6th round of antibiotics, 2 year old

[imstickladyyousee]

AIBU to think this is getting ridiculous now and request further assessment.

DS has just turned 2 and since Oct has had back to back ear infections and tonsillitis. He has confirmed glue ear. We are waiting until feb for his second glue ear and hearing test.

I hate giving him antibiotics but I'm not sure what other options we have right now. His hearing isn't great, his speech is delayed.

AIBU to push for an urgent hospital referral? Or is this just something that should settle down?

We have another appointment today and I know it's going to result in more antibiotics.

I thought with glue ear they put grommet in if it was causing frequent ear infections and hearing / speech issues. It's a really quick procedure with quick recovery. I'd ask about this

You need urgent referral to ENT specialist

They won't be giving him antibiotics for nothing. I had a lot of those sort of infections as a kid. UK has a weird attitude to antibiotics..... Just take them if they make you better! The doctors know what they are talking about

My youngest had glue ear issues but fortunately no infections so no antibiotics were prescribed. He got added to the waiting list for grommets at around 2.5 years after lots of hearing test appointments. I asked if there was an alternative we could try and we were advised, anecdotally, to try cranial osteopathy. I never thought a toddler would lie still for the session, or that it would work, but after two appointments he had a clear trace in both ears. I don't feel you are being unreasonable to push for an ENT referral this stage though. Hope things improve soon.

Thanks all for your replies. I will ask if they can refer him urgently to see an ent specialist.

I've been told that they don't fit grommets until they hit 3 and are still having problems. But he's only just turned 2 and he can't have another year of this!

Changed that's the problem though...it isn't getting better. We see an improvement in him a couple of days after taking them but approximately a week or so after taking them he deteriorates again.

Ds had back to back ear infections from 10 weeks old. He had grommets put in at 20 months.

The grommets don't necessarily sort out infections, in ds' case it did, but that isn't always the case. So they won't put in grommets just due to infections, it requires a failed hearing test (or 2/3 depending on your hospital)

It may be that your ds' ear infection is not fully clearing up rather than them being new ones.
You can request to get referred, but they may say wait and see. I think 8 infections in 6 months is often the bench mark. To put it back n context D's at some points had 8 burst ear drums in 8 weeks.

It sounds like a chronic ear infection which we had several times for 6 months at a time when ds was younger.
Is it the same antibiotics each time? Amoxicillin has never worked for ds. Swabbing is a possibility if there is discharge.
Ds had grommets 3 times plus a clean out and adenoids removed.
He is a teen now and still gets occasional infections but we can now treat quickly and we know which antibiotic works so they are less of a problem.

My son had recurrent ear infections and tonsillitis from a few months old. At just 2 he had tonsils and adenoids removed & grommets put in. He also had severe sleep apnoea. He used to take a lot of antibiotics but we also found antibiotic ear drops worked better for clearing the recurrent infections rather than oral.

Hi op. My dd started with this when she turned one last year, she had 5 or 6 courses of antibiotics, we have an appointment next week with ent that took over 6 months because of the wait in our area! My gp says looks like glue ear but he said he's not the expert. Anyway, she was put on a low dose of trimethoprim daily to keep it all at bay, she's been on that for 6 months and has not needed any extra antibiotics to top it up, basically, it's worked. Ask for ent referral and ask about the trimethoprim. My dd is like a different child since being on it.

My older brother has this as a boy, turned out to be dairy was causing his sore throats and then the ear problems came after this. When my Mum stopped dairy all this went away. Maybe something to look into. I hope you find something that works.