Bloody antibiotics....(sorry, long and rambling)*****UPDATE*

[citizentwiglet]

I hate the fecking things. For the first three years of his life, Ellis had NO antibiotics at all. Now, it is a novelty if we don't have a bottle of Amoxycillin in the bloody fridge.

It started out with ear infections - he's had about 7 in the past year. Unfortunately, 5 short of getting a referral to ENT. Whereas I would have let them run their course, and given him sympathy, cuddles and Medinol; he suffered a burst eardrum because of an infection about 6 months ago. This has affected his hearing - we've been going to a specialist to see if he needs grommits (he wasn't settling in nursery, was being either completely vacant or disruptive), she says no he doesn't; but these infections are still persisting. GP says that, in normal cases, they wouldn't always treat earache with a redness in the ear as an infection requiring antibiotics, but given Ellis' eardrum burst, they err on the side of caution and will ALWAYS give them.

So....couple of weeks ago he comes home from nursery. Fine one minute, screaming the next. Get emergency app with GP....3 hours later. By the time we get there, he still has earache, but not as bad. Yup, eardrum has 'gone' again. They're not sure if it has burst again, or if it hadn't healed the first time. (With ear infections, bursting the drum gives them relief, by the way - I always imagined it would be agony. It is if you're fine and ram a pen in your ear, but when the pressure is in the middle ear the bursting is a relief, or so I understand it). Got a week's worth of ABs.
Finished the course.
4 days later - another ear infection. Another trip to the doctors. More ABS. This time he didn't even finish the course and got ill again.......he was out of sorts, then he was burning up, then he woke up screaming and was - frankly - tripped out of his skull. Took his temp - 39.9. Got him naked and under a sheet, sleeping with me with our window open, Medinol given, got temp down. Next two days really not himself, just sleeping and crying but no temp. Last few days - horrible urine infection. He is literally screaming the house down whenever he needs to wee. Which, of course, he is holding in because he doesn't want the pain....other than that, he is fine in himself.

Been trying to force cranberry juice (diluted) down him, and barley water with lemon to try and flush it out...no joy. Ended up phoning NHS24 today, who told me to get him to the GP asap. Guess what? MORE ANTIBIOTICS.

I'm sure it's the ABs that have caused all this in the first place...they are broad spectrum, aren't they? So they kill good bacteria as well as bad?

I'm sick of this, I hate seeing my gorgeous, wonderful, funny, happy little man suffering so much; but while they keep giving us antibiotics, I don't see the end of it. It's awful, it's like he's hooked on them.

Is there anything I can do to break this cycle? Surely his body needs a break from ABs otherwise we're just going to get infection after infection where, presumably, the ABs are killing off his good, defensive bacteria as well as the nasties? Are there any supplements / herbal remedies / 'sooperdooper' foods I can try to encourage the growth of good bacteria and / or bolster up his immune system? He's only 4, by the way...

I have to drop a urine sample off to the GP tomorrow and he's being referred to the hospital for a scan on his kidneys and some blood tests to check in case of diabetes (his wee smells awful, GP reckons it might be ketones), I'm just desperate to help the poor wee mite get back to his usual self, it's just been one thing after the other at the moment. I am, by the way, giving him the prescribed ABs at the moment, I just don't know what else to do.....

[StripyPixieSocks]

Natural Bio yoghurt is supposed tor restore the natural (good) bacteria after taking antibiotics or indeed anything with probiotics in, I always make sure I have a good supply in of Actimel or plain bio yoghurt when I get put on antibiotics (which I hate).

Poor wee man, hope he gets better soon!

[citizentwiglet]

Thanks love - will persevere with that one (he's not keen on the taste, but I'm wondering about mixing it with ice-cream or something to make it more palatable).

[Shirley]

I'm not a doctor but I thought they had to change the antibiotics around and give different ones to stop you becoming immune to them.

I used to get acidophilus in a powder form for my eldest son - you can mix it with whatever you want then.

