My ear problem has gone from feeling of being under water sound to something I have not experienced to this degree before.
Sound sensitivity is par for the course for me but now there is a muffled sound on top of it and a constant something going on in my right ear (probably not coincidentally same side as the trigeminal neuralgia).
Have a dr. appt early next week and avoided urgent care today. May go to urgent care tomorrow.
Sort of feels like the ear is going to explode. Has a constant sound going on like an echo in steel area or something, plus once in a while ringing.
It is hot and yesterday it felt almost like it was coming out (I know that sounds weird).
Right ear is much worse than left ear.
Does this sound like anything specific to anyone???
Definitely been having migraines lately and one was sound induced.
Just wanted to check for feedback in the meantime, before I get to a ENT or urgent care doc.
I dont' remember ever having an ear infection so I wouldn't even know what that feels like.
The strangest thing is how everything is extremely loud and at the same time muffled.
Any ideas?
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- This may or may not be anything to do with lyme but If you feel like your ear is going to explode get to URGENT care immediately. You don't want your eardrum to rupture as that could cause more damage in many ways.
The heat indicates an infection. So does the muffled sound.
You may have an ear infection that needs prompt attention. Just be careful they don't just give you a steroid unless you ALSO get antibiotics. Best to avoid steroids but if needed to save eyes, ears or a life, along with antibiotics to keep infections in check, steroids may be needed.
We need our ears to be able to walk, talk, read, write, think, etc.
SAVE YOUR EARS. Go to URGENT CARE now, please. Hopefully, you live where the roads are not snowy and icy right now? If you can't get out, call them for advice. A ruptured ear drum is a very serious matter, indeed. Best to avoid that.
In the meantime, be sure to take your anti-inflammatory supplements like magnesium, turmeric and ginger. If you have allicin, that is good, too. But that would not be a substitute for having a doctor look into your ears to determine if the pressure is building to dangerous levels.
Normally, I would suggest a drop of a garlic and olive oil ear formula. But, if your ears rupture, you don't want anything to contaminate the area. If you have a garlic ear drop formula, you could put a bit on the end of cotton ball and gently place that in your ears - but do not push it.
A moist, warm compress to the lymph nodes all around your ears and neck may help relieve some pressure. Repeat often. Keep it moist and warm and gently massage lymph tissue in case there's a "blockage" in the pipes, so to speak.
Warm liquids will also be very good. Drink as much non-caffeine tea as possible. Although, Green Tea can be good if not too late in the day. Hot soups, Hot foods . . . all will help from the inside out to get stuff moving.
Good luck. -
[ 02-13-2010, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
Thanks Keebler. I may get to Urgent care tomorrow morning. They closed by the time I felt like I needed to go today.
The sounds and feeling is very strange. I was in Target the other day and could hear the florescent light.
The strangest part is how everything is super loud at the same time as it is muffled.
Hopefully I'll find some competent medical practitioners who can get to the bottom of it.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- If your ears get worse overnight regarding feeling like bursting, do not hesitate going to the E.R. Really.
Oh, hearing the hum of fluorescent lights is common with lyme ears. I can hear them from two states over, I swear. Magnesium often helps with hyperacusis like that. Fish oil, too.
Hope this gets better. Threads below are not so much about acute infections such as you may now have but other things that are rather common to lyme patients. My guess is that you've seen all these but in case you have not, for your file:
All about EARS: ------------------
For those who are sensitive or pained by even normal or soft sounds (sounds not even at noise level):
[ 02-15-2010, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
Awesome Keebler, thanks for those links. I look again at the hyperacusis one.
Have you been into Best Buy anytime recently? I was in there yesterday and noticed the very low and many, but low, bass like and not too loud frequencies. This seemed calming.
I am interested in sound science for healing. Do you know anything about that or can you direct me anywhere?
Have you heard of this pink sound CD at the hyperacusis site?
The recent neuro I went to (we talked about in my previous similar post) had no idea about what to do with my ears to retrain them and of course he was completely lyme illiterate.
I want to start looking at sound healing. But not the new age kind of stuff, I've already done quite a bit of that, I want to study the science of acoustics as related to healing. Any ideas?
Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :
My ears drive me crazy. Of course like most sx with this illness, it goes through phases.
