My doc has looked many times and sees nothing.

Along with this, I have pain in my parotid glands just below the ear. Too painful to touch.

Am waiting for a CT scan. ENT thinks TMJ, all dentists say *no tmj*.

LLMD says it is a common problem with lyme disease.

The pain lessened while on IV Penicillin over the summer, and this fall - I was on Ketek and it completely disappeared.

Within days of coming off of anitbiotics, the pain was back. At times, I am taking morphine it is so unbelievably bad.

The ENT thinks perhaps tmj related lyme arthritis (since arthralgias go away while on abx as well)? My doc thought perhaps an abscess in there someplace?

My heart goes out to you. Ear pain is terrible to endure.

Sleepy

Sorry you're having so much trouble with your ear. It does get better.

I had chronic left ear pain for 13+ years. The ear docs could never see anything because it was probably nerve pain.

After having dental surgery, my left face swelled up a little & it pushed a fungus
(black aspergillus) into the ear canal. The ear doctor had to scrape it out of my ear. It was a mess.

But he said------no big deal. You'll be fine. No antifungals were given. It took 10 years to finally get a Doc to see something wrong with my ear & it was totally discounted.

I believed the LD caused a secondary fungus infection.

Pre-lyme diagnosis: I went to a TMJ Dentist & he said I had TMJ. I had no jaw pain. I told him when I took ABX, that it hurt my ear. He said that that was very strange.

Anyway, I have taken prescription Oticort ear
drops. My LLMD even let me continue taking them even though they contain a low percentage of a steroid & an antibiotic.

Those drops kept me out of the ER. I aalso used RX Elavil 10 - 20 mg for hard pain, I added in Motrin for the inflammation.

I also had RX Klonopin which is used for nerve pain, but it's not a pain killer per se. It helps take the edge off the pain until the other meds kick in.

I also used a microwaveable hot gel pack called TRU-Fit by BD. (It says ICE/HEAT Gelpack on package.) Heat always helped my ear pain. But it took meds & hot gelpack.

Try to purchase just the gelpack. Lately I'm having trouble finding these.

Wal-Mart only had the kind where you are forced to purchased the one that has a blue cover which runs up the expense. But I still have to buy one. If I ever run across one, I purchase it. They do wear out.

I never use the cover. I wrap my hot gel pack in a bandana.

My ear also made all kinds of weird noises. It clicked, buzzed, hummed, sounded like you were listening to a big seashell. Depending on which ABX I'm on, the noises will return.

Anyway for me, it was LD & fungus. Diflucan is good candida. RX Voriconazole is good for aspergillus. I would love to try the Voriconazole & see what happens.

Anyway, don't live in pain. (like you have a choice) Always try to keep something on hand for the pain.

I have used colloidal silver drops in my ear which is very curative. But it's tea-colored & it will tend to stain your ear. I tried to avoid using it, if I knew a doctor would see that in my ear. Didn't need any more lectures.

I used:
Innovative Natural Products Colloidal Silver which comes with a dropper. The drops are big, so you only need 1 or 2 drops at a time. It stopped the pain. (I never use just any silver.)

Here's their site if you want to see it: www.inponline.com

Also, Ozonated Olive oil which comes in a jar is phenomenal stuff; it's like an ointment. It stops ear pain on contact. The olive oil is just the carrier for the ozone. It's the ozone that's working.

It's kept refrigerated & the company will not ship in hot weather. It's a tiny jar.

Cheapest ($12) if you can find an alternative pain doctor who sells it over the counter. That's who first gave it to me. Or, places where you go to get an OZONE sauna will usually carry it.

You can look at it here. Just click on products. (Now I think they make it in a liquid. It comes in all different forms.)

www.o3zone.com/ozoneser/oil.htm
Produced by Ozone Services, B.C. Canada

If I can help further, let me know. Take Care.

Merry Christmas,
Jan

this is the first time I've ever had problems with my ears.....it's very hard to describe what I feel....maybe like I'm in an airplane or just lots of pressure....

almost like wind blowing thru.....and never stopping.....just wondered if there anything I can do to help ease it....

any suggestions please....

It's possible Zithromax is doing this. The plaquenil is to make it more absorbable----I think. I've never taken Plaquenil. The only thing I know is to get your eyes checked before taking it.

Zithromax penetrates the cells & stays in the body a very long time. I do have more ear noises with Zith, but it seemed to take longer to occur for me. After months & months of it, my hearing was not so good. It returns when I get off it.

