Discussion
Got back from my hols last week and realised that I had developed an ear infection. This has happened before especially after swimming in the sea...I sould have worn ear plug, I'll never learn!
This particular infection is slightly different the ones I have had in the past in that it seems to have been sent to me by Satan himself! I have spent ther past three days in total agony, hardly any sleep, I have to change my sweat drenched bed clothes half way through the night, my head seems to have 240v of electricity passed into at regular intrvals & the infection goes all the way down the left hand side of my face down to to my neck. I have also developed conjunctivitis in my right eye, don't know if it's related.
I am taking regular 500mg doses of Amoxicillin aswell as neurofen & codine to help the swelling & pain but they seem to be pretty useless.
Anyone else experienced this type of infection, can you give me some glimmer of hope as to when it might subside or if there is any better drug I should be taking.
SWMBO has regular migraine attacks so it's difficult to tell her about the pain because it's probably no worse but I can tell you because you're guys ......child birth must be a walk in the park compared with this!
This particular infection is slightly different the ones I have had in the past in that it seems to have been sent to me by Satan himself! I have spent ther past three days in total agony, hardly any sleep, I have to change my sweat drenched bed clothes half way through the night, my head seems to have 240v of electricity passed into at regular intrvals & the infection goes all the way down the left hand side of my face down to to my neck. I have also developed conjunctivitis in my right eye, don't know if it's related.
I am taking regular 500mg doses of Amoxicillin aswell as neurofen & codine to help the swelling & pain but they seem to be pretty useless.
Anyone else experienced this type of infection, can you give me some glimmer of hope as to when it might subside or if there is any better drug I should be taking.
SWMBO has regular migraine attacks so it's difficult to tell her about the pain because it's probably no worse but I can tell you because you're guys ......child birth must be a walk in the park compared with this!
Four years ago I too picked up an ear infection on holiday in Florida. I actually think it was picked up in a hot tub back in the UK the day before I went on hols. Not wishing to sound pessimistic but I too found it almost impossible to get rid of. The pain stopped relatively quickly( about 3 weeks). However, the ear still kept discharging and so eventually I had two surgical operations(thank heavens for private healthcare). The first to insert a gromit, the second to remove it because it made it discharge even more. Eventually, the consultant prescribed some mega-strength antibiotics and it did the trick. All in all it took over 6 months to clear up. I hope yours gets sorted quicker than mine did. BTW I am a diabetic and so infections do take longer to clear up anyway.
Good luck
Steve
Good luck
Steve
Lordbenny said:
child birth must be a walk in the park compared with this!
If it's that bad why have you not visited the A&E?Sounds like an ear infection in the external ear canal (but I can't make a diagnosis without seeing you so make sure you see a doctor!). If this is the case ear drops with hydrocortisone and antibiotic should work. A&E will be able to sort you out with this if you need it today otherwise go and see the GP tomorrow.
E.T.A.
Lordbenny said:
I have to change my sweat drenched bed clothes half way through the night, my head seems to have 240v of electricity passed into at regular intrvals & the infection goes all the way down the left hand side of my face down to to my neck.
This sounds more serious (perhaps the infection has spread) so I would suggest you pop down to A&E now!Edited by quyen on Sunday 7th September 17:44
quyen said:
Lordbenny said:
child birth must be a walk in the park compared with this!
If it's that bad why have you not visited the A&E?Sounds like an ear infection in the external ear canal (but I can't make a diagnosis without seeing you so make sure you see a doctor!). If this is the case ear drops with hydrocortisone and antibiotic should work. A&E will be able to sort you out with this if you need it today otherwise go and see the GP tomorrow.
E.T.A.
Lordbenny said:
I have to change my sweat drenched bed clothes half way through the night, my head seems to have 240v of electricity passed into at regular intrvals & the infection goes all the way down the left hand side of my face down to to my neck.
This sounds more serious (perhaps the infection has spread) so I would suggest you pop down to A&E now!Edited by quyen on Sunday 7th September 17:44
Thanks for the help!I think I'll try to get through one more night then go back to the docs tomorrow (My Birthday!!!)
Get well soon. Not nice; like toothache really cos it's so close to the "control centre" rather than being far away eg on your leg if that makes sense.
At least it isn't inner ear infection otherwise you will be constantly vomiting while the world spins round. My father had it last year and spent four weeks lying on the bathroom floor when he wasn't crouching over the toilet.
At least it isn't inner ear infection otherwise you will be constantly vomiting while the world spins round. My father had it last year and spent four weeks lying on the bathroom floor when he wasn't crouching over the toilet.
Edited by shadowninja on Sunday 7th September 18:27
I caught a b
d of an ear infection trying out a new surf spot near a harbour mouth earlier this summer.I couldn't even eat as I could close my jaw to chew! The best I could do to stop the pain were Anadin ultras and 500mg paracetamols every 2 hours alternating(doctors said this was too much, I lived so they were wrong!). That did take most of the pain away and let me get a few good hours of sleep.
It will get better, just let the anti biotics work their magic.
d of an ear infection trying out a new surf spot near a harbour mouth earlier this summer.I couldn't even eat as I could close my jaw to chew! The best I could do to stop the pain were Anadin ultras and 500mg paracetamols every 2 hours alternating(doctors said this was too much, I lived so they were wrong!). That did take most of the pain away and let me get a few good hours of sleep. It will get better, just let the anti biotics work their magic.
