Monday, May 02, 2011

Some ups and downs

As I've written on and off for the past four months or so, my left ear is ringing very loudly. It rings all the time anyway, but it's been awfully loud over this stretch. Why? No idea really. Could be any number of things from allergens to caffeine to alcohol to the vitamins I took to make it "better" to who knows what. I suffer from tinnitus in the ear as well as Meniere's Disease; the former causes the ringing and the latter can be a result of advanced tinnitus and some other things. Meniere's manifests itself in a range from basic vertigo to full-on incapacitation.

So why write about these ailments, especially when my pinched nerve is still an issue? Here's the thing: the ringing mostly went away after the trip to Europe. The question is why? Still had plenty of alcohol, caffeine and, unfortunately, sodium. Allergens hadn't changed at all, plus I was only gone for a week. What DID happen then? Well, I took 3 flights. It wasn't the airline food though. I think it was the pressure changes, at least 12 of them during the week, that caused my ears to pop repeatedly and, I think, reduced my ringing. It reminded me of one of my first doctor visits to an ENT at Northwestern who said I should reduce my sodium intake and try popping my ears by holding my nose and blowing through it. It's really something that I can't do very well unfortunately.

This morning on the way to getting coffee, after having this revelation, I thought I should try to clear my ears using the doctor's method (which works when I scuba by the way) and had near disastrous results. I stopped, held my nose, blew and everything got really dizzy for a few seconds. I wobbled, but managed to keep my balance. I quickly decided that is NOT the way to go.

When I go up elevators, my ears do indeed pop, so I'm thinking it's something I should incorporate into a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. One of my clients is on the 31st floor and I'm going there in the next two days, so I'm going to see if my ears pop. If they do, I'm going to just head down there, ride the elevator a few times and leave. Odd? Yes. But if it works, I'll be written about in medical journals!!

5 comments:

alexis said...

wow, how wonderful would that be if just an elevator ride could help improve your quality of life so much?? I hope it works!

Bee said...

Um... I don't think the doctor meant grab your beak in public and see if you can blow your brains out of your nose...maybe you should be sitting down with someone near when you are going to try that? you know in case it brings on an attack...

el supremo de nm said...

Well said Bee. In the meantime I think we should be prospecting for clients that have offices in the upper floors of the old Sears Tower or the Hancock building.

Lakeview Coffee Joe said...

You're probably right Bee, maybe I was trying a little too hard. But that's what the doctor said to do. I like the precautionary idea of having someone there and sitting down though.

terri said...

I can't imagine having to put up with the constant ringing in your ear. We have a friend with the same condition. It must be hard to cope with at times.