[Masco&Bongo]

Thanks love - will persevere with that one (he's not keen on the taste, but I'm wondering about mixing it with ice-cream or something to make it more palatable).

Could you mix it with puree-d fruit? Or make it into 'frozen yoghurt' lollies?

[Martina]

Hi CT,

Sorry to hear your baby is having so much trouble. As a near-cronic earache sufferer I can tell you that I had a terrible infection last year that led to me living through very much of what your little guy is going through. Now, as a preventative measure, I am on nose drops which I take one or two of in each nostril everyday. The idea is that my ear infections stemmed from my eustace tube not getting cleared out fully. I have found this has worked like a star so far. It's been nearly a year since I had my last infection. The drops I am taking are cortizoidal so they may not be ideal for a little one, but you should be able to get a simillar effect with regular salt water rinses of his nasal passage. These rinses will make him really blow his nose and that will help clear out is eustace tube ( that's thing that connects ears, nose, throat), and hopefully break his infection cycle.

I hope that helps. Best of luck,
Martina

[sortanormalish]

I send my sympathies to your little man. You probably already know this, but you must finish an entire prescription of antibiotics or the infection will come back and it will not respond to the antibiotics as well-maybe not at all. Have they tried a different antibiotic?
Most recurrent ear infections are fungal, not bacterial. Although bacteria do cause a secondary infection. Maybe he has a funfal infection at the root of the problem. We have a product called Swimeeze. It is for swimmers to put in their ears to dry out the remaining water. It doesn't cause scaring like alcohol does. Scaring leads to even more hearing lose in addition to hurting like crazy and it sounds like he already has enough of both. Maybe you could find something like that for after his bath.

[Susie]

No advice, but hugs, that sounds rotten. Hope he's feeling better soon.

[citizentwiglet]

Thanks all. Martina, I really think he has similar problems to you with his eustace tube but the only way we can find out for sure is by getting a referral to Ear, Nose and Throat specialists at the hospital. I'm going to have to push for a referral, I think, I can't bear to just sit back whilst he suffers.
Yes, of course we make sure each course of antibiotics is completed, that goes without saying. I'm actually more concerned about this urinary tract infection he's now got - these antibiotics are clearly not touching it, as he is still in agony whenever he passes water; and I fancy he's getting worse - he's flushed, saying he's cold (it was 24 degrees here today), and I've noticed that his hands are shaking quite a lot. And he's certainly not himself at all, just very quiet and withdrawn and tired.

If there is no improvement tomorrow, I think I'm going to take him to casualty. I'm getting concerned that it's more than a UTI and that it might be affecting his kidneys.

[Susie]

CT - I don't know anything (not even a gcse in biology! ) but it was always my understanding that antibiotics for UTIs were supposed to work quite quickly - within 24 hours or so - so if he's not getting better and in fact he's getting worse, I think you're absolutely right to take him to casualty. It might even be something really simple like he just needs a different antibiotic. I do hope he's feeling better soon. Sending good vibes. (that's the best I can do for a vibes smiley, I did try, sorry it's a bit rubbish.)

[citizentwiglet]

Yep, I thought ABs were supposed to work pretty damn quickly too. He's been on them since Thursday and it just seems to be getting worse. To be honest, he was on the bloody ABs for an ear infection WHEN the UTI started, so I couldn't understand why they gave him more of the same - if the ABs were that bloody fab, he'd not have picked up another infection, would he??

[sortanormalish]

I'm so sorry I didn't read every post. Our third son is a diabetic. With him it was sinus and throat infections, then the bladder. Your son is displaying ALL of the symptoms of diabetes. Take him to an ER now.

[Martina]

Hi CT,

Just checking in to see how your little guy is doing, I hope he has improved.

Martina

[Martina]

Hi CT,

Just checking in to see how your little guy is doing, I hope he has improved.

Martina

[JillStephens7]

Hope your son's feeling better xx