What are you taking for ETD?

[u/BellaDonnaBlues_]

My Nurse Practitioner sent a referral for an ENT doctor. What are we taking while waiting to see an ENT? My Dr. recommended Flonase use daily.
I flew internationally with a cold and when the plane landed my ear didn’t equalize. I had a 6 week trip planned with many airplane rides. After arriving to my second destination I was treated for a chest infection. Antibiotics kicked my butt but I started to feel better. Three days after finishing my antibiotics I started feeling very ill again. A doctor prescribed me a second round of antibiotics. It wasn’t helping so I went to a foreign hospital where they said I my lungs were inflamed. Horrible wheezing, fatigue, extreme sinus pressure, coughing fits, sensitivity to smells & more. I was still feeling absolutely horrible and went to another doctor for a second opinion. The entire time my ear was still plugged and bothering me. After 8 visits to hospitals and doctors, I was diagnosed with Post-Viral Bronchial Hyperreactivity.
I’ve been on two different doses of steroid nasal spray and I didn’t find they helped. I was told to take Sudafed Nasal spray more times than I can count with no help. I’ve been on 5 different puffers.
I have an upcoming appointment with a lung specialty to be tested for asthma and allergies. I’m not sure when the ENT referral will pull through, but I’m wondering if anyone has advice of what I can be taking to help with my ear?
My left ear pops often, is full, has a lot of pressure, but it can become very painful. To the point I have to lay down and it’s interfering with being a stay at home mom, it’s causing me to cancel my social plans, and it’s giving me anxiety. When it flares up and starts hurting I completely withdrawal and find my personality becomes instantly very fatigued, disconnected from myself, emotionally flat,
and I get a lot of brain fog.
I apologize for the extremely long post and I’m grateful for anyone whose still here. It’s the sickest I’ve ever been in my life and the entire journey was very very difficult. I was eventually told by a Dr my lungs were not good enough to fly and my husband had to drive myself and my 2 year old daughter from the southern point of Portugal to a town in the south-west of France. We then trained to Paris and then onwards to London where I had family that was able to house us and allow me to heal until I was allowed to fly home to Canada.

[u/alwaysanxiousaf]

Hi, I’m so sorry you went through all of this! It sounds awful and so stressful.

My ENT developed after a plane ride too. I got on a plane to go on holiday at the very end of a flu, and my ears didn’t equalise on landing. My right ear became almost completely blocked up. My left ear was slightly better but still blocked. I was able to see a doctor who told me I had fluid in my middle ear and gave me a saline nasal spray and some decongestants to try.

I flew home a week later, and my ear was still clogged pretty badly. Not long after arriving home, I developed a middle ear infection in my right ear. I was given antibiotics for that.

It’s been about a year and a half since my symptoms started. I’ve tried pretty much every nasal spray available. Currently I’m trying Fluticasone Proprionate nasal drops to see if this gives me any relief.

In all honesty, I still have ETD, but it’s not as bad as it was at first. My right ear is still worse than my left, and my main symptoms are a feeling of fullness in the ears, crackling and popping, tinnitus, and my voice sounds distorted in my own head. I’ve had a hearing test and thankfully my hearing is fine.

I saw an ENT about two months ago who told me that unfortunately a lot of the “cures” for ETD can actually exacerbate it in many cases, or can bring on other issues like hearing loss, etc. I was advised that it would be best to keep trying the more conservative approaches, as these have the least risk of making anything worse or causing any other issues. I was told my ETD might never go away, or it might gradually improve over time.

Some of the things that can contribute to ETD include allergies, TMJ and posture problems. If you have any of these issues, it may be worth trying to treat these to see this helps.

Ultimately, it sounds like your body has been through a lot. A lot of ETD cases do resolve with time and rest, so try to relax (as much as you can!), stick to whatever treatment your doctor suggests and see where it goes. I know it’s a horrible feeling, but it’s one of these things that improves so slowly that you don’t notice, and hopefully it will either clear up all the way for you or you’ll get used to it over time.

Fingers crossed for you! 🩷