"Oh my God! That is a serious infection!"
Thus spoke the doctor as he looked into my right ear.I came down with a cold last Friday – nothing out of the ordinary, a raw throat, some congestion, a phlegmy cough, but no fever. It lasted this way through the weekend and then Monday. Tuesday morning I woke up with my left eye sealed shut because of dried mucous (a programmer here, who used to be a doctor in Serbia, told me it was likely my drainage tubes were blocked, so it came out my eye – ick).
Anyway, yesterday, the congestion in my nose started to clear. "Hey! That's good!" I thought. Then I had a sharp pain in my left ear around 14:00, which passed and was replaced with a dull pressure. Around 16:00 I started experiencing pressure in my right ear. By 18:00, I had lost all ability to hear high frequencies. At 20:00 the doctor was peering in my ear and getting agitated.
Well, I'm on Amoxicillin. The normal dose is 1 capsule 3 times daily. I was instructed to take two capsules immediately, followed by two more at midnight, followed by two more this morning and two more this evening. After which I can go to the normal 1 capsule 3 times a day routine.
I was also prescribed some 650mg Ibuprofen tablets for the pain – which I really didn't have that much of. Discomfort? Sure. Pain? Not really.
About three hours after I took the first does of Amoxicillin I started feeling better – I could feel the pressure easing in my ears.
Hmmm … in an earlier blog about the new year, I said I had a good feeling about it. Following the pain in my chest and this infection, I’m not so sure anymore (I would mention the Strep Throat, but that was so last year). One thing I know about predictions is that I am usually dead wrong (figuratively, to date, no one has died because of decisions I have made ;-) A good example is investing, in 1997, I invested money in energy mutual funds – the next day the price started falling and continued to fall for many years. Fortunately, I am patient (or maybe that is just a euphemistic way of saying procrastinator) and did not move to do anything with them until fairly recently and so, my investments eventually grew (which impressed my financial advisor, since my investments over the past 5 years outperformed anything he was offering).
Image grabbed from here. If you have ever wondered what a doctor sees looking in your ear, this is a pretty good site to visit.
Comments
Hmmm ... maybe I should take up smoking so I have an excuse for my cough.
I do hope you are feeling better. It seems it is uncommon for adults to get ear infections, and I imagine it is a more serious condition for adults as well. Take good care!
MIO: Well, the antibiotic seems to be doing its thing, but my throat is hurting more and more. It may have to do with the very violent cough. Pain killers numb the pain, but now, mor ethan 6 hours later, as they wear off, the pain returns.
Hopefuly this will all pass in a few days. Tania was diagnosed with an ear infection on Sunday. And since JJ jas been having similar symptoms to Tania and me, I'm taking him to the doctor's tomorrow.
Hope that you will feel better soon!!!
Took JJ to the doctor today because Tania, Jason and I had been suffering from a persistent cough since early February. Every time I took Tania (the first to come down), they could see nothing wrong with her - but suspected asthma. I seriously doubted all three of us came down with asthma at the same time (especially since the cough was phlegmy).
Last week Tania finally broke down and showed definite symptoms of infection and was prescribed antibiotics.
This week, I succumbed. So, as a precaution I took JJ. Good think I did, he also has mucous in the lungs.
The doctor said that there is a bacterium going around (forgot the name) that causes a persistent cough with little other symptoms until it erupts - usually with high fever.
All three of us are on antibiotics now. So far, Sofia seems healthy.
It may sound ridiculous but it works wonders...
U see, just a few days ago I was having 'inflammation' on the throat..
Besides being prescribed with antibiotics, I had to find my own solution...
The pain was so bad, even swallowing my saliva was so unbearable painful...I couldnt drink n eat for two days...everything kept coming out after I tried swallowing...
So I end up eating chilled watermelons and drinking chilled water...after two days, ta da the inflammatory area is cured and I can eat again!!
I can even drink hot chocolate and coffee again..yippee!!
I went to the doctor's because of the rapid pressure buildup in my ears (a few hours), not because of my throat. The sore throat appeared two days later.
Thanks for the advice, hopefully, I will never have to use it!