Ear barotrauma/otitis media

Hi, I want to start off by saying that I will be following up with an ENT, again, but I am desperate for some opinions because I have not gotten anywhere in the past year. I am breaking down the main points of my story:

- April 2023: I visited a new state during a tornado warning. I was exposed to heavy winds on the first night and woke up to a scratchy throat and congestion (but no cough or fever). Eventually, I had to fly back home and I did so while congested. I was new to flying, so I didn’t know that you should take precautions while flying congested. Already up in the air, I blew my nose and suddenly experience SHARP pain in my ears. Ice pick pains! I had difficulty hearing and residual pain on the rest of my way back home. It took a few days to gain my hearing back. A few weeks later, I had a similar throat burning sensation, so I went to Urgent Care. They said it was likely allergies and they noted that there was some liquid behind my eardrum, but it was clear. Again, likely allergies.

- May 2023-September 2023: I didn’t experience a whole lot of ear pain or anything. My main issue is that I was stuck with a sort of “glue ear” sensation. Whenever I swallowed, I can hear a sticky noise come from my inner ear. If I traveled, I took an antihistamine, flonase, and wore EarPlanes for protection. Generally speaking, didn’t have a whole lot of issues. There was a little bit of pain when descending. Tho was an issue that I was aware of, but not super concerned for at the moment, as I was moving across the country to start school.

- October 2023: Already settled into my new state. Suddenly, during “allergy season,” I was slightly congested and suddenly experience the same ice pick pain in my ears. I also noticed that my throat/ears were sensitive to the touch, so I went to my PCP. He noted that there was clear liquid behind the ear, but no sign of infection. He recommended I see an ENT.

November 2023: My ENT appointment was set for mid-November, but in early November, I woke up in the middle of the night and experienced nausea/vertigo for the first time. Again, there was a similar ice pick pain, but the vertigo scared me enough to go to the ER (it was a Sat night at 2AM). When the ER doctor checked me out, they stated they saw clear liquid behind my ear, they suggested it was a viral infection. They gave me an antiemetic and suggested I go forward to see my ENT.

Finally, I went to the ENT. They looked at my ears, didn’t see anything too concerning. The audiologist tested my hearing, said it was just fine. They looked to see how my eardrum is and it appeared to respond fine. Confused, the ENT suggested that it was just allergies, or possibly, something with the inner ear. The ENT suggested I get an MRI, which I did, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Again, I was left with a general allergy diagnosis.

- December 2023: Generally, I felt better. I was also a bit caught up in personal stuff, so I did not focus my attention on getting allergy tested and such.

- February 2024: Out of nowhere, I started to experience nausea one day. I heard from some friends that their allergies were flaring up, so I figured my nausea aligned with the time of the year. I wasn’t too concerned, I just needed to take my regular allergy meds and maybe follow up with allergy tested to potentially get allergy shots.

-March 2024: During a particularly stressful week, I started having ice pick pains. Not as painful as before, but definitely noticeable. I was also much more aware of the allergens in the air, it was a bit difficult to breathe at times. I had a flight scheduled for spring break, so I managed my allergies with the daily allergy meds again and felt better. So, I flew back home.

This is where I am at now: I noticed some pain in my left ear while flying. It was not nearly as painful, more like discomfort. Once I landed, I decided to go to Urgent Care to have them take a look. Immediately, they told me I have an ear infection in my right ear (yellow behind the eardrum). I was a bit shocked, but willing to do whatever they suggested as I have to fly back in a week.

They gave me a few meds: medrol, claritin-D, azithromycin, and a daily nasal spray. I’m only two days into the treatment and I’m feeling slightly better. Still, just generally concerned about this ongoing issue with my ears.

With the current ear infection and likely seasonal allergies aside, I feel like there is something wrong. The “sticky” noise I hear when I swallow, random bouts of vertigo/nausea, sporadic tinnitus… I am lost. I’ve tried to research and the closest thing I can get to is some sort of eustachian tube dysfunction. Yes, I am pretty sure my seasonal allergies cause me the sort of “ice pick” pain, but there has to be something else underlying this issue, right?

I am sorry for the long and detailed message, but I am desperate. This is my first, real medical issue and it’s been weighing on me, even if I don’t like to admit or show it.