Finally, something relieves symptoms of cochlear hydrops

After 3 years of the endless head pressure, nausea, "feeling like crap all the time", I have finally found a treatment for the relief of these symptoms of my cochlear hydrops. I tried all the normal remedies that my ENT recommended (low-salt diet, diuretic, betahistine, prednisone, intra-tympanic injections, amitriptyline). I tried JOH's regimen, and anti-virals, but nothing, to my immense frustration after rigorously pursuing each of these possibilities, worked. I resigned myself to a miserable existence for the rest of my life. You all know the feeling.

About 6 weeks ago I was in my GP's office and he said, "Jim, you have a rough set of symptoms to deal with here, and unfortunately nothing has helped. I strongly suggest that you try an antidepressant. The newest SNRIs can be very effective in alleviating not only anxiety, but also neuropathy. We can start on the lowest dose and monitor it closely."

I wasn't crazy about trying an antidepressant. I wasn't depressed. I would be fine if I didn't have this god-awful disease that never lets up, reeking havoc on my relationships and social life, as well as my life as a musician. But I said yes, because to be quite honest, I'd try anything at this point.

On March 1st, I started 20mg of Duloxetine once a day. It wasn't fun. The side effects made me super drowsy yet antsy and seemed to exacerbate all the symptoms I was trying to get rid of. I lost all motivation and basically lived on the couch watching every hockey and basketball tournament on TV (here in Minnesota we have tons during March). To make things even worse it was difficult to sleep. On top of that I started reading all sorts of bad reviews on the internet about Duloxetine (the generic of Cymbalta) that made the drug sound like the ultimate Faustian pact. I soldiered on as my doctor said it may take 4-6 weeks to kick in.

Then on March 31st, Easter Sunday as it turned out, I woke up to get ready to go to a family gathering. I had been stressed out the day before baking a new recipe, Guinness Chocolate Cake, for 12 people and wasn't sure if I'd made enough. This could be a disaster in so many ways. As I got dressed I noticed something strange. My head. My head felt clear. WTF. I wasn't nauseous. I wasn't feeling shitty. The pressure was gone (well I still felt my right ear had cotton in it from hearing loss, but the awful aural fullness was gone). This was the first time in 3 years that I felt the weight lifted off of my head. I proceeded to have the most wonderful day with my relatives and by the way the cake was delicious.

It's now 8 days later and I have continued to enjoy the relief from aural fullness and nausea. I do still have tinnitus (but even before this I could ignore it - now it seems even less of an issue). I do feel a bit of lightheadedness, but it isn't bad.

I wanted to let the forum know about what has worked for me. I know everyone can have different responses to medications and it's a very personal decision about what to do in the search for an answer to this disease. I would never have started taking this medication if I didn't trust my GP. He assured me it was safe and if I had any problems we would work through them together. This Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (duloxetine) succeeded in alleviating my discomfort. I don't know if anyone knows why. I saw my ENT today and told him the good news and he said, "Sometimes a GP has an overall viewpoint that can connect dots that we don't see as specialists. That's fantastic that he tried this treatment."

I hope my experience continues to be positive and that it will give you a possible treatment for relief.

 

Donamo and Lilja, thanks for your comments. I was very leery about taking an antidepressant. I didn't want to end up as a blob in the corner with no emotional involvement, and some people have a terrible time getting off of antidepressants once they've started. Scary stuff. The 4 weeks of waiting for it to get better was a difficult stretch for me and I almost pulled the plug various times. The only thing that kept me going was the will to discover if it would improve, and I didn't want to quit just to start another time. Also I had a follow-up on the calendar with my GP and I figured if it all went South he'd help me. So far, and it's only been 5 weeks, I feel emotionally connected, I'm not having any negative side effects beyond a bit of dry mouth at times, and my head feels clear. Some mornings I'm a bit groggy, but it goes away especially if I get busy. The next month should be instrumental in revealing if this will continue to be beneficial. I will keep you informed.

I did try Amitriptyline for 4 months and I slept like a baby! My prescription was for just 10mg/day so maybe i never took enough to alleviate the head pressure. It's good to know it works for you Lilja and I may give it another shot in the future at a higher dose if I need an alternative. The Guinness Chocolate Cake recipe comes around every year on St Pat's Day in the NY times. I'd always wanted to try it because everyone raves about it in the comments. It's fantastic and easy to make.