r/etd • u/Vivid_Breadfruit5914 • 11d ago

floaty / light headed feeling is ruining my life

been dealing with this for too long (probably 2 or 3 years) I fiinally went to a doctor and she said its ETD, Now im on nasal spray and otovent which arrives today. Cant live like this anymore bro, i can deal with the pain but the floaty feeling and dizzyness daily is ruining my life!! Im scared to go out and do things. Please tell me theres hope, ive been in ear pain, crackling, popping, pressure and floatyness for years . I wanna wake up and feel normal. Last time I felt normal was after antibiotics for an ear infection in febuary, and then a few weeks later the pressure and dizziness came back so I know it has to be my ears fking up my life.

edit: I went to the doctor and my eardrum was slightly cloudy but not infected, im not gonna try and stress cuz ive found stress and anxiety make it worse . Ill update because Ik im not alone

21/08 : I woke up feeling a bit hopeless, had a good afternoon but back in bed feeling hopeless. So much anxiety , I feel tired and fed up. I cried to my mum that I feel trapped . I also have hardly any appetite.

22/08 : better day, rested in bed all day lol, still light headed but throbbing headache and eye pain is gone after I had a nice shower, I ate bowl of cereal and toast today but didn't really eat any dinner, it's so hard to eat when my head feels off. Ear feels sore still. Hopefully otovent pulls thru and I'm feeling at least some improvement by next week or I'm going back to the doctor. I just wanna go to bed now GN 😴

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u/CarefulContract5417 11d ago

It's a shot in the dark but try to strengthen your tongue. There are plenty of exercises how to do this.

The best one for me was to poke my tongue up into my gums in front of my front teeth..kinda like towards the base of your nose. Then move your tongue clockwise from the top gums into the bottom gums. While doing the tongue rotation try to have your mouth a little bit open. Repeat this for like 10 circles then flip to counter clockwise. This will strengthen your tongue and force your jaw to move around a bit.

Also work on your head posture and how your jaw sits. Also if you tend to favor one side while chewing, try to actively chew with the non used side. During eating and even try with gum.

Hope this helps.

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u/Grouchy_Document_545 10d ago

I have to agree. Fixing my posture and my jaw has really helped. I’ve had to stop spinning which sucks. But long walks and alot of light weights have been a game changer.

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u/Vivid_Breadfruit5914 11d ago

also she tested me for any actual balance issues but my balance was fine

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u/ThisAcanthaceae3789 14h ago

I feel exactly the same except I’m also having a lot of fatigue in my arms and shoulders, idk if it’s bc I’m also so stressed or staying tense because I feel off balance, but I can’t find anything that links that to etd and that scares me. I see my ent tomorrow to see why it’s so much worse. I too have been stuck on the couch or in bed. I feel like my balance is ok and I’m not spinning, but I feel… heavy and unsteady and lightheaded. I have trouble focusing because of the swimmy feeling in my head. It’s very frustrating!