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Autophony after recovery from otitis media?

Posted , 9 users are following.

hira66904
hira66904

Hi,

9 days ago I got a nasty middle ear infection with fluid in the ear (otitis media with effusion). This caused both my eustacian tubes to become blocked. I couldn't hear anything and had congested ears. The doctors prescribed antibiotics and a steroid nasal spray. The congestion and the infection is slowly going away but for the past 2 days I am experiencing constant autophony in my left ear. I can hear my own breathing and my voice quite loud. Has anybody else had this during recovery from otitis media? I can't accept that it's pastulous eustacian tubes, that would absolutely ruin me. I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing whilst my eustacian tubes are declogging. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I am slowly losing hope.

Thanks.

Hira

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  • hira66904
    hira66904

    Posted

    Hi guys, thanks for your concern. I'm doing better - the autophony is still there but almost completely disappears by evening. I'm finding it easier to manage. I have ordered the patulend drops so I will see how they go. My ENT is completely useless, I've taken the initiative to help myself through this because unfortunately the medical professionals know nothing. I found that I was paying my ENT to educate him about my condition. But onwards and upwards, I have faith in Allah SWT and he is getting me through it, I feel much better alhamdulillah.

    Hope you guys are doing well xxx

  • zabeth1313
    zabeth1313 hira66904

    Posted

    hi, hope you are feeling better.  would you please tell me how this started?

    ​and if any other areas (neck up) were involved.

    ​was it just the ears hurting ?

    thank you,

    elizabeth

    • hira66904
      hira66904 zabeth1313

      Posted

      It started off on the 16th November as a painful ear infection - went to the doctor he told me it was a middle ear infection (otitis media) and both my ears were infected. The next day both my ears became clogged with fluid, I had hearing loss and felt like my head was underwater. Went back to the ENT he prescribed me a steroid nasal spray and decongestants, I took them religiously. The infection went away but the clogged feeling remained. On the 23rd of November the clogged feeling ended and I had loud autophony in my left ear. I have had autophony in this ear since then. I went to a crappy doctor who tried to tell me it was all in my head and there was no way I could have a patulous eustacian tube. He told me to carry on using the steroid decongestant spray and then revisit him in 10 days. There was no way in hell I was going to carry on taking decongestants because I knew it would aggravate my condition. So I contacts another ENT - went to see him, he looked at my eardrum and saw it move with respiration and concluded I have PET. I went back to crappy doctor after 10 days and told him to do the eardrum test. He did it and saw my ear move with respiration again and concluded that I do in fact have PET. He was shocked didn't know what to say and didn't advise me on any treatments he was clueless. So here I am dealing with it and just waiting for the Patulend drops hoping that they'll help because I caught it early.

      Moral of the story: if you think you have PET you most likely do, docs are useless in this matter.

      These were all my symptoms. Prior to the ear infection I had a sinus infection for a few days which developed into an ear infection.

    • shiannejustice1
      shiannejustice1 hira66904

      Posted

      I also have a patulous eustachain tube. I know how awful the autophony can be sad have you looked up the Facebook group for this? There are great tips from other people who have it.
    • caitcastle
      caitcastle shiannejustice1

      Posted

      TREATMENT:

      Nasal spray IPRATROPIUM BROMIDE (.03%)

      I was so afraid the was no treatment.This so far has been a LIFE SAVER. smile

      I don't think it was created as treatment for this specific condition in mind, but it works non-the-less.

       PS Stay away from nasal sprays that are for decongestion (Ipratropium Bromide nasal spray is not a decongestant.) 

      This so far is the only thing that has helped my autophony / patulous eustachian tube (when I talked, my own voice was loud in one ear, and I could hear my breathing/ it felt like I had a bucket over my head.) 

      *I have not noticed any bad side effects so far

      *ENT's advice when spraying into nose- two squirts in each nostril. When spraying, it helps A LOT if you spray in the correct direction. This helped me: for each nostril: Visualize the back of your ear and aim the first spray back and outwards with that in mind (as if the spray was entering your nostril and going all the way back to behind your ear.) 2nd squirt: Then angle the bottle inwards towards your nose, spraying deep back into nose again, but this time inwards. (If this is confusing let me know.)

      I have just started this regiment and wanted to share what helped me as soon as I could for anyone else suffering. Autophony / PET is HORRIBLE, I know. This stuff works amazingly, but it requires daily use. I want a permanent cure. So I am going I am going to try estrogen ear drops which are meant to enlarge the fatty tissue around the Eustachian tube (the autophony is caused by it staying open when it shouldn't.) I will update as soon as I try the drops. 

      -Cait 

  • caitcastle
    caitcastle hira66904

    Posted

    TREATMENT:

    Nasal spray IPRATROPIUM BROMIDE (.03%)

    ***I did not have otitis medua or an ear infection. This is just treatment for autophony symptoms

    I was so afraid the was no treatment.This so far has been a LIFE SAVER. smile

    I don't think it was created as treatment for this specific condition in mind, but it works non-the-less.

     PS Stay away from nasal sprays that are for decongestion (Ipratropium Bromide nasal spray is not a decongestant.) 

    This so far is the only thing that has helped my autophony / patulous eustachian tube (when I talked, my own voice was loud in one ear, and I could hear my breathing/ it felt like I had a bucket over my head.) 

    *I have not noticed any bad side effects so far

    *ENT's advice when spraying into nose- two squirts in each nostril. When spraying, it helps A LOT if you spray in the correct direction. This helped me: for each nostril: Visualize the back of your ear and aim the first spray back and outwards with that in mind (as if the spray was entering your nostril and going all the way back to behind your ear.) 2nd squirt: Then angle the bottle inwards towards your nose, spraying deep back into nose again, but this time inwards. (If this is confusing let me know.)

    I have just started this regiment and wanted to share what helped me as soon as I could for anyone else suffering. Autophony / PET is HORRIBLE, I know. This stuff works amazingly, but it requires daily use. I want a permanent cure. So I am going I am going to try estrogen ear drops which are meant to enlarge the fatty tissue around the Eustachian tube (the autophony is caused by it staying open when it shouldn't.) I will update as soon as I try the drops. 

    -Cait 

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