To Go or not to Go?

[Anonymous]

I’m so frustrated! Ben has had an ear infection for about 5 weeks now, treated first with Amoxicillin and most recently with Omnicef. We just finished his last dose of the Omnicef yesterday. Well, last night was terrible. He woke up several times and finally had to be rocked back to sleep.

Anyway, last Tuesday (4 days into the Omnicef), we took him back to the doctor because he still seemed so irritable and we wanted to be sure the medicine was working this time. Doctor said that it was, said that if this had been the first time he had seen him, he wouldn’t even have prescribed the antibiotics. So, we thought, great, the ears are clearing up. Well, he got better and better, but about 2 days ago, he started getting fussy again, and then last night’s mess. Today was pretty bad, and he was swiping and messing with his ear all day. He doesn’t have a fever, but he didn’t at all during the second antibiotic round. This is the same thing that happened with the Amoxicillin – starting to get better and then getting worse.

Is it possible that it went from good to bad in just that short of time, or is something else going on? It is very possible that he is teething, as he has really wanted a pacifier in his mouth lately, but I can’t see any sign of teeth (no red or swollen gums, etc.)

Should I take him back in to the doctor? I just hate going back in there again. We have spent so much on copays the last month, but I don’t want him to still be suffering from the infection either. I will just feel like an idiot if his doctor says, “no, they’re just fine, just like I told you last week.”

[Anonymous]

Uggg…I sure understand your dilemna! I always second guess myself too when it comes to the ears. It’s just impossible to know for sure unless you bring them in, so I always bring them in if I have any suspicions whatsoever that it may be the ears. I just had Myles to the doc on Friday because I was worried about his ears, but it turned out to just be a virus. I’m very lucky. I hope it’s just teething for Ben. The swiping and messing with the ears thing would concern me, though. Sorry, I’m not much help.

We have a county health services center where we can take our kids for simple things like ear checks and they only charge $5 whether you have insurance or not. (They don’t even ask). Maybe there’s something like that in your community. I use it frequently not only because it’s cheap but because it’s usually quick, no appt neccessary and there usually are no sick kids (so less exposure to viruses) because they only do ear checks, vaccinations, and flu shots.

I hope Ben is feeling better soon.

[Anonymous]

Wow Christine you lucky duck to have a $5 clinic to check for ear infections! How nice!

Naomi – I know how stressful ear infections can be. Has your ped. suggested rocephin shots? That was always the last route for us “if” the round of antibiotics didn’t work. Thankfully it never came to that, but it’s pretty common to do…especially for those really nagging infections.

Have you thought about seeing an ENT? If he has had as many as he has, it might make sense to go ahead and start seeing one now in case they continue to be persistent and severe.

HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I would take him in just for a check, we like Amy mentioned have always had to go to the Rocephin injections and a 2nd round of antiboitics to clear up on of Taylor’s infections! Multiple times where we would start an antibotic such as Suprax 4 days into the medication and she is much worse, back to the peds office and the ears are even worse Rocephin injection and a switch to another antibotic such as Omnicef. She would run a temperature, pool food, gag, and vomit with her ear infections for the fact for her it always came along with strep throat!

[Anonymous]

I would take him back…better safe than sorry. There was one month when the Ped office knew my voice on the phone becuase I called so much because I thought Brianna had something going on.

[Anonymous]

I would also take him back. (better safe than sorry I figure)

[Anonymous]

Well, I may be kicking myself later today or tonight, but I ended up not taking him. He slept better last night (of course, he was doped up on tylenol ), and he seems in much better form today. He hasn’t been pulling at his ear nearly as much either. Maybe it was just some teething or some left over fluid? I know my niece always used to pull at her ears when she was teething, so who knows.

Hopefully, he will continue to do okay and I won’t have to take him back in until his 9 mo. check up next week. Fingers crossed

[Anonymous]

Fingers crossed for you.

[Anonymous]

naomi—-you know how they always say, “if i knew then what i knew now…..” after 9 kids, one of my bits of advice would be to buy an otoscope. i don’t know how many office visits i have had over the years wondering if a child had an ear infection—–and my kids usually did NOT run fevers with ear infections. ian had so many infections it was unreal, plus he cried for 2 years, so he was always fussy—-it made it so difficult to know what i needed to wait out and what needed to be checked. the twins both had tubes put in at 11 months. molly had tubes at 8 months—–after going through 5 antibiotics with one infection.

[Anonymous]

Where do you buy an otoscope…a pharmacy? Also, how do you know what to look for? Is it easy to see whether there is an infection?

I’m thinking it might be worth getting just to not have to guess all the time

[hellbennt]

I’m thinking of it, too!

[Anonymous]

What a great idea! I think Heather mentioned a few days ago that she had one and used it, and I thought then that it would be smart to get one. Not sure that I would know what to look for, but I guess you try it out on a healthy ear and if looks differently, you’d know?

I would love to know where to get one.

[Anonymous]

I have an otoscope at home and it does make a difference but sometime it is hard to see especially if it is just the start of an infection vs a full blown infection. Have the MD show you what an infected ear looks like and a healthy one. There is also a device on the market that I though was interesting to help diagnosis and ear infection here is the website http://www.earcheck.com/

[Author]

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