My ear got totally unclear-able for the first time in a while last night. It is still hard to clear this morning, and I was a bit dizzy for the first time in a while (certainly since I went back to my better generic Ranbaxy Valacyclovir). I figured out that I'd had a lot of salt at dinner time. I hadn't realized how much was in multiple foods I was eating. I am thinking that was what caused the problem. I've been drinking a lot of water to try clear it through. Maybe it just takes time. How long does it take for others to get over an excess of salt? What symptoms get worse for you? I had a very low salt diet before I got MM, so this hasn't been much of an issue. However there is one restaurant we go to that I always leave with a stuffy ear. I suspect high salt there now, which is good to know. What a bummer, it's such good Thai food, and both my husband and I love it.
Can anyone share about their salt experiences? Now my ear can clear, but barely. I wonder if TMJ could be part of this, too. I'd been going so great since the switch back to the Ranbaxy Valacyclovir. Today I tried putting the phone to my left (bad) ear and heard nothing. I thought the phone was dead. I brought it to the other ear and heard the dial tone. The strange thing is that I have been struck by how well I can hear my husband and son on the left during this stuffy ear time. How odd to lose such a specific frequency. In the past the worst I've had on the phone is distortion. One of the markers to me of how the anti-virals were working was that I could carry on a conversation with the phone on the left again. Very disturbing about this dial tone.
I'm very careful with sodium as it seems to make my bad ear fill up to the point it hurts and even my face on that side hurts. I used to take a diuretic when it got like that but then my blood pressure goes too low as does my potassium. So I try not to use diuretics now.
I try to keep my sodium level at 1200 mg a day. If I go over I get affected right away but only sometimes. For instance, Chinese food puts me over the edge. So do salad dressings so now I make my own.'if I'm having a low salt day I may have some salt and malt vinegar on French fries. For me it's learning how to gauge intake and not take chances on bringing on any symptoms. My first sign is always ear pressure and tinnitus. I never know where it'll go from there. My advice: Better Safe Than Sorry
Thanks so much for responding. Wow, Sharon, about what happens to you. My ear has sure filled like it hasn't for quite a while, but my face doesn't hurt. I'd also really like to know: How long does it take for the salt effects to pass? It's been two days already, and I wonder if this could still be attributed to the salt, or if something else must be going on. Also, just to be clear. I know very well it's best to keep salt intake low. I usually do. This was a very unusual (and unfortunate) mistake.
Salt doesn't impact me. When I was first diagnosed I went full board limited salt, no caffeine etc. But after my first checkup by blood pressure had dropped so low that the dr said I should go back to "normal" salt intake. ;D But there was not a difference in my ear or symptoms in any way. However, I do know that it seems to effect others more.
Even though I take a diuretic daily and do watch my salt, I don't think salt affects me all that much. When I initially went on a low salt diet I tried to limit my sodium intake to 1000 mgs a day. I initially had some relief but then my symptoms returned. I then started a modified JOH regimen which has had good results. I now try not to exceed the daily recommended amount of sodium which is 2400 mgs . Occasionally I do go overboard but I don't suffer from any ill effects. I also totally get the dial tone thing. When my ear is bad I can hear the dial tone but it is distorted and voices are all garbled (kind of like the adults speaking in Charlie Brown cartoons). Interestingly enough though, I've been having issues with my ear for the past several weeks (louder than usual tinnitus, hearing loss, distortion). Luckily I've only had one minor vertigo attack and a few dizzy spells. I believe it's being caused by some additional stress at work as well as recurring anxiety attacks along with insomnia. I've been put on an anxiety med so hopefully that will get things back to normal.
Keyword here is Thai food. Typically asian food is high in sodium and on top that they typically add MSG (monosodium glutamate) which are both no good to our ears. However let me tell you how I offset the sodium that seems to work for me. I might as well start a new thread just dedicated to it so more people can see the solution. Look for something along the lines of "Had too much salt? Try Coconut Water or something like that. When you take diuretics, you're supposed to eat more high potassium foods. I read that in the pamphlet they gave with the script.
I suffer from aural fullness and I was not able to find a correlation to my salt intake. I tried lowering my sodium intake to 300 mg/day and there were even some days, I didn't even eat anything but I still woke up with a really bad fullness in my ear. I did notice sugar and caffeine intake make my sympton worse I will see a new doctor next Monday and will ask him to prescribe me some anti-viral to see if I can kick this disease away. I've been feeling really down lately not being able to clear my ear :'(
That's a perfect description! Much better than hearing nothing. Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. I think the potassium helped and will comment in the other thread.