Since I came off topamax on June 4th and was told my optic nerves looked fine my ear pain started within 24hrs. The pain is a pressure type feeling, it literally feels like something wants to come out of my ears and it seems like there is a direct pathway between both ears and it runs along the back of my throat and puts pressure there too. Each day it seems to be getting slightly worse but I haven't had a headache yet. Pain killers don't really seem to help and today it's making me feel nauseas and just generally off, I don't think I'm going to be ill but I just feel queasy. Yesterday I also noticed in the afternoon that my ears were popping a bit like when you are on a plane, not a lot but just a little which was new.

It's not stopping me from functioning or going to work or anything but it feels weird, awful and wrong and I think it just stresses me out cos it is getting slightly worse each day.

Does anyone else get this too and have any recommendations on how to deal with it?

I do experience something like that myself and it happens when my pressure rises, It feels like my ears are full and being pushed from the inside out, and sometimes they pop. I think it could be due to pressure on the ear canal or something like that.

However, don't think that this could be your pressure rising again now you're off the Topamax, because it could just be a simple ear infection or inflammation, and could be why you feel it at the back of your throat.

The best thing to do is to go to your Doctor and get it checked out, especially for peace of mind. He will be able to have a look in your ears and everything and get to the bottom of it.
Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks Heidi, that's exactly how it feels!

It's the same pain I used to get before I was put on the meds and when I was waiting for my diagnosis but now it's a bit worse. I've never been prone to ear infections so I don't think it's that.

I see my GP each month for an allergy injection so I plan to get her to check a few things

I've had ear pain with high & low pressure. When it's high it does seem to be more of a full feeling, when it's low it almost seems like a burning ear infection but they have that popping sensation more often. I also still get some pain now that levels are regulated..I think there's always some fluctuation, so I wouldn't worry. I think it's good to have GP check it out, but may just be one of those random symptoms with very little meaning behind it. I haven't found anyway to relieve it yet, but I'll let you know.

Good luck,
Julie

Thanks Julie!

It sounds like different people experience different things and can have quite different symptoms, no wonder they don't know much about it

I have a tendency to get right sided ear pain sometimes, but I had been thinking it's referred pain from my TMJ; I have jaw problems. I'll have to pay closer attention when it comes back. it can be excruciating, like a toothache. it pulses pain when I swallow.

I'm starting to wonder if I get pressure headaches/ear pain!

Yesterday the pressure dropped from 1020 down to 1006 today and yesterday and today my ear pain isn't that bad and my ears are popping today, where as on Wednesday when the pressure was at 1020 it was really bad!

I would never have heard of this if it wasn't for this site so Thank You! Time to read up more about them

I should have said Barometric pressure headaches

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is all I could find on pubmed.

but we know that at higher altitude = lower barometric pressure, our intracranial pressure will increase. imagine driving to the mountains with a potato chip bag in your car; by the time you get to your destination it will look like it is ready to pop.

also, hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been used for intracranial hypertension. so we should be better at higher barometric pressures.

I'm having the same feelings. Its almost like an earache, with a weird hot, pressure feeling in my throat. Its gotten so bad, I thought I was choking.

This may sound bad but I am glad I am not the only one experiencing this.

Not to hijack the thread, but when this happens, does anybody have sound sensitivities to go along with the pressure? Especially to high and low pitched sounds?

OMG, I posted about this awhile back. I am so sensitive to sound it makes me want to scream! I have earplugs everywhere, in my purse, my office, by my bed, and I have noise cancelling headphones. when I put them on it's like taking a xanax. that's how much noise stresses me out. if my husband talks while the TV is on I can't hear either noise; can't make sense of what is said. simple kitchen noises feel like a physical assault. I am also so sensitive to smells that I can't work because of people's perfumes. I smell everything, and I have MRI evidence that it is doing something bad to my brain; it's a neurological reaction. if I get exposed to chemical smells, it makes my intracranial pressure go up! at least it's the same symptom so I know that's what's happening.
Deb

I have sensitivity to sound due to the damage that was done within my skull, believed to be from the zoster virus (Shingles). Mine is just to the louder noises at this stage, but it is called hypeacusis.

It is often a gray area between the Ramsay Hunt Syndrome symptoms and the IIH ones. Makes me wonder if some of them might be the same.

I have ear pain that is troublesome when I am where there is air blowing, like from a fan (allodynia). It is a form of post herpetic neuralgia (PHN).

I got to go to a Sheryl Crow concert tonight. Had to dig out my ear plugs my ear hurt so bad. Nothing as bad as yours, Deb, but my hyperacusia has improved over the years. I miss my ol' hippie days.

I'm sometimes sensitive to sounds too, I can no longer listen to music on headphones as it makes the headaches and earaches worse and I find I don't play music at all very often any more. A work colleagues ring tone causes a fair bit of pain when his phone rings too - sometimes I just want to go and smash his phone!

OH MY GOODNESS! Smells! I thought I was pregnant for a while because chemical smells (especially a candle I have) make my head almost explode! I cant sit anywhere near a fan, loud music, movies, etc. Unless I want to feel the pain for days.

OMG, I can smell people's deodorant. residual perfume from their hair conditioner, laundry detergent in their clothes; it smells like perfume and smells up my house and makes me sick. usually it takes about 45 min to make me sick but sometimes it is more rapid. I think it is making my brain swell slightly and in the setting of IIH that will push me into brain fog. I am on disability for this: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, because I can't be in a situation where I can't leave immediately to get away from someone who smells. I carry an N95 mask in my pocket wherever I go, but what I've realized is that when I wear it I am rebreathing carbon dioxide which will make my ICP go up! it's a terrible combination of problems to have. my MRI showed abnormal activation in my amygdala in response to scent, which is the part of the brain which responds when there is a threat. so it's like my brain has become oversensitized to stimuli, and over reacts to them. my mother has the same problem. I think my mother also has IIH but she won't go get tested. all the products I use must be scent free and I have to clear anyone who wants to come to visit. and I can't really go to other people's houses either. everyone and their brother has a plug-in. I would definitely start cutting out your scented products because you don't want to be making your IIH worse, in case this affects you like it does me.
acerousme, can you tell us your first name?
Deb