I've been on rifampin for 5 weeks. Now how in the world can you have what feels like ear infection going on, when you have been on abx for so long?
This thread reminded me that running staph and strep freqs with my rife machine for a few days usually clears my ear problems up until next time.
I'll try that. Oh, yeah I hear everything running. I rarely have ringing and I feel so sorry for those that have it continually. I can't image.
Pam
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- turtle:
Best Buy as in a healing atmosphere? No store loaded with fluorescent lights is a good environment but I'm glad you found one that does not send you to the moon.
I can't go into any store anymore - at all. All the electronic beeps and flashes and fluorescent lights is all too much for my brain. I think all that is hard on everyone, actually. So many people all so very irritated out there these days.
It might be interesting to call Best Buy, though - that particular store - and talk with the human resources manager. Maybe they are doing something different and, if so, I'd like to know.
=======
Pink noise from the Hyperacusis site? I got one from a ear doctor but it made me WORSE. It is very irritating to the brain of a lyme patient and I do not recommend it at all.
You have to realize that some of the remedies suggested for those with hyperacusis but NOT lyme are not good for those who have lyme. Many recommendations about constant exposure to sound also were not good for me because of lyme and the ADRENAL exhaustion.
With Adrenal dysfunction, quiet is essential and, in fact, even soft sounds can be too much, not so much for the ears but for many other reasons where lyme just tosses too much on a body.
So, some things at that site can be helpful but some can also be harmful. Test gently. -
Posted by canefan17 (Member # 22149) on :
I used to think I was going deaf.
Then I started Lyme treatment. All got better.
Posted by shazdancer (Member # 1436) on :
I used to think I was going deaf, too.
I was, from Lyme.
Please take hearing symptoms seriously. Some antibiotics are ototoxic (can cause hearing problems) but so is Lyme itself.
Regards, Shaz
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- This seems to have been dropped when I edited some links above. Ototoxicity is addressed here, too:
Specific for LYME patients - lots of details about ears and what can help:
You can look inside this book and read customer reviews here:
Ototoxic Drugs Exposed: Prescription Drugs and Other Chemicals That Can (and Do) Damage Our Ears
- by Neil G. Bauman
-
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
I went back to Best Buy to figure out this mysterious thing since most stores are too overwhelming.
I spoke to one of the guys there and described my question (without going into details about sickness and health and healing! just wanted to know what I was hearing and where it was coming from). He explained that basically, it's the subwoofer. Or rather, the sub woofers from several of the departments. So now I am onward to research or look into how low frequencies might be calming or healing.
ENT appt. tomorrow so we'll see what he says. I just hope he is competent. May follow up with an audiologist a bit down the road.
Anyone seen an audiologist??
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Subwoofer's have caused me major nausea and many seizures. What you have going on with your ears must be different than what I have if you can tolerate subwoofers.
I'm really surprise with your ear troubles as they are now that it did not send you screaming out the door. I can even feel pain and pressure from a rubber band landing on carpet - the first time this happened I was shocked.
Do you mean subwoofers as in with the music playing in the store? Or just subwoofers set at a certain level of sound - they might actually do that to excite buyers. Pumping certain kinds of music or a pounding beat will get shoppers' adrenaline going and they will buy more. It's done on purpose.
Also, sometimes, stores will have an ionizer going so the air smells very fresh. That pumps up buyers very nicely.
================
Every audiologist I've seen has been excellent. Some even taught me a lot about hypercusis and one knew more about lyme than any doctor I've seen. But that was not the typical appointment at all.
You won't really be discussing your overall case with them and they cannot diagnose. They will ask you questions about you ears and do a hearing test. They may or may not then do other tests but usually those would be order by an ENT.
Be sure to tell them that some sounds can cause startles. You need to be seated in a safe chair in case that happens. Be sure you have padding behind your head and to the sides. Be sure you have space around your arms or legs so that, if they jerk, you will not be injured.
If you've ever fallen to the ground from a sound, they need to know this first to settle you in safely. And at no time during the test should you continue if the sound hurts or the pressure is too great in your ear.
Take a healthy snack for afterward to maintain blood sugar as the stress from noise can make blood sugar drop.
