About Two Weeks Into Tinnitus, Already Hopeless

[Orions Pain]

@ASilverLight @Orions Pain

I hate that you guys have to share this condition, but at the same time I love you both for having nearly the same symptoms as mine. Feels like only one of us stumbling upon a complete "fix" would be enough

Have you guys ruled out TJM, sinus or neck issues?

 

[Tybs]

Have you guys ruled out TJM, sinus or neck issues?

Neck was at least part of the problem: exercises greatly reduced my symptoms to the point where my tinnitus is mostly masked during the day. Just sleeping is still sort of an issue: lying down increases the sounds by what seems like ten-fold. Posture in general affects it quite a bit: hardly any tinnitus when standing/walking around, a bit more present if I sit on my couch. The latter doesn't bother me anymore, I'm used to it now (though I'd not hesitate to get rid of it when possible). Occasionally I get complete silence, but this happens a bit randomly.

I have some minor jaw issues since about six months: specialist confirmed a lot of muscle tension there, especially on the right side. I'm currently doing different exercises for it, but I don't know if that will help yet. No sinus issues, and my nose in general feels fine.

I do have one other suspicion since recently... still investigating though, I'll update on that shortly. Need a bit more info before I draw conclusions there.

 

[ASilverLight]

Making another update post for myself.

Tinnitus hasn't changed; multiple tones (or rather sounds), some of which come and go, volume that increases and decreases, seems very posture based. Neck is also stiff and even just turning produces a lot of crackling lol.

Crackling when swallowing/yawning etc, occasional pressure in ears, unable to pop one ear, mild occasional ear drainage and a stabbing pain in my ears (both ears, not simultaneously) which indicates problems with the eustachian tubes too. Makes sense in combination with congestion and post nasal drip.

No real reactivity to noise or certain food.

Who knows what's up anymore, I'm tired.

 

[ASilverLight]

Add bulging eardrums to the symptoms, lol. Loooots and lots of fluid behind my eardrum, but no hearing loss (nothing out of the ordinary anyway) so ETD is the main culprit along with neck issues. Doc said to give it more time as it can take several months for this to go away.

Honestly? I am relieved there is still fluid there. It's not a good thing, I know, but at least it's an explanation for all my other issues. Some things I've been reading here made me very, very afraid

Hoping for the best! Maybe now that spring is around the corner my immune system will get better again.

 

[Deniseh]

Hi @ASilverLight

Been reading your thread with interest as much of your symptoms correlate with my own.

I've had tinnitus since early August 2019 which my ENT doctor suspected was caused by acid reflux/B12 deficiency. I had all the usual tests, no hearing loss, Eustachian tubes 'unremarkable' apparently. I have also had pressure in head, constant post nasal drip, popping ETs and volume change depending on the position of neck.

7 months in and I still have tinnitus, albeit the sound is mainly a low whine in my left ear which I can mostly cope with and is only intrusive every now and again.

Now I wanted to ask if you have tried any decongestant eg Sudafed or maybe nasal spray, reason being as I have been on holiday recently and took Sudafed max for the plane journey along with using EarPlanes and my tinnitus was considerably lower for most of my holiday (even tho the plane was mega loud). This leads me to think that maybe part of my problem is congestion.

You also mentioned fluid running down your throat, I have this every single day even as I write this I can feel a ball of mucus which seems to be positioned at the back of my throat in the left clogging the ET, normally it shifts when I swallow but today it seems too thick and is stuck.

Do you get this? and if so, what medication have you tried that helps?

I sincerely hope things continue to improve for you

All the Best

Denise x

Btw, I don't think it's a coincidence that all my congestion is in the left and so is my tinnitus (left nostril, left ear etc).

 

[Lane]

You also mentioned fluid running down your throat, I have this every single day even as I write this I can feel a ball of mucus which seems to be positioned at the back of my throat in the left clogging the ET, normally it shifts when I swallow but today it seems too thick and is stuck.

Hi @Deniseh -- I'm certainly not an expert, but the symptoms you mention sound very similar to those I came across on YouTube. As part of your detective work, you may want to check out the following 6-minute video (has good visuals). It's about a condition that apparently a lot of ENTs aren't even familiar with. -- Chronic Epipharyngitis

You may also want to do a YouTube or online search on a technique called "Nasal Specific". (Link is to an excellent 3 min. description of NS and what it can all do.) I've had it done, with really good results, opening up and making my sinuses much clearer. Some people have reported their tinnitus going away after doing it.

Good luck figuring this out!

 

[ASilverLight]

Hi @ASilverLight
You also mentioned fluid running down your throat, I have this every single day even as I write this I can feel a ball of mucus which seems to be positioned at the back of my throat in the left clogging the ET, normally it shifts when I swallow but today it seems too thick and is stuck.

Do you get this? and if so, what medication have you tried that helps?

I do get this! Feels like something is permanently stuck there, very uncomfortable. I've tried several nose sprays now, two from Otrivin and one from A. Vogel, as well as Dymista prescribed by doctors but they only give me relief for a few hours at most, and I cannot take the Otrivin and A. Vogel for extended periods because that will be counterproductive. So unfortunately, I've found little that helps in the long term.

Not sure if A. Vogel and Otrivin are familiar to you, but they're sold in any pharmacy OTC here in the Netherlands.

Basically, when I use them it opens up my nose for a couple of hours and my tinnitus does get less severe, but after half a day my nose is back to being plugged.

