I shouldn't have traded my Percocet for that Ambien

I am in serious pain and have been for the past hour. I am allergic to pollen, so even though spring is my favorite time of year, it also wreaks havoc on my little immune system. When I was younger, I used to get itchy eyes and a runny nose. As I have gotten older, it's my sinuses that get attacked. Whenever there is a storm coming in or a change in pressure, I get clogged sinuses. Well, for the past week, I have been fighting some kind of cold off. I know this because I would come home from work exhausted. Not just tired, but too exhausted to even want to work out (but I made myself do it anyway). At any rate, a couple of days ago, I noticed that my back upper left teeth were sore. I figured I was probably grinding them in my sleep from stress and figured it would get better. It didn't.

Today at work, I noticed it getting progressively worse. I got home and took a hike, then ate dinner, chewing only on the right side of my mouth. It finally got to the point about thirty minutes ago when I was ready to cry from the pain, and that does NOT happen often. The last two times I cried when I was in severe pain were a) when I had my wisdom teeth out and developed an infection and b) when I broke my toe tripping over a throw rug. On the pain scale of 1-10, I would give the infection an 8.5 and the toe a 9.25. This sinus toothache gets about a 7.75...almost as painful as the infection but at least I can eat something other than Jello. Migraines are the only thing that reach a full 10, although I'm sure if I delivered a child naturally (something akin to pulling a watermelon out of my nostril) I would have to re-evaluate my entire pain rating system.

I did some research on homeopathic remedies for a sinus toothache and stuffed my cheek full of garlic. It hurt like hell and burnt my mouth but it is working...I feel a little better. I took some Tylenol sinus medication and am going to try and steam open my sinuses with a nice hot shower next. I really hope I can go to work tomorrow. I have way to much to do to take a sick day. I'll dope myself up on Dayquil if that's what I have to do (only maybe I should carpool with my coworker if I decide to do that).