Soooo sick!! :(

[celstu1]

Decongestant, wow... I didn't think of that. No doctor ever told me of that either. Next time this happens I'll be happy to try that. The pain in unbearable honestly, it is like someone is taking a serrated knife and just stabbing repeatedly inside your ear.
Deuce, you get them more than I do and yet they do not consider you for tubes or surgery or something for this huh? They told me really it has to be about 3x a year before they will consider anything drastic and this is only the 3rd one Ive had in like 10/11 years.

Each one is like an experience I'll never forget though. At one point in all my crying I said to my boyfriend, I swear my EAR is giving birth!!! LOL I cannot imagine labor is more painful than this honestly!! (no disrespect to the moms out there)

[Deuce]

I'm sure if I asked they may consider it, but military doctors are hit and miss, seems like I have a new doc every time I go, and each one wants to try something new...it get's old quick so I just try to go with the flow, but for something like this I just ask for the instant relief of what I know works for me. I may ask about the surgery with the next one, but they'll probably want to wait it out, which I don't mind. I don't like the idea of surgery.

[RoxyLuv]

Originally Posted by celstu1

Oh my gosh! That sounds TERRIBLE!!!! I know how you feel except I cannot imagine this going on for years. Even minus the pain it's extremely disorienting to have one ear completely clogged up and unable to hear. I am going through that also right now, but I know its going to unclog in a day or two and I'll be on the mend. I can't imagine longer than that, a week is enough for me. My equilibrium seems to be ok probably because this is an outer ear infection, not inner, so really its just the part that can be reached with a Q-tip that is infected and swollen closed. I get nervous and jumpy with sounds since I also can't tell which direction they are coming from.

Will you ever get your hearing back? Do the doctors know what the heck happened to you?

I am back at work today. Last night I actually slept for 5 hours straight which is the longest Ive slept in a week. woohoo The pain is not too bad anymore, and 3 advil seem to take care of it for about 5 hours now which makes me very happy, I mean on monday I could not go even 2 hours without taking something for the pain. Today is day 5 on antibiotics so this is the turning point now.

I am soooo tired, not sure if its the meds or I'm just tired from such little sporatic sleep Ive had. Also the meds really messed up my digestive system and stomach. I eat yogurt every day though and drink lots of water like the doctor said to.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes... I think (hope) (knock on wood) that the worst is over and it should get better from now on.

It's been 2-1/2 years, and still no sign of hearing anything at all in that ear. He said a virus caused it. Have completely failed hearing tests. Dr doesn't expect that I'll ever hear in that ear again. Anytime I'm sick for any reason, my equilibrium gets worse until I'm well again, but it's always a little off even when I feel good. I am a person who rushed everywhere, moved quickly, but not anymore. If I move fast, I'm likely to be flat on my face.

Being in a room full of people talking & noisey are stifling. Have to wear ear plugs at gd's basketball games. Same if I went to see a stage show, music, or anything like that. People hug me & talk at the same time in my deaf ear. I hear a voice sometimes, but not what they said so I'm always saying, 'Huh'. (Never realized we always hug people to their right side.) Go to restaurant & have to make sure I'm sitting so rest of group is on my left so I can hear them, or give myself whiplash constantly turning my good ear toward the person talking to me. The list goes on and on....

It's hard to walk Roxy across the yard or any uneven ground, as I have to be sure where I'm walking so that I don't get off balance. If I look at the ground all the time, I get dizzy. I'm fine driving usually because I'm sitting, but sometimes it a good jaunt from parking space to stores where there's something to grab onto for a minute to steady myself. DH drives me alot of places, but I absolutely HATE that! Guys just don't shop right ya know, hate having someone waiting around for me & bored, have no independence. The word stereo no longer means anything to me. I try to content myself by telling myself things like, 'Well at least it's not cancer.' or something like that.

So take great care of your ears. Don't take them for granted. They affect your well being more than you realize. Sorry, didn't mean to go on so long. So glad you are doing better today.

