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CSF leak after Covid swab test gone wrong?

Hi, I have a severely deviated septum on the left side and was getting a Covid swab by an overzealous nurse. She poked me all the way up the left side where my septum was deviated, felt resistance and kept going. I felt a sudden bout of pain and she finally retracted the swab.

Two days later I wake up with clear salty liquid dripping down my throat. I also have a massive daily headache, eye pressure and sensitivity to light. Saw two ENT’s thus far and was able to collect a tiny amount of fluid which tested negative for CSF. Neither of them are convinced that I have a CSF leak, however I am very worried that is still the case given how debilitated I’ve been feeling and the constant drip coming down the back of my throat.

I am trying to collect more fluid for testing, as I think I got a false negative in the first attempt at collection. I’m also seeing a different ENT specialist who specializes in CSF leak surgeries and hope I can get further clarity and work up from him.

Has anyone has anything similar? Can it be anything else besides a CSF leak that could produce similar symptoms?
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20909115 tn?1623046980
CSF is Cerebrospinal Fluid. If the nurse swabbed you up to your deviated septum, then it could be either two things. It could be a CSF leak or an infection of your deviated septum. Most likely it is an infection caused by the nurse shoving that swab deep up in there, going into your deviated septum, and ripped open a blood vessel. All you can do is take some antibiotics, or see a ENT doctor for further analysis. I'm not a doctor, but I am pretty smart at the human body
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