u/asdfqwertylol

Hello,

I was diagnosed with middle ear infection in a walk-in clinic and given Amoxicillin for one week. My ear was still blocked with tinnitus after 1 week, so in another clinic I was given a different antibiotic clarithromycin and corticosteroid spray. But the doctor said if it didn't improve with this, I might have to go to hospital to check if iv antibiotics would be required. This scared and confused me, I thought iv antibiotics were last resort for serious infections.

I haven't finished the second course yet, but as of now, the only symptoms that remain are ear fullness (as if water stuck), muffled hearing, tinnitus. There is no pain when touching the ear, only very occasional short pain in ear (but I've had that because of tmj too). And never had fever throughout this. I've read that eustachian tube dysfunction can cause clogged ear, and persist long after ear infection. Every day I am doing nasal rinse, gargling salt water, steam bath, and using mucinex.

I am on the fence about going to the hospital for this, that does not seem standard for an ear infection without major pain/fever/other symptoms. Did anyone have to go through this? I'm inclined to think the doctor I saw (not a specialist) was being overly cautious. I am thinking of trying to book a consultation with an ENT next week before anything else, but I was curious to hear about other people's experience.

Hello,

For the past few months, whenever I am lying on back trying to fall asleep, my head will randomly jerk to the left into the pillow (as if I was nodding "no" with my head). This happens a for a while until I fall asleep, and doesn't really happen if I wake up after a few hours and go back to sleep.

Initially I chalked those down to hypnic jerks, but the more I read about those, I find it doesn't really match my experience. My neck jerks are always the exact same motion, and I am still fully awake when they happen, not half asleep. Also I don't get this sudden falling or being jolted awake sensation.

While I am awake, I also sometimes have some facial movements that I've attributed in the past to tics (had those for years), but I am starting to think they are related to those neck jerks. Those typically show as squinting/scrunching the left part of my face, or swinging my jaw to the left, sometimes paired with a localized shiver/trembling sensation.

If I fully focus on not having those movements, e.g. if I am in a conversation with someone (very self conscious) I am able to not have them, but once I start doing other things they start happening without a conscious decision. Also, I noticed that sometimes in periods when I get them more frequently, I have a hard to describe sensation of pressure/tightness (not pain) in the left part of my head only.

This week I stumbled upon FND and myoclonus for the first time, and reading about this condition has made me relate to some of its characteristics and rethink about some of my past issues. I am starting to think that it might be interesting to try to pursue this further and get the opinion of a medical specialist on that. But that seems like a long and complicated path unfortunately, when simply getting a regular doctor appointment is convoluted with my country healthcare. Before fully diving into that and starting the process, I was curious to hear about your own experiences. Are the facial/neck movement issues I am describing consistent with what people suffering from FND experience?

Thanks a lot for your input!