Hello All,
I have been suffering for about three weeks now with my ears feeling like they are stuffed up or full, tinnitus, and every time I swallow my ears sound like they are crackling. The stuffed up feeling moves from ear to ear but mainly stays in the left. That also happens with the tinnitus. it's very loud in the left ear but will move to the right or both at the same time. I have been able to pop my right ear once and it helped with my hearing. I have had random periods of runny nose or stuffed up. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be causing this? I have been to an ENT who did an MRI and basically told me he has no clue why my hearing went down. I have been on prednisone for two weeks with no change in my symptoms. Any help is appreciated!
sounds like you may have fluid retention in your middle ears due to the cold. Have you tried diuretics (water pill)? If not, discuss with your ENT and request him to give you a script for 25mg dyazide. Give that about 3 weeks and it should help reduce symptoms. If 25mg does not clear it up totally you may want to try 50mg. I've been on 50mg for 10 years for my Meniere's Disease symptoms which are similar to what you are experiencing but with added symptom of vertigo. Good luck
Hi Tanney,
Thank you for the advice. I haven't tried any diuretics. I have only done the prednisone. The runny/stuffed up nose stuff happened after I started experiencing my left ear being clogged and ringing. Do you think that could still be linked to fluid retention?
do you have allergies? Your symptoms sound more like allergy problems to me. Here is what I recommend that you try before the diuretics.....
1. buy a nasal flush kit (over the counter) and follow directions to flush out allergens in the nasal passages...If you need a recommendation let me know.
2.. Also purchase an allergy nasal spray like Flonase and use it following the nasal flush.
3. use the nasal flush and the nasal spray twice/day.
4. do above for two weeks at least to see if there is improvement. If there is continue doing this nasal flush/spay until first frost.
Yes, I have allergies but I don't get them that bad or that often. I will definitely try all of that. whatever will help make my ears better. It's mostly the ringing that is driving me insane but I was told the ringing is due to my hearing going down.
one more thought about tinnitus.....stress can make it worse. Try all of the above and you might also want to ask your regular doctor to prescribe a sedative like Ativan (Lorazepam is generic version). 0.5mg is normal dose for ear problems and this can help calm the inner/middle ears and reduce tinnitus. It will not eliminate it but will calm things down for you.
by the way...is your hearing loss in the low decibel range? Do you ever get vertigo? I'm asking this just to make sure you do not have Meniere's Disease. If you do get vertigo and your hearing loss is in low decibel range and you have ear fullness and tinnitus then you might have MD.
Hello,
What would be considered a low decibel range? I have, according to ENTs, mild hearing loss at 500 (its right at 25) and an itty bitty notch at 4000 (its at 20 on left ear and 15 on right). But according to 3 audiologists, I'm within normal hearing limits.
if audiologist says your hearing is in normal range then you are fine. Audiologist or ENT doctor are the ones that know if hearing loss is abnormal in low decibel range.....I do not know specifically what that range is. Meniere's Disease patients almost always have abnormal hearing loss and it is in the low range.
Will the sedative effect my mood? I don't want it to make me feel funny but then again the ringing is enough to drive me crazy. Yes, the hearing loss is in the low decibal. I have no vertigo.
I do not think it will affect your mood.....it will calm you down. It might make you drowsy at first but that's not necessarily bad if your tinnitus is reduced.
Definitely agree with you on that!
I take Klonopin 0.5 mg. and cut it in half. It doesn't make me sleepy and I don't feel any difference like a big kick in. I just notice I'm not so anxious and my muscles have relaxed.
My symptoms are pretty much the same minus tinnitus. Both of my ears are affected but my right is worse. At the beginning of this nightmare I had drainage all over my face and I could feel it moving up and down and side to side like worms under the skin. I cringe thinking about that horrible time. Now I just get an occasional blocked feeling behind my nose. When that happens it makes it harder to swallow and when I do my ears occasionally click.
After seeing numerous doctors and having numerous tests they have narrowed my ear issues down to allergies, TMJ and muscle tightness caused by stress/anxiety.
Even though I don't have typical allergy symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, itchy ears, watering eyes I tested allergic to 38 of 50 substances tested for. The allergist said he has one other patients like me.... allergic to everything but no symptoms other than his ears and he also has TMJ.
I started allergy shots recently and I am going through TMJ treatment. It's all so crazy to me. I get the blocked feeling behind my nose and put in my splint and it goes away. It just doesn't make any sense but whatever works!
I still have problems with my ears but nothing like I did from January - June. They started slowing improving and now they are mostly tolerable with periods of being very annoying.
Hello again ShellBell, I've replied to your comment regarding Tinnitus. I'm so sorry you've joined the club with us all who suffer Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD).
