Have you ever reached the point where you are willing to try just about anything to
just have a problem that you are experiencing go away?
Well, I have reached that point. Approximately 9 weeks (yes, weeks) ago, after
a normal swim workout I felt as if I had residue water left in my ear after
swimming. The usual hop on one foot
while shaking the head and drying drops did not do the trick. It was annoying but not painful in any
way. The symptoms were minimal. Crackling in the ear and as it was coined a
fish living in my head. What to do to
get it out!!
A few weeks passed and I still had the feeling of water
stuck in my ear but still just annoying.
Swim workouts were going normally and other than living with crackling
it wasn’t a problem. I then started to
have additional problems to the tune of dizziness. The dizziness caused me to faint one night
and ultimately ended up with an egg on my head after banging it into a
countertop on my way down. My swim
workouts became difficult as I suddenly felt that I was swimming in very choppy
water and would look around only to find that I was the only one in the
pool. (One of those times that you
really hope that the lifeguard is truly watching you and knows what to do in
event of emergency!)
I finally decided that I had had enough. I stopped swimming (although ignored the
suggestions to stop running and riding – I would have gone crazy!) and made an
appointment to see my primary care doctor.
There were a few people at this point that knew my symptoms. One being my nutritionist who felt that there
may be a deficiency issue somewhere and advised having blood work done. After a visit to the doctor, it was
determined that there was no infection in my ears but I was placed on two
antibiotics and one over the counter medication just to make sure. The plan with no change was to go onto an ENT
for further evaluation.
Ten days later I was sitting in the ENT’s office. I went through a complete hearing test with
an Audiologist and the testing process to determine if the ear crystals had
dislodged. Passed both with flying
colors. Not necessarily the news that
you are hoping to hear when you are trying to figure something out. I talked with him about the blood work and an
extremely thorough panel was ordered and a prescription was added to attack any
possible viral infections that may exist.
Plan with no change – additional testing to determine what is triggering
the dizziness. Not looking forward to
that.
A fasting blood draw when one is already dizzy is definitely
a challenge but the lab techs handled it perfectly. I then started the prescription. Side effects of the prescription - #1 –
dizziness… hmmm… I already have that and
boy did it get worse!
The prescription not only added to the dizziness, but I now
had a twitch in my left eye lid and the crackling sound (think tissue paper
crumpled in your ear – moving around) now was showing up in both ears… My hands swelled and I had cramping in my
left hand especially on the bike. As a
overall clean eater with very little extras filtered through my body I
definitely react to foreign stuff! I did get into the pool just to see if
things had changed at all. That was a
disaster. 2400 yards of rocking and
rolling!
I had many conversations along the way with the doctor’s
office. Are the side effects
normal? Have they considered XYZ as a
possibility? (Everyone around you provides their theories and diagnoses and at
this point I am willing to explore anything and everything if we can get the
fish to go away!)
Blood work normal – perfectly healthy – no issues… Bummer.
Couldn’t it just show one deficiency?
A quick easy solve? No such
luck. I was definitely happy to finish
the prescription as well.
Then the next lead.
After sitting for a free chair massage at an event – while spinning with
my face in the little face hole, the massage specialist said your Eustachian
Tubes are clogged. I had not told her
any of my story, I was just hoping for a
relaxing couple of minutes. I asked
her what made her make that statement
and she stuck her finger in right below my jaw between my ear and the back of
my jaw bone and I about launched out of her chair. So, I believe you now what’s the solve! She sent me to talk to the
Acupuncturist. She suggested getting in
for an Acupuncture session.
Today was my third session of acupuncture. I cancelled the scary test that I had
scheduled after the last prescription to give this a bit more time. My dizziness is substantially better and the
crackling is not nearly as bad as it has been although it is not completely
gone. I am hopefully that the progress I
have seen will continue and I plan to jump into the pool again tomorrow to test
out my dizziness there. Hopeful that I
can swim with 8 weeks to go until my race.
Lessons learned:
Don’t discount anyone’s input.
They are only trying to help and the solution you are seeking may not
come from where you expect it to.
Endurance athletes know their bodies better than most. Don’t ignore the signs and symptoms or decide
to live with them. Be grateful for every
step of your journey – they are put
there for a purpose.
