Note while it may appear I am asking for medical advice I am asking more along the lines of situational advice. I tend to worry about the small things too much.
On Wed I went to the Dr with a cough and a minor ache in my throat. The Dr. Tells me I have strep and gave me two scripts.
One was for Tannate which I believe was for my cough because I did have congestion and flem that didn’t want to come up and Cefzil which I know is an antibiotic for the strep.
I did not return to work on Wed and although the Dr. said I could go back on Friday my boss asked that I stay home until Monday. I agreed.
I am still coughing but not as frequently but my right ear has some pressure in it now. Last night it became totally stuffed with an 85-90% loss of hearing in that ear which relived itself a few hours later on its own.
Nothing I found online says that either medicine has hearing problems as a side effect so I’m not sure if it’s something to worry about now or to watch and if I am still having problems after 10 days (which is how long I’m supposed to be on the medicine for) do I call the Dr’s office and update them?
You must be a girl because I don’t think that calling the doctor would even enter a guy’s mind. But either way, I would definitely not call the doctor yet. If you ignore something long enough, it usually goes away. I’m hoping that 2006 will be the year my athlete’s foot finally disappears.
IANAD, but it seems likely to me that it’s congestion causing the hearing problems. At least that is what it is in my experience. I’ve had head congestion so bad it also plugged one or both ears to the point that I couldn’t hear very well for a bit. I’d still call and check in with the doctor, they might want to give you a better decongestant to be sure you get completely well, etc. Mention that you’re still coughing, and you almost couldn’t hear out of one ear for a bit there. They might want you to come in so they can check up on you. Are you drinking lots of clear fluids to help keep your mucus thinned? That’s something my doctor always tells me to do when I go in with a sinus or ear infection. (I’m prone to get them.) Again, I’m not a doctor, so go by what your doctor says.
Did your doctor actually confirm the diagnosis of strep throat, or did he just give you an antibiotic prescription without confirming the presence of a streptococcal bacteria infection? From what I understand, strep throat causes a major sore throat, not a minor ache. If he didn’t actually do any tests to confirm strep throat, you probably have a viral infection, which is what most people with a sore throat have, and which would explain your stuffed up ear.
By the way, don’t stop taking your prescription, even if the doctor didn’t confirm strep. Just know that next time, don’t start taking an antibiotic until the doctor has actually found bacteria to be present. This is how the resistant strains of bacteria were created - doctors throwing antibiotics at every viral infection without doing the lab work to confirm the bacterial presence.
And if he actually did confirm the strep diagnosis, please disregard everything after my first sentence, except the part where I advise you to continue the antibiotic.
(And Ricola lemon-mint cough drops are pretty good for soothing a sore throat.)
Honestly no I’m not drinking alot of any fluids let alone clear. I don’t feel dehyrdated though and no extreme thirst.
In this thread I had said the Dr. was suprised when the culture came back as positive for Strep because while my throat looked red it wasn’t as red as he was expecting.
You should probably give drinking plenty of clear liquids a try to help you get better. It really does work in many cases to help thin the mucus. You say you don’t feel dehydrated, that’s a good thing at least. Make an effort to drink at least some more water/clear liquid for now and see if it helps? I get sick with sinus/ear/upper respiratory infection/bronchitis so often due to bad allergies myself, so I’m pretty well versed in the “get well” regiment for such things.
