subsides. This occurred both yesterday and today. What are your thoughts? Any idea what might be causing this?

It was honestly terrible... she could barely even speak. The whole thing just felt completely overwhelming, and I still can't wrap my head around why they wouldn't just go ahead and remove her tonsils. Her fever stayed stuck above 102°F for four straight days. They had her on penicillin, but as soon as the fever finally broke, she developed this minor rash across her back and neck. Once that happened, the doctor had to stop the penicillin immediately and order more tests. Thankfully, her blood work looks okay, though her sedimentation rate is elevated. She’s heading in for additional testing now, though the doctor suspects the rash and the high sedimentation are just side effects of such intense inflammation. I'm just hoping everything turns out fine.

So, Doc says the sedimentation rate is dropping slowly... I can only imagine how high it must have been when she was dealing with that inflammation and the fever. It just makes me wonder—is it actually normal for it to spike that much from a single bout of illness? The infection was incredibly intense, but still... I’m curious if hitting those levels is standard. I read somewhere that some people have seen numbers climb past 130 or even 140... though I have no idea what kind of massive infections would cause that.

Is it normal for a 13-year-old to have a sedimentation rate of 58 following a severe case of tonsillitis? She was running high fevers—between 102 and 104°F—for four straight days. Her CBC is actually fine. She’s historically dealt with anemia and iron deficiency issues, but her most recent blood work shows everything is back to baseline, except for this one number. Can the sedimentation rate really spike that high due to inflammation, and does it typically take a long time to settle down?

BTW

After three days of treatment for the tonsillitis, the patient developed these tiny red spots across her back. The doctor ordered some tests, and well, we ended up with these results... Now I'm left wondering: could this be linked to the infection itself, or is it more likely an allergic reaction to the penicillin or other medications she's been prescribed?