Sleeping for well over 8 hours helped, but in the evening the jaws flare up again. There is probably some spot where the infection stays and then it comes out when given a chance. Perhaps the root of another tooth: One of them is kind of sensitive to pressure, so that may be one candidate. Or it could be the sinus right above the roots, drawing a steady supply of bacteria from the nose cavities. A couple decades ago I would have been eager to take penicillin to get rid of it, but these days that is not certain to help, and every visit to the doctor’s is a new opportunity to pick up bacteria that are resistant to nearly everything. The antibiotics that still help are almost as dangerous as the bacteria themselves.

For the last couple weeks at least, I have had pain in my upper jaw / lower sinuses off and on, perhaps especially if I did not get enough sleep. However, last night I slept for about 8 hours (one hour in my chair and seven in bed, or nearly so) and tonight after I came home from work, my upper jaw quickly filled with pressure and some pain. It has spread a bit across the face, first on the right side but later on the left too. On the right side, I can feel a sore lump on the inside of my cheek. Generally my face feels sore and stiff. Also my neck is a little stiff, but not much. Does not sound like a common cause of death, but I am still chronicling it in case it somehow turns out to be useful to know in the future.

I slept a full night in my bed last night, but tonight I have a tight chest and occasional deep cough. Should probably sleep in the master bathroom so as to not keep the Muslims upstairs awake all night. Cranky Muslims is not something I – or the neighborhood as a whole – needs more of.

I am a bit nervous about sleeping when I am not breathing easily. I have done what I could – used the asthma inhaler and taken cough drops – so I guess it is time to give it a try.

***

Morning. Well, that was an interesting night. I slept in one-hour spurts, although the first two were mostly spent in brainwave entrainment. I am tired and still have a chest cold, but I am alive for now, so that is a good thing as far as I am concerned.

The last two nights I have been back in the bedroom, using my timer to wake up first after 3 hours, then 2, then 2 again. The first night I woke up by myself before the timer, the next I woke by the timer. I believe I have slept for about 7 hours in total each night. I was a little more tired than usual in the morning, but not at work. I have not had any other problems with it until this afternoon at work, when my right eye became a little irritated.  I keep blinking but it remains irritated. Further down, in the top of my mouth, above the gums but to the side of the palate, there is a bulge which is also tender and will probably (judging from past experience) develop cold sores. The right side of my face between these two points is generally tender and hurts a little. My take on this is that my immune system is not working perfectly – the right side of my face tends to be the “canary in the mine” for such cases. A sinus may be involved, especially since the sinuses are probably where the chewy goo in my throat and bronchi comes from in the first place.