I think I have experienced the rushing you mentioned. Is it like a swooshing sound, almost like wind? Things tend to be worse all round for me when I'm tired, and recently when I went to bed I could hear something like that.

My ears feel like they have got a lot worse. There's this permanent droning sound/sensation that I have. Hard to describe. They have also felt blocked lately and sometimes swallowing caused a slight change in pressure in one or both ears. I've had a cold over the past week or so though so the pressure thing might be related to that.