A week ago on the 1st, I awoke with a killer headache. I tried to knock it back with some Excedrin migraine which usually does the trick after about 30 minutes.

A couple of hours later, the headache was back in full force accompanied by a sneezing attack. So...I am thinking allergies? Odd, I know for the middle of winter, but that is what it felt like.

Anyway, as the day progressed, the sneezing got worse, along with a stuffed, yet runny nose, watery eyes, swollen glands, sore and stiff neck, cough, congestion, etc.

I've been in bed mostly since than, trying to self medicate my way through this...
But, I am now a bit concerned about my ears.

I know this sounds odd, but, I feel like I blew my ears out from blowing my nose so hard.

My hearing has really been affected.
It feels as if I have cotton in my ears now and they are also making popping noises. The ear canals themselves were very painful for a couple of days, but have since almost returned to normal.

All of the other symptoms have eased up except for this one.

Even when I medicate to relieve symptoms temporarily, this doesn't change.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? And if so, please tell me that it went away!

Thanks in advance,
Melanie

Another thought...Did you have a Christmas Tree? If so and it was live, that can be the reason..I had to go years with getting sick every Christmas, and even knew I was allergic to trees before I gave in to the plastic manufacturers version.

We live very close in proximity and last week I had a horrible headache, earache and alleriges were really flared up.

I have an artifical tree so I can forget about that theory.

As you know it's was really nice last week so maybe you have a sinus infection and allergies flared because of warm weather and lack of moisture (just a theory).

Previoulsy I'd get killer sinus headaches and ears would be so affected...yes it went away!

Have you called your LLMD? I know your doing really well...are you off abx now? If not, maybe a visit to the local doc wouldn't be a bad thing.

No, I didn't have a tree this year, nor did I go anywhere unusual...
so, I can't say that it was any specific allergy reaction. Funny, pre-lyme, I was NEVER allergic to anything.

I have had a slight fever off and on. 99.6 or so. I know that sounds low, but I am usually so hypothermic, around 96-97, that this is considered a fever for me.

I'm sipping on the OJ right now, so hopefully, that magic will kick in soon!

Hey Snowboarder,

I guess your theory sounds as good as any. We did have a real change in temp., didn't we?

I'm on orals right now, Biaxin XL, Minocycline, and Flagyl.
This did occur right on my 4th week mark, so even though it wasn't herx related, I am sure that made it somewhat more intense.

My local doc is with the university, and they have been on vacation for the past couple of weeks. But, I will go in if this doesn't start to get better soon.

Hey, before I forget, we are having a Support Group meeting next week! Stay tuned for details from Lightfoot soon. Hope to meet you there!

So sorry to hear about your "ears gone bad." I hope others will have some better answers than me.

Anyway, I don't know if you've burst your eardrums or not, but it sounds like you have a lot of inflammation.

My LLMD approved these ear drops with a tiny bit of steroid in them. (I know steroids are bad-bad!) He said the drops contained only 1% hydrocortisone & that would be o.k. for temporary use.

RX; Original RX - "Oticort Ear Drops"

Now it comes like this;
Bausch & Lomb Neomycin & Polymyxin B
Sulfates & Hydrocortisone Otic
Solution USP

They have kept me out of the ER & are a Godsend. Just don't use any kind of ear drop that's abrasive or it might burn like crazy.

Can you tolerate Motrin? That might help the inflammation. The OTC Motrin usually says take 2 (200mg) tabs with food three times daily to be effective. Or, aspirin?

Do you have any antihistmaine like Benadryl? Could that help or would that make it worse?

If it were me, I'd probably try 1-2 drops of colloidal silver. It's so curative.

For what it's worth, this is the silver I use: Innovative Natural Product Colloidal Silver, Low Potency, 50 PPM. The trial size is $4.99 for .5 fl. oz. from the health food store.

If you develop a cough, you could try Mucinex OTC $20. This is guafenesin which thins mucous. You want the plain "guafenesin"; no additives to affect heart.

You have to drink lots of water to make Mucinex work.

I plan to send a box back with my son to school, so he'll have it on hand. He has chronic asthmatic bronchitis.

Tell us how you do.

When I had ear problems similar to this, my doctor looked in my ears with an otoscope and said I had fluid behind the eardrums.

As mine kept coming back, and got worse to the point that I couldn't hear, he gave me a one week pulsed dose of prednisone.
You start out with a dose of about 50 mg, then each day the dose is tapered, down to 2 mg. on the last day.

That worked great, my ears cleared up, my continuous headaches stopped, the body aches and pains were relieved.

Of course, this was way before I knew that I had Lyme Disease and why Lymies shouldn't take prednisone. But for a week I actually felt human again. Sigh....

There is a folk remedy that uses hydrogen peroxide. You put a small amount of H2O2 into the ear canal, and let it fizz and bubble for a couple minutes. This loosens up the wax, and kills bacteria.

Does using a decongestant help?
I hope you can get relief soon.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'm sorry you are still doing so bad, just wanted to say that and hoping it gets better soon - I think the fluid behind the ears is a good possibility - maybe some stronger decongestant would help??

That feeling in your ears can be caused by fluid behind the eardrum in the ear. Sudafed might help dry that up, but often it is the sign of ear infection, especially if you start having sharp pains in the ear area.

Hope you have contacted a doc by now and that you feel better.

Ann - OH

Yuo could try a hot compress ( just take a rag, wet it and put it in the microwave) and press that on your ears.

Sounds like you have a cold or flu going on

You guys are so great!
Thanks so much for all of the very good and thoughtful suggestions.

I'm doing a bit better overall, but the ears are still really plugged and a little sore.

It almost feels like those first few minutes on a plane after take-off.

Even when I do that pretend yawn, chew move...
I can hear and feel them popping...but, it doesn't help.

Whatever this is has moved into my lungs now too, so, I'm coughing quite a bit. The cough syrup/decongestant did help with sleeping, but not with clearing the ears.

I think I will start with the hot compress idea, and then move up to the peroxide, and see how that goes.
If there isn't any change by Monday, I'll bite the bullet and try the doc.

Many thanks for all of the help and kind words!
Much love,
Melanie

word from the good doc is that I have bronchitis.

I've been given some meds and a nose spray, so hopefully, things will begin to clear up very soon.

Thanks so much for all of the help!

Much love,
Melanie