Asthma and ETD

Hello all,

I've posted before and had some great advice and I was wondering if I might pick your collective brains again please?

Since posting here last time I've been taking my preventer inhaler morning and night (95% of the time!) Since then I've seen my PF best increase from 450 to 470 which is encouraging! it's been as low at 330 but I think I had a cold that day (290 when I was diagnosed).

I also suffer with Eustachian Tube Dysfunction which is just a bane.

I'm wondering if the ETD is a misdiagnosis and is actually asthma symptoms? My ETD gets MUCH worse in the cold and during/after exercise.

Is there a link? Could it be a misdiagnosis? Any advice or info to read would be amazing. 🙏🏼

Thank you!

[starveycat]

Never heard of ETD but have spasmodic dysphonia which causes my vocal chords to misbehave. If it's similar I hope I can help

[Hidden in reply to starveycat]

ETD is feeling like the tubes in your ear are full; like after you've been on a plane and you can't hear properly.

Except I can hear myself speaking and breathing. It's awful.

Often feel like I've got a runny nose, or stuffed up nose but nothing happens if I blow it. 😒

[Lotti_321-]

I’ve got ETD & it is horrid! I’m not sure if they’re directly linked as such. But I suffer from hay fever & sinusitis they believe it is a consequence of that, that I’ve developed bad etd. There is a link between asthma & hay fever etc.What have you tried? After suffering for years with chronic pain from it and nothing working they finally have referred me to Ent! Hope it eases for you soon

[twinkly29]

I don't know much about ETD itself but do get congested sinuses at times - such issues can cause asthma symptoms in some people because the secretions in the nasal passages eventually go down into the stomach - and can irritate the airways on the way (I think that's what happens anyway!) In others it's not actually asthma but the symptoms are identical (but asthma meds tend not to help the asthma symptoms if that's the case). Whether ETD could be similar I don't know - ie maybe that's not a misdiagnosis but is causing your asthma symptoms (or some of them)?

[Hidden]

I have ETD in my one ear.. I haven’t made any links between asthma and etd though, apart from sinus issues and hay fever.. although I have had ETD ever since I had a hole repaired in my ear drum 18 years ago, and it is only my one ear, and asthma only diagnosed a couple of years back... would be very interesting to see if there is any kind of link other than just as a result of sinus issues? How do you manage yours? I find steroid nasal sprays very helpful, I’m on Dymista, although I do still struggle with it when hay fever or other sinus issues occur x

[Hidden]

I have ETD in just one ear, asthma and bronchiectasis and occasionally a blocked sinus same side as ETD. Most of the time I regard the ETD as a nuisance, although I have had a problem with acute pain sometimes flying, but who's going to do that now.If it gets aggravating I step up my use of saline nasal spray and this seems to help.