It's sounds to me as though you have allergies, again the same as me. Try taking a daily Antihistamine (Citrizine) to see if they help. Strange how the Prednisolone haven't helped to get rid of the mucus that's obviously blocking your tubes. When it's prescribed for me I'm given a 20 reducing course which unblocks my left ear and clears up all the inflammation too.....maybe the course you were given wasn't long enough. When ears are clogged that badly you need more. If the prescription is given again and a longer course it must be reduced over days. I tell everyone this on the Forum and not too sure whether they ask for them or not. Some people let me know how they are getting on and others don't, which is fine. I just hope they don't bother as they are better.
I had a course of Prednisolone in April....worked wonders for me. I then used a 6 weeks course of Flixonase Nasule Drops. After those I reverted back onto my usual Flixonase Aqueous Nasal spray. Just 4 days of being back on the spray my left ear blocked badly. It crackled and I could hear squelching too, so I put myself back on the Nasule drops and within a day the ear cleared. My smell and tasted returned too and at present all is well. I'm only using them every other day and that seems to be working for me. I've suffered ETD for years and years and back in 1994 due to this I contracted Bacterial Meningitis where the mucus turned nasty crossing the blood/brain barrier and caused the Pneumococcal Meningitis....such a dreadful time. If the blocking of your ear turns into an earache, get yourself put on antibiotics, just to safeguard yourself.
Blocked ears is the most awful thing to suffer !!
Do you have sinus issues too ? As I find that Post Nasal Drip can cause ETD.
Do let me know how you get on. What country do you live in as Rebecca on this Forum lives in the States and unfortunately, you cant get the Flixonase Nasule Drops over there. However, they can be purchased on-line. I googled it for her and our Lloyds Parmacy in England supplies them and not too expensive either. Just hope a prescription isn't required to buy them.
Keep me posted
Regards Anne
Hello Anne,
i was given a three week course of prednisone. I am on my last few days of it with no improvement. I was able to get my right ear to pop a little yesterday but of course is clogged again today. I am seeing a new ENT on Monday so hopefully he will have some new suggestions for me. I don’t really have bad allergies but I will get them every now and then. I am in the United States. I haven’t actually been diagnosed with ETD yet but doctor friend of mine says he thinks that’s what I have. I will hopefully find out Monday.
Hi Ann,
i am am sorry to hear you are having so many difficulties. I am very glad for you that you don’t have tinnitus. That has been the worst part for me. I can handle the stuffed up feeling but the constant ringing is making me go mad. I am glad you are showing improvements. I hope it keeps getting better for you.
Prednisone seems to help mine too. If it's allergy related it should help at least some.
I take azelastine nasal spray, flonase (2x daily) and zyrtec. They only help a little since my allergy symptoms are pretty much limited to my ears. I am taking allergy shots to try to eliminate my allergies and in turn fix my ears.
My ears were clogged up more than open from January - April and of course I had the popping, crackling, pulling, clicking. They slowly improved and eventually got to the point they were only mildly annoying. I'm having a TMJ flare up now and they are driving me nuts.
Do you have any pain or pulling in front of your ears? or any pain behind the ear?
I haven't tried this but my naturopathic doctor told me to do a eustachian tube massage (you tube has videos) with castor oil. Apparently it's an anti-inflammatory. Might be worth a shot. She also has me taking Curcumin 375 mg. twice per day for inflammation (supposed to replace ibuprofen but I have to take a while for it to "kick in" and then stop the other).
The clogged ears and the weird feeling gave me horrible anxiety and I started having panic attacks. I can't imagine what tinnitus would do to me. 
My husband was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan and ever since he's had ringing in his ears. He actually has a small disability rating for it through the VA. Anyway, my 19 year old daughter mentioned hers ringing when he said something about his. I asked her when it started and she said always. She thought EVERYone had ringing and it was normal!
She can move her mouth and make her jaw pop very loudly. It makes me nauseous when she does it! So I am guessing her tinnitus is jaw related. When I finally get set up with a new neuromuscular dentist (mine retired) I am going to take her too. She won't know how to act without the ringing if they can fix it.
The tinnitus to me is the worst part. I can handle the clogged ears but the ringing is making me mad. I am sorry to hear about your anxiety. My sister suffers from that so I know how bad it can be. Hopefully they will be able to fix your daughters ringing and she will finally be able to know it's like to not have ringing ears.
I am now on Flonase and zyrtec so hopefully that will give me some relief from the clogged feeling in my ears.
If my ears get pretty stuffed up they ache a little bit but luckily they have been too painful. My biggest problem right now is the constant ringing. If I can get that to settle down I would be much happier.