Caught a Cold, Fluid Behind My Eardrum

[Mandalay]

Hi there everyone,

I caught a cold and Saturday last week I realised that there is water, or something, behind my eardrum in the right ear. I went to the ENT, and first she tried to cure it by using
medicine like Sinupret. Then it did not improve and she described me Azithromycin, an Antibiotic. I had to take it for three days.

I checked the Antibiotic first, also on here, and realised it can be ototoxic. But I felt so sick and the ENT assured me it won't be any problem and I should take it (not Amoxicillin). Well, ok, I was lucky, it did not turn out to be ototoxic for me, did not make my tinnitus worse again or anything.

But, I finished the Azithromycin now and the infection is still there. It is not a real otitis media, it is just something we call in Germany "Paukenerguss", I could not find a translation for that. It means, there is still fluid behind the eardrum. The ENT also said that the eardrums look both sucked in and grey. With this right now I am not working, and I still feel sick. It's been 12 days now already, I can't believe it.

Tomorrow I will go to the ENT again and ask what to do. I don't feel that I can work still having this.
I read on the internet that if the fluid doesn't subside the eardrum needs to be cut in and I'm scared.
I try to blow the fluid out all the time by blowing my nose, but still it does not work and I still have the sniffles. What the hell can I do now? Wait?

I'm using nasal spray, also the one with Cortisone but actually nothing helps.

Maybe one of you has advice?

Thanks,

Mandalay

 

[Mandalay]

Update:

Hi there everyone,

there is still fluid behind my eardrum, in the middle ear I guess. The ENT told me it is not an ear infection, but the other thing which is connected to the eustachian tube. It means, my right ear inside is still somehow swollen, the fluid is still in there, but it is not an ear infection.
I took Prednisolone and Azithromycin already, the fluid has not subsided yet, but if feels better than last week.

The ENT said to wait for the healing.

It has been almost 3 weeks now, what can I do? Do you have any advice?

I only know that if it doesn't go away the ENT has to cut in my eardrum and put a tiny thing in it to get the fluid out. Of course I don't want this procedure...

Does any of you have any experience with this?

Thanks,
Mandalay

 

[Mandalay]

Update: Today I'm feeling better, I still have hope that the fluid in my right ear will subside.

It just came into my mind to mention this:

I asked the ENT if Azithromycin is ototoxic, and she looked it up in a special internal system on her computer. What it exactly was where she looked I don't know.

And then she said: No in Germany the Azithromycin is not listed for being ototoxic. And the she added "but the Americans say that". Aha, I thought. But she did not comment it any further.

Then she mentioned that Ciprofloxacin is listed as being very ototoxic, so I put this Information here because it could be important.

 

[Rb86]

Mandalay for whatever it's worth, I find boiling water with a splash of apple cider vinegar in it, and putting a towel over my head and spending 10-15 minutes breathing in the steam (carefully) helps some. Drink lots of fluids and sometimes exercise followed by chewing a meal helps me oddly. Hope you get relief.

 

[Mandalay]

Hi Rb86,

thanks for your advice. I have the apple cider vinegar at home. Nice Idea, I will try this.

Now it's 80 percent gone, so not bad, but not completely healed either.
I know it takes time, and it seems long, but I have had it only 3 weeks tomorrow, so that's not
too bad. Also I have one tablet of Prednisolone left to take against the swelling.

 

[Mandalay]

Hi there everyone,

I'm still busy with my ear infection thing.
The fluid behind the ear drum was almost gone, I guess it lasted two weeks or something like that when it was ok and then it came all the way back.

I caught a cold again, and the fluid and swelling came back. So now I'm dealing with it again for the past two weeks.

The strange thing was that this time the ENT could not see fluid behind the eardrum, but it felt horrible. My ear was swollen and blocked, and because of this my remaining tinnitus was more in the foreground.

It felt like a very deep swelling, not really visible for the ENT and also GP. But I was lucky, the ENT offered me antibiotics, and these I can take without worries, they are not ototoxic for me.
I have used them before, the active substance is "Cefuroxime axetil". I never had such an obstinately infection including a somehow swollen ear. And not even visible!

Is there anybody who has similar experiences and knows how to avoid this?

I hope it will go away completely. It's a lot better now, I still have to take these antibiotics for two more days, but I don't know if this infection will be gone in two days.

Anyone ever experienced the same type of thing?
Do you know if there is anything to do, like a treatment of the eustachian tube?

Besides my sniff the cause must be the eustachian tube not working properly, so is there anything doable?