Monday, December 29, 2008

Crud & Thrush

We have all been under-the-weather for a while. Evelyn started us off with an ear infection in early December and then Jason and I have had progressive random virus things that are spiraling into other things. We have had massive sore throats, swollen glands, goop coming out of eyes, and phlegm up the wazoo. I was really in pain from my glands being so swollen and was annoyed that swallowing was so painful so I went to the doctor on Friday assuming that if I didn't, I would end up in urgent care over the weekend because my sinuses would be totally infected or I had Strep somehow despite my 6th grade tonsillectomy.

Mrs. Doctor was "on the fence" about giving me an antibiotic, but since I had been sick for so long, she gave me an Rx for 5-day Zithromax. I know I have taken WAY too many prescriptions in my lifetime already and probably should not have gone in to get this one because lo and behold, I have taken 4 days and even though I think it took the edge off of my sickness, I am coughing now (yay), my throat still hurts, and now I think Evelyn has Thrush in her mouth from the antibiotic. Nice. And, since she's been sick the whole month I have been letting her nurse more and it has become a favorite pastime of hers to just want to sit and nurse. So, since Thrush sounds like a doozy to get rid of, I am wondering when I will get it on my ni**les (don't want my blog coming up on naughty Google searches!)

So, instead of a lovely Christmas wrap-up, I am asking my faithful bloggy friends to let me know any secrets you have to:
1) Dealing with Thrush (we both had some chewable acidopholus tonight and I am considering getting powder to make into a paste for E's mouth. Anyone tried the dr prescribed cure? I might get that soon is the acidopholus doesn't do the trick right away).

2) How to keep kids healthy and off of antibiotics? Evelyn has been on them three times already in her 16 months for ear infections (too much already in my opinion.) And, I am the queen of hand sanitizer already! :-)

7 comments:

Lk said...

2) We have some friends whose little boy (2 year old at the time) had chronic ear-nose-throat problems. Out of desperation they started taking him to see a chiropractor and it actually seemed to do a lot of good for him. I could probably find out the name of the chiropractor they used, I think they live in your neck of the woods.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you guys sure have had it tough this month! Hope you all feel better soon! Josh has never had an ear infection (knock on wood) but his little friend Sammy, who is three months older than him, has had a few and they finally put tubes in his ears. Apparently it worked like a charm and he's doing great. It's obviously a nerve-wracking thing, but if you want to keep her off meds it might help. I admittedly don't know much about ear infections and tubes, so YMMV.

Hope you all are on the road to recovery soon!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the thrush thing...not sure about that either. Josh was a formula baby (after five weeks) and now drinks whole milk so we didn't have that pass through issue.

About the sanitizing...I hate to admit it but I rarely use it. My mom (a nurse) said sometimes you have to let kids get exposed to some stuff early on so they build immunity. I don't sanitize bottles or sippies (I wash them in hot anti-bacterial soap and water with a brush only for his dishes) but other than that we clean up Josh's face and hands with baby wipes. He's only been sick once and it was for only two days last Winter. He had it the least of all three of us!

I know it goes against your nature to let her get a little germy, but in small doses it's probably ok. :) I was not totally on board with it either at first and had to ease into not sanitizing everything in those microwave bags! :)

Madeline said...

Get rid of the thrush ASAP!!! It's terrible if it spreads to you. I had it for the first two months of Levi's life, and it was absolute torture and so so so difficult to get rid of.
About the ear infections. Levi had awful reactions to the antibiotics they gave him for his first ear infection. I actually quit giving it to him a couple of days into it, and he got better by himself. I read that doctors are now being encouraged not to prescribe antibiotics for ear infections because the majority of ear infections will heal on their own. You should definitely research it further and consider at least delaying antibiotics.

~cjoy said...

Now that she's past 1, her body can fight ear infections on her own unless they're really severe and not letting up...that's when the antibiotics come into play.

A natural antibiotic is grapefruit seed extract - if you find it at a Whole Foods or other healthfood store and they should be able to give you suggestions for use...I have a friend who treated thrush with it! She doesn't remember what she did, except that IT MUST BE DILUTED CORRECTLY. It does have "daily" directions for a child or adult, but it will be different for a 1 year old!

I must admit, I am not a big fan of antibac, either...in fact, I'm very selective of where I use. The more a child is exposed to germs, the better their body can build antibodies for them - otherwise they'll just attack a weaker immune system. I tend to wipe down the buggy or the table or other direct item my child will contact, but only wash my kids' hands before a meal. (And a lot of that wiping is for allergy reasons so my daughter won't touch another kid's potentially spilled milk, etc.)

SO sorry you're sick! I really understand that well. I pray you all feel better soon. By the way...I loved the pictures and ccard...thanks!!

Alix said...

I've also heard of chiropractic medicine to prevent ear infections and other ailments. Might be worth a shot. Hope everyone is feeling better soon!

~cjoy said...

I meant to second the chiropractic treatments...so now I'll "third" that - Little B began getting them after he turned one all of a sudden and having him adjusted (very mild) got rid of them for years! Very much worth a shot!

(I must tell you - my word verification is "muscous" - haha!)