a public service announcement

A few of months ago, our daughter had an excruciating infection in her ear.  Even after treatment, she was experiencing pressure behind her eardrum.  The second ENT that she consulted told her that the infection was gone, but she would more than likely experience a muffled sensation in the narrow eustachian tube behind the ear for a few more weeks.

I don’t know if it was contagious or I was simply experiencing sympathetic symptoms, but my ear started to feel clogged and my hearing was muffled.  In case it was emanating from my sinuses, I multiplied my daily saline sinus rinses.  But it persisted.

Meredith told me to try Sudafed, which I did for about six days.  There was improvement for a while, but then it returned a week or so later.  I tried another twelve-hour Sudafed.  About nine hours into treatment, I felt a little dizzy.  And the congestion was still bothersome.

Whenever I fly, I carry Afrin spray in case my sinuses back up into my ears as we take off or land.  Fed up with feeling clogged, I added a couple of sprays of Afrin to the mix.  What happened next was awful.

During dinner I began to feel dizzier and dizzier.  I couldn’t even leave the table without help.  My husband helped me to a chair where the room continued to spin uncontrollably.  I couldn’t even open my eyes without nausea.  Later, I did a little search of side effects of both medications and learned that each one can cause vertigo on its own.  Together they surely will.  All I could do was wait for the medication to get out of my system.  At the end of the twelve-hour Sudafed cycle, I began to feel appreciably better. 

So, I offer this wisdom from a painful experience:  ALWAYS read the potential side effects before taking or combining ANY medications, even ones that you have taken before.  I learned the hard way! 

Love, Liz