ETD- treatment success?

Hello all, been suffering with this for about a year now. Let me give you a quick timeline to introduce myself:

Dec 2010

Bout of 'Labrythitis' caused dizzyness, room-spinning and deafness.Lasted about 2-4 weeks.

Most of 2011 Hearing would drop out very occasionally with the odd dizzy spell

Early 2012

Bad bout of the flu on and off for about 10 weeks, hearing would be slightly affected.

ETD:

From about April onwards however fullness of the ear w/ tinnitus became more and more frequent.

Got to Summer and went to docs, given nasal spray as first course of action, which did no good. Referred to ENT in September 2012, confirmed ETD, suggested carrying on with nasal spray. From the day after my ENT appt to today hearing symptoms have been present 90% of the time! Had a week off of the symtoms around crhistmas but it is back with a vengence now. Have not had even a minor cold since the flu earlier this year, not even a runny nose!

Therefore, it seems I have ruled out it being down to congestion, all types of sudafed, decongestants and sprays have no obvious effect. I am now thinking it might be to do with a jaw problem (jaw has started clicking on the same side since a wisdom tooth has started to come through more aggressively). Or it could all be down to stress (stress can cause high blood pressure and inflamation, as well as the grinding/clenching of teeth thus causing the jaw problem).

Have not tried antibiotics yet. Ears have always looked fine to doctor/ENT specialist - no fluid seemingly present even when ears feel blocked.

Thanks for taking time to read my post, anyone had any experience of stress/jaw related ETD?

My ETD issue started 4 weeks ago on Christmas day.

*Woke up, Right ear blocked, done the usual wiggling and freaking out, googled and got as far as peroxide ear drops and ear bud cleaning. Casually took sudafeds, along with the air drops and nasel sprays. Got desperate after reading the ETD horror stories online.,

* No joy, consulted my GP mis-diagnosed me with an ear infection but I followed the ear drop treatments with no success. Went to a different GP the following week, he diagnosed me with ETD. He basically told me to chill out and directed me to this very site fpr advice (Guess he wasn't in the mood to subscribe me with anything lol). Recommended decongestant tablets Sudfed.

*After my GP reassured me, I stayed the course with Sudafed and my ear cleared up in a week.

Stopped taking the tablets as recommended by my gp and spent a week ETD free UNTIL yesterday now out of the blue, whilst sitting in front of my PC checking emails my LEFT ear closed up. The ETD just switched ears!!! This blockage doesn't seem as severe but I bought a few boxes of sudafed and I'm going to start another week of treatment before I freak out.

PS: I have no dizzyness, or pain, just a blocked sensation. Can't believe some people have suffered this for months or even years. I wish you all the best, and will update you with my progress.

pleased Im not the only one suffering!! My rt ear is still blocked, after removing my grommet! Now and then I get a "popping" sensasion, sometimes "gurgling".? I will try the sudafed next I think..

Right people, update...

After another week of sudafed to treat my left ear, I can say it's starting to clear slightly. Similar process to the right ear. Hearing progressively got better.

Now I don't know how effective the sudafed tablets actually are. My hearing may have cleared up on it's own, as is normally suppose to be the case, but I guess there's no harm in taking them.

I seem to respond better to tablets over the capsules.

I'm not out of the woods yet. When I grind my teeth on the effected side of my ear, I hear the weird hissing sound like a deflating tire. Like the trapped air in the Eustachian tube is getting pushed out.

Fingers crossed, I should be back to normal next week. However I get the feeling I might have this for life. One of these on and off things. I described my condition to a friend of mine and she said she gets them 3 or 4 times a year.

Hi there. I too am suffering from a bout of this following a cold and isnt it absolutely AWFUL. I have had if for 4 weeks now. It SEEMS to be getting better but as others have said it may be just that Im getting used to it. Tried the over the counter nasal spray (Sudafed nasal de congestant) and tablets first but to no real avail. Hearing is not too bad (TV volume as before) but clicks every time I swallow etc. The worse symptom for me is the feedback when I speak. I get feedback/no feedback/hearing it in my head/not etc etc all in the one sentence.

Have just been to the docs for about the 5th time. This time I have been given a steroidal nasal spray and more decongestants (which the pharmacist reccommended 2 weeks ago but the doctor before this one didn't approve) so we will see.

Has anyone had any experience with a 'neti pot'? (as mentioned in a previous discussion thread). Would like more views before I try as it sounds a bit dangerous. Perhaps youd drown if you got your breathing cycle mixed up.

Also the notes about ETD (on this site) mention a 'recently developed' treatment called balloon dilation. The trouble is there is no date so I don't know what 'recent' is. Anyone any experience of?

Will keep updated with results of steroid spray and 'neti pot' if I get one.

Sympathies to all who have had it long term. Its got to be one of the worse and unsung ailments.

Hey thanks for sharing steve19. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I full recovered in one ear, then had a relapse in the other ear after a week. The hearing is getting better after a few weeks of sudafeds but it seems to have stalled. I bought another pack today. I was told that I should take them for longer than a few weeks but I'm going to chance it with one more course of tablets. Doesn't seem like the doctors have any real solutions outside over the counter remedies. Just like you steve, I think I'm just getting used to it now. I'll only try the netipot if if the symptoms become un bearable. I seem to be managing ok so far. I'll make more updates as things change.......

