So for the past 3 years my wife has had the following problems.
Mucus that drains from her nose and down her throat. It's very bad the second she wakes up. This fluid seems to travel down to her stomach causing awful pains and noise. She usually throws up in the morning. This mucus sticks in her throat all day. She is constantly clearing her throat but it never goes away.
Her hearing is fine from tests performed by an ENT but she always hears static and pressure like she's in a pressurized cabin.
I think she has a wicked inner ear infection. The ENT said she doesn't but he's only looked in her ear and can't see past the drum.
She's also had an endoscopy with no findings except irritation in her throat. She's had blood work done, allergy tests, and a breath test. Now the ENT has her scheduled to have some tube put up her nose to monitor her stomach for a few days. I feel like this is another complete waste of time and effort.
Does anyone have any thoughts? Maybe I'm leaning toward the wrong direction. Does anyone know who to get an ENT to perform tests for inner ear infections?
Please help!!!!!'
Sorry to hear of your wife's dilemma. I can only relay my own experience which may or may not assist her in some way. I have supposedly had a chronic 'inner ear infection' for about ten years now. Been to several ENT specialists, had endoscopy to throat, and yes, lots of mucus and inflammation, however to date there appears to be no way to actualy ascertain if there is in fact an infection in the inner ear. It's an incredibly difficult part of the body to investigate. I've surmised it is mainly guess work. Was diagnosed with meniere's disease, then retracted, then rediagnosed, but I'm still not totally convinced of that. What I can suggest however is that your wife seriously looks at her diet as she may well be allergic to certain foods. Since stopping all dairy products, e.g. milk, cheese etc. and also cutting out nuts (which I used to love) the mucus has improved significantly. Most people can eat bananas without any problems (great magnesium - I now take an alternative source). Every time I ate a banana the mucus seemed to increase so I eliminated them also. Its been trial and error but I don't continually need to clear my throat now as I used to. The other thing I do is gargle every morning with Savacol. Helps somewhat with clearing of ears as well. David, if your wife vomits in the morning then it may well be worth following up with another appointment as there may well be something else going on? Would it be worth considering another specialist as opposed to an ENT perhaps? I wish her all the best.
Caryl,
Thanks so much for sharing your problems. She also is seeing a gastroenterologist. I guess that's who ordered the tube up the nose. I feel like the doctors we've seen refuse to take any advice from us as far as looking into an inner ear infection. they seem to not want to look into it because she passes the hearing test.
I'll talk to her about the diet. I've seen her go for three days without eating, just drinking water and still had issues every day. Zero change when she tried to starve it out of her.
As far as I understand it one doesn't necessarily have to have a hearing loss for there to be an infection/virus of the inner ear. Try googling 'Labyrinthitis and Vestibular Neuritis'. There is quite a bit of information there. Does your wife ever get dizzy?
Gd to go for a mri scan if that doesn't show anything then alest u can feel at ease.
Best of luck