Also be sure your adrenal supplements are in order and be sure to avoid gluten between now and then (in case you are not yet gluten-free). Avoid dairy, too. You will be glad you did as the phlegm buildup from gluten and dairy can cause more ear pain during testing.
Audiologists are some of my favorite people. Of the ten or so I've seen, I have never met one who was not well-educated and very professional. -
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
It's weird Keebler.
Typically I can't tolerate stores and especially electronic stores.
So found it really odd.
This Best Buy keeps everything at a low level of volume. It's almost harmonious the way it comes together.
The subwoofer is 20-2000hz frequency and so I am going to seek that out in some research for whatever it may be worth.
And here is the odd thing. Somehow, I think it is a heart thing. The subwoofer gets into my heart.
With my ears, and I don't know how I will explain this to a dr., it often feels as if it is related to my heart volume. Head volume and heart volume.
Anyway, that's where I am right now.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- At the opposite end of the spectrum, the intensity of bass speakers actually killed a college freshman at a concert in England last October. His heart rhythm went out of synch from the intense beat. He has what is known as a "QT" syndrome and had told his friends earlier that the pulsating beat was making him feel nauseated.
=======
A hyper startle reflex is common to those with Q-T but noise in other ways can also disrupt the heart.
I definitely get it that the loud noise is the problem.
In the article the pro said it was likely the loud noise not necessarily the base.
Thanks for sharing this, eye opening.
I went to hear a band play not that long ago and it was a huge mistake, caused a sound induced migraine that lasted three days. It is the high pitch and the loud noise.
If I can somehow find a grounding base that speaks to my heart in a harmonious way, to balance the CNS then maybe it can retrain my system over time so that I can learn to tolerate noise in a more functional way.
Thanks for the info about audiologists. I'll see what the ENT says then take it from there.
How did the audiologist help you?
Did you go to ten of them because the first nine were ineffective?
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- For each patient, it can be different.
For me, bass will send me to the floor in an instant. From special CT scan, my ear canal has "probable SCD" - like the guy in the video. But I'd need to go to Baltimore for further evaluation.
========
Ten audiologists over many years, different cities, etc. and some sent me to others with more experience. Or the different ear doctors I'd see each have their own audiologist.
They've helped mostly with education. I learned a great deal from each of them. And none of them had the attitude of a lot of doctors that are so quick to judge and dismiss. All very respectful. I think they understand how the ears can affect so many other things. Most MDs don't even know that.
Be careful if your ENT wants to give you steroids. We've covered how bad they can be, right? If steroids are needed, consult your LLMD first. Very important.
And, backing up, you ARE getting treatment for lyme, right? You do have a LLMD, correct?
-
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
Hey Keebler, I stopped seeing LLMD many moons ago now. I am entirely on my own but reach out to the regular docs as needed for different things.
I have completely lost faith in the medical system and establishment.
Yes on the steroids. I don't feel this is life threatening as far as really needing steroids like when I went into anaphylactic shock this past summer. There was really no question at that point! But for this, we'll see. It will be interesting to see what the "diagnosis" is.
How long have you had lyme?
Posted by thejoje (Member # 19976) on :
Are you undergoing treatment for Babs? Dr. S says in his new babs book to let the ear symptoms be the guide for the treatment: too many ear symptoms means back down with the treament.
Posted by painted turtle (Member # 7801) on :
hi thejojo...hey, i love Maine! Must be very cold there now.
I did the babs treatment, it was harsh.
No antibiotics or formal LL treatment for a long time now. Just adjusting to my new way of life, post lyme. Believe it or not, I'm doing LOADS better then I was back when I was first diagnosed!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Andrographis (as in the Buhner book; "Healing Lyme") has really helped my ears. In addition to the structural damage, I also have the run of the mill TBD stuff and other ear conditions, too. Andrographis has been the best help to me. I've got no miracle going on with my ears but it helps more than the many other things I've done over time. It clearly settles down the startle reflex even more so than Gotu Kola.
I thought I posted all that and now realize that I'm mixing up two current threads about ears. A different one was about startles from sounds. Some of my advice about the hearing test had to do with my thinking you had startles. I forgot you have the ears you want to not explode. Hope they settle down for you soon.
For those who need suggestions regarding startles from sounds: ------------------------------