Since Demi has a history of "slimy ear" (fungal ear infection), I'll relate our latest episode.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, we ran out of ThreeLac, one of the supplements we use to fight yeast. Just three days later, Demi started complaining that her ear hurt.
Based on previous results, I immediately gave her some ibuprofen for pain and swabbed her ear with anti-fungal cream. That night, she woke up twice in quite a bit of pain. I comforted her as best I could, giving her a bit more ibuprofen and another swab each time.
The next morning, she was pain free and went to school as normal. (Good thing, since her big Christmas party was that day!) We continued that routine for the next couple of days. I thought it was taken care of.
A few days after stopping, the pain came back, in both ears this time. I repeated the same thing once again, but kept it up for a week after the pain dissapated.
No problems since.
Showing posts with label fungal ear infection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fungal ear infection. Show all posts
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Ear Pain - Update
To update my last ear pain post, the pain/infection/problem never recurred after continuing the antifungal swabs. I continued for probably 4 more days. She was absolutely fine.
Never filled the prescription from the Dr.
Never filled the prescription from the Dr.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ear Pain Lessened
Still haven't filled the prescription. (See the last ear post.)
The last post was on Monday; it's now Friday.
I got her back on her regular supplements, which include some yeast fighters, although I didn't double up on anything. We ran out of ThreeLac and I've not yet received the new, so she hasn't had that since Tuesday.
Although we have not seen any discharge, her pain continued Tues and Wed. I gave her acetominophen for the pain, every 4-6 hrs or so as she complained vehemently about her ear. The pain woke her up at night Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday morning, I swabbed an antifungal cream into her ear. Something similar to Lotrimin. I swabbed it again Wednesday evening. Wednesday evening, she slept through the night without pain. No pain meds on Thursday. I swabbed again Thurday night. She slept well again Thursday night, with no pain since late Wednesday.
I'll continue the antifungal swabs for another several days to make sure it's gone. Not sure if it was the supplements or the antifungal cream which got it under control. I have used NO ANTIBIOTICS, so it wasn't swimmer's ear as diagnosed by the dr's office.
The last time I used an antifungal cream, we only did it once. The infection seemed to subside immediately, but I didn't believe that was the solution because we only did it ONCE. Yet, this time, the pain seemed to subside relatively quickly once the cream was introduced.
The last post was on Monday; it's now Friday.
I got her back on her regular supplements, which include some yeast fighters, although I didn't double up on anything. We ran out of ThreeLac and I've not yet received the new, so she hasn't had that since Tuesday.
Although we have not seen any discharge, her pain continued Tues and Wed. I gave her acetominophen for the pain, every 4-6 hrs or so as she complained vehemently about her ear. The pain woke her up at night Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday morning, I swabbed an antifungal cream into her ear. Something similar to Lotrimin. I swabbed it again Wednesday evening. Wednesday evening, she slept through the night without pain. No pain meds on Thursday. I swabbed again Thurday night. She slept well again Thursday night, with no pain since late Wednesday.
I'll continue the antifungal swabs for another several days to make sure it's gone. Not sure if it was the supplements or the antifungal cream which got it under control. I have used NO ANTIBIOTICS, so it wasn't swimmer's ear as diagnosed by the dr's office.
The last time I used an antifungal cream, we only did it once. The infection seemed to subside immediately, but I didn't believe that was the solution because we only did it ONCE. Yet, this time, the pain seemed to subside relatively quickly once the cream was introduced.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Another Ear Infection
Way too long between posts, especially with all the stuff going on.
The latest has to do with those darned slimy ears. This time, we haven't reached the slime stage yet. Demi started complaining yesterday that her ear hurt - RED FLAG. Early this morning, she said it hurt "a little". Later, it was back to "It really hurts!" so I took her in.
Again, they diagnosed an outer ear infection - the standard Swimmer's Ear to be treated with antibiotics. I asked specifically about the fungal infection, but was told it was "unlikely" because she felt pain to the touch, which wasn't characteristic of the fungal infection. He gave me a prescription which contained both an antibiotic and an antifungal in order to cover both possibilities.
Instead of filling the prescription, I'm upping her yeast protocol to see how it works. Because of a trip to the grandparents, a camping trip, and sheer laziness for 4 days, she's been without her ThreeLac for two weeks now. She had been without most of her supplements for four days last week. After everything going smoothly for a while, I start to forget how important certain pieces of the puzzle are.
After the doctor, I immediately gave her two sachets of ThreeLac. She had already gotten SaccB this morning. She complained again that her ear still hurt and went to take a nap. Got up after an hour; it still hurt a lot. Back down after just 5 mins. After another hour, she got up again and said that her ear didn't hurt as much.
