Ear Infections

So today, after lots of whining and bitching and googling and posting questions all over the internets... I had a epiphany. I'm not even kidding. I think I know what the deal is with Ari's ear infections and so much of what has happened the past year, health and sleep wise.

I learned a little while back that a kid can have a chronic ear infection (or just extra fluid) in the inner ear that can stay around after treatment but not be obvious or visible in a regular exam. It might have other symptoms (like poor sleep!) but not look like an ear infection to a doctor with the little light thingie. When I learned that, I made the appt with the ENT - soonest appt was 3 weeks out. In the mean time, Ari got sick again and got another double ear infection; amoxicillin didn't work so we did the nasty, harsh antibiotic (amox-clav). When he was about half way through the round of amox-clav is when we saw the ENT, and found out for sure his ears were clear (because the ENT has more accurate diagnostic tools, they stuck this little camera/sonogram kinda thingy in his ears).

So this is what I think happened. A year ago right at New Year's, he got a tummy bug and an ear infection. He went from sleeping "through the night" which was 7-9 hour chunks most nights, to waking up hourly because of the ear infection. We treated it with amoxicillin and it was pronounced effective and he supposedly had clear ears at his next doctor's appointment a week or so later (his six month well baby check up). BUT his sleep never went back to normal, at all. I don't think the infection ever really cleared up. He kept getting little colds or whatever bugs every so often - not very often at first, but more and more, until he had four or five ear infections in the past six months. Every time he got an infection we'd treat it with amoxicillin and it would apparently go away: i.e., when the infection was bad he'd wake up every 15-30min in pain, and when it "went away" he'd go back to waking every 30min-2hrs, and whenever the doctor saw him next his ears would appear to be fine.

But then, this last time, the amoxicillin obviously didn't do the trick. After seven days of it, I could just tell it hadn't gone away. I waited a few days and hoped it would clear on its own, since he didn't have fevers or anything. But it didn't and then he got diarrhea, so after two days of that I took him back to the doctor and we got the harsher antibiotic. A few days into that, he was sleeping SO much better and at the ENT's appt, his ears were clear.

And I only just now put it all together: I thought he was just finally sleeping better all on his own this past couple weeks. But now I think it's because his ears have FINALLY stopped hurting!

And I think the reason he kept getting sick more and more often is because he was constantly trying to fight off the infection, so his immune system was weaker, and I also think the antibiotics injured his immune system as well. Even now, he's been sick twice since that last round of antibiotics, and I think his immune system was just weakened BEFORE the antibiotics and that med kicked it while it was down, so to speak. So now even though he doesn't have the ear infection anymore, he just still can't fight off bugs very well.

So what I'm hoping is that his congestion from this new head cold doesn't automatically equal impending ear infection like before (because before, the infection or fluid was already there and the congestion would just make it worse). Now that his ears finally got all the way clear, I hope I can do enough preventative things to hold off an infection through the congestion. And then my mission is simply to help him strengthen his immune system with a crazy healthy, probably all organic diet and some extra vitamins and supplements (at least for awhile). And of course, still breastfeeding. If we can just get through this cold without a raging ear infection forming, we should be able to start down a better path of health (and SLEEP!) for him.

Today I had him in the steamy bathroom twice and put breastmilk in his ears multiple times even though there's no sure sign of infection yet. (It's hard to tell though right now because his second canine is about the pop through any minute, so a restless night tonight could be due to teeth or ears or both.) His humidifier runs in his room every single night and there is a Vick's thingie in it tonight for good measure. I gave him lots of vitamin C rich food today. Tomorrow we will keep doing the breastmilk, the steam, the vitamin C, and if I sense any hint of an infection I will also use warm garlic oil in his ears. I'm going to get him vitamins/supplements tomorrow too.

It's hard not to be down on myself for not figuring this out sooner, for allowing all of those abx treatments, for basically having a whole year of health and sleep problems that could have been prevented. I mean, I know I couldn't prevent him from getting sick at all and sleep stuff is always hit or miss at this age with regressions, development, etc. Still though. But beating myself up about it won't change anything, so we'll just... keep going. And not make the same mistakes again.