Sudafed?

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by bubbagump, May 6, 2014.

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  1. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    Anyway found relief with sudafed? The real stuff behind the cashier and not the stuff on the counter.

    I find that if provides temporary relief so just wondering if others have the same experience.
     
  2. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    *anyone
     
  3. BEANZMEANZ

    BEANZMEANZ New Member

    I did, and then someone introduced me to Narine Repetabs (which they sell here in Spain so I don't know if they are available where you are) and these have a higher dosage. I don't think they help with meniere's symptoms directly, but I find if I have colds / flu that will inevitably lead to a bad spell so that's why I found they helped as anything that keeps the tubes clear is a plus.
     
  4. rondrums

    rondrums Bilateral

    I don't know about Sudafed, but I've been on a similar antihistamine, Allegra, forever. If I stop taking it, I get dizzier, so it must be doing something.

    Ron
     
  5. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    I wonder if your main issues stem from eustachian tube issues? I believe you mentioned previously you have ETD. Coincidentally, I'm leaving soon to have PE/ventilation/grommet tubes put into both ears. (I had an appt with the ENT yesterday...) I experimented last fall with a myringotomy (hole without tube) in one ear, and it was quite unpleasant. Notwithstanding that, I'm going ahead with the bilateral tubes now.
     
  6. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    Hey yes, I remember you mentioning that it didn't work for you. Please let me know how these new tubes work. I am thinking about doing the same.

    Yes, I believe my Meniere's is highly correlated to my ETD problems, both of which started at the same time. When my tubes are clear my Meniere's symptoms seem to clear up by a good amount.

    I am still trying to pinpoint whether Sudafed is what's working or if it's just general fluctuation. I've tried Sudafed twice, and both times I found significant relief within a few hours of taking it, and I would take it for 5 days and have relief most of the time (say 90%) during those 5 days. However I am afraid of taking it longer, and also afraid of developing a resistance to the drug.
     
  7. BumbleBea

    BumbleBea New Member

    If you two get tunes, will you then be using steroid drops directly into the ears?
     
  8. BumbleBea

    BumbleBea New Member

    I was initially told that would be an option.
     
  9. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    its supposed to help even without the dex...it equalizes the air pressure
     
  10. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    I believe Sudafed is a decongestant, which is different than an antihistamine. I've read that antihistamines act as a vestibular suppressant.
     
  11. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    Bubba, I had a sore throat about three weeks ago. I opened my mouth really wide, dropped the back of my tongue and tipped my head back to get a good look at my tonsils with a hand mirror. Immediately, my left eustachian tube clogged-up more than it usually does, and a couple days later, the right tube started to clog. My dizziness increased to the worst level in two years, and both ears continued to click and pop. After a couple weeks, I took Sudafed for three days and felt much, much better. I stopped it, however, because it made me feel weird, and it was affecting my sense of smell in a most unpleasant way. (As an aside, the pharmacist told me she's been taking a decongestant every day for ten years!)

    I immediately made an appointment with the ENT to discuss my eustachian tubes. The tympanogram indicated the pressure in my middle ear was appropriate, but the ENT told me both ear drums were retracted (negative pressure from my ET issues). When he made the incision in my left ear, fluid came out, which is further evidence of negative pressure (fluids drawn from the middle ear mucous membrane into the middle ear).

    The ENT told me he has had patients with dizzy issues whose problems resolved with tubes, so I decided to give it a try. Having bilateral holes in my ears is much, much more comfortable that just having one hole, like I did last fall. (It always felt like I was riding in a car with only one window down, pressure-wise.) I'm not sure if the tubes will help, but at least I know now that both sides have equal pressure and will wait and see if, with time, the dizziness improves.

    I feel in some people the pressure in the middle ear can affect the inner ear. Otherwise, how could the Meniette device possibly work? Also, divers with one clogged eustachian tube can experience vertigo ("In aviation and underwater diving, alternobaric vertigo is dizziness resulting from unequal pressures being exerted between the ears due to one Eustachian tube being less patent-open- than the other")

    Anyway, when I get a chance, I'll post links to a very interesting discussion I found online by a person who acquired eustachian tube dysfunction from a CPAP for sleep apnea and his subsequent diagnosis of MM.
     
  12. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm having allergy testing done on Friday. Frankly, I will be highly surprised if it reveals I have allergies. The ENT told me the primary reason someone has ETD is due to allergies, so I'll go ahead with the testing just to rule that out/in as a possible cause. I've been wondering lately if some people with MM improve with allergy shots because of resolution of subtle eustachian tube dysfunction. Just a thought...
     
  13. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    Hey Kennedy, thanks for the great information. I am seeing my neuro this friday, and we will discuss putting in a tube in my bad ear, possibly on the spot. So I have a few questions if you don't mind:

    1) Can you elaborate on why the 1-sided tube you had before felt so bad? I would assume the pressure is equalized and it would just feel normal (well other than meniere's)? When you say like a car window down, where is the wind coming from? Was there any noise or tinnitus? How was your pressure?

    2) So you have new tubes in both ears now? you don't feel immediate relief from the pressure eh? I was hoping it would make an immediate difference but I guess that's too optimistic?