Don't worry about it, and don't waste the doctors time, just take the pain like a real man does. Self medicate with the wrong stuff, take loads of pain killers, and in a few days it'll eat your ear drum out completely and go away.
WTF is it with these people in agony and suffering, who come to PH for medical expertise rather than go to their own GP?????
WTF is it with these people in agony and suffering, who come to PH for medical expertise rather than go to their own GP?????
child birth is definately not a walk in the park. but to be fare proper earache is truly awful because unlike labour pains its constant there is not let up . And in the end pf childbirth there is something worth all that pain.
got to gps and get it sorted.
i once had earache that painful i spent the evening sat on the stairs banging my head on the wall..
got to gps and get it sorted.
i once had earache that painful i spent the evening sat on the stairs banging my head on the wall..
Edited by jessica on Sunday 7th September 21:40
King Herald said:
Don't worry about it, and don't waste the doctors time, just take the pain like a real man does. Self medicate with the wrong stuff, take loads of pain killers, and in a few days it'll eat your ear drum out completely and go away.
WTF is it with these people in agony and suffering, who come to PH for medical expertise rather than go to their own GP?????
Agree with the first bit, but not the second bit. A work colleague was prescribed antibiotics which caused him to lose hearing; fortunately (for me) i started using same antibiotics after he did, noticed some balance problems (which i put down to tiredness at the time) and stopped taking the stuff. OP - i'd be very careful about using more powerful drugs. Please read below - it might save your hearing (or some of it): http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/products/ototoxicdr... What amazes me is that some ear-drops contain these compounds, which is the last place you would want it.WTF is it with these people in agony and suffering, who come to PH for medical expertise rather than go to their own GP?????
Fivepercent said:
See a doctor ASAP, Amoxicillin may not be the best antibiotic.
Sounds like the infection is spreading, you could get septicemia and die.
Ear infections can go chronic and take ages of treatment to get rid of.
This is serious stuff, from what you say you need urgent attention.
A little light reading to cheer Lord Benny up further:Sounds like the infection is spreading, you could get septicemia and die.
Ear infections can go chronic and take ages of treatment to get rid of.
This is serious stuff, from what you say you need urgent attention.
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec19/ch220/ch220h.html
IANAD so know nothing - except from the experience of many children all of which had ear infections at one time or another. A couple of them were in agony too, but their doc wasn't overly concerned about complications and said that (probably) the ear drum was under pressure from the infection goo, and when it burst and the goo came out, the pain would stop, the infection would subside along with the fever, and he was right on all counts. The ear drum heals up - apparently and obviously, so no lasting harm. It's the pressure that caused my kids their pain, possibly yours too. The goo that came out their lugholes was like nothing I;ve seen before or since, but that's another story. Good luck, OP.
I've had a fair bit of trouble with ear infections. I think that once you start to suffer from them, they tend to re-occur. The trigger is always getting water in my ears. I now always wear silicone putty ear plugs for swimming, which seem to do the trick.
I've found that it usually takes two to three visits to my GP to get something effective; they tend to treat conservatively (and ineffectively) before going for a combined steroid/antibiotic/antifungal spray. Apart from one excellent old chap (sadly now retired) who took a look at my record and immediately went for the nuke it from orbit option (and prescribed a spare bottle for next time it happened).
See the doc ASAP, keep taking the painkillers (I usually alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen at 2 hour intervals), also applying heat helps reduce the pain for me; hot water bottle or whatever.
I've found that it usually takes two to three visits to my GP to get something effective; they tend to treat conservatively (and ineffectively) before going for a combined steroid/antibiotic/antifungal spray. Apart from one excellent old chap (sadly now retired) who took a look at my record and immediately went for the nuke it from orbit option (and prescribed a spare bottle for next time it happened).
See the doc ASAP, keep taking the painkillers (I usually alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen at 2 hour intervals), also applying heat helps reduce the pain for me; hot water bottle or whatever.
otolith said:
I've had a fair bit of trouble with ear infections. I think that once you start to suffer from them, they tend to re-occur. The trigger is always getting water in my ears. I now always wear silicone putty ear plugs for swimming, which seem to do the trick.
I've found that it usually takes two to three visits to my GP to get something effective; they tend to treat conservatively (and ineffectively) before going for a combined steroid/antibiotic/antifungal spray. Apart from one excellent old chap (sadly now retired) who took a look at my record and immediately went for the nuke it from orbit option (and prescribed a spare bottle for next time it happened).
See the doc ASAP, keep taking the painkillers (I usually alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen at 2 hour intervals), also applying heat helps reduce the pain for me; hot water bottle or whatever.
Chemists sell something called Swim Ear. You squirt it in your ear after swimming and you never catch anything.I've found that it usually takes two to three visits to my GP to get something effective; they tend to treat conservatively (and ineffectively) before going for a combined steroid/antibiotic/antifungal spray. Apart from one excellent old chap (sadly now retired) who took a look at my record and immediately went for the nuke it from orbit option (and prescribed a spare bottle for next time it happened).
See the doc ASAP, keep taking the painkillers (I usually alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen at 2 hour intervals), also applying heat helps reduce the pain for me; hot water bottle or whatever.
You can make it yourself, 50% white vinegar & 50% water.
Put it in a small squeezy bottle and Robert is your mother's brother.
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