question about ear pain, ear fullness

Hi all,

I emailed my doctor today to ask her if my ear pain/ fullness is part of the migraine and she told me that probably is a separate issue, and not the migraine. That seems odd to me. What do you all think?

My rocking has been pretty intense the last 3 days, I feel I am regressingā€¦ need something to cheer me up.

Thanks,
Laura

I believe these are fairly common symptoms of this ā€˜class of conditionā€™. I donā€™t personally believe itā€™s a product of a ā€˜migraineā€™ per se, though.

Remember, MAV is defined by a set of symptoms without assuming a cause (which has yet to be determined)

You will probably find there are different views about this amongst board members.

I keep thinking about what causes migraineā€¦ many say is genetic. I have a family history of migraines, but as I am understanding genetic predisposition, something has to ā€œturn onā€ the gene of a disease to manifest. For me, I think it was post partum hormones/ stress/ lack of sleep. Soā€¦ will this gene ever will turn off? I literally wish my brain had a switch I can turn off. It keeps doing weird stuff everyday. I am deciding at this moment to increase my dose of effexor. I need some relief. As you all know, I am working full time and have a baby (almost 1 year now!) and this has been going for almost 8 months. Sorry, today has not been a great day.

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Donā€™t worry, I lost count of mine ā€¦ hopefully tomorrow will be more comfortable for you.

I still get ear pain from time to time btw.

I have terrible ear pain and aural fullness. My pain at times is really bad i need an ibruprofen. It has got considerably better on the effexor. Since you are on 75mg you will see the improvement too.

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Agreed. That used to be one of my issues as well. Better now.

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I also get terrible right ear pain and feel like my ears and nose will burstā€¦i often wonder why my rght ear? But m 100% convinced with my diagnosis of MAV i have every symptom and ā€œeargrainesā€ is one of my biggest issus along with daily dizzies and sinus pain/ pressure
Jo x

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From exp Iā€™d say ear fullness is part of the MAV syndrome. I have no known ear problems or traumas. I never had ear fullness until at a late stage in MAV development when it arrived accompanied by sound sensitivity. In my case no earpain but I donā€™t get headache pain either, only pressure.

Ho! Ho! As Santa would say!

We are back to the old post currently cannot find where the poster stated whateverā€™s wrong with me always seems to be the speciality of ā€˜ whoeverā€™s office Iā€™m not sitting in at the timeā€™. How very true. Been there so many times with MAV. The neuro-otologist I saw took ear fullness as a migraine indicative symptom. Prior to that two different ENT consultants both told me ā€˜ear fullnessā€™ was nothing to do with itā€™ - by ā€˜itā€™ they were referring to conditions they deal with in my case particularly BPPV, Labyrinthitis.

You are probably having a ā€˜breakthroughā€™. It happens with MAV all the time. Really gets you down.

Be careful what you wish for. I had a few mornings recently I wished the exact opposite. I kept waking up feeling so groggy and doopy I felt Iā€™d opened my eyes but forgotten to switch my brain on.

With regard to the genetics of migraine sure it runs in families but not every member develops migraine because they lack the genetic predisposition to it. If the manifestation of your predisposition ie the onset of MAV was triggered by the birth of your son maybe itā€™s hormonal and it will stop completely with menopause. Meanwhile Iā€™m sure the Effexor will come to control it. Helen

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Hi laura, right ear pain is one of my sympthons, recently dialed up a bit when I moved up to 37.5mg of effexo a couple of weeks ago, still around now but occasionally, so meds helping. Also aurul fullness too. Hard days are always challenging but stay strong, a good day will come soon, letā€™s us know how you getbon with higher dose, will you go up to 75mg? Take care

exactly, she told me go back to your PCP or ENTā€¦ whaaat?

and yes, it really gets you downā€¦ I am trying to get out of it the best I can. Thank you @Onandon03

