creekland Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I know there are several of you with far more medical knowledge than I have... There's a decent possibility that I have an ear infection to where I'd normally elect to head to our local urgent care place today and see about antibiotics for it. However, I have a "maintenance" blood draw Friday morning to test for all sorts of usual things - the main two I'm concerned about are blood sugar and thyroid markers. Will antibiotics affect those numbers? If so, I'll hold off until Friday after the draw to head into urgent care. If not, I'll try to swing by today unless it feels better by lunchtime. (I'm not too optomistic about that based on this feeling like what was probably an infection early last month... just the other ear. I suppose they each had to take a turn. :glare: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Infection is at least as likely to mess with blood sugar levels and thyroid values as antibiotics. If you're worried about it, I'd definitely delay the labs over delaying treatment, since delaying treatment could also affect the labs. ETA: Acute infection or antibiotic use might change your blood glucose levels at the time of the draw, but they're not going to change your A1c, So I wouldn't worry about it too much. A provider should not be making clinical decisions based on an isolated blood glucose level taken when there's a known infection happening. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I've read that blood glucose generally goes up when you are sick because the white blood cells are very dependent upon glucose as an energy source. Wait until you've been better for a few days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Agree with Lolly. The antibiotics shouldn't have any significant effect on basic blood chemistries or thyroid function measurements, but the elevated blood sugar that accompanies infections will. Hope your ears feel better very soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I agree-- I know that when I am sick I can use more sugar with fewer bad results. Wait 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thanks all. I don't actually feel sick (ill) at all, so am still toying with doing anything vs letting the body see what it can fix itself. It might not be an infection. I'm not even positive the last one was - just inclined to think so as it got better quickly with antibiotics. I just finished shoveling a good bit of ice out of our driveway in anticipation of tomorrow's storm and the blister I gave myself on my hand is more bothersome than the ear (for now), so I suppose that's distraction. The ear hurts if I touch it, but not otherwise since the brain has a more pressing issue to think about. ;) After lunch (we're getting ready to eat now), I'll see what I think. I also just might want to shower the sweat off first (from shoveling). Either way, I won't worry about the basic glucose level and am glad to hear the A1c should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 If you're not ready to treat it yet, try a little peroxide in the affected ear. Pour a little in, tip your head to the side to keep it there, and let it stay until it stops bubbling. Repeat again immediately. Also try some advil in case what you're dealing with is a low grade migraine instead of an ear issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 If you're not ready to treat it yet, try a little peroxide in the affected ear. Pour a little in, tip your head to the side to keep it there, and let it stay until it stops bubbling. Repeat again immediately. Also try some advil in case what you're dealing with is a low grade migraine instead of an ear issue. This can actually make an outer infection worse, as the peroxide, once it stops bubbling, is just water. Which bacteria and yeast love. And won't help a middle ear infection at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 A chiro should fix an ear infection quicker than antibiotics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 This can actually make an outer infection worse, as the peroxide, once it stops bubbling, is just water. Which bacteria and yeast love. And won't help a middle ear infection at all. Interesting to know. Oh well - already tried it (as it was easy). I'll likely just shower and see what urgent care thinks. If it's not going to affect Friday's stuff anymore than an infection would and since it's feeling eerily similar to the one in Feb, I'd rather have it getting better than worse during tomorrow's storm. Now that the blister deal has calmed down, the ear is still reminding me it's there. (sigh) A chiro should fix an ear infection quicker than antibiotics. Perhaps, but it takes me no time at all to go to urgent care (well, maybe 10 minutes to get there) and it would take me quite a while to find a chiro and schedule an appt. It's also fairly inexpensive at urgent care (not at all the same as ER). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 This can actually make an outer infection worse, as the peroxide, once it stops bubbling, is just water. Which bacteria and yeast love. And won't help a middle ear infection at all. Peroxide kills yeast and bacteria. It also dissolves built up earwax, which can feel like an ear infection to some people. It's not typically a good option for cuts and open wounds because of the way it kills infection, but it's completely healthy for normal skin. It's also acidic, which means if it is a yeast issue it will not only kill the yeast, it will restore a healthy acid balance that prevents yeast and encourages healthy bacteria. Human ears aren't dog ears, they don't have folds that keep moisture inside, so it won't cause an ear infection just to have wet ears, unless you're swimming somewhere with dirty water. If you're concerned about it, a drop or two of rubbing alcohol in the ear afterwards would increase the viscocity of the water and make it evaporate faster. But alcohol could burn if you already have a bad infection. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Peroxide kills yeast and bacteria. It also dissolves built up earwax, which can feel like an ear infection to some people. It's not typically a good option for cuts and open wounds because of the way it kills infection, but it's completely healthy for normal skin. It's also acidic, which means if it is a yeast issue it will not only kill the yeast, it will restore a healthy acid balance that prevents yeast and encourages healthy bacteria. Human ears aren't dog ears, they don't have folds that keep moisture inside, so it won't cause an ear infection just to have wet ears, unless you're swimming somewhere with dirty water. If you're concerned about it, a drop or two of rubbing alcohol in the ear afterwards would increase the viscocity of the water and make it evaporate faster. But alcohol could burn if you already have a bad infection. Hmm, I actually clean my ears reasonably regularly with peroxides (once a month or so), so it's good to know that isn't an issue. Up until last month I don't recall ever having an ear infection, but if you're saying alcohol burns with infection, perhaps that's not the case? We tend to use alcohol in the ears to help them dry out after scuba diving and sometimes with snorkeling. It's always burned my ears, but not anyone in the rest of the family. We've been diving almost every summer (+ sometimes more if we take winter vacations) since 2006. I took last year off and only snorkeled this year, but the alcohol still burned after snorkeling (yet didn't for hubby or my mom). Weird! Anyway, yes, the PA did say she saw an infection in the right ear + said my temp was a little bit high (news to me). She was also surprised there were no other symptoms, but that seems to be the story of my health life. The left ear had fluid, but it was supposedly clear, so fine. Now I'm tempted to see if alcohol will still burn in that ear (or if either do in a few days...). Due to only being off the amoxicillin for a couple of weeks, she changed the prescription to zithromax. She's not sure if there's some resistance or if it's coincidental. It doesn't really matter to me - as long as it works. And since I had to deal with a medical visit, we treated ourselves to Chinese followed by Shamrock Shakes for supper. I guess I never got over going out for ice cream after doctor visits as a kid! If any sugar number is higher, I can blame it on the infection or drugs, right? (Yeah, none should be higher from the milkshake since it's not a regular thing nor within 24 hours, etc, I do understand that. ;) ) Thanks to all for the quick thoughts! It'll give my ear a couple fewer days of feeling painful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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