[celstu1]

Originally Posted by RoxyLuv

It's been 2-1/2 years, and still no sign of hearing anything at all in that ear. He said a virus caused it. Have completely failed hearing tests. Dr doesn't expect that I'll ever hear in that ear again. Anytime I'm sick for any reason, my equilibrium gets worse until I'm well again, but it's always a little off even when I feel good. I am a person who rushed everywhere, moved quickly, but not anymore. If I move fast, I'm likely to be flat on my face.

Being in a room full of people talking & noisey are stifling. Have to wear ear plugs at gd's basketball games. Same if I went to see a stage show, music, or anything like that. People hug me & talk at the same time in my deaf ear. I hear a voice sometimes, but not what they said so I'm always saying, 'Huh'. (Never realized we always hug people to their right side.) Go to restaurant & have to make sure I'm sitting so rest of group is on my left so I can hear them, or give myself whiplash constantly turning my good ear toward the person talking to me. The list goes on and on....

It's hard to walk Roxy across the yard or any uneven ground, as I have to be sure where I'm walking so that I don't get off balance. If I look at the ground all the time, I get dizzy. I'm fine driving usually because I'm sitting, but sometimes it a good jaunt from parking space to stores where there's something to grab onto for a minute to steady myself. DH drives me alot of places, but I absolutely HATE that! Guys just don't shop right ya know, hate having someone waiting around for me & bored, have no independence. The word stereo no longer means anything to me. I try to content myself by telling myself things like, 'Well at least it's not cancer.' or something like that.

So take great care of your ears. Don't take them for granted. They affect your well being more than you realize. Sorry, didn't mean to go on so long. So glad you are doing better today.

Wow! That really sounds terrible. It really does affect your whole life. I know a short week like that and I can't take it much more.

I know for me, its the eyes that I tell people not take for granted. I was born with crossed eyes and a lazy eye. I had surgery when I was 2 years old. I never developed depth perception vision. So I can't tell the depth of stairs so I have to hold a railing and look at the steps going up and down. I am terrified of heights which is weird since I can't even tell how high I am, how far away the ground is to me. haha I trip on everything and always walk with my head down to see where Im going, this is habit due to my eyesight.

I had to learn how to tell how far away from me something was, as simple as a glass of milk at dinner, I would reach for it too soon and instead of grabbing the cup I would knock it over. I couldn't see 3-d movies most of my life, but with advanced technology I can start to see things now. Not that I wanted to, but I could never fly a plane legally. I am lucky that I can drive a car even.

I will never use eye drops because I have a fear of putting anything in or near my eyes (except makeup). This was bad because my senior year of HS, I swapped conjunctivitis with the girl who had the locker next to me about 8x during the year and was on eye meds most of the year. This is not correctable with surgery or lens. You can't fix something you don't have. So this is something I'll always deal with and live with. It does not bother me much at this point, but it was a rough childhood, I'll tell ya.

[Kdgd14]

I'm sick too. Blegh! But mine is the flu Yesterday as soon as I woke up I had a terrible upset stomach. Then around 8ish 9ish I threw up. My whole family had this stupid bug, and a lot of my friends have had it too. Today my stomach hurts a little, but I am so dizzy and lightheaded I can't even walk. I literally fell down on my way to take a shower and I had to sit on the shower floor the whole time. Now I'm trying to relax and not stand up a lot. Needless to say I didn't go to school yesterday or today

[celstu1]

Awww... the flu stinks! Feel better soon! The one good thing about the flu vs a cold is a cold can just linger and linger for weeks and weeks, at least the flu you feel REALLY crappy for 3 days and then it passes. I know those couple days are brutal but then it's over and done with, it does not linger and drag you down for 3 weeks like a cold can. I always say that IF I get sick (and I am trying not to this year) that I'd rather the flu, fast & hard than a cold, slow and easy(er).
Feel better!!!

My ear feels worse today than yesterday. I am on the meds until Monday and then on friday I go to the ENT doctor for a check up. I just have this feeling (like you know your own body) that this infection is not over. I think I'll end up back on meds once I see the ENT. I just don't think this infection is going away for real, I think the meds are helping but once I get off them I'll be back to being infected. Just a hunch.