All These Symptoms Because of Eustachian Tube/Pressure Problems or Something Else?

Hey everyone, I am new here and have been having ear problems for years. The last year things have gotten a lot worse. This is going to be a long story, but I guess I could use some support and expertise. I hope you don't mind me just putting a mountain of symptoms down here, hoping for an explanation. This has been affecting my mental health quite negatively, to the point where I relapsed into anxiety. I needed to up my dose of medication too, because it became too hard to cope with.

I have had tinnitus as long as I can remember. In both ears a whistling that goes in 24/7, like layers of different tones on top of each other. Sometimes a new tone in an ear for a few seconds that fades like a teapot relieving pressure. The tinnitus never gave me anxiety much, sometimes at night when it is quiet and it seems overwhelming. Hearing is very sensitive beside the whistling.So I was able to cope with it pretty well.

I have had migraines for 10 years. Some people said it should get better when doing some physical activity, but it doesn't, it gets worse. They seem to come randomly, last until I lie down in a decent position for a while. Menstruation obviously make them come more often. Laughing fits also trigger them.

Since then rarely, once every few months, I get weird dizziness, where if I try to focus on a point, my eyes just keep pulling away, causing me to get quite lightheaded. After lying down for a while, it goes away.

For about 2 years I've heard a clicking in my right ear when I swallow. It didn't alarm me at the time. Now it is every single time I swallow.

After some exercise I used to notice a flickering in both of my eyes, which would go away after few seconds. A little rattling and clicking sounds would happen in right ear at times.

Random constipation since last year, I thought it was caused by stress. Even though I used to poop like clockwork!
Urination getting worse too last few months. After lying down for a while, I have to pee, I have to go fast, or else...

This year things got really bad for me, and not because of COVID-19. I was actually not affected much by it at the time...

In May this year, I woke up and I was half deaf in my right ear, and I heard a loud tone. My ear felt slightly numb. I freaked out! I feared I had had some sort of an aneurysm or something scary, so I went straight into a loop of panic attacks.

One of my big fears is that my tinnitus is going to get worse, I am sure many of you understand or share this fear. That it will get so loud I won't be able to cope with it anymore. And on that day it seemed like it had actually happened.

So a doctor told me it was an Eustachian pressure thing, and it sometimes happens when you have tinnitus. I got a nose spray, and next day it was gone. This is where I started spiraling down into anxiety, doubting myself and the symptoms. What is real, what am I causing?

Left ear is also occasionally clicking and rattling now. Right ear occasionally has a new ringing that reacts to sounds coming from outside, like a weird echo.

Pressure in head when getting up from sitting or lying down. Migraines used to be on both sides randomly, now only on my right side.

A weird kind of pressure in my neck, behind my collarbone and in my head. Stress or heartburn? Except these could last for days, even when I am not stressing out. Also pulsating tinnitus and pulsating vision happen during these times. I usually wake up with this, feeling really weird in my head.

At first I though the anxiety had broken my brain somehow...

The flickering I have in my eyes can get so bad after moving around or exercise, that it affects my entire vision. And after standing still or resting it can take 15 minutes to go away. It makes me feel lightheaded.

Tinnitus gets louder in my left ear. It used to last ten minutes, and it would then fade. Now it lasts almost all day. Moments of mild ear pain, feeling fullness in ears. I feel dizzy more often, but I never faint.

Waking up extremely exhausted... Or feeling like a zombie, just really crappy feeling.

Many told me the symptoms are from stress and anxiety, I believed them. But now I realise that I know my body best. I know what anxiety and stress are like. This is different.

Can you imagine I get anxious, when the vague symptoms keep piling on top of each other?

I had my eyes tested at the hospital because of the increasing flickering. My eyes are perfectly fine. So it is either neurological, or something to do with my blood vessels... or could it all be connected to a Middle Ear/Eustachian Tube problem?

My blood was tested, as well as my blood pressure. All was well.

Ironically after visiting the hospital for my eyes, I got something that looked like middle ear infection. Minus the extreme ear pain - I had just mild ear pain. Dizzy for days straight, watery eyes, feeling sickly and weak. I read middle ear infection can cause constipation or bowel problems. Which is what I have been having for a year now? Is it connected somehow? And why do many things happen on the right side of my head?

I have to wait almost 2 months until I can visit the ear doctor at the hospital... I keep my ears covered with hats just in case.

I hope things don't get worse, and that you guys can help me get some clarity. Some peace of mind would be great.

My medication is Venlafaxine 75 mg + 37.5 mg a day, I can imagine this causes some visual effects and slightly louder tinnitus.

 

Did you get an audiometric test and a tympanogram (it's a sort of eardrum pressure test)?

 

That's a lot more than I ever encountered with my Eustachian tube problems. I have a hard time believing that it is all related to your Eustachian tubes, in particular the stuff related to your vision. Also, I think that dizziness/balance issues I believe are more related to the inner ear?

