Quiver0f10 wrote:
Now today I have ringing in my right ear, some dull pain and my left ear feels clogged, but I can hear out of both ears fine.
One thing I remembered today is that when I would use my cell phone for the last few months it would hurt my right ear. Like the phone was too loud. Now I am worried I have ear damage, but my left ear is weird too so I don't know.
I don't listen to loud music or any loud noise. I did have surgery last week( not on my ear) and they gave me a large dose on IV antibiotics during it, which I read today that some antibiotics cause cause Tinnitus.
So now I am at a loss. I made an appointment with an ear nose throat Dr for Thursday but in the meantime I am trying to not lose my mind. I have some amoxicillian here, which is what they would use for an ear infection. I think I am going to try that and see if it helps, while waiting for my Dr apoint on Thursday.
!
STOP........STOP everything RIGHT NOW...... Sadly I know more about this subject than I would like.
#1.....Do NOT.....Do NOT take that antibiotic you have now...(amoxicillian) It is highly unlikely you have a ear infection..
Do NOT take that antibiotic.
Do NOT take any aspirin, or NSAID's...Ibuprofen etc...
There is a very good chance what you are now experiencing is a ototoxic drug response from the large IV dose you were given for surgery.
This can be very serious.......or it could pass with time.
What you are likely experiencing is damage, to your inner ears. This can affect the hearing functions as well as your balance functions in some cases. There is nothing you can do right now to help it. What you must NOT do is anything that could cause further harm.
The fullness (clogged feeling) you are probably experiencing in your left ear is called hydrops (imbalance in the inner ear fluids). Makes the ear feel like it does when you descending down a mountain in a car and you try to make it "pop" to unclog the ear.
In this situation you cannot unclog it as it is not due to air pressure.
Rather it has to do with other fluid problems in your semicircular canals or other inner ear areas.
When you go to the doctor you need to find out which IV antibiotic they gave you. Your doctor or surgeon will insist that they give hundreds of patients such drugs and that the drug they gave you is not the cause.
They are too often full of
bull sh_t ! In regards to ototoxic reactions to drugs they are woefully uninformed and will, deny the connection.
They are often WRONG..... they are UNINFORMED...
Your symptoms are classic. Hopefully nothing more serious will occur during the next few days. You many experience some disturbances in your balance or even a spell of vertigo. Sometimes it will give you a lightheadedness, or slight dizzy feeling.....just not crisp and right.
There is a range of symptoms.
So far you have two very common ones. The Tinnitus in one ear and the "fullness" in your other ear.
One cannot say how long either of these will last, but I'd bet 9 out of 10 they are directly related to your surgery and any drugs you might have taken in the days following.
Like I said.... You need to learn the name of the drug (s). You need to learn just what dosage you received. Between the time you go back to the doctor, you should avoid any other drugs....antibiotics or any pain killers.....especially aspirin, ibuprofen etc.
When you learn the name of the drug(s) come back here and tell me what it was and what the does was. You can look it up under ototoxic and the name... I will bet you any amount of money it is listed on some web page as absolutely being ototoxic.
You got a IV antibiotic and you may have gotten a oral or IV anti-inflammatory. Both can independently be ototoxic to some degree in some people. Taken together during the same surgery can only heighten the risk. Still rare, but in certain people thats all it takes.
Most people who get milder ototoxic reactions (like tinnitus) such as from excessive aspirin can have the symptoms go away. Some do not
Amoxicillian is not normally classified as being significantly ototoxic, however, with your ears already exhibiting signs of "insult" and damage, this is not the time to risk adding to the problem.
In later months and years, you may well be able to use amoxicillian safely.
Recently I had some dental surgery and did take some amoxicillian even though I have prior inner ear damage from 30 years ago.
But I have to be EXTREMELY careful with every antibiotic I take as well as with ANY ohter drugs I take......including simple aspirin or ibuprofen.
They can and do affect me all these years later as my inner ears are very fragile and susceptible to further damage and insult.
For example during that dental surgery (extraction) the dentist wanted to give me the regular IV dose of ketorolac (Toradol) a anti-inflammatory.... He is a 30 year oral surgeon and said he had never heard of such problems. He understands little about inner ear problems and the ototoxic dangers for some drugs in those who are susceptible. The anti-inflammatory is given to reduce swelling after the extraction.
After some debate we agreed he could give me 1/3 the dose. All went well, but I was still frightened of any effect and afterward kicked myself for even agreeing to 1/3 the dose.
Now, there also is a possibility that after surgery, you began to take significant doses of pain killers or anti-inflammatories, either prescription or over the counter. Those also can induce some of the effects you are feeling.
OK.......don't want to scare you, but if you are experiencing symptoms due to a ototoxic substance, then the last thing you want to do is exacerbate it.
Everything may clear up. Find out the information I suggested, drug or drugs (all of them)....dosage.... etc along with everything you've taken since...
The 1 week delay is not uncommon and in fact I think more common than not. Kind of like if you spray a weed with weed spray it might still look green and healthy for a couple days. Later the effects are clear.
NO, the doctor didn't spray you with weed killer, but you get the idea.
Or like if you take certain drugs, they can cause your hair to fall out later rather than in the first few days.
You may not realize this but inside your inner ears, you have a whole bunch of hair like structures "cilia" that help with your vestibular functions. Look up "inner ear" and hairs.
see the little hairs in the endolymph fluids... Little hairs, like grass can be harmed by drugs (ototoxic)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bigotolith.jpg
Now, hopefully you will be spared any permanent damage, and to a certain degree often the body self corrects.
On the chance that I have identified the problem, lets not be taking any chances to further harm your inner ear systems. Let them calm down and repair to the extent they can.
OK.......
Now remember, I'm not a doctor and this is the internet where you can and will hear everything imaginable.
This just happens to be a subject I have unfortunately been far to aware of and thus my extreme cautions to limit further harm.
Remember, you can't count on the doctor to admit anything he administered caused harm. And in practice, in 95+% of his patients it probably does not.
OK..... BTW, sometimes lower sodium intake can help a bit with the fullness you feel in that one ear. Often it doesn't do that much to help.
Report back............I'm curious what they gave you by IV or to take afterward.
