Has anyone else had this? I’ve never had one ear blocked, let alone for this long. It started Oct 11. I could feel my ear kind of getting blocked so I would swallow, yawn, etc to unblock it. But each day it kept getting worse and harder to keep it unblocked until a few days later, and ever since then the blocked sensation has remained. My throat also feels tight and kind of hard to swallow sometimes.
yea. it started with my left ear, later on with my right too I think.
Early on they would clear, now they dont.
Maybe some kind of sinus inflammation, muscle weakness, tiny blood clots. Pressure or irritation from the gi tract. Not sure.
Ive had it looked at, I had mild sinus congestion on a ct scan, but it doesnt seem to be the cause.
This alone could play a role when people talk about brain fog or head pressure, headaches.
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I get this too for me it feels like a build up of pressure when comin into land on a plane.
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Does the blocked feeling ever go away? It’s been two weeks and it’s starting to drive me crazy. Sometimes my balance even feels off because my hearing isn’t the same. I just don’t understand why, more than three years after QUITTING this stupid drug, I continue to get worse.
Yea I used to get dizzy, that did go away. idk what to tell you about the ear fullness. It seems worse too in the morning. I think it could be sheer gravity from a lying down position.
Looking at all of this (PFS) you solve one of these problems, I think you start to figure some of this out.
There has been numerous complaints of sinus problems from Accutane, alot of guys would start to talk about an abnormal coating on their tongue as well.
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For me it’s the same the entire day. And now it’s feeling like actual hearing loss and instead of a blocked feeling. Like before I could feel it blocked, but now I can’t really sense much there and feels like I’ve lost actual hearing. My tongue has a whiteish coating as well.
Thanks for responding.
I’m 20 years in and still developing shit. My ears are often painful, sometimes blocked, sometimes the feeling of intense pressure and popping, no mucous, sometimes exceptionally sensitive to noise. All of these come and go but the tinnitus remains permanent and has got louder with time. For the majority ear issues come and go except for the tinnitus. Hopefully it will pass. Stay away from Lou’s noises.
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Lou’s noises? Do you mean loud?
Yes sorry
This is driving me crazy. It’s not getting any better. Hopefully I can see an ENT soon, but I doubt she’ll be able to help given other docs haven’t helped with my other pfs symptoms in the past.
Ive seen alot of ent’s. You might get a ct sinus scan, hearing test, maybe even an mri. Ive had all of these. ive also tried nasal steroids, h1 blockers, h2 blockers and antibiotics like augmentin. PPIs as well.
NAC might help but its probably a bandaid, it thins mucus and has some anti inflammatory and antibiotic properties.
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Oh wow, thanks for all of that info. I’ll look those all up when I can. Quesrion: do you have actual hearing loss, or is your ear/ears just blocked? I’m hoping this is something like sinus congestion and not actual damage to my ear. Maybe it’ll be chronic congestion, but at least nothing is damaged at of right now. If I hold my breath and pinch my nostrils to try to clear my ears, my right ear does nothing, but my left ear (the problem one) will make sounds and sensations as though it’s blocked.
No hearing loss. How long have you been dealing with this problem?
Two weeks. It started with my left ear starting to block up, so I would swallow to unblock it. This worked for a few days, but eventually I couldn’t keep up and could unblock it enough, and ever since then it’s been constant. Sometimes if I swallow I can unblock it a bit, but never entirely. Last night I did a hearing test on YouTube. My right ear can hear at 14500 hz but my left ear can only hear at 12500 hz. I’ve not done a hearing test in a long time so maybe this is normal for me, but I doubt it. It feels like my hearing in my left ear is worse ever since the blocking started.
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You all need to first check it’s not wax. This can be easily treated with drops or even olive oil. It can make the ear feel very full and pressure changes or flights can make it worse.
In my case I don’t think it’s wax because when I use a q-tip to clean it there’s hardly any wax on it. Although I’m not going very deep since I don’t want to damage anything, but still, wouldn’t there be a lot of wax on the q-tip if my ear was full of it?
It can be deep. Doctor can see it in 1 min (if you can get an appt)…May be something else but if it’s that it’s a very easy win. My hearing was 50% reduced with heavy wax, resolved within 2 weeks with drops
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Its probably not earwax. It can involve the whole sinus structure and probably even extends to gum tissue and the oral cavity.
I remember someone who had taken Accutane posting his ent said his sinus structure had collapsed or diagnosed “collapse of the sinus structure” he had prescribed some antibiotics. He never posted a follow-up but said his parents were considering sending him to Mayo.
Hmm, sad but interesting. I hope he found some form of solution. I’ve had chronic sinus issues for the last 11 years but never ear issues until now.
I should give a quick update to this thread and say that to this day I still have a blockage issue in my left ear. If I plug my nose and blow air out, I can hear my left ear squeak, so there’s definitely some sort of blockage there. So officially I’ve had this for 6 months with no resolution whatsoever. I also saw an ENT last October who took a good look and couldn’t determine anything. Took pressure in both my ears, was fine. Did a hearing test, was also fine.