    3) Do you use earplugs in the shower? What are the chances of infection due to water/bacteria going into the ear through the tube? If there's an infection, would it clear up with antibiotics or would it cause some permanent inner ear damage?

    4) You mentioned you had fluid in your ear, did it just ooze out? Did you feel like there was fluid in there before it came out? I also had a typanogram which was normal, and the audiologist said that means there was no pressure issues and no ETD....however I can definitely feel my ET severely clogged up!

    5) Did you only try Sudafed that one time or did it always work for you? I am also afraid to try it too much but so far it seems to work the two times I tried it. How did it affect your smell? My smell was always bad to begin with so maybe I did not notice. Any other side effects?

    6) As for ETD relating to allergies, well I'm sure I had allergies before (even though I was tested negative), probably for most of my life. Evidence is sneezing/sniffling all the time even though I don't have a cold, and responding to antihistamines like allegra. However I did not notice any ETD issues until I got Meniere's. I am sure they appeared at the same time. Based on what SS says, the same thing (underlying cause) that infected/damaged your inner ear resulting in Meniere's, also damaged/caused ETD because it's all part of the MALT.
     
  14. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    No problem, Bubba. I'll be happy to answer your questions:

    1) Last fall, I chose to have a myringotomy (hole only- no tube) put into my most symptomatic ear (left). That was the one with the louder tinnitus, the most dramatic ET clicking/popping. When all this started two years ago, I was told my left eardrum was severely retracted and my right was mildly retracted. Because I did have ETD in both ears, putting a hole into only one wasn't guaranteed to equalize the pressure in both ears. What I meant by a sensation of riding with only one window down was that I could sense there was a pressure difference between the ears, and it drove me nuts. I don't have that now. Also, the way I was able to hear sound with only one hole was so different between the ears that it was quite bothersome.

    2) Yes, I now have tubes in both ears. Unfortunately, I can still feel pressure, but it seems to alternate between the two ears with the left much worse than the right. I'm guessing that the "fullness" I now feel is either generated by the still-clogged ET (the tube just equalizes the pressure between the middle ear and the external ear canal... it doesn't cause your ET to open as it should) or it's due to hydrops in the inner ear. That's my best guess.

    3) The doctor told me to put cotton balls with vaseline in the ears prior to showering for the first three days. After that, no precautions are needed. He said the current thinking is that ear plugs aren't needed while showering or swimming. He's not worried about infection at all.

    4) Yes, the fluid just oozed out my ear when he made the incision in my left ear drum. I believe I linked in other posts an article written by Dr. Franz (Australian ENT) who believes that sub-clinical ETD (unable to detect with standard office testing) can cause inner ear problems. He said that the level of ETD needed to cause problems would not show up on standard tympanograms. There are apparently other tests that can be done only in a lab or university/research setting. This is one doctor's opinion, of course. Obviously, I did have ETD to some degree since both the audiologist and the ENT told me both ear drums were sucked back and there was fluid in the left middle ear. So, I can only conclude the tympanogram wasn't sensitive enough, in my case, to register any issues. I can't say for sure that the pressure I felt in my ears was from the negative pressure in my middle ear since the sensation is still there to some degree, but my tubes were clicking and popping (definitely from ETs) and felt clogged.

    5) I used Sudafed for three days and the dysequalibrium was drastically better. The dysequalibrium got worse when I stopped it. Seems to be cause and effect, but you never know. I didn't like the way it made me feel... nervous, anxious. It made my sense of smell extremely strong. Everything smelled so much more intense, but in a bad way. I couldn't stand being around our dog since she smelled so terribly "doggy," but only to me. Another example is my husband (a physician) had treated one of the kid's canker sores with some chemical kit in our bathroom, and the chemical smell was so strong (to me) I couldn't stand to go in that room for two days.

    I need to get going now, but I'll finish up my thoughts later on...
     
  15. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    Here's a link to the discussion I mentioned previously by someone with alternobaric dizziness from unequal pressures in the two middle ears. He felt it was secondary to ETD triggered by CPAP therapy. Specifically, the pertinent information is about halfway down his second post: http://www.apneasupport.org/post-126486.html&highlight=valsalva#126486 . There are also some very interesting thoughts linking possible intracranial hypertension (from an attempt to exhale in someone with obstructive sleep apnea) and dizziness.

    Let us know what your doc tells you tomorrow about the tubes.
     
  16. Jordan

    Jordan New Member

    Just wanted to mention that one should generally not take antihistamines with the medication Serc (betahistine), which increases histamine activity in the body.
     
  17. bubbagump

    bubbagump New Member

    KL, this is super interesting, thank you so much for this useful information! i only scanned it briefly so far, seems like the person did not have hearing loss....whereas i have sensoneural hearing loss...so i am afraid mine is not as simple...

    i will take a closer look when i get back from my doc visit tomorrow.
     
  18. KennedyLane

    KennedyLane New Member

    Surprise, surprise... I'll be starting my allergy shots in two weeks once the serum is ready. Turns out I'm quite allergic to eight out of the nine types of trees tested, plus dog dander.
     

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