6 Months of Tinnitus Due to Stress, Now Ear Infection Makes It Worse

[Adrien]

Hi! I'm Adrien, a 26 yo french guy who lives in London.

Here is my story:

My tinnitus started out of nowhere 6 months ago, on the right ear only. I hear a very high pitch noise. The noise was not strong enough for me to hear it in the streets of London, but strong enough to prevent me from sleeping in my quiet room. I remember the first few days I was in denial, constantly stressed out and reluctant to see a doctor. I had anxiety attacks. I then saw an ENT who did a bunch of tests and concluded it's not due to hearing loss but most probably stress. It is true that I was stressed at the time, mostly because of work.

Few months after, I still have tinnitus but I learnt how not to let it control my emotions. I paced down with work, I don't have anxiety attacks anymore. I still sleep with the fan on, a bit of melatonin, and a pillow with an integrated speaker that helps me sleep with the sound of rain. I've been able to regain a normal life, even though I don't consider it normal to have to sleep with a fan and artificial sound... I hope I can eventually get rid of that.

I've had a cold for the last 2/3 days and yesterday night I had a bit of discomfort in the right ear, the one where I have tinnitus. Later on in the night, my tinnitus suddenly started massively increasing in strength, it was unbearable. I did not sleep all night, this brought back those dark memories from the time I had just discovered my tinnitus. I wen to the doctor this afternoon. She found some blisters in my ear. She thinks it might be a reactivation of chickenpox or shingles and prescribed aciclovir. She mentions that an ear infection like that can worsen the the existing tinnitus. She also mentioned that the infections appeared there maybe because the ear is already weak due to the tinnitus. Has anyone seen anything like that before? I'm a bit freaked out because my tinnitus has never been that loud and I don't think I can live a normal life it it does not disappear after the infection is treated.

Thanks for reading my story.

Adrien

 

[william adams]

Hang in there Adrian I have read many post where people have an increase in T when you have a cold or sinus infection. Once it clears up your T should reduce to base level where it was befor.

 

[glynis]

A virus in your system can increase tinnitus but will settle as the virus leaves your system and a week or two after should settle.
Fingers crossed you don't wake up covered in chickenpox....lots of love glynis

 

[Adrien]

Thanks for the support guys, I've read a lot of posts here and I'm amazed by how kind and supportive everyone is here.

 

[James]

Hello @Adrien
I'd say forum members know about T, because we have it. Right now mine is Max Vol, stress? right after work? help. Hope you get better and the T will settle down, like said above. Mine has settled (lower) at times.

 

[Adrien]

I have a question, do people with tinnitus keep looking for answers by seeing more and more specialists or end up giving up and instead focus on their emotional reaction to it? I am asking because my mum had pulsatile tinnitus for two years and she never gave up, she tried many things (accupuncture, etc). She ended up figuring out her issue was related to her teeth, she was given braces and tinnitus disappeared.

I heard tinnitus can be caused by teeth, jaw issues, bad posture. My right leg is slightly shorter than my left leg, I heard this can cause issues even far up in the neck. Is it worth trying to fix this bad posture? Is it a coincidence I have tinnitus on the right ear, a bad posture on the right leg, have sprained my right ankle many times? Should I get my teeth, jaw checked?

Right now if I contract my right jaw, it changes the intensity of my tinnitus. It was not the case before I had a cold though.

I also want to check if I grind my teeth too much during sleep (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruxism).

Thanks!

 

[StevePC]

Sorry to read about your problem. Your post sounds like Ramsay hunt syndrome a lot of the same symptoms. I was diagnosed with RHS July 11 2016 after major head aches on right side of my head with fever. The shingles appeared in my ear 6 days later. My hearing loss started July 7th. Prayers to you.

 

[Adrien]

Small update here after a year of tinnitus:

my tinnitus has decreased a little bit, but what has decreased significantly (or should I say totally) is the set of negative emotions and the anxiety that used to accompany it. I may never get to experience complete silence ever again, but I've gotten accustomed to this background noise, it now feels like my new silence

Having to go through this phase of my life has actually made me better. I'm more resilient and my sleep as never been better. I used to have insomnia before I got my T, but having T forced me to learn how to relax (try mediation and yoga). Now I'd say my sleep quality is better than before I got tinnitus!

I'm posting here because I wish more people would post about their positive experience on the internet. On the internet you get to mostly see the negative stories, why share when you feel better and don't need support?