Eustachian tube dysfunction for 6 months... i'm suicidal and not sure what to do....?
Posted , 21 users are following.
I've had eustachian tube dysfunction in both ears ever since flying long haul with a bad flu/cold in November last year and nothing since has eased my symptoms. I went to my doctor a month ago and he dissmissed it really, told me to use a steroid nasal spray and do valsalva every hour and it should go away in a couple weeks. This spray has done nothing and I actually feel like it has gotten worse the past month. It causes a feeling of unbearable pressure in my ears and sometimes in my head and nose, affects my hearing, causes crackling and popping when i swallow, yawn etc. and makes me so miserable. If theres no cure for this then I'm not sure I want to keep living. I'm only 18 and have never felt this way before but I really feel so hopeless. My doctor just won't take it seriously as I feel he just doesn't know what to do. He said he would refer me to an ENT but reading online I feel theres no way an ENT can help me. After searching this on the internet for the past 6 months and reading all the stories of people never getting cured of this and having it for tens of years I honestly just want to die. I'm suffering from a tremendous amount of anxiety too as I am due to fly to Greece from the UK in the beginning of July and am sure that it will aggravate the problem. If this happens I don't know what I will do apart from just end it... I'm scared of feeling like this and wish that I just had my old ears back so much I'm crying as I write this. I have no idea what to do no one around me understands I just wish there was something that would cure me. Before this I loved life and was excited by the prospect of my future but now this condition has taken over every waking second of my life, driving me insane. I'm so lost and hopeless and in pain I don't know what to do... If anyone knows anyone who can actually help me in the UK please please get in contact. otherwise I fear I may do something stupid before the year ends... :'(
2 likes, 87 replies
oliver79637 caddddy
Posted
don't just visit an ent! see an orthodontist as well and a maxfax as well. How old are you?
jessica86474 oliver79637
Posted
im 26 how do i go about this it all started with a cold and its just go worse i contanly have to pop my ears and im always hearing poping noises xx
Moneymakesscent jessica86474
Posted
it can be very frustrating at first and throughout try to alway stay positive even if it feels like torture sometimes. Stay from things that make it worse like cigarette smoke too many sodas drink lots of water to keep your pours pushing out stuff sodas make it stickier allergy medicine to help nasal spray the E N T should prescribe but most of all keep moving forward
jessica86474 Moneymakesscent
Posted
thankyou im going to try and stay away from sugary and see if i find any diffrence ive started taking vitamin A i have read on here that that helped someone just i just cant belive they havent thought of a cure for this. x
oliver79637 jessica86474
Posted
You'll get a lot of advice for different solutions but the best thing you can do it try to get all the diagnostic tests.
An Mri can check your jaw muscles
An endoscope can look at your tube entrance
A tekscan t-scan can measure your bite forces (this is important. uneven bite forces can tense and block the eustacian tube and an ear doctor will never check this)
What else do you know about your symptoms? Are they different at different time of the day? Do you get relief if you angle your head any particular way?
Have you recently had any dental work?
jessica86474 oliver79637
Posted
how do i request these things its taken me months to be refferd to ENT. i feel better when i put cotton wool in my left ear i dont no why maybe its just a comfort thing yes some days it is really bad and it gets painfull but i dont think im allregic to anything so im not sure why it happens. xx
oliver79637 jessica86474
Posted
Your GP should refer you if you ask but yeah it takes ages.
Honestly I think you have to go private. I don't think the nhs even have t-scans which is crazy. Where do you live? I'll google someone for you
michael11955 caddddy
Posted
I've been suffering huge pressure (not pain)_ for 3 years.I've had several xrays & MRI & the 4 specialists I've seen haven't got a clue.So no diagnosis.Their attitude seems to be if we can't see it,then I must be imagining it.
jessica86474 michael11955
Posted
omg that is so horriable how do you cope i feel like i have no hope. x
Moneymakesscent michael11955
Posted
i had the pressure due to ears not popping ended up getting an ear tube in one ear and it relieved the pressure it was only one ear at first but once it started to heal i realized my left ear is blocked i will probably have to get a tube in my left ear also there is a trick where you insert one finger in each ear at same time lift fingers upward and open your mouth wide and yawn
jessica86474 Moneymakesscent
Posted
my ears pop all the time did you hear crackling noises when you swallowed and when i yawn i feel like i go deff xx
michael11955 jessica86474
Posted
Hi jessica,I've seen a hypnotist ,which helped a teeny bit & I go to a mindfulness class weekly.Also listen to relaxation discs & tapes.
All of which gives slight relief while I'm involved for the time I'm doing them.Sadly the condition is present all the time & any of the medical people I've been to appear to have as much knowledge as an envelope without an address written on it.
michael11955 Moneymakesscent
Posted
See my reply to jessica
jessica86474 michael11955
Posted
oh no really i dont no how i will cope with this for the rest of my life what symptoms do you have.
michael11955 jessica86474
Posted
Dear Jessica,My main sympton is huge pressure in both ears.No pain actually,just pressure & the only bit of relief is when laying down in a quiet room.On waking from sleeping the pressure is noticably less,but after about 10 minutes it cuts in
jessica86474 michael11955
Posted
i get a burning feeling behind my ear and lots of poping and cracking my ear drum feels like its wabbling i spoken to a doctor today because i have to wait another 6 weeks to see ent they have precribed me some anti deppression but i really dont no weather to take them or not
oliver79637 michael11955
Posted
sounds like jaw muscle pressure. Have you had your bite checked?
jessica86474 oliver79637
Posted
no i haven i did have to have braces when i was younger to push my more forward
oliver79637 jessica86474
Posted
okay it is obviously your orthodontic work. can you post a photo of your bite?
michael11955 jessica86474
Posted
Dear Jessica,It sounds like the standard reply.Just keep you waiting 6 weeks & maybe you'll go away with your blocked ear sensation. That is about all you can expect.
michael11955 oliver79637
Posted
Done it all Oliver & after 3 years I'm no wiser or better off than the first time.
jessica86474 michael11955
Posted
what do you mean does the test they do make you more clogged
oliver79637 michael11955
Posted
You mean you had orthodontics? Did you have a t-scan done?
Moneymakesscent michael11955
Posted
the sound will come and go and once the fluid os mostly out it will lessen over time i have been dealing with this for about 5 years
denise_08612 Moneymakesscent
Posted
I'm so sorry to hear you have been dealing with this for 5 years. I've had it for a year and a half. It's a little better. Sudafed D every 12 hours helps. You just can't take it daily if you have high blood pressure.
michael11955 jessica86474
Posted
It means that the MRI doesn't show that there is anything there that is cancerous.They don't however say that they know what it is or isn't. It appears to have no effect on the clogged up highly pressured feeling that we get.