Decongestant/anti-inflam suggestions for eustachian tube

[TonyBottomTime]

Any suggestions for OTC meds for eustachian tube relief? I know Sudafed is the popular choice but what else is there if I feel sudafed isn't working for me.

I need an anti-inflammatory and not an antihistamine because I have a left ET issue (not an allergy) that I'm hoping can be addressed with an AI.

As far as what's going on, I really don't know.

 

[BRT]

Ibuprofen

 

[michael-fisch]

Corteson, is the best anti-inflammatory in existance. Multiple side effects, and without access to an Egyptian or Mexican pharmacy you are gonna need an Rx.

Basically I believe that buying OTC medications is a waste of time and money, the good stuff that you can buy with an Rx works better and is usually cheaper
Michael

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Corteson, is the best anti-inflammatory in existance. Multiple side effects, and without access to an Egyptian or Mexican pharmacy you are gonna need an Rx.

Basically I believe that buying OTC medications is a waste of time and money, the good stuff that you can buy with an Rx works better and is usually cheaper
Michael

To pull from another thread, self-prescribing of steroids is a really bad idea. If you do it in consultation with your primary care practitioner who knows your health history, it may be a reasonable solution for you personally, but as you noted, there are significant side effects. One of them is suppression of the immune system, which one may not want to do when traveling, even outside of a pandemic.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

So I was diagnosed by my ENT doc as having "delicate" eustachian tubes. After recovering from my slight emasculation, I turned to Flonaze before going on a dive trip to get them all manly. I use it for two weeks prior to the trip and bring scubafed with me just in case but usually don't have to use it.

 

[TonyBottomTime]

So I guess a little back story would help (DDM, you probably remember me from my original posts). I developed tinnitus back in March from diving. Whatever was happening worked itself out back in July. I enjoyed a month or so of being 'healed' but it came back slightly for no reason. And this past week it's back to full ******* force for no ******* reason. The only thing I can think of is if the changing weather provoked it. Now I believe it got super inflamed from whatever perfect storm of conditions occurred (weather, stress, caffeine, alcohol, etc) and the healing processing has started all over.

I've seen a Dr, normal ENT, and attempted to see a 'dive' ENT to no avail. Each step of the way was a joke and costly to say the least.

The "delicate" ET diagnosis intrigues me because I've read about ET dysfunction and pondered if this is what I'm ailing from. Would "delicate" ET be categorized under ET dysfunction?

Anyways, to get on topic, I took Sudafed yesterday and the tinnitus decreased significantly. The tinnitus is back again today which is good only for the matter of taking Sudafed again to see if it works again or if yesterday was just a coincidence.

 

[TonyBottomTime]

@BoundForElsewhere

I tried Flonase for it was the one and only thing my Dr recommending originally from the get go. He thought the presence of fluid in my middle ear was the issue and flonase would clear it out. It didn't do anything to improve my condition. I don't even know if it cleared the fluid in my ear.

I could never understand if I was doing it properly. The Dr. told me to aim it toward my ear as I was spraying it in my nose which still to this day, doesn't make sense to me. Can one really aim the direction of a spray in the sinus cavity to the ET opening? Besides, if you had a clear shot at the target, the nasal spray is fanned/mist so it always seemed pointless.

That's why this time around, I want to experiment with blood line supplied medication.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Snort prednisone?

 

[happy-diver]

I had some down time from diving a few years back, got all land lubbered all my tubes and sinuses dried out got lazy absorbed a bit of construction dirt so that when I got back into it and the juices started to flow again what l got was a severely blocked head

Went to see my friend, a degree carrying diving, family of divers, husband is in the industry used to sell his own gear diving doctor that's not big on going on company funded holidays for unnecessarily prescribing pills and she suggested
I find a chlorinated pool and jump in

So I spent 20 minutes splashing around duck diving somersaulting forwards and backwards swimming and snorting and clearing, and once everything drained properly over the next day or two everything was free and clear and perfect and to that pool I've never been back

except to have dinner with the couple of girls I met

Magnificent!

 

[Searcaigh]

I use Rhinomer the night before I dive as well as the morning of my dive and this has helped a lot.

(1) Rhinomer Solution Force 2 (docibonline.com)

I used to take Clarinase but my pharmacist colleagues warned me that it is too aggressive for an OTC product.