Has anyone had persistent fluid in the ears that was not cleared up by antibiotics?

Answer 1

Yes- I'm 45 and since age 5 or so I've had persistent problems with my ears - particularly the right one. I consider it my "achilles heel" because when I'm coming down w/something it is always my first indicator that something is brewing. I had severe, excruciating ear infections as a child and have continued to ever since. Years of alternating Scuba diving and air travel seem to have exacerbated the sorry condition of my ear drums. M.D.'s have said that ordinarily they'd install tubes to manage the fluid buildup, but my badly scarred right eardrum actually has a permanent tear (hole) that serves the same purpose a tube would. I remember seeing an ENT doc in Boston and telling him that I had "chronic" ear infections...he corrected me, saying that what I have are in fact recurrent ear infections, because if they were chronic they'd have never subsided at all and I'd be gravely ill or dead by now... I nearly always have fluid in my right ear and often in both, regardless of whether I'm still on or have just finished a course of antibiotics or I have a lot of pain or none at all. I resist using q-tips because i know they bring their own problems, but when I can't stand the sensation of fullness or can't hear I do swab them out and am often amazed by how much fluid can stay trapped in the ear canal. I've been told that all of this may be the result of very short eustachian tubes that can't sufficiently drain the ears as they're meant to. I think there's some merit in that theory because one other peculiarity I have is that when I eat hot (spicy) foods that make my mouth burn, my inner ears also burn with the same intensity as my mouth(!). The sensation ranges from unpleasant to downright distressing, especially if infected /inflamed. I've been subjected to innumerable procedures and attempts at

treatment & have made many desperate trips to ER's when the pain has been unbearable. Docs have reacted w/shock and dismay and comments like "what happened to your ear?!" said that when it was badly swollen it didn't even resemble an ear, and that they couldn't believe I was actually walking around with an ear that badly infected.

I have a tendency to get Vertigo and inner ear involvement once a year or so.