Oh my God tooth infection not getting better by antibiotics? I am suffering!

[Ms. Toad]

9. Rewind the clock and don't take clindamycin . . .

But since you can't do that, watch out for GI issues - specifically c. diff. A dentist gave me clindamycin as a prophylactic after oral surgery because I'm allergic to penicillin and cephalosporin (the more common substitute) sometimes also causes allergies in people allergic to penicillin. It doesn't for me, but I was too tired to argue the nurse into talking with the doctor about an alternative. Never again.

I got active c. diff, for 10 months, which nothing stopped for more than a few days. I was able to avoid having a fecal transplant to treat it only by a last ditch attempt to stop it with a complex, carefully timed series of doses of vancomycin. That was in 2016. I still have it, although it is in remisison about 90% of the time. (In case you don't know c. diff is caused by certain antibiotics - clindamycin being a main offender - and it can be deadly. It is what ultimately took my grandmother's life.) And not only did I get c. diff, but I gave it to my father (who was coincidentally visiting my brother the same weekend I was, and was also on clindamycin for a tooth issue . . . guess where I got my penicillin allergy). I used the same bathroom as he did no more than a half-dozen times the weekend and he still got it from me. Likely from touching the faucets or sharing a hand towel.)

Were I in your shoes, I'd start taking s. boulardii (the most common brand name is Florastor) immediately. It's a probiotic which has been shown to be effective against c. diff, and it is the only way I keep mine in remission. At the first hint of a relapse I start taking it. It might help you avoid it in the first place. (I don't use Florastor - way too expensive, but it's what I can find in local drugstores - I buy just enough to last until I can buy Jarrow brand from Amazon.

Sorry to add worry to your misery - but I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through if I can help them avoid it.

As the specific question you asked - unfortunately, I don't have any good solutions. Keep your head elevated (sleep in a recliner if you can to keep your head above your heart). Anti-inflammatories (advil, aspirin). Ice. Aside from elevation, you are already doing that. An ER probably can't do much aside from give you narcotics - but they aren't likely to do that on top of vicodin and wine.