My ears also won't stay open - I can pop only one (sometimes easily, sometimes hardly at all) but I can feel it becoming clogged again. My other ear hasn't been able to pop in weeks. Hearing is slightly muffled but not to a degree it's bothersome - I just notice the difference when my ear does pop.

For now I've been advised to wait and see how things develop as I have no hearing loss and many physical ETD (and general cold) symptoms are still present. These past few days my tinnitus has seemed lower but that might just be random fluctuations. That, or I'm simply no longer as bothered by it.

Question for you @Deniseh have you noticed anything spiking your tinnitus? Because I can eat and drink whatever I want without issue, and noise does not affect it one bit either.

 

[Deniseh]

Hi @ASilverLight

Thanks for your response

Sorry both nasal sprays I am not familiar with. I'm in Scotland so maybe they are sold under a different brand name, I will certainly check this out.

As for your question if anything spikes my tinnitus, I'm not aware of any specific thing that 'spikes' my tinnitus however, I have noticed when I chew hard foods (pizza, crusty bread etc) my jaw feels funny in my tinnitus side (left) and my ear won't pop for a while, like yourself it doesn't affect my hearing just feels annoying.

Ive been sporting a bit of a cold for the last few days after a holiday to the Canaries and have noticed (especially last night) when I went to bed my ears were really quiet, I fell asleep quickly but woke up a few hours later with a literal foghorn in my ear, slept off and on the rest of the night however when I got up, walked about a bit, my ear started popping again and the noise reduced.

Sometimes I get fed up trying to find a cause for this affliction and just want to get on living my life as normal as possible but it's hard.

Like yourself I'm going to wait and see what happens, I've been told it can take many many months even years for your ears to heal.

Best wishes,

Denise x

 

[ASilverLight]

@Deniseh if it helps, A.Vogel is a completely natural solution and Otrivin is a Xylometazoline. I've used both for less than a week as you're not supposed to use them any longer than 7 days. Dymista is safe to use long term, but it only provided slight relief so not worth it.

The jaw issue doesn't seem too surprising as the jaw can cause tinnitus too due to the joint's proximity to the ear.

As I still have so much fluid in my ears that will not drain, everything has become pretty clogged for me. The usual course is to wait and see if it resolves on its own but if it doesn't, I'll ask about surgical intervention. I am however positive that my issues are almost entirely due to to everything being clogged + a neck issue I'm currently working on. So I guess only time will tell.

Wish you all the best! Let's keep hoping for a positive outcome

 

[Cape crusader]

Whatever you do please do not allow the ENT to do micro suction ear wax removal. It will ruin your ears forever.

 

[ASilverLight]

Yet another update:

Whiplash more or less confirmed, my neck is in a horrible state but I'm going to start working on it. I still have minor congestion issues and some tube dysfunction, but I think it's finally starting to improve. The crackling in my ears is mostly gone by now (it comes and goes a bit, as does the nasal congestion).

Likely causes for now are still ETD, but mostly severe neck strain and poor posture along with stress (which may make the neck strain worse). My neck has lost a lot of normal motion range which I can only get back by very careful exercise... here's hoping.

 

[ASilverLight]

I have tried all of these things before, but none actually help. At times my ear crackling is completely gone, sometimes for 2-3 days in a row but I still have the ringing, which just tends to go up and down in volume and amount of tones randomly. I am STILL congested though, going into my 7th month of congestion without any real relief. I'm just starting to get desperate again.

There's definitely still something going on with my ear pressure/eustachian tubes because my ears can't even pop, sometimes when they do open up for a moment sound is much clearer... but every treatment I've tried only brings slight relief lasting minutes at best

 

[ASilverLight]

Welp the post I replied to in my post above has been deleted, oh well.

I'm still confused. While I'm fairly sure my neck and congestion issues are mostly at blame, I'd just like to paint a picture of my tinnitus:

I don't really have any clear, tonal noises.

One is a crackly/fizzly sort of chirping/cicadas sound, only present in my right ear. This sound changes a LOT. Sometimes this ear gets a high pitched hiss, not always present. When plugged, I can also hear a radiator filling up and other water-y noises.

My left ear has tones/hisses, also always changing, almost as if they're taking turns. When plugged, I can hear a radiator/water-y noise almost equal to the one in my right ear.

Most noises seem to be playing on a loop of sorts, there's a pattern to nearly all of them.

On top of this, I also get a tone that really just sounds like it's PAIN. Like when you hit your elbow, that almost nauseating, nasty pain feeling but in sound. This one is pretty random and comes and goes. I highly suspect it has to do with posture but I can't quite figure it out.

I went from absolutely NO tinnitus, not even in dead quiet with ears plugged, to this, and it hasn't really eased up much.

Generally my mornings are quiet, but sometimes my nights are around the same volume; during the day it changes a lot. Nights may be pretty bad occasionally.

I also have a hiss (air out of a tire or sand falling through an hour glass type noise) that doesn't get masked easily even though it's not loud. It doesn't compete, it doesn't get louder or react to anything - it's just very hard to drown out.

I've noticed that posture can influence it, and on top of that doing anything with my jaw also modulates my tinnitus. I know that the latter is fairly common.

Anyway, all these fluctuations and multiple tones, along with the hiss that doesn't drown out easily is honestly driving me insane. I could live with tinnitus if only it would settle down and get to a quiet room stage.

It's just strange to go from nothing at all to this severe.