I also find that my symptoms get worse as the day goes on.....on a 4 sector day by the time I'm finished I've got a pretty sore jaw from repeated swallowing to pop my ears. Also, I find (and I have no idea why) that if I eat or drink while in the climb or descent my ears block up! I also seem to lose a bit of hearing as the day goes on too while it seems to return the next day. I've tried relaxing too and really tried to de-focus on the symptoms but it doesn't work for me anyway..the tubes just ain't popping on their own!!
It is unbelievably frustrating when you sit in front of doctors and they just stare at you like you're some kind of nutter when you describe symptoms that they can't reconcile!!