posted
Well, I've returned from southern California. Both my husband and I got sicker than dogs the day before we went down, which resulted in my getting a raging case of baro-otitis from the plane ride. It's so good that we didn't try to have our shinda. I was in so much pain that I had to drag myself to an urgent care clinic and spend $135 to get some hardcore anti-inflammatories to make my ears stop feeling like they were stabbing me in the brain every time my heart beat. After about 48 hours, the pain went away, but I'm still practically deaf, and congested and miserable.
But we did have fun, all in all. We both just wish we could have felt better so we could have had MORE fun! It kind of feels like a big, fat waste of $3000+ for this trip, since we both felt like crud the entire time.
But I'm back, anyway, and working on my NaNoWriMo project and happy to be home. Hopefully I'll be back haunting hatrack soon, after I get all caught up on my business emails and whatnot.
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
BLUUUGGGGHHHH. Thanks, Stan. We did have some neat adventures, so I'll post pics from our trip later today.
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I can't imagine how bad it must have been being sick while vacationing in SoCal. I lived there for about a year, and really enjoyed myself.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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It's kind of better that you were both sick, though. I have less than charitable memories of my then spouse from a trip we took, when I was sick, and he was raring to go.
posted
Word to the wise: otitis media [or other eardrum-related] ear pain may benefit best in many people from "A&B Otic," "Auralgan," or any of the other brands of topical anesthetics for the eardrum. They come in little droppers of sticky, honey-like solution that you put in your ear.
Often you have to ask for them specifically, especially if you are an adult (although they are also not routine for many pediatricians to prescribe, although I don't know why). And please remember that putting a thick, viscous fluid in your ear canal will likely trap a bubble of air, so if the medication doesn't work, do some tragus massage to work it in deep. If the anesthetic doesn't reach the eardrum, it has no chance of working.
Hope you feel better soon, Libbie. Earaches are the pits.
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FYI: the pain of an otitis media is not from the infection, but from the stretch receptors in the eardrum itself. Pressure changes --> eardrum stretches in or out --> severe pain, regardless of whether the stretch is from built-up pus and other fluid, from barometric changes in the air, or from some mix of the two.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
Libbie, it's great to have you back even if you did have a crappy trip. Did you get to see the animals at the zoo you wanted to see? Also read the sticky on the forum here.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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After about 48 hours, the pain went away, but I'm still practically deaf, and congested and miserable. 
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