If it continues to hurt her, gets worse, starts draining, etc., I'll likely go get the prescription filled before it gets out of hand. If it stops bothering her, I'll continue with the extra ThreeLac and her normal yeast fighters. Hopefully it'll clear up just by getting her back on all of her regular supps.
The latest has to do with those darned slimy ears. This time, we haven't reached the slime stage yet. Demi started complaining yesterday that her ear hurt - RED FLAG. Early this morning, she said it hurt "a little". Later, it was back to "It really hurts!" so I took her in.
Again, they diagnosed an outer ear infection - the standard Swimmer's Ear to be treated with antibiotics. I asked specifically about the fungal infection, but was told it was "unlikely" because she felt pain to the touch, which wasn't characteristic of the fungal infection. He gave me a prescription which contained both an antibiotic and an antifungal in order to cover both possibilities.
Instead of filling the prescription, I'm upping her yeast protocol to see how it works. Because of a trip to the grandparents, a camping trip, and sheer laziness for 4 days, she's been without her ThreeLac for two weeks now. She had been without most of her supplements for four days last week. After everything going smoothly for a while, I start to forget how important certain pieces of the puzzle are.
After the doctor, I immediately gave her two sachets of ThreeLac. She had already gotten SaccB this morning. She complained again that her ear still hurt and went to take a nap. Got up after an hour; it still hurt a lot. Back down after just 5 mins. After another hour, she got up again and said that her ear didn't hurt as much.
If it continues to hurt her, gets worse, starts draining, etc., I'll likely go get the prescription filled before it gets out of hand. If it stops bothering her, I'll continue with the extra ThreeLac and her normal yeast fighters. Hopefully it'll clear up just by getting her back on all of her regular supps.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Slimy Ear
How pleasant! Attempting to clean slime out of an ear while it keeps slipping off the q-tip. Yes, a lovely image, I know.
I've mentioned Demi's ear infection saga before, although I was surprised I hadn't related the whole story. Last month, her ear started leaking again. It thought it was another perforated ear drum. This time, we got to the Dr a little sooner, so there wasn't as much fluid in the ear. They dx'd it as Swimmer's Ear, since the ear drum did not show a middle ear infection. (Ok, that's good!) They gave us the same ear drops as before to use for 5 days.
The leakage continued as we used the ear drops but seemed to subside, so I stopped the drops. A few days later, the leakage was back. Perhaps I didn't use the drops long enough? I continued them for longer; it seemed to subside; I stopped; it returned.
Recently, I read some posts on the awesome Kabuki Support Network that I follow daily about fungal ear infections. One mother described an infection that "leaked slime down his neck constantly" which sounded exactly like Demi's issue. It certainly didn't look like any swimmer's ear that I had ever heard of, since it drained constantly, coating her hair, cheek, and neck at night (until we stuffed her ear with cotton 24/7).
After going online, I learned that the ear drops used to treat Swimmer's Ear could actually make a fungal infection worse, which also coincided with Demi's symptoms. It also said that 95% of fungal ear infections responded to standard OTC athlete's foot remedies. We'll try that for a bit, along with bumping up her anti-yeast protocol in general, and see what happens.
I've mentioned Demi's ear infection saga before, although I was surprised I hadn't related the whole story. Last month, her ear started leaking again. It thought it was another perforated ear drum. This time, we got to the Dr a little sooner, so there wasn't as much fluid in the ear. They dx'd it as Swimmer's Ear, since the ear drum did not show a middle ear infection. (Ok, that's good!) They gave us the same ear drops as before to use for 5 days.
The leakage continued as we used the ear drops but seemed to subside, so I stopped the drops. A few days later, the leakage was back. Perhaps I didn't use the drops long enough? I continued them for longer; it seemed to subside; I stopped; it returned.
Recently, I read some posts on the awesome Kabuki Support Network that I follow daily about fungal ear infections. One mother described an infection that "leaked slime down his neck constantly" which sounded exactly like Demi's issue. It certainly didn't look like any swimmer's ear that I had ever heard of, since it drained constantly, coating her hair, cheek, and neck at night (until we stuffed her ear with cotton 24/7).
After going online, I learned that the ear drops used to treat Swimmer's Ear could actually make a fungal infection worse, which also coincided with Demi's symptoms. It also said that 95% of fungal ear infections responded to standard OTC athlete's foot remedies. We'll try that for a bit, along with bumping up her anti-yeast protocol in general, and see what happens.
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