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Cured my eustachian tube dysfunction

Posted , 56 users are following.

AmyYamy
AmyYamy

I've had this problem off and on for years.  I have allergies, so always assumed it was related to that.  Nope.  This past year, I discovered I also have a thyroid issue, and ETD can be related to hypothyroidism.  Well, even on thyroid hormone I still had the ETD.  

So I've been researching the web constantly, because my ETD is so annoying.  I have to yawn or swallow constantly or else my ears feel clogged and when I speak, it sounds very muffled.  Sometimes even clearing my ears doesn't help.   At it's worst, I couldn't clear my ears at all.  

I've gotten relief for a lot of my other thyroid symptoms with vitamins and minerals.  The research shows that a low thyroid can cause you to be deficient in a lot of different nutrients do to malabsorption and inability to metabolize and convert vitamins into their active forms.   Specifically, you do not convert beta-carotene into the active version of vitamin A that your body uses.  

I started hunting around for research related to eustachian tube and vitamins, and found nothing about humans, but eventually I found some for animals.  And it was all about vitamin A deficiency.  

In the ear, air is constantly being lost from the ear cavity through the soft tissues of the ear, by a process of difussion which isn't well understood.  If the soft tissue lining the ear cavity is too thin or too porous, you will lose the air a lot faster than normal.  I think this is what is happening for many of us with ETD.  Also, the eustachian tube itself may be sticky, due to the lining of the soft tissues being compromised.  Vitamin A is needed to properly make the epithelial lining of your soft tissues in your eustachian tubes, your ears, your nose and throat and your eyes (and probably everywhere in your body).  If you don't have enough, your soft tissues get scaly and dry, inflexible.  In your ears, that means your eustachian tubes get stuck closed (or maybe stuck open too!) and also the air is lost faster from your ear cavity, causing pressure changes faster than normal.  

I found a retinal acetate 5,000 IU vitamin supplement, and started taking that every day and it worked immediately the first day, and has kept my ears clear the past three days!  I know that isn't very long, and maybe I'm celebrating too early, but after dealing with this for so long, three days of not having this problem is too wonderful, I had to share my discovery.

Hope this helps some of you!

P.S.  I also take a low dose zinc and copper supplement.  Zinc helps you move vitamin A around the body.  Without sufficient zinc, you will not benefit form taking vitamin A.   And copper is important to take with zinc, and is also important for the building blocks of soft tissue.  

9 likes, 90 replies

90 Replies

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  • kenneth76171
    kenneth76171 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Amy Did the retinal acetate 5000 iu rgreaelieve the ETD for more than 3 days? Great work on researching this topic. Kenny
    • kenneth76171
      kenneth76171

      Posted

      Amy did the retinal acetate work beyond 3 days? Where can you buy this vitamin (drug)?
  • kenneth76171
    kenneth76171 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Amy has the retinal acetate still been effective. Eustachion tube dysfunction? And where does one buy this supplement?
    • mildred1103
      mildred1103 kenneth76171

      Posted

      Hi Kenneth76171 did you find out where to purchase the supplement?(Retinal Acetate 5,000mg)
  • Sissy9371
    Sissy9371 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Which vitiamn a and what all did u take for  Etd please let me no did every feel off balance and stuff  what did everyone feel like
  • steve77387
    steve77387 AmyYamy

    Edited

    3 months of Eustachian tube dysfunction. Started with pressure and muffling in both ears. A month later ended up with a middle ear infection. By the time I made it to the specialist my right ear was about to rupture. Ciprofloxacin and prednisone  remove the fluid, but discomfort lasted for 2 weeks. A month later and my Eustachian is starting to open. Time is important, this a slow healing process. What helped besides time? I took a half dose of pseudoephedrine waited an hour, took the rest, and got in a hot shower. I started gently working my ear with the Valsalva maneuver and had some success. (don't expect your ear to recover after you finally hear it pop for the first time) I did this for 4 days and its beginning to improve. I'm giving it a rest for a few. My hope is in about a month I should be healed. 

    NOTE: pseudoephedrine will dry you out if you take the suggested dosage on the box. At the point I started this process I had no congestion. 

    Background: I'm in my late 30's and until now have never had major health issues, including childhood ear infections. I've always had mild asthma, and have grown out of allergies. For the past 10 years I've taken good care of myself, work out three days a week and eat healthier than the average bear. In recent years I've switched from beer to (Crown and 7) on the weekend, and I like a source of nicotine to go with it. I believe this, along with dehydration, and the change in temps/humidity level, lead to a cold, which lead to the ear infection.

    What I did to see major improvement in overall health, with a focus on preventing congestion and the possibility of my ear filling with fluid again:(No tubes for me, please) Found a video to shed light on the topic. Search Eustachian Tube Balloon Dilation on youtube. No more liqueur and nicotine. Cut back on coffee. Stopped buying milk and yogurt. No processed food; hunter/gatherer with the convenience of a grocery store. Workout three days a week for at least 30 minutes. Try not to clinch my teeth or work my jaw to prevent inflammation. Out of paranoia, If I talk on my cell phone I don't put it to my ear. Gallaxy s5.

    Side note: Dairy-free has made major improvements in inflammation, asthma, and digestive issues I never realized I had... 

    Considerations: I've had a dog in the house for the past 14 years. I don't have carpet so I've always swept with a broom and scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees. I read an article about dust mites and Eustachian tube dysfunction. I bought a nice vacuum for hard floors with a steamer/vacuum. I gutted my house and went to town. My house was filthy. I also bought allergy/dust covers for all my bedding. Major improvement in well being. FYI, if you do this, wear a dust mask. I did not, and I paid the piper.

    I'm about to try supplementing vitamin A -Retinyl acetate. I will start with a very low dose and see what happens.

    I put this out there to help others, share data, and hopefully find the root cause. I left out the details of 6 doctor visits, with 4 different doctors. At first I was misdiagnosed with an outer ear infection. Also, If you find the tones on youtube or the video about pulling your ears... don't do it.

     

    • mel16854
      mel16854 steve77387

      Posted

      Hello, how are you feeling now?

      I've lived with this for the majority of my adult life (35 now) doctors also did a hearing test while i have a perforated eardrum on the right side.. they either want to close the hole, which will just rupture again because my tubes cannot equalize the pressure, or do tubes. I'm not for either of those methods as that isn't going to help the cause. i use fluticasone propionate and cetirizine (prescribed) and that isn't really seeming to help at all. would trying pseudoephedrine be a good idea? I'm up for anything at this point. i don't try popping my ears, as that never ends well. Any advice is much appreciated.

  • miranda_98649
    miranda_98649 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Thank you so much for posting this. I prefer natural medicine in order to avoid more production of mucus in the sinuses from over-drying. Usually I’m able to keep Eustachian tube emergencies  somewhat at bay just by avoiding sugar and sweets in any form, but sometimes that’s not enough and nothing I do will make my Eustachian tube/s open. It’s terrible. 

    During one eustachian tube crisis when the EENT’s medicines stopped working, I was told to go to a Tibetan doctor (I live in India). Within only one or two doses of his herbal pills, my Eustachian tubes opened and cleared. Now I’m always running there for those herbs when the problem comes up. If anyone is interested in his herbal prescription, please feel free to email me. There’s a large Tibetan medical institution here in India called Men Dzee Khang, and they can do international consultations and shipping. However, I must say, of all the Tibetan doctors I’ve seen for this, only this one doctor’s prescription works for me so I’m happy to pass it on and then any doctor here can write a prescription for it and the staff can mail it. It’s not expensive, although there’s a fee for international mailing.

    However, I don’t think one can take these herbs continually, so I’m definitely going to try the vitamin A, coenzymated B-complex with methylfolate, and...zinc and copper was it? I’ll have to read-read the posts. I’m accostomed to the constant clicking of my ears (between bouts of full blockage), but if I can get rid of that it would be a huge relief.

    Thanks again for sharing,

    Miranda 

    • mildred1103
      mildred1103 miranda_98649

      Posted

      Very interesting.  Would like the Doctor's information in India.  I've been dealing with this since 2014.

      I am also going to try the Vitamin 'A'

  • miranda_98649
    miranda_98649 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Thank you so much for posting this. I prefer natural medicine in order to avoid more production of mucus in the sinuses from over-drying. Usually I’m able to keep Eustachian tube emergencies  somewhat at bay just by avoiding sugar and sweets in any form, but sometimes that’s not enough and nothing I do will make my Eustachian tube/s open. It’s terrible. 

    During one eustachian tube crisis when the EENT’s medicines stopped working, I was told to go to a Tibetan doctor (I live in India). Within only one or two doses of his herbal pills, my Eustachian tubes opened and cleared. Now I’m always running there for those herbs when the problem comes up. If anyone is interested in his herbal prescription, please feel free to email me. There’s a large Tibetan medical institution here in India called Men Dzee Khang, and they can do international consultations and shipping. However, I must say, of all the Tibetan doctors I’ve seen for this, only this one doctor’s prescription works for me so I’m happy to pass it on and then any doctor here can write a prescription for it and the staff can mail it. It’s not expensive, although there’s a fee for international mailing.

    However, I don’t think one can take these herbs continually, so I’m definitely going to try the vitamin A, coenzymated B-complex with methylfolate, and...zinc and copper was it? I’ll have to read-read the posts. I’m accostomed to the constant clicking of my ears (between bouts of full blockage), but if I can get rid of that it would be a huge relief.

    Thanks again for sharing,

    Miranda 

  • mildred1103
    mildred1103 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Thanks ... I have been going thru this since 2014.  Today the 7th doctor told me there was nothing he could do I would have live with this for ever.  What is a retinal acetate vitamin supplement. I will try anything. All this happened after I fell and hit my head in January 2014, then in June my ear became blocked and have not have relief. I/ve been told I have TMJ also.  Look to hear from you AmyYs\amy
  • ruth11675
    ruth11675 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Any is talking about retinol vitamin A. You can’t get this from plant sources. There is also a gene mutation which is associated with the conversion of beta-carotene from plant sources to vitamin A. People who are heterozygous for certain versions of the BCM01 gene have 69% reduced capacity to metabolize vitamin A to its active form - retinal. As for toxicity, 5000IU should be no problem. I wouldn’t take any higher long-term, as it can be hard on the liver.
  • mildred1103
    mildred1103 AmyYamy

    Posted

    Thank you .. I shall purchase some Vitamin 'A" on Monday.  Hope this works

    Again AmyYamy Thank You

  • zizuuuuu
    zizuuuuu AmyYamy

    Posted

    Hi Ami,

    could you please be so kind to let us know any updates on using the vit A please? i'm looking to buy some for my ETD. Appreciate your help.please let us know

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