Suffering ETD and Irrigation Woes...

I'm really sorry for the wall of text... I suck at trimming things down. I honestly don't even know if it's a good idea I post here considering how mentally messed up I am, I'm just lost and don't know really what to do anymore...

I don't know where to start, the last two weeks have been hell on me and have really tested my sanity, and I've been through a lot of garbage in my life. It's all piled up onto what is this:

It mostly started two weeks ago, though the feeling of fullness in my ears (which I have been told now was the result of eustachian tube dysfunction) had been mildly present since November. In late January, however, it became much worse, even painful, and I was having regular attacks of what the internet tells me is "Sudden brief unilateral tapering tinnitus (SBUTT lol)", every day, sometimes one after another. Originally I had thought it was wax, as I've had wax build up problems my whole life, and decided to go into urgent care to get it cleaned out, as it became so unbearable I couldn't wait for my ENT appointment that was scheduled a week later, though this would prove to be a huge mistake...

The physician there placed drops of debrox in my ears and told me to lie down for about 15 minutes, then a medical assistant (I don't think they were even a nurse) came in with the elephant ear washer (https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Was...518827580&sr=1-4&keywords=elephant+ear+washer this stupid thing; look at all those positive reviews ) and attempted to flush out the wax. The procedure was so uncomfortable, despite wearing a "bib" my sweater became soaked with water from top to bottom, and the amount of water pressure, which I was later told by the medical director of the clinic "couldn't possibly be enough to cause any damage, even if you tried, because of the nature of the device, yadda yadda", felt like a constant assault inside my ear. What's more is that I feel he kept increasing it, because he was struggling to get any out (I have a dry, flaky wax type, it's not usually soft.) Eventually I just recoiled in agony and he stopped.

What followed was muffled hearing in both my ears (which may have just been water still trapped in there) and the feeling of fullness remained. The physician then examined my drums and scooted me off telling me that the assistant "did a good job" and that everything looked "normal." I mean, I would've liked to have believed them, but ever since that day I have noticed a dreaded constant hiss/ring in both of my ears.

Fast forward a bit, and I saw an ENT who claimed they saw "fluid behind my ear drum" and diagnosed me with eustachian tube dysfunction, deciding to put me on a short taper of methylprednisolone in a dose pack (4mg, six pills first day, then five the next, etc) for six days. This actually did help with the fullness, almost instantly, but after the taper at day six, the fullness came back with a vengeance in my left ear.

This is where it gets more complicated. With my messy brain, I'm not completely sure if the ear washer did me in, the ETD, or something else entirely (maybe several years of headphone use, I also had a brutal concussion as a child) and the irrigation just gave me a reason to focus on something I had habituated in the background for a while. I have needed to sleep with white noise for several years (I use my PC fan or a Dohm machine) as I used to say that "the silence is deafening" but I can't remember exactly if I ever heard a hissing/ringing or not... I feel like I would've known, though...

Regardless, this has been hard on my weak spirit...and I'm at a loss as to what to do next. My first ENT is apprehensive of me taking another medrol dose pack, and both my first and now second ENT wants a hearing test (of which I'm scared the audiogram bleeps will make my tinnitus worse), and I eventually went back to urgent care where they suggested that seeing as the medrol pack wasn't enough they would put me on a eight day course of regular old prednisone starting at 40mg.

I just don't know what to do anymore, or my next move... I have a lot of mental illnesses (I have severe OCD and psychosis, and they both blow big chunks let me tell you ) so this has been especially taxing on top of all that. I'm not very strong mentally anymore, and this whole business even revived my suicidal ideation. I guess I'm just posting here to cry, and ask for any advice if anyone has knowledge/experience and is kind enough to tolerate a whiny girl's stupid problems... It's probably nothing anyone hasn't heard before around here...

 

I did the caloric test (water irrigation) to test balance. I developed so many problems with my ears. H on both ears, T on both ears, ear popping sound on right ear (they said ETD, how can you get ETD from that?), ear whooshing sound, and sometimes pain in both ears that comes and goes, mind you before caloric test (Jan 15) i only had mild T on left ear. DO NOT DO EAR TESTS.

 

Thanks for the reply... I'm still on the fence myself, it's scheduled for Tuesday but I'll have to think about it more...

Just an update, my T has been mostly a small hiss today (I only really notice it in quiet rooms) but in my left ear, which coincidentally is the clogged one, there is a slight ring and when I sniff it gets louder???? What is this exactly?

 

Doctors, ENTs, & Audiologists dont know anything.

 

So update...

The tinnitus itself is mostly gone... But I'm now having very alarming reactions to certain sounds in my left ear. When I sniff, scratch something, or even talk, my left ear lets off a slightly sharp "ING" that hurts a bit and then immediately returns to base level. My ENT today said it would likely go away after a certain time but I'm really scared it's the beginning of hyperacusis. I'm already on a taper off steroids but if this is now happening I'm really scared...

 

Uh doing some research this apparently might be something called tensor tympani syndrome?? Just my luck I guess... I'm not sure how to deal with this as there seems to be little info on it...