Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

I was diagnosed with it last Tuesday. I have a horrible pressure feeling that comes and goes. Comes badly whenever I drive and of course I have t ( started 4 weeks ago) I also have fluid in my ears which can be a symptom of ETD. I hear myself swallow and whenever I yawn I have a cracking sound sometiems :/ but the biggest thing is the pressure is so annoying and hurts my ears sometimes..it goes sometimes even behind my ears ( if that makes sense)

 

how do you know if you have fluid?

 

A dr can look in your ears and know, but it could even go misdiagnosed because fluid can move around. Usually the symptoms of pressure, muffled hearing sometimes you have a hard time hearing and even t there's a few other symptoms as well! I suggest go to the er or urgent care or dr and get checked out.

 

Well I definitely have the muffled hearing, and tinnitus as my symptoms. Those all started after a flight/vacation. The symptoms got better over a few weeks, and then I went on another flight, after landing the tinnitus and muffled hearing got worse again. I also "feel" like there might be fluid in the ear, but went to a few ENT's who looked inside and said everything looked normal.

I was actually diagnosed with Meniere's disease (inner ear / cochlear problem) because I also had a couple of vertigo episodes during the initial stages of this whole thing.

But since the flying/air pressure seems to be correlated to my problems, not to mention I was smoking a lot during that vacation and I normally don't, I am thinking it might be eustachian tube blockage.

 

I'm so sorry you were diagnosed with Ménière's disease. Yes those all could be a sign of ETD! Have you told your ents about ETD? And possibly having it?

 

I was diagnosed with visual snow and light sensitivity when I was 18, my tinnitus started when I was 26 and has been slowly getting worse for the last 7 years (I'm now 33). I feel like contstantly "Static" both due to my eyesight and my tinnitus, some days it's worse than others and I still can't pinpoint any triggers, although Caffeine does make my T slightly worse.

Does anyone else find that a long day in front of a screen or in bring lights makes tinnitus worse?

 

I personally do not find anything that makes my tinnitus worse permanently. Its only temporary sometimes and not by much. Caffeine/Alcohol had no effect on it personally for me.

My Visual Snow symptoms started in December of last year, could be of the marijuana use or could be just on its own, both are possible. (Eustachian Tube Dysfunction is one of the symptoms for me, along with the light sensitivity when I look at the sky during the day, Floaters in vision etc)

My tinnitus has become louder since the start of this issue. However my tinnitus is noise induced and I've had it for a lot longer.

 

I haven't told them, but I suppose there's a reason they're not diagnosing ETD. I don't think you get vertigo for ETD, whereas for Meniere's you do. All other symptoms are similar.

What I am suspecting is that I have both.

 

Vertigo can even be caused by fluid in your ears. I would go to a ENT to get checked out and to get a proper diagnosis!

 

my ENT says eustachian tube issues do not cause vertigo.....have you heard otherwise?

 

Yeah vertigo is a symptom of fluid in the ear or maybe something else. ETD causes pressure, can't pop ears, tinnitus and loads of other stuff

 

@Koz,

Do you still think the pot was linked to your ETD? My pre-existing tinnitus has been worse in my right ear for a couple of weeks now and I feel more pressure in that ear than usual, and my ENT today said he believes my E tube in my right ear is inflamed. He believes this is the result of allergies, and that this inflammation is causing the change in my tinnitus and pressure in that ear He put me on a 6 day course of Methylprednisolone (an oral steroid) that I just started today.

I've been using a vaporizer lately and I'm wondering if that has any relation to my E tube problem. I also had a really bad and lingering sinus infection a few months ago, and although I've had that under control for the last month thanks to a nasal steroid spray, I'm wondering if my E tube problem is related to the sinus infection.

Trying to pinpoint the cause of this can be really frustrating (as most on these forums know ), and I'm trying to figure out if my vaping is a contributing factor. I'm laying off of the vaporizer while I'm on the steroids and I'll see how it goes.

 

Has anyone noticed that their tinnitus caused by ETD seems to dissipate when laying down, but get worse once you're up and moving about? I've noticed this the last few days, and I'm wondering why that may be.

 

@Koz how you doing buddy? I'm in the same boat. I think I've always experienced VS, but only read about it recently now it really bothers me. I'm interested to see how you are doing, hope you're well.

Best,
Keegan