Bucket On My Head

I'm 4 months post-op, and for the past 3 months I've been having a real problem with my left ear.  My symptoms are that intermittently my ear feels oddly clogged, like it's underwater and I can hear my own voice and breathing REALLY loudly in my head.  It's been DRIVING. ME. CRAZY.

I finally saw a specialist yesterday who gave me a diagnosis of Patulous Eustachian Tube.  In my case it is caused by rapid weight loss in my face!

Here's some info on it from Widipedia:  (anyone else experience this from rapid weight loss???)

"Patulous Eustachian tube is the name of a physical disorder where the Eustachian tube, which is normally closed, instead stays intermittently open. When this occurs, the patient experiences autophony, the hearing of greatly amplified self-generated sounds. These sounds, such as one's own breathing, voice, and heartbeat, vibrate directly onto the ear drum and can create a "bucket on the head" effect.

Causes

Patulous Eustachian tube is a physical disorder. The exact causes may vary depending on the person. Weight loss is a commonly cited cause of the disorder due to the nature of the Eustachian tube itself. Fatty tissues hold the tube closed most of the time in healthy individuals. When cir****tances cause overall body fat to diminish, the tissue surrounding the Eustachian tube shrinks and this function is disrupted."

I may be living with a Bucket On My Head for awhile (maybe even forever)... but I'd still have this surgery again in a heartbeat.  

Thanks for that. After surgery I was wondering what the heck was happening. I never related it back to the weigt loss. 

So, Qajohn... since it sounds like you've had this, is it safe to assume it went away on it's own?  My doc says there's no real cure for it - other than gaining the weight back (NOT an option), and that it may or may not get better over time.  

When I first experianced this, I thought I had a problem with ear wax. It would come and go almost at random, but if I was doing a lot of talking it would happen. As I was thinking about your reply and question, it occured to me that I have not experianced this effect in a while. I assume that means it gets better over time.

live and learn.. Thanks for letting us know..

another weird effect of losing weight...

Wow! You actually can say that you lost weight from your ears!! Who have thought! You have skinny ears!

Sorry to laugh. It just sounds cute. I hope it goes away and stops bothering you. Best wishes. Chris

Exactly what I have been having...omg.  Made an appt with an ENT...then canceled it....then it came back.  Thanks for sharing...will let you know what I heat from my doc...new appt is end of June.  Can't hurt to check it all out.  Thanks again.

OMG, this is exactly what I've been experiencing! Thanks for sharing. I wonder, then, why naturally skinny people don't have this problem.

I had a disorder that went away after WLS called floppy eyelid syndrome. Fatty tissue in our faces cause weird things.