HNY man!
This sounds awful. Never had infections in my ears, but have heard it can be nasty.
Get well soon, you can't miss January -- the popcorn month! (read: ETF and other fun stuff...)
Thanks, man.
I find pain manageable up to the point where you have to constantly move (kind of flight as in freeze/fight/flight?). This night was below that point, so no biggie.
The first time i had (a much more intense) ear infection, it felt like knitting needles periodically piercing my eardrum. It set in at around 1am when i was sleeping on the floor (no questions), one hour later i was in a phone booth, almost crying, when i phoned up my parents at home for some painkillers. I had a short sedated sleep at their house and went to the hospital early morning.
More than twenty years later, i learned from the doctor of my children that you have to get rid of sinus clogging ASAP after the eardrum starts twitching (precedes the pain), using decongestant nasal spray, which i always have at home since. Same procedure last night as i've done to my kids a couple of times each: unclogging sinuses, but after pain onset. Worked after two hours, when ear pressure decreased with a clicky sound a little each time. Everything was slowly getting better since.
To avoid antibiotics and painkillers: Keep nasal spray at home, especially if you have kids. If there's no major improvement after three days of spraying: Go to a (possibly better than just) good doctor. The body will get used to the spraying after a week or so, after which nothing will probably work to combat the infection, other than surgery, including local use of Antibiotics, maybe even combined with oral AB and other meds.
I had a cold infection of the bone behind the ear, which was slowly extending through the skull bone over years, which could have killed me some day, discovered by accident while undergoing a check of a tiny implant i happen to have in my head since i was 7 yo, and this infection was taken care of this way. After the surgery i had a kind of waking coma for one and a half hour, until i could move my eyes and fingers, toes again. Fucking awesome experience, i went double lucky that day, but that's already a whole different story now, which i might have already told here. This reply is already too long, i should better get some of my sleep back.
Stay healthy, brothers.