Excessive ear war

[Jbrick]

I wondered if anyone else had this problem or is there any connection to hypothyroidism?

[Chancery]

I would love to know if there is an ear connection too. I have had deeply itchy ears for several years now. It itches right deep inside and I can't make it stop. I don't seem to have excessive ear wax, but I have no idea what is going on. I did try doctors but got no joy. No-one had a clue. Anyone???

[humanbean in reply to Chancery]

Chancery, I have no clue either, sorry. But it affects me too. My assumption has always been that it is connected to eczema, which I have mainly on my hands but have some minor patches elsewhere. Or it could be related to my ear wax being very dry and flaky. But if there is an explanation and I can fix it, then I'd be delighted!

[Chancery in reply to humanbean]

Yes, Humanbean, dry works for me. I'd never thought of that before, but I suffer from very dry itchy skin and in the last year I've developed dry gritty eyes and a dry mouth (my lips stick to my teeth - THAT'S weird!), so yes, dry earwax is a definite possibility. I've noticed that It's not as 'liquid' as it used to be, but never thought that that itself might cause the itching. I wonder if it's allowing more 'home invasion', as it were, since ear wax is designed to keep the baddies out your ears...

[Hillwoman in reply to Chancery]

Sounds like Sjogren's, Chancery - another autoimmune condition. I've had the same set of problems since childhood. A rheumatologist once offered to try me on high dose steroids for it. I declined and never went back...

[Chancery in reply to Hillwoman]

Hi Hillwoman. Yeah, I have wondered about Sjogren's in the past and did mention it to my doctor, but he laughed at me and offered no other suggestions so I presumed it was side effects of my medication. However, I had the itchy ears long before I was on medication, and I've dropped the medication considerably but still have itchy eyes, ears, skin and a dry mouth. I'll have another look at Sjogren's and see what I think.

Of course, this is not helped by the fact that my doc pooh-poohs my theory that my illnesses are auto-immune in origin. Once I have my thyroid antibodies tested, IF I am found positive, I wonder how he'll pooh-pooh it then?

[Hillwoman in reply to Chancery]

I wonder, indeed. Of course, he could run a full antibody screen and refer you to a rheumatologist, just to find out if Sjogren's might be one of your problems. Even if you turn up lots and lots of interesting antibodies, your doc, being the charmer that he is, still may do nothing.

After I declined the steroids and NSAIDS, which make me very sick, and asked politely whether there might be another approach, the consultant rheumatologist wrote back to the GP that my elevated, exotic antibodies were merely an 'antibody soup' and 'quite probably meaningless', and the family history of serious AI disorders 'a red herring'. At the time, I was battling the effects of Hashimoto's, PA, and the assorted signs and symptoms of what she'd previously described as Sjogren's. I 'failed' a tear test, because my eyes were weeping copiously on the day - just another variation of what Sjogren's can do.

[Chancery in reply to Hillwoman]

Ah, moving the goalposts syndrome - doctors seem to be good at that. I've noticed that when they want blood tests to prove you are normal, you suddenly are, even if you fall out of the normal range - you're just not abnormal enough. But when they want a (convenient) diagnosis to fit, the fact that you are missing some important symptom or your blood test doesn't back it up, it's because diseases aren't always conventional. Odd that...

[Hillwoman in reply to Chancery]

[Spareribs]

Yep - a war in the ear region..

everything slows down I suppose... all secretions too - not pleasant but true...

There are several posts about itchy ears - yikes! wasn't expecting 1509? healthunlocked.com/search/e...

[JennyRay]

Hi, I discovered that itchy ears can be caused by yeast overgrowth. This can be caused by lack of digestive acid. Drinking water with a little good quality vinegar in it d uring meals, can help.

Best wishes,

Jenny

[Jbrick in reply to JennyRay]

Thank you Jenny, I will give it a try