Feeling Dizzy In Bed [Update: Solved.]

Zilla360 · February 2020

I have had an ear infection recently (in the past two weeks) that is not responding to antibiotics.
I can't seem to relieve the pressure in my right ear, and it feels like some kind of mass may (or might) be growing there, as the pressure is growing, slowly but constantly.

This morning I woke up and, whilst all my other senses/memories told me it couldn't be, the whole bedroom seemed to be spinning (some kind of vestibular system issue?)

Could I have cancer? Should I be worried? I have seen a doctor about this already but they didn't seem to listen to my concerns, or the things that I can clearly feel are happening to my body.

I got a steroid spray and that seemed to stop the bleeding and strange fluid weeping, but now that's run out...

Am I dying? The NHS here is very much under severe strain, and I don't want to become another death statistic, due to medical negligence.

Burnage · February 2020

Not a medical doctor, but the odds of this being cancer are incredibly low (and being fatal is probably near zero). Dizziness while stationary is just a standard symptom of an ear infection, and the pressure you're feeling is most likely swelling from the infection.

I'd try to arrange another appointment with a doctor, but I wouldn't worry too much.

Hahnsoo1 · February 2020

Feeling like there's pressure or a "mass" in your ear because of an ear infection is a normal part of an ear infection, unfortunately. Same with the vertigo experienced with the pressure buildup on your inner ear (which governs balance).

Yeah, you should go in again. They will likely switch you to a different antibiotic.

zepherin · February 2020

And make sure you take all of the antibiotic. Don’t just take it for 4 days and stop.

They can prescribe you something for the vertigo, but it has some side effects. So weigh which is worst for you.

Jasconius · February 2020

there's a type of vertigo that stems from ear infection that sounds like that, my wife had it

it's extremely debilitating, she had to go to physical therapy to get cured

in any case... you have an obvious inner ear symptom presenting with (according to the available evidence) an antibiotic resistant ear infection.... I don't think any doctor it going to *start with* cancer/dying

It's hard for an adult to get an infection that bad, so when it happens, it tends to kick your ass, because the infection has to be pretty tough in the first place.

it can also take weeks for them to clear out even with medicine

The Wolfman · February 2020

In the meantime, if your ear is still pounding, do not lie down. Prop yourself up with pillows and sleep sitting up, maybe a little reclined back. But not completely flat. I don't know the medical reasoning as to why, but I had lots of ear aches as a kid, and that's one of the things they warned against doing, as I guess you can risk rupturing your eardrum or something.

One trick that's in all the home remedy books that actually works is to take a hairdryer and blow the hot air not into your ear but next to it. I've no clue why, but it helped with the pressure.

ceres · February 2020

If it's been a few days on antibiotic and you don't feel any better you should go back IMO. Dealing with this with my daughter right now, she was given an antibiotic for strep and didn't get better, and when I took her back they did an actual TEST and it wasn't strep. It's also possible that it's the wrong antibiotic for the strain you have, but go back either way if you haven't seen results you can reasonably expect.

ani_game_bum · February 2020

I'm guessing when you got your ear infection diagnosis they checked inside your ear to see if you had an impacted eardrum/excessive earwax buildup. If you were cleared for that before, it may be possible that some accelerated build up could have occurred due to your body/ear canal fighting the infection which may explain the slow pressure buildup and disorientation and possible fuzziness/loss of hearing.

I had this happen to me a couple of timed post-bad head cold and had to go to the urgent care center to get one side extracted and flushed proper and get issued antibiotics as a precaution due to the drum area looking inflamed.

You can get some OTC ear drops specifically to work out the wax buildup and see if you get some temporary relief before seeing the doctor again but I would have them check again for sure.

SatanIsMyMotor · February 2020

I was going to say the same thing re: wax buildup. If you've never had your ears syringed it's....quite the experience. I'd be surprised if they didn't check you out before getting antibiotics but what do I know? They won't do it if you have an infection but once it clears up it's worth getting looked at.
The procedure doesn't hurt, it just feels weird. I remember being completely shocked by the amount of earwax that came out of my ear the first time I had it done.

Paladin · February 2020

You have vertigo, and one of the things it can be is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. After an ear infection, detritus from the resolving infection cleanup can float in the vestibular canal and rest on the otoliths that are the crystals in your inner ear that sense gravity and head position. Detritus weighing down an otolith will mess up your perception of balance.

Not saying that's what you have. But this is one of the things that happens after an ear infection that could be a whole new thing to see the doc again for. Testing for it is easy and so is the treatment if the test is positive. Don't try to do the test yourself. See an NP or PA or whoever who can do that and look in your ear if you can't book with a physician. BPPV goes away on its own usually after weeks, but I'm not going to diagnose you here obviously, just don't feel like you need to rush to the emergency room only from what I told you.

Tastyfish · February 2020

Zilla360 wrote: »

Could I have cancer? Should I be worried? I have seen a doctor about this already but they didn't seem to listen to my concerns, or the things that I can clearly feel are happening to my body.
I got a steroid spray and that seemed to stop the bleeding and strange fluid weeping, but now that's run out...

Am I dying? The NHS here is very much under severe strain, and I don't want to become another death statistic, due to medical negligence.

If you go to the doctor, they'll prescribe whatever it is that will fix the disease your symptoms suggest 80% of the time, 80% of the time. But it's biology, so sometimes it isn't the obvious thing and sometimes it is the obvious thing but you need to do the other thing (that you do when the first thing doesn't work).

If the medicine didn't work after the time the doctor said it should, tell them. Should be able to do this over the phone rather than getting another appointment, but that might depend on your local GP - took meds, nothing has changed is sometimes all they need. If there's bleed and discharge that's come back (AND I AM NOT A DOCTOR) once the meds have finished, it's probably not cancer. Brain balance issues and ear balance issues are not physically linked in that way from what I know and any personally detectable growth is on the scale of weeks, not days. Growth that fast, suggest an infection and the response to it - I've had this before and it's 100% no fun.

That said, if the meds didn't work, it's worth scheduling another appointment with the doctor because this is new information - remind them of what you said before, because there is a lot of 'noise' in medicine. If you've got a GP having to judge something by symptoms, unless it's something very specific - chances are it's something else you've become aware of because of you being ill elsewhere and will be no aid to the diagnosis. That other thing, in combination with the meds not working might suggest something entirely different however, but without the critical bit of info of the meds not working (though in your case you're saying they did) if you focused on the other symptoms and let that colour your judgement you'd be misdiagnosing most patients.

But you might also get different antibiotics and all be done with this by the weekend.
Also, if you think there's something else wrong with you that's maybe separate from the ear thing - book a second appointment for that.

Zilla360 · May 2020

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. It ended up being invaluable and really helped.
After twisting another doctor's arm I managed (in the end) to get some different anti-biotics (in pill form) that finally got rid of the (rather stubborn) infection right before this current world-wide pandemic started, so I kind of dodged a bullet there.

I was just really freaked out because I've never had an ear infection so bad (that it would cause my ears to bleed so profusely) before. So that was new and kind of terrifying. :bigfrown:

@ceres Please could you lock this thread? Thanks.

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