Hey eon001-fellow sufferer.... is it the Sudafed you are taking 'Nasal Decongestent' (only available from pharmacies with a chemist to advise, and has a 'P' on the packet)?

The problem is that if you read how it works is seems that it prevents more mucus from forming but doesnt help to clear the existing. I don't know about you but I think I still have catarrah in my sinuses etc and I think 'drying it up' is the reverse of what I want to do. I need to get rid of whats there. Talking to chemists they say that it may have a counter productive effect long term.

Have you tried steam with some Olbas oil (reccommended by the first doctor). I guess you probably have ....if youre like me you try anything to get rid of it!.This doesnt work for me. If anything it seems to make it worse. Will see if the Steroids work and update the post. Trouble is you never quite know what has worked as it may be just a function of time.

Yes I took the sudafed, and I think ypu may have a point about it being just a short term solution. The only reason I'm giving is a 2nd go is because it "seemed" to work well for my first bout of ETD in my right ear. Now I don't know if it was the placebo effect and my ear would have cleared up by itself, but as you can imagine, I was desperate to try anything. I haven't tried the oil yet, I tried the sudafed nasal spray once, and that felt horrible. I read that the chance's of a relapse were very high with the sprays so I abandoned them. As I'm typing this, my left ear is feeling alot less blocked. It's the same gradual clearing sensation as I experienced in my right ear prior to full recovery so fingers crossed. I'll leave the Sudafeds and look into the Olbas oil. Thanks for the tip.

Hey Steve19, took your advice and left the sudafed. I'm happy to report that my ear has improved greatly. As I'm typing this I can say it feels pretty normal. So hopefully it will last. I still get this heard hissing sound when I grind my back teeth. The jaw muscle must cause some kind of squeezing to the inner ear tube. Nothing I can't live with. Only noticeable when I eat, and that's just a few times a day.

I'll update if anything else happens.

Oh dear, This is everything I have ! The dr directed me to this site to find some ideas to help relieve my endless ear discomfort!

She advised me not to take Sudofed as she said when you stop everything comes back with force, Its like it just holds it back! I now have the steroid nasal spray and been warned it can take 2 weeks to start to feel any difference then to take it for many weeks after.

I am going demented with the pressure in my ears and the feeling of ginge down my throat. I don't think anyone believes me! I am exhausted with it , weepy at night!

I think maybe a tiny tiny tiny feeling of draining with the sprat (week 2) and paracetomol as advised every morning.I fly in 6 wks and am terrified of the pain.

Oh dear, This is everything I have ! The dr directed me to this site to find some ideas to help relieve my endless ear discomfort!

She advised me not to take Sudofed as she said when you stop everything comes back with force, Its like it just holds it back! I now have the steroid nasal spray and been warned it can take 2 weeks to start to feel any difference then to take it for many weeks after.

I am going demented with the pressure in my ears and the feeling of ginge down my throat. I don't think anyone believes me! I am exhausted with it , weepy at night!

I think maybe a tiny tiny tiny feeling of draining with the sprat (week 2) and paracetomol as advised every morning.I fly in 6 wks and am terrified of the pain.

Sorry to hear this Shev. I think your Dr may be right about the sudafed, Although I tried sudafed for a few weeks and it worked. Enjoyed a whole week of good hearing, then returned in my opposite ear.

You see there's no way of knowing if that was because of the sudafeds or if that was just my bad luck.

I continued with the sudafeds again, with minimal success then decided to just stop taking them. That week my hearing cleared up and I'm currently back to normal.

I'm starting to think the best remedy is time and patience. The average condition is only supposed to be temporary, but I can understand the fear as I have experienced it myself, and googling often provides you with cases of untreatable casualties.

My whole experience with both ears lasted around 6 weeks. My first ear was blocked for 2 weeks and my second ear was blocked for 2 weeks with a 2 week break in between.

I had a mini relapse for 30 mins but I overcame it.

I'm not sure if this is even relevant but I think it might be worth mentioning....

First time it happened, I had the heating on really high in my room as I slept. Woke up both ears blocked but I shook one of them back into hearing. The other stayed blocked.

Second time it happened was when I was cleaning my ear in the batch. Water trickled in, and stayed blocked for a bout an hour. Cleared up then sealed shut again later that afternoon. that on lasted for 2 weeks.

So in conclusion, my ears may have a sensitivity to water and heat? I really don't know and neither does my doctor, but I think it's worth mentioning as other might have experienced the same thing. Sorry for the long winded reply, I was only meant to write a few paragraphs but I didn't want to leave out any details that might help.

All the best.

I feel very releived today having read other peoples situations! I am going to continue with the spray and paracetomol for the headache feeling and be positive and sit it out!

Oh dear another week on and worse than ever, that steriod nasal spray was ok for 2 weeks then I got such

pain at the top of my nose/head- no painkillers would relieve it, I was bedridden, stopped the spray and that went. I am now on antibiotics-no change, so I am still sufferring ( since dec 21st !!) I am hot, nauseas .the pressure pushing up my ears is unbearable it comes in waves and feels like gunge in my throat. I fly in 5 weeks my firsy ever holiday for years so I have bought boots flight ear plugs but any other tips would be wonderful.