Dear readers / fellow sufferers,
My name is Daniel, I'm 30 years old from the Netherlands. I'm sorry if my English isn't perfect.
I have had problems with my ears for almost 2 months now. It started after a period in which I was physically completely exhausted, condition was gone, constantly dizzy and light in my head, cause of this I still don't know (I suspect a vitamin deficiency "B12 / iron", which I am currently investigating). After I finally got better, the misery started all over again. After a long walk I fell on the couch and I started not really feeling well (flu?) I was suddenly very sensitive to noise, could hear everything, the fridge etc, could not tolerate the sound, normal TV sound suddenly hurt and it un/loading the dishwasher was hell. Fortunately, this quickly passed after a few days and the sensitivity to sound was gone.
Shortly afterwards I noticed that when swallowing or yawning my ears were constantly cracking / crackling and the feeling that there was pressure in my ears and I constantly had to equalize to get rid of the feeling. I also developed a slight beep (tinnitus) in my left ear, fortunately (still) only noticeable in quiet rooms or when I go to sleep. Note that the ringing in the ears goes up and down, sometimes almost or even no longer audible and then again very clearly audible. As I'm typing this right now I can't hear my tinnitus and I'm in a quit room/office but this will change in a short time.
Now I have already been 3x to three different GPs and all three of them could see that my eardrums were convex / retracted on both the left and right, and all three showed fluid behind the eardrum. Eustachian tube would be blocked and I was given a nasal spray and it would pass on its own (had to be patient).
My patience ran out and I was referred to the ENT because my doctor no longer knew what he could do for me.
Yesterday (finally) I visited an ENT doctor and he had a very brief look in my ears and a pressure measurement and told that there was nothing wrong to see and that I had to take into account that the beeping (tinnitus) could be permanent. I had to continue spraying and hope it would pass. Within 5 minutes I was outside not knowing what the problem is. My hearing is excellent and I have no history of loud music / noise. My ears are still cracking and popping, not constantly, I also notice when there is no pressure on the ringing in my ear is almost no longer noticeable and as soon as there is pressure again and starts cracking and popping the buzzing gets louder.
What else could be the cause and could the ENT doctor be wrong and I still suffer from the Eustachian tube? The pressure measurement test was done when I experienced no pressure in my ears, as I mentioned earlier, this is not constant, but often during periods throughout the day.
I am also very curious about your findings on the points below.
1: When I lie / sleep on my (tinnitus) ear, the beep disappears completely, as soon as I get up again or lie on my other ear, the beep appears.
2: I also have a lot of problems with my neck muscles and a feeling of pressure in the back of my head when massaging the muscles, I hear cracking and popping in my ears.
I hope to get some advice / tips on diagnosis and any tips and follow-up steps I can take. I don't know where to start. Thanks for your answers, really appreciate!
Have a nice day!
My name is Daniel, I'm 30 years old from the Netherlands. I'm sorry if my English isn't perfect.
I have had problems with my ears for almost 2 months now. It started after a period in which I was physically completely exhausted, condition was gone, constantly dizzy and light in my head, cause of this I still don't know (I suspect a vitamin deficiency "B12 / iron", which I am currently investigating). After I finally got better, the misery started all over again. After a long walk I fell on the couch and I started not really feeling well (flu?) I was suddenly very sensitive to noise, could hear everything, the fridge etc, could not tolerate the sound, normal TV sound suddenly hurt and it un/loading the dishwasher was hell. Fortunately, this quickly passed after a few days and the sensitivity to sound was gone.
Shortly afterwards I noticed that when swallowing or yawning my ears were constantly cracking / crackling and the feeling that there was pressure in my ears and I constantly had to equalize to get rid of the feeling. I also developed a slight beep (tinnitus) in my left ear, fortunately (still) only noticeable in quiet rooms or when I go to sleep. Note that the ringing in the ears goes up and down, sometimes almost or even no longer audible and then again very clearly audible. As I'm typing this right now I can't hear my tinnitus and I'm in a quit room/office but this will change in a short time.
Now I have already been 3x to three different GPs and all three of them could see that my eardrums were convex / retracted on both the left and right, and all three showed fluid behind the eardrum. Eustachian tube would be blocked and I was given a nasal spray and it would pass on its own (had to be patient).
My patience ran out and I was referred to the ENT because my doctor no longer knew what he could do for me.
Yesterday (finally) I visited an ENT doctor and he had a very brief look in my ears and a pressure measurement and told that there was nothing wrong to see and that I had to take into account that the beeping (tinnitus) could be permanent. I had to continue spraying and hope it would pass. Within 5 minutes I was outside not knowing what the problem is. My hearing is excellent and I have no history of loud music / noise. My ears are still cracking and popping, not constantly, I also notice when there is no pressure on the ringing in my ear is almost no longer noticeable and as soon as there is pressure again and starts cracking and popping the buzzing gets louder.
What else could be the cause and could the ENT doctor be wrong and I still suffer from the Eustachian tube? The pressure measurement test was done when I experienced no pressure in my ears, as I mentioned earlier, this is not constant, but often during periods throughout the day.
I am also very curious about your findings on the points below.
1: When I lie / sleep on my (tinnitus) ear, the beep disappears completely, as soon as I get up again or lie on my other ear, the beep appears.
2: I also have a lot of problems with my neck muscles and a feeling of pressure in the back of my head when massaging the muscles, I hear cracking and popping in my ears.
I hope to get some advice / tips on diagnosis and any tips and follow-up steps I can take. I don't know where to start. Thanks for your answers, really appreciate!
Have a nice day!
