This sounds awful, Liz. :( I hope your hearing will return quickly in your right ear as the antibiotic prevents further growth of the bacteria. I also hope that you can get through the workday with little pain.
I looked up the medications to learn more about them.
I read here (
Vicodin Information from Drugs.com ) that Vicodin "may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert."
I read that
Augmentin contains the antibiotic
Amoxicillin, which is in the penicillin class of antibiotics, and does not kill bacteria directly but stops them from multiplying by preventing their formation of walls that surround them, which they require to survive. (While working with bacteria in the lab, I have used Ampicillin, which has the same structure as Amoxicillin, and it prevented the growth of
E. coli very well.)
Amoxicillin is effective against many different bacteria including
H. influenzae,
N. gonorrhoea,
E. coli,
Pneumococci,
Streptococci, and certain strains of
Staphylococci, the latter two being involved in ear/sinus infections and skin infections, respectively.
Augmentin also contains the newer antibiotic called
Clavulanate potassium, which is similar to penicillin but fights bacteria that are often resistant to penicillins and other antibiotics.
Augmentin Information from Drugs.com
So Augmentin looks like a good choice of antibiotic for your ear infection. :)
If your bacterial invaders are
Streptococci pneumoniae, a common cause of ear infections, then they might look like these below. They are pretty, aren't they? They look deceptively harmless, like breakfast cereal.
Your invaders:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vdCXUWC4LX...1600/Strep.jpg
Panda Puffs Breakfast Cereal:
http://tkkitchen.files.wordpress.com...andapuffs2.jpg
:)