@nin I am already at 75 mg, I have been there for 12+ weeks, mainly because I had an anxiety attack, and it is helping me with that too. I think I will go up to 112.5, I am already discussing with my neuro. I asked Dr. Hain directly yesterday about his thoughts and he replied! He suggested to give up effexor since I have given a decent trial, BUT after thinking about it last night, I need to also think on my mental health, since my anxiety/depression were terrible before effexor, so I think I will stay on it and increase it. I know Dr. Hain is more conservative, but other neurologists are ok going up on effexor. In other MAV support groups I read several people got relief at 150 or even higher. So I guess this is an example of precision medicine, given all the circumstances, I need not to be afraid of increasing the meds, particularly since I did not have any side effects to begin with (as opposed to zoloft that sent me to the hospital).

I am going to trust my neuro, but not run to ENT to check my ears, I know there is nothing wrong there.

@turnitaround am about to go my dentist for my night guard, sorry, I know what you think about tmj, but I am grinding my teeth terribly!

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I bet the dentist and his/her assistant will grin during the entire process :wink: :moneybag:

Do what you need to do :wink:

well, I am not going to go into details, but I get dental care for free :), at least, because I am broken with all my other medical expenses

In which case itā€™s definitely worth a try, but do keep an eye on it because I found the guard was delaying my recovery from TMJ, not promoting it. (your mileage and others may vary)

I am now nearly free of it (only took 2 years, lol).

I will just say one thing though: use your discretion with medical care and shop around ā€¦ donā€™ believe everything they say!!

I will never complain about a cold or diarrhea that gets better in 4 days, hehehe. These processes are long! I even recovered faster from my neck surgery! Ok, off the the dentist now. Thanks all, I donā€™t know what I would do without you.

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The night guard pays itself multiple times over for the cost saved in chipped tooth and crown damage.

Does anyone get pain behind ears in the mastoid bone? Along with ear fullness?

Yes I do. Itā€™s a typical VM symptom.

I have ear fullness every morning, just on the right side. The left ear is ok. Now with spring and allergies in the air, my right ear is all inflamed and feels both full and very painful both in and around the ear. Just had a swab taken by the doctor to test for bacteria and if any is found I will need to take an antibiotic. I am also taking golden seal and colloidal silver (natural antibiotics) as well as ear drops (mullein and garlic) 3 times a day. If anyone has any more remedies, please share.

As @GetBetter says ear fullness is a MAV symptom. I have always found it affects both my ears equally and at the same time. I assume thatā€™s fairly typical in MAVers. If you only have one ear affected and there is inflammation and pain that would certainly sound more like an ear infection which your doctor will check out and treat as you say. I always feel the MAV type fullness feels like pressure. For me pressure identical to the rear head pressure the neuro told me is migraineous. It feels as if the blood vessels are constricted. As if blood cannot flow freely. Something like that. I too have had ear fullness during the pollen season and that always feels the same. All part of the hypersensitivity I guess.

I would say the remedy to controlling ear fullness is successful migraine prevention treatment. That fullness is somehow linked to the MAV. Really thereā€™s not a problem with the ear. I wouldnā€™t see any point in putting in ear drops unless prescribed by doctor for infection. Adding any liquid to the ear could increase MAV symptoms and besides the ear is its own carefully balanced ecosystem so to speak and such intrusion is just the introduction of what is actually a foreign body. However ā€˜naturalā€™ these herbal products may appear to be IMO it isnā€™t natural to be popping them into such a sensitive organ. I assume your doctor knows you are using these other products but unless he/she recommended them I wouldnā€™t be using them.

Many people think that the ear fullness is a type of inflammation. It is also suggested itā€™s linked to salt and/or sugar intake (any Menieres site can explain this far better than me). I can certainly relate to the latter. More salt as in ham or bacon or processed food intake or increased sugar intake such as a slice (or two!) of home-made cake and next day or more I can guarantee ear pressure. Regulating the diet certainly helps my ear pressure. All I lack on occasion is the willpower but thatā€™s another story!

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Iā€™ve been having fullness in one ear and all of the cartlidge hurts along with the mastoid bone. Is this normal