Hey everyone, I am new here and have been having ear problems for years. The last year things have gotten a lot worse. This is going to be a long story, but I guess I could use some support and expertise. I hope you don't mind me just putting a mountain of symptoms down here, hoping for an explanation. This has been affecting my mental health quite negatively, to the point where I relapsed into anxiety. I needed to up my dose of medication too, because it became too hard to cope with.
I have had tinnitus as long as I can remember. In both ears a whistling that goes in 24/7, like layers of different tones on top of each other. Sometimes a new tone in an ear for a few seconds that fades like a teapot relieving pressure. The tinnitus never gave me anxiety much, sometimes at night when it is quiet and it seems overwhelming. Hearing is very sensitive beside the whistling.So I was able to cope with it pretty well.
I have had migraines for 10 years. Some people said it should get better when doing some physical activity, but it doesn't, it gets worse. They seem to come randomly, last until I lie down in a decent position for a while. Menstruation obviously make them come more often. Laughing fits also trigger them.
Since then rarely, once every few months, I get weird dizziness, where if I try to focus on a point, my eyes just keep pulling away, causing me to get quite lightheaded. After lying down for a while, it goes away.
For about 2 years I've heard a clicking in my right ear when I swallow. It didn't alarm me at the time. Now it is every single time I swallow.
After some exercise I used to notice a flickering in both of my eyes, which would go away after few seconds. A little rattling and clicking sounds would happen in right ear at times.
Random constipation since last year, I thought it was caused by stress. Even though I used to poop like clockwork!
Urination getting worse too last few months. After lying down for a while, I have to pee, I have to go fast, or else...
This year things got really bad for me, and not because of COVID-19. I was actually not affected much by it at the time...
In May this year, I woke up and I was half deaf in my right ear, and I heard a loud tone. My ear felt slightly numb. I freaked out! I feared I had had some sort of an aneurysm or something scary, so I went straight into a loop of panic attacks.
One of my big fears is that my tinnitus is going to get worse, I am sure many of you understand or share this fear. That it will get so loud I won't be able to cope with it anymore. And on that day it seemed like it had actually happened.
So a doctor told me it was an Eustachian pressure thing, and it sometimes happens when you have tinnitus. I got a nose spray, and next day it was gone. This is where I started spiraling down into anxiety, doubting myself and the symptoms. What is real, what am I causing?
Left ear is also occasionally clicking and rattling now. Right ear occasionally has a new ringing that reacts to sounds coming from outside, like a weird echo.
Pressure in head when getting up from sitting or lying down. Migraines used to be on both sides randomly, now only on my right side.
A weird kind of pressure in my neck, behind my collarbone and in my head. Stress or heartburn? Except these could last for days, even when I am not stressing out. Also pulsating tinnitus and pulsating vision happen during these times. I usually wake up with this, feeling really weird in my head.
At first I though the anxiety had broken my brain somehow...
The flickering I have in my eyes can get so bad after moving around or exercise, that it affects my entire vision. And after standing still or resting it can take 15 minutes to go away. It makes me feel lightheaded.
Tinnitus gets louder in my left ear. It used to last ten minutes, and it would then fade. Now it lasts almost all day. Moments of mild ear pain, feeling fullness in ears. I feel dizzy more often, but I never faint.
Waking up extremely exhausted... Or feeling like a zombie, just really crappy feeling.
Many told me the symptoms are from stress and anxiety, I believed them. But now I realise that I know my body best. I know what anxiety and stress are like. This is different.
Can you imagine I get anxious, when the vague symptoms keep piling on top of each other?
I had my eyes tested at the hospital because of the increasing flickering. My eyes are perfectly fine. So it is either neurological, or something to do with my blood vessels... or could it all be connected to a Middle Ear/Eustachian Tube problem?
My blood was tested, as well as my blood pressure. All was well.
Ironically after visiting the hospital for my eyes, I got something that looked like middle ear infection. Minus the extreme ear pain - I had just mild ear pain. Dizzy for days straight, watery eyes, feeling sickly and weak. I read middle ear infection can cause constipation or bowel problems. Which is what I have been having for a year now? Is it connected somehow? And why do many things happen on the right side of my head?
I have to wait almost 2 months until I can visit the ear doctor at the hospital... I keep my ears covered with hats just in case.
I hope things don't get worse, and that you guys can help me get some clarity. Some peace of mind would be great.
My medication is Venlafaxine 75 mg + 37.5 mg a day, I can imagine this causes some visual effects and slightly louder tinnitus.
I have had tinnitus as long as I can remember. In both ears a whistling that goes in 24/7, like layers of different tones on top of each other. Sometimes a new tone in an ear for a few seconds that fades like a teapot relieving pressure. The tinnitus never gave me anxiety much, sometimes at night when it is quiet and it seems overwhelming. Hearing is very sensitive beside the whistling.So I was able to cope with it pretty well.
I have had migraines for 10 years. Some people said it should get better when doing some physical activity, but it doesn't, it gets worse. They seem to come randomly, last until I lie down in a decent position for a while. Menstruation obviously make them come more often. Laughing fits also trigger them.
Since then rarely, once every few months, I get weird dizziness, where if I try to focus on a point, my eyes just keep pulling away, causing me to get quite lightheaded. After lying down for a while, it goes away.
For about 2 years I've heard a clicking in my right ear when I swallow. It didn't alarm me at the time. Now it is every single time I swallow.
After some exercise I used to notice a flickering in both of my eyes, which would go away after few seconds. A little rattling and clicking sounds would happen in right ear at times.
Random constipation since last year, I thought it was caused by stress. Even though I used to poop like clockwork!
Urination getting worse too last few months. After lying down for a while, I have to pee, I have to go fast, or else...
This year things got really bad for me, and not because of COVID-19. I was actually not affected much by it at the time...
In May this year, I woke up and I was half deaf in my right ear, and I heard a loud tone. My ear felt slightly numb. I freaked out! I feared I