Curious to hear from anyone who has had an intratympanic gentamicin injection, whether you were told not to swallow for a certain amount of time after the injection. I had two steroid injections when I first lost my hearing and was told NOT to swallow or the medication would be sucked out the eustachian tube and would ruin the procedure. When I had my 3 gentamicin injections, I specifically asked about this and was told each time it was fine to swallow and that it wouldn't affect the procedure. I recently read a description to the contrary and was wondering about others' experience. Thanks all.
Dr. Hwang had me do my best not to swallow or talk while lying there for 30 minutes. Each time, I accidentally swallowed 1-2 times. The nurse said that was fine, the dosing takes that into account. I could swallow and talk after the 30 minutes was done. Both times, the injection had obvious effects within 2 weeks. Hope that helps?
When I had my gent injection, nothing was said about not swallowing or about talking. FYI, gent injection actually made my MD worse rather than better, so tread lightly. Good luck to you...
Thanks for your replies AnneT and Tetburyman, so interesting that you both had opposite experiences; it mirrors my experience where two doctors performing the same procedure followed different protocols. I find it odd that there isn't standard guidance for this procedure; it's not like it's a matter of preference whether swallowing removes the medication from the treatment site. I had 3 gent injections, and while the vestibular tests indicate that my balance function is now around ~5 (down from ~35%) I haven't had any relief from the constant dizziness or fullness. I don't regret giving it a try. Thanks again.
I had one injection and was told not to swallow if I could help it. I did once. Was told not to worry about it. I then did gentamicin drops through a tube in my ear for almost 30 days. I didn’t wait to swallow or anything like that. And I could often taste it afterwards. So far seems to have done the trick. I still get fullness and tinnitus spikes but my hearing is poor and I have definitely lost balance function and am trying to recover from that.