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."
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...
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
on 6/11/15 6:39 pm
OMG, this is exactly what I've been experiencing! Thanks for sharing. I wonder, then, why naturally skinny people don't have this problem.