I just figured out my dad doesnt know everything.

[Erin]

My dad is a nurse. I usually go to him for medical advice first.

Well, I just realized that my dad is a total moron.

I've been taking antibiotics all week (flagyl) and apparently a side effect of that particular abx is that it dries out your mouth, and sometimes drys out your nose. (my mouth wasnt dry, but my nose sure is...just in the left nostril)

So, since my nose is dry, it's wee bit sore on the inside. (I'm screaming in pain everytime I try to rub my nose)

Last night, I told my dad about that, and what does he suggest with his wise nursing wisdom?

He told me to get a Q-tip and put Neosporin in my nose.

This is where I wonder who was more stupid. My dad, or me for listening to him?

So, I put some Neosporin in my nose and went to bed. Woke up with a bit of a cough and what feels like a fever.

And then I went to take my shower this morning, and this is one of the big reasons why you dont put Neosporin in your nose. I turned on the HOT water and waited for the room to warm up. Then, I got into the shower and started to wash my hair.

Hot water steams up a shower. Hot water also MELTS Neosporin. (you can see where this is going, cant you?)

When you have Neosporin in your nose, and it melts. Guess where it goes? (this is gross) It goes down the back of your throat. Where, it makes you kindawanttothrowup. (in other words, it apparently triggers your gag reflex)

I finished my shower and called my dad to tell him he's a moron and that I almost choked to death in the shower. (I think I coughed everything out)

This is the first time in my 38 years that I think I've ever realized that my dad is not the smartest guy in the world. (well, except for when I was a teenager and "knew everything")

Now, I'm trying to decide if I should tell the doctor about the neosporin incident when I got to see him this afternoon about my nose. Maybe if I have any congestion in my lungs when he sees me I'll tell him. (I dont feel like I'm choking anymore) I dont want to end up with aspiration pneumonia because I stupidly listened to my father.

If I'd died this morning in the shower, choking on melty neosporin, I would hope the people at the Darwin Awards would have given my dad some special award for criminal stupidity to go along with my Darwin Award

For an explanation of what the Darwin Awards are, go here http://www.darwinawards.com/

So, learn from this story. Dont put Neosporin (or your fingers) in your nose.

And if you're taking an antibiotic that dries out your sinuses and mouth, say something to your doctor and ask to get a different antibiotic.

I think I'll go dry my hair, and have a "what the heck did I just do???" moment.

p.s. I was/am using an approved nose spray. It just hasnt felt like it was helping me at all. So, if anyone wonders why I wasnt using a saline solution to spray in my nose...I was.

[Buttons2]

Hey,maybe your dad has Lyme too!
What about just plain old Vicks? Or Vaseline?
Good luck @ the docs......Buttons

[tmptmp]

Biotene (alcohol free) mouthwash for dry mouth.

[tmptmp]

Prior to being properly diagnosed and treated for Lyme,
anything and everything 'felt' life threatening. I was
infused with an overriding sense of physical danger.

This sense of everything being life-threatening went away
after successful treatment.

[Erin]

Ok....went to the doctor. Wanted him to make sure my nostril wasnt infected. He said I had a HUGE sore in my nose, but that he didnt think it was infected.

I told him about the Neosporin, and he said that my dad actually had a good idea. My dad's idea of a dash of Neosporin on the Q-Tip was just a little...excessive.

The Adorable (and extremely amused) Dr. C told me to just put a teeny bit on the Q-Tip and use that. Plus, he said dont use it BEFORE the shower. He gave me a Rx for an oral abx (not another one!) that he said that I could use if the neosporin doesnt work on it. (so the abx is optional) I didnt even drop off the Rx when I went to the pharmacy to stock up on Q-tips.

Walgreens is having a sale on Q-Tips. Buy one, get one free. Same deal with the store brand neosporin. (Store-sporin? :rolleyes:) so I loaded up on that too. Gave my mom the extra box of Q-Tips and neosporin.

So, I guess it is ok to put a small amount of neosporin in your nose, just dont do it just before taking a hot shower...otherwise you'll have melty neosporin dripping down the back of your throat making you want to hurl down the shower drain.

And my lucky dad, is vindicated and I'll have to go buy him dinner at Burger King tonight to make up for besmirching his name.

[Erin]

Hey,maybe your dad has Lyme too!
What about just plain old Vicks? Or Vaseline?
Good luck @ the docs......Buttons


Wouldnt Vick's hurt? (there's mentholatum in it, isnt there?)

I dont know if Vaseline would work, it's not got the antibiotic properties that neosporin does.

At least the doctor said using the neosporin was actually a good thing to do. I think he was shocked at how big the sore spot was when he looked at it. I'd never had an antibiotic do that to me before. (oh, I still have to take that stupid abx, so I've got to drink a lot of water while on the antibiotic)

My doctor said that I seem to have a lot of interesting reactions to antibotics. I told him they're not interesting reactions, they're annoying reactions!