I can't address everything, but I'll throw out a few observations:
* A clicking sound from your ears when you swallow is normal; this is your Eustachian tube opening (which it should do when you swallow). I'd say if you do not hear anything when you swallow then that is more indicative of a Eustachian tube problem. (Maybe your ETs were previously messed up and have gotten better?) I can hear a sound from both ears when I swallow, but I never paid attention to it or noticed it before my ETs started having issues about three years ago.
(When my ET problems started, the doctor also put me on nose spray and it didn't seem to help me at all. I got some relief after a while when I tried Sudafed, which will help clear out mucus/congestion which can build up in the tubes along with other places. Note, I'm talking about "behind the counter" Sudafed, or specifically pseudoephedrine; "Sudafed PE" is not the same thing. Brand names might be different in the Netherlands.)
* I've developed periodic headaches over the past couple of years that I did not have before. They appear once every two or three weeks. I've recently found that a simple vitamin B-2 supplement has helped to limit them. Something that you could easily try...
* Having to wait a long time for an ENT appointment is also normal, unfortunately... See if you can get on the cancellation wait list (that got me my appointment about five weeks early) but don't get your hopes up for very good answers at the appointment. :-\

Not saying that this is anxiety for sure, but, anxiety sure can cause some wacky stuff. For example, around eight years ago when I was preparing for a major thesis defense, I was pretty anxious about it, and I had a problem where I couldn't focus my eyes properly unless I tried really hard and that would also end up giving me headaches. Ophthalmologist couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes. It lasted for like five or six weeks and it made the whole process a whole lot harder than it needed to be, but it went away as soon as I was finished with the project. I've never had that happen in my life before or since, and I have been through other high-anxiety times.

 

Thanks for reading that long story and thinking with me.

Okay, I will try the B2 supplements. And I was also already thinking about calling the hospital, to see if maybe they will get a spot open earlier.

The doctor had given me Fluticasone propionate nose spray btw. Apparently that Sudafed stuff isn't sold here.

The vision thing is vague, and I can't find anything about it online in combination with the inner ear or ET. I don't think that part is anxiety tho, because it usually happens when the pulsating tinnitus, pressure in head and dizziness acts up too. Also when I am calm. Online I can only see connections with 'blurry vision', that sounds kind of different.

I hope it isn't some kind of scary blood flow problem.

Guess I will keep you guys updated, maybe someday this might be helpful to someone else.

 

Hi @Musume,

I had strange dizziness, balance, swallowing and vision issues when my tinnitus started. For my vision, it was as if there was something rolling behind my eyes and I visited the 'huisartsenpost' quite a few times . I could also feel strange sensations in my head. All the symptoms somehow changed/ got modified when I used nose spray and it slowly diminished over time.

Tinnitus may lead to hyperawareness OCD. I was quite surprised later to know that perfectness of balance is also a sensorimotor OCD. Maybe what you experience could be partly related to the SOCD. I could relate as well to the story of @Aaron44126.

By the way, CT scan revealed that both my turbinates were swollen.
I can really relate to the brain fog feeling on getting up. Maybe because of interrupted sleep or breathing? Who knows.

 

Last week I was dizzy for days straight again. Except this time the day before it happened, I started getting this vague feeling in my tongue. It radiated to my jaw, ear, side of face, throat and chest. All on the right side, same side of the ear problems. Like a weird muscle ache feeling, and at times its hard to breathe. Seems to change depending on how I lie down too.

The constant dizziness is mostly gone, but the weird feeling keeps coming back. Noticeable when I eat, and then it also causes nausea.

Doesn't feel like a typical panic attack. It has been coming and going like this for days now, and kinda freaks me out.

I even had to call a backup doctor because I got really worried. The thought of a sort of a heart attack crossed my mind. They said it didn't sound like an emergency, so I have to wait until Monday.

Guess I might as well mention I did come off taking the pill a few weeks ago, which is when the weird muscle ache in my chest started. I only took it for 3 days, but side effects forced me to stop. Left arm tingling, all the way to my jaw. Midriff also felt weird. So it could be a weird connection of some sort.

 

Okay, a little update because it has been a while.

The thing I had end of December happened again in January, slightly different though. It seemed like a partial salivary gland/ear infection.

I read an article about the balance organ and when it shuts down, apparently it CAN cause your vision to go weird. I have the same symptoms as in the article, eyes flickering, pulsating textures jumping at times. And it mentioned that it can cause anxiety, which explains me breaking down last year. It comes and goes though, so my balance organ hasn't shut down, it just acts up at times. And it's right next to the eustachian tube so I thought I had found the answer.

I've been to the hospital thrice for my ears now, tried explaining everything. From the outside my ears look fine. They checked my balance organ yesterday by moving my head around like crazy, putting glasses on me in which I could hardly see trough. Doctor said my balance organ is fine. So back to square one. Maybe my eustachian tube is at times messing with the balance organ but the organ itself is fine?

That doctor mentioned it could be mental. But I'm still not sure anxiety and stress could cause my ears to crackle and several of the other symptoms. Especially since I feel like I can almost point it to that darn eustachian tube.

Next appointment is in a few days. Will keep ya posted, as I said, it could be of help to someone else someday (assuming I get some answers )

 

Oh my goodness, when you said "why do so many things happen on the right side of my head?"

Me too!

My tinnitus is unilateral on the right.

Chronic headaches/sensitivity on the right.

Pressure behind my right eye.

Knot in my neck on the right.

TMJ clicks on the right side.

Weird fullness on the right side.

Right ear doesn't pop right.

What the heck?

 

Hey, did any of these issues resolve? I have similar issues, also on my right hand side.

 

As for the eye thing, ocular migraines, just google pictures of it.