Adult Ear Infection - What's Normal?

[Zebraa]

I've had a really wicked cold for over a week now and this morning my GP confirmed an ear infection. She has given me amoxicillin but I've gone deaf in that ear and can't smell anything and have very little taste going on. I feel so much pressure it feels like my head/face is going to explode!!

1. Is this normal?

1. How long before the medicine kicks in and I start to feel better and get my hearing back?

Abs usually start working within 24 hours. Take some strong painkillers tonight. Hearing varies, I've had it impaired for a while after an infection but it might clear quickly.

Well, it was with me only it was both ears. Unfortunately it took 2 lots of amoxicillin to shift it and then I was deaf for a good week or so after that.

Sounds normal to me. My ear drum did burst and I was deaf for a month afterwards.

It still hurts and I still can't hear. I just want to feel like it's actually getting better, even just a little bit!!

What a rubbish Christmas I've had! It's a good job I don't do the whole hype of a new year or else I'd be really fed up right about now!!

It should be improving, I'd pop back to the gp maybe. Some ear infections are viral though but it's worth checking.

I had a severe case of mastitis this time last year, was vomiting with pain and had yellow vision so I know the feeling!

Hope you feel better soon.

It does feel a bit better, it's starting to feel itchy? Is this a sign of improvement and inside my ear feels a bit sticky...

(sorry if i've made y'all feel slightly ill!)

Sounds like the fluid could be moving about. If it runs out of your ear and the pressure is released the drum could have burst. It's usually a little hole and clears quickly but your hearing might be funny for a while. I hate earache, it's grim.

I've gone deaf in one ear too.
Gp has given me some drops and I've been puttingthem in 4 times a day since Thursday and I'm still deaf in that ear.
It isn't painful, just feels full of fluid and all blocked up. He looked in it (and dh too!) and there was no wax.
Does that sound like an infection? and will these drops eventually work or should I go back and get something stronger?

anyone?

.

lucyjones you probably had blocked eustation tubes

i get this quite often and its hard to shift

try holding your nose and blowing through it to relieve pressure and get things moving

also inhaling steam can help

doctors also find this difficult to get rid of and is one of those things you have to live with!

very very annoying though especially if you aren't used to it

so I just wait for it to go?
how long?!!

I got an ear infection last may, it finally went last september! I was given tabs, but they didn't work, I had to have the ear drops, but I had to have the antibiotic and antifungal ones! I dont know what ~I caught, but had really bad infections in both ears (not even had one before this) I did find that when I wasnt really sore, if I put some olive oil into my ear this helped as I breaks down the build up of wax/fluids in the ear and releases them out. I was told to do this by the nurse, not at the same time as ear drops otherwise it will wash them out. I wasnt allowed ears syringed until ear infection had gone, but doing the olive oil, when I eventually went back I didnt need them doing as I had removed it all with the oil.

Sorry for the messy post, got DD hanging off of me. Hope it helps a little, even if it just makes you smile, because it hardly makes sense

SORRY TMI

Dont wait too long, it will only get worse if its not getting better, it may mean that you need ear drops and not tabs, It took my doctor 5 attampts to get my medication for this right, hense why it didnt go for so long! The olive oil also helps to moisturise the skin inside your ear so that the fluids dont dry it out, might help you hear a little better.

a practice nurse I know swears by a salt bag for ear infections. Fill a sock or something similar with salt, microwave till hot, hold over ear, or lay on it, the salt absorbs/draws out moisture hence helping the goo come out

thanks everyone, it seems to have unblocked itself today and I can hear again and haven't got that horrid ringing
other ear fills a bit liquidy though

Thats what I got before my ear infections, a 'wet' ear, and it kept leaking a little, just clear fluid, but eventually started to hurt etc etc....

i have infection in both ears too. my right on is worse feels like its going to explode and it has started swelling on the outside, my left ear is really sore all over but not got the pressure feeling. was put on ab yesterday now feeling sick, felt dizzy yesterday ad still feel really dizzy to the point i have spent day in bed. feel really poorly. might sound like a wimp and i feel its only a ear infection why am i suffering so much. never had one before and never want one again. been using a lavender wheat bag which eases it for a bit. a 36 year old in bed with bloody ear ache sounds like a child thing to do lol. oh well if not better tomro going ring gp as 3rd day on ab should see some improvement i would have though not getting worse ie swelling

Angel, you sound quite unwell ( not a wimp at all)- are you any better today?

nope hve decided to go back to the gp today and see hat he says

Good! Hope you are soon better.

well a week on and still hurting. antibiotics run out tomorrow and steroids run out on weds. will have to go back Mon I think. at least i can lay down on it now.

I have vowed to come back to these forums and post the outcome of my ear infections so whoever is searching for answers might find some. Having had a bad sinus cold and a week later suffering from excruciating ear infection in both ears, I scoured the net looking for answers only to conclude from all the comments that I would be permanently deaf 😩. It seems there were not many who returned to forums to post the outcome of their illness and treatment. However, I am pleased to say, two weeks later and my hearing is almost back. This is how it panned out:
Day 1 - ear pain started in evening
Day 2- woke up with ear ache in right ear, felt deaf in ear as if it was stuffed, after a few hours I visited the walk in centre, was seen for about 2 seconds and told it was red and had wax in it. I was not prescribed antibiotics and told it would take 2-3 days for the pain to stop and up to 6 weeks for the hearing to come back!!! That evening pain started in my left ear.
Day 3 - deafness in second ear (left) worsened and had that stuffed feeling. Could barely hear at all. It was awful. Decided to ride it out as the walk in centre suggested. Some watery leakage from ears
Day 4 - first ear (right) started to feel less painful but still almost completely deaf Left ear continued being very painful
Day 6 - left ear still in so much pain, visited doctors, still almost completely deaf. From symptoms I described, pain, deafness, leaking ears etc she described antibiotics, she wasn't able to see past the wax blockage in my ear so had to go by my description. Started Amoxicillin that afternoon.
Day 7 - pain almost completely gone and some improvement on hearing but very slight
Day 8 - almost completely deaf again, pain gone, sharp shabby pains which I think was fluid moving.
Day 13 - still blocked in left ear but right no longer felt stuffed but still could not hear very well, would say 20% hearing returned.
Day 14 - both ears no longer stuffed but still feel fluid with popping and crackling, hearing vastly improved say 50%
Day 15 - 80% hearing, still popping and crackling but another couple of days and I reckon it will be much better.

I've had an ear infection for about 5 days now but no money to buy antibiotics, it's only in the left ear and I'm almost completely deaf, my ear was popping and crackling but now it's stopped. What do I do?