Sinuses and Sloshy Ears

I went to my doctor a couple of weeks ago because I kept having fluid in my right ear and lots of pressure behind it. When I dipped my head to the right, the room would spin for a second as my brain adjusted to the fluid sloshing around inside my head. It’s happened in the past and usually requires an antibiotic to clear it; and it generally works. Shortly after I started the antibiotic was when all the kids, one after another, all came down with fevers and whatnot. Since I was on the antibiotic I didn’t think I could get what they had.

The antibiotic cleared up a bunch of my symptoms – my cough, my leaky nose, and that stuff – but didn’t really help my ear. So, this past Thursday I called the doctor’s office again to see if she could call me in a different Rx for something stronger. The recept told me the doctor was out and wouldn’t be back in until Friday and “would it be okay if it waited until then?” Did I really have a choice? Uh, no. Yes, it would be okay to wait. I didn’t get a call back. Midday Friday I called again and spoke with someone different. She explained that Dr. G. had only gotten back that morning and probably didn’t get my message yet. She took another and said someone would call me back later in the day. I got no call.

Long story short, the doctor had called back about 8:00 Friday night but we either didn’t hear the phone or someone was on it and didn’t realize a call beeped in. I got the voicemail today. She said she didn’t want to try another antibiotic yet; she wanted me to try an OTC Claritin or Zyrtec first. Since I had all five kids today I couldn’t run out to the store so I sat here with my sinuses clogged, my ear pressurized and little, minor sinus headaches off and on all day. Some pain over my right eye moved to over my left eye moved to the left side of my head and stayed a while.

When Kara got home from work she asked if I had anything to take and remembered I couldn’t go out all day but did remember she has generic Claritin in her medicine chest and also had Afrin Sinus nasal spray. Even though the Claritin said it’s the non-drowsy formula, Kara suggested I wait until bedtime to take it since meds like that usually put me to sleep. She suggested I take the Afrin at the time – around 4:00 – just to ease my sinus symptoms. So I did; two squirts in each nostril. WOW!!

If you’ve ever taken Afrin, maybe you’ll understand what I’m going to say next. Not only did the Afrin clear my sinuses up within a minute; it cleared them up so well that it actually hurt me to breathe. It was about 45° outside today but when I breathed in it felt like I was breathing in 0° air. Holy cold air, Batman!! I think I’ll save the Afrin for the next time I’m so clogged that I actually can’t breathe at all. That stuff is brutal. It didn’t clear the sloshing in my ear, or the minor sinus headachy pains, but I could breathe in the air from the California coast.

I was glad I could breathe but didn’t like the pain. Then, before I knew it, my nose was – and still is – leaking like a faucet. Whatever was clogging my sinuses has decided that it’s time to discharge itself on a constant basis. I have to keep running for tissues; either that or I’m sniffing every three seconds. Now, Ty’s doctor told me, about three years ago, that I was developing allergies. I’d taken Ty to the doctor for a minor, non-productive cough and she said it was seasonal allergies. When I mentioned that I thought he was just taking my cold, she asked me a couple of questions, looked at my eyes and said I didn’t have a cold, that I was developing allergies – in my old age. (I added that last part; she didn’t say it.)

I have to call my doctor tomorrow to let her know how I’m feeling after taking the allergy meds. Since I haven’t taken the Claritin yet, I’ll just tell her I’ll call her back in a couple of days, after I’ve had a chance to let it work. I gotta say, though, if this is what allergies are like, I don’t want them. I’m going to send them back to wherever they need to go; I’ll have to find out what the return policy is because I just don’t want them. I don’t have a receipt, though, because it’s not something I personally ordered, and I don’t think I got them as a gift. I’ll have to do some research to find out why they landed here and who sent them. Whoever it was needs to step forward.

Granted, I don’t feel as bad as a lot of people I know who have allergies. My sister has had them most of her life and was always walking around with a tissue in her hand and a leaky nose. My ex also has allergies and is constantly in a clogged fog. I don’t want to get that way so, with luck, this is as bad as they’ll get for me. Somehow, though, I don’t think I’m going to be that lucky. Minor sinus headaches and a sloshy ear I can handle – I don’t like them but I can handle them – I just don’t want to have to walk around leaking and sneezing and wheezing with a constant headache. I’m going to stop these allergies in their tracks.

I’m off on a tangent again. I just really wanted to warn you of, or offer to you – however you choose to take it – the remedy I got from the Afrin. The last time I had this kind of remedy was the time I took Contac Day/Night medicine for a cold. My dad also took it and we both only took it once. We agreed that once was one too many times. That Contac dried us up so badly that, not only did it hurt severely to breathe, but we were constantly drinking to get rid of the feeling of dehydration. The Afrin I took today wasn’t as bad as that, but it was bad enough. Maybe one of you will find it beneficial. It did work as it said it would; it was just too strong for me. Good luck to you if you try it; I think I’ll give the Claritin a try and see if that works. No more Afrin for me. Ack!!

Until next time…peace to all.