[Buttons2]

Since you have a sore-yes Vicks would hurt. I thought you were complaining about a dry nose.....

[Erin]

It is a dry nose, but it's SO DRY that I have a ginormous sore inside my nose that is driving me insane.

and I've decided that I cant use the stupid neosporin. I woke up this morning feeling like I'd aspirated something, and I hadnt even put the stuff in my nose before I went to bed. I spent about an hour trying to cough up whatever it was I felt like I aspirated.

my doctor gave me a Rx for an antibiotic to get rid of it. I'm getting really really tired of having to take antibiotics. Especially since I've recently discovered the horrors of a side effect of taking abx's. Yeastie Beasties! (yeast infections suck!)

[Sonsie]

Erin, I'm glad you can retain a sense of humor throughout! :D And I'm glad your faith in your dad is back. :)

I had a HUGE sore in my nose
Don't know if what I'm about to say is related to your situation, but your story reminded me that pre-treatment, I used to get horrible sores in my nose. They started perhaps 6-10 prior to my diagnosis. They would last for months regardless of what I did. :( My (very Lyme-ignorant) PCP just brushed them off -- after all I was always complaining about something, don't ya know. :mad:

Turns out the sores were viral. That explains why when I tried Neosporin on them, it was useless. Zovirax cream did the trick, but they would recur nonetheless. LD leaves us susceptible to viral infections, and I believe that is why they were were happening and so persistently.

I hadn't thought about them for a few years, but I'm happy to realize that I haven't had these sores for a long time now. Makes sense -- I'm being treated properly, at last! :)

[Erin]

Erin, I'm glad you can retain a sense of humor throughout! :D And I'm glad your faith in your dad is back. :)


Don't know if what I'm about to say is related to your situation, but your story reminded me that pre-treatment, I used to get horrible sores in my nose. They started perhaps 6-10 prior to my diagnosis. They would last for months regardless of what I did. :( My (very Lyme-ignorant) PCP just brushed them off -- after all I was always complaining about something, don't ya know. :mad:

Turns out the sores were viral. That explains why when I tried Neosporin on them, it was useless. Zovirax cream did the trick, but they would recur nonetheless. LD leaves us susceptible to viral infections, and I believe that is why they were were happening and so persistently.

I hadn't thought about them for a few years, but I'm happy to realize that I haven't had these sores for a long time now. Makes sense -- I'm being treated properly, at last! :)


I get what I think are zits in my nose, but they've never been as bad as what I've got going on in there now. If the thing in my nose is a zit, it's the The Zit From H-E-Hockey-Sticks. It's an alien life form from Planet Nine In the Myxzlplyx Solar System. I half expect to start spawning some sort of alien/human hybrids from it fairly soon.

I gave up on the stupid neosporin and took the Rx that my doctor gave me yesterday to Walgreens and got Cephalexin for it. Hopefully I dont develop any more scary creatures from Planet Nine anywhere else in my body from this THIRD antibiotic that I've popped into my mouth this week.

I'm getting really tired of all these antibiotics!!!! Whoever keeps dropping bacteria and yeastie beasties on me had better quit messing with me soon. At least since I took the Cephalexin 2hrs ago, I've actually felt improvement in the nose. I'm just tired of all these stupid pills!!!!!

[Sonsie]

the thing in my nose is a zit
Erin, the sores I got were more like ulcers. Either way, I think they are the pits. I hope you are doing better at this point!

[Erin]

Erin, the sores I got were more like ulcers. Either way, I think they are the pits. I hope you are doing better at this point!

yes! it was like an ulcer. It's almost healed now. Saturday night I thought it was never going to start healing, but sunday morning and afternoon it felt a lot better, and then on monday, I noticed it was nowhere near as painful and the huge lump in my nose had actually gone down.

It had felt like I had a broken nose for at least a week and a half...now it's just a bit sore if I press on that side of the nose.

and this reminds me that I need to take the second to last antibiotic. I'll be done with them tonight. (yay!!!!!!!!!) I had almost 3 weeks of antibiotics!

Hopefully now I'll stay away from the antibiotics for awhile so that I can do the blood test for all the Lyme co-infections.

I did start the MS drugs (copaxone) my doctor wants me to take, I dont think they'll make a difference in the blood test or not. I'm kind of hoping the Flagyl (antibiotic) that I was taking last week might have done something to wake up the spirochetes that might possibly be in my blood so that they'd show up on a blood test.

Now that the infections that I had the last few weeks seem to have cleared up, I've noticed a bit of weakness in my right leg (keep tripping!) so I cant wait to go see the neuro and tell him about it. I hope it's just a tired leg and not something freaky like foot drop or something.

I'm just all exhausted this week after all those infections.