September, 2014

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Hi, my name is Jennifer. I had pain in my right ear in September , 2014 and thought it was an ear infection so I went to urgent care.  The doctor told me that I did not have an ear infection but had a skin lesion in my ear so she prescribed an antibiotic. It got worse so I went back in and they gave me a stronger antibiotic.  The next day, while doing homework my entire right side of my face  was in pain. My ear had sores all over inside and outside of it and my right side of face would not move.  My eye would not blink and I had a strong metallic taste in my mouth.   I went to the emergency room (it was a Sunday) and they could not get ahold of an ENT so made an appointment for me the next morning.   The ENT prescribed an anti viral and steroids.   Movement in my face came back 2 months later but I have a lot of other issues and have been to 2 other ENT doctors.  They don't understand why I still have a lot of pain and feel very tired. It's exhausting taking pain pills!  I Have antiviral pills available at all times in case of another outbreak. I had an MRI done and my nerves look good. I do have vestibular nerve damage in my right ear and do therapy for my vertigo.  I' live only an hour from Mayo and my family doctor has tried getting me accepted there.  I haven't been able to get an appointment so I was able to get into neurology at the U of M. I have my second appointmen this week. The first appointment 2 months ago was about gathering information and checking the nerves in my face.  Hopefully, I'm on the right track to stay healthy. It has been a very long year. I dropped out of school because of my vertigo issues , fatigue and anxiety attacks that I got from this disease.   I'm praying it goes away!  I'm doing better and now it's November, 2015. I Still have some pain in my ear and hope this is not my new normal.  I still worry about getting vertigo