I read on here that somewhere back in the original literature on Zith that it does cause hearing problems. Again, to me, that takes a long time to happen though.

The TMJ Dentist told me TMJ causes the ear to feel full. I never had that.

Some say to take Ginkgo Biloba to increase cerebral circulation to the ear------don't know if it's safe to take with Plaquenil.

www:drugdigest.org can tell you.

My nerves use to be so bad that even a Vitamin E caused pain. Vitamin E affects fatty tissue like nerves. I started taking a baby's Vitamin E in drops just to get Vit. E in my system. Almost anything hurt my ear or caused face pain.

I can now take 400 i.u. of Vit. E which causes no pain now.

I could never figure out the link between pain & Vitamin E. But there are "tiny little" nerves surrounding the blood vessels. So the healthier we can get our blood vessels----the better.

Also, my LLMD told me that prior to treatment LD patients can have such infection that our arteries & blood vessels are lined with inflammation (vasculitis) due to the white blood cells fighting the infection.

Also, Grape Seed Extract (an OPC or proanthocyanidin) is good, but not cheap. It's an antioxidant that works on fatty environments & watery environments. (Be sure it's the Grape Seed Extract Capsules not
Grapefruit Seed Extract)

From "Healthy Healing" by Linda Rector Page, N.D., Ph.D.
"Blood vessel strength is enhanced by as much as 140% after OPC supplementation."

Paraphrased from same book:
Also, Pycnogenol, another OPC usually called "Pine Bark OPC" is one of the few supplements that will cross the blood-brain barrier to directly protect brain cells. It stimulates collagen rich connective tissue.

If your body is totally weakened & you've been sick a long time, sulphur in the form of NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) by Country Life's BIOCHEM line works best for me. It's cheap, too. Sulphur helps collagen & that's what LD steals from us.

It detoxifies the liver & strengthens the body. Take away from ABX and on ABX holidays as it is a strong anti-oxidant.

Basically, this can be just the meds & it will hopefully go away when you finish taking them.

Hope this helps our Noisy, Painful Ear Club.

My ear was the worst-----and it's so much better now I can't believe it.

Merry Christmas,
Jan

I listed, in several replies to Lenny777's post, some other things like Garlic oil and Grapefruit Seed Extract nasal sprary or ear drops in this long thread. Click on link below.

I realize that everyone has to find what works for their situation. Probably because the root cause for the pain is different in each person; or more likely a combination of things.

http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/008362.html

Bye,
Jan

maybe too much zithro? just not sure......trying to battle thru it til the holidays are over.......just kinda aggrevating more than anything....

I really hate to complain about the ears because I'm physically feeling so much better....with Lyme you just learn to weigh the odds of what is most important.....

this time of year it's better to be able to get up and get about so I just tolerate the ear problems.....I will definitely follow up on some of your solutions........thanks and Merry Christmas

just a different way of looking at things maybe? sometimes it's not just the symtpom but what the body is trying to tell you is 0ut of balance..for the ears , evidently in eastern medicine, it's the kidneys...\

just a thought..

Lisa........, I'm going to check my labs for kidney function. Also GIGI, has suggested something for great for the kidneys. I'll have to find that post.

Could you please tell me what herbs your Tibetan doctor gave you for your ears? I suffer from extremely SEVERE tinnitus, and I keep looking for some natural supplements to make it better. I wish there was a Tibetan doctor in my town that I could go to see. But I live in Rochester, Minnesota which is home to the evil Mayo Clinic, and no alternative doctors will practice anywhere near here due to persecution. Anyway, if you have any tips for me lla2, I would be very grateful.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all those on LymeNet!!

some to balance out the wind imbalance, then some to counterbalance so I dont' THEN get a bile or phlegm imbalance..that's the way eastern medicine works...it's fascinating really..

google : dr. yeshi dhonden under google, adn find his books...to read up on how eastern medicine works..

so i'm afraid i'm not sure exactly what herbs are in the ones i take three times a day to help the kidney/wind imbalance...i just know it worked for me....it's not like chinese medicine herbs where you get very specific herbs to take or boil into a tea..these are prescriptions in little balls that you take...and they're all combined together...

sorry. i wish you the best. He's in NY twice a year, NOV/DEC and then again in JUNE/JULY if you can get to nY to see him, email to make an appt about 4-6 motnhs in advance at [email protected].

hope this helps,