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ETD, Deafness & me

Posted , 2 users are following.

Guest
Guest

I cannot begin to tell you the misery I suffered following ETD, but hope that this may offer some sound advice to others with the same complaint.

Twelve weeks ago, exactly, what I thought was a head-cold, turned into a dreadfully sore throat for two days, and then, on the evening of day three, a terrific pain in my right ear, followed by almost complete deafness on that side. Not just deafness, but a full, `echoey` type of deafness, similar to what you might hear underwater.

Off to G.P. next day who prescribes anti-biotics and steam inhalation. Back to G.P. a week later - hearing still badly impared and popping and pain in ear. He prescribes FLIXONASE NASAL DROPS and says to continue with steam, and that hearing will return in about three days.

By now, I am going crazy with all this distorted sound in my ear, and am trying to keep working and driving with this awful condition. Hadn`t even heard of ETD until now, and start searching the internet in the hope of something positive.

Three days into Flixonase treatment, hearing improved - by about 30-40%, but still popping and cracking going on. Nightime is worse, by about 9pm, feels as if my ear is filling with fluid, and there is also a `worm-like` feeling going on. Back to G.P. - he is now getting a bit fed-up of me - and he says that my ear-drum is completely distorted, and that I have to keep going with the two-week Flixonase course, and that it may take several weeks for it to settle down. Seems like they only like giving you the bad news in small doses.

The nasal drops have made the lining of my nose swell-up, and on day 10, I start cutting down the dose to once a day in order to faze out.

Have started to find a lot of stuff on the Net about `negative pressure` in the ear, and how to equalise it. Send off for a kit called `Otovent` which uses a nasal baloon to try to right the pressure. Loads of cracking and popping going on, but it gives me an awful headache. At least my deafness is getting better in the morning, although I am sure this `Valsalva` menouvre, which the G.P. suggested I do all the time, (to enable air to get up my eustachian tube), has left me with this new problem of unequal pressure. Do I sound mad? At this point, I think I am going crazy - this problem is affecting my day to day living and I am very depressed.

I am slowly, very, very, slowly - getting my hearing back, although still have quite a bit of popping and cracking going on, especially when I lay down at night. The Deaf Society have a `ask a question` on their Website, and advised me that it can take up to three months to get back to normal, if the initial problem was a VIRUS and not an infection. This has given me hope - one more week before I reach that stage, (although of course, it may be a little longer). I propose to consult an ENT specialist (I will demand that my GP. gives me a letter of referal, if things do not clear up soon), and will take it from there.

I hope this will be of use to anyone suffering. I AM GETTING BETTER at long last, and I remember well, looking to find anything, positively anything, which offered some hope.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    :D :D

    Oh, my gosh, you are a godsend. I have been looking for the otovent for several years now. I used it several years ago and the doctor that gave it to me, left Houston and no one I talked to knew what I was talking about. I am in the process of trying to order a kit. I have over the last several years miss placed the device that connects to the balloon, so I will have to order a complete kit. I hope they sell them in an order of 1 kit. If not, I'll have to buy all six kits. When I used it several years ago, it WORKED and was the only thing that did work....I had had the condition for 6 months prior to using the device....it started to clear immediately with the otovent. Again, I was never so happy to read that you had used it lately. I could not find the website for the company several years ago, so I thought that the device no longer existed. Again, thank you so much.

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I have had the same problem.. started 7th January. A friend at work had hers for 6 weeks but my Gp says 6-8 weeks with a virus. I have a terrible headache especially when I bend down to pick something up from the floor. The banging whirring buzzing noise was so deafening at first and I was finding the whole holding your nose thing was having no effect at all... now it is making my ears pop so I hope this is a good sign. I have tried the steam inhalation too but apparently this only thins the mucus which is causing the eustachian tube to stay shut. I had a nasal spray but the Gp says this relieves only temporarily and thickens the mucus so the etd comes back again and it last longer. I think paracetamol have helped me the most. I have found the internet useless as it does not state you have a headache with etd but I have. I does drive you mad and I do feel like returning to the Gp but what can they do??? I have to wait until my body gets shot of the symptoms left over by the virus. If anyone has the beginnings of etd I do have lots of sympathy but I too bring good news, it does get better but you have to give yourself time. Sleep helps too.
  • earmadness
    earmadness Guest

    Posted

    This is a long story and I will try to keep it short. f It all started in March with my being out in some terrible winds and I have terrible pain in my jaws. Then my ears began to fill up with wax and I was instructed to put oil in and then to have them syringed. This I did but the deafness was still in my left ear. I was sent to get hearing aids but I didn't really need them before I had the wax. I was told that I had some kind of infection and I was prescribed several series of antibiotics and ear sprays. Nothing did any good. I saw an ENT consultant in mid July who gave me about five minutes and told to get more hearing aids and a CT scan. I had the scan in late August. It is now october and I haven't heard a word. However, in early August I was desperate and tried some Plantago herbs and goldenseal and some yoga exercises and from5th August until 26th September my ear cleared and I heard well. On 25th September it has come back. I am now on a  steroid nasal spray and I'm trying Otovent. But I am getting desperate as I find it very hard to work and I play the piano and flute and sing and it just is very unpleasant. Why has it come back. Is it a virus? Has the virus returned? Please if you can offer me any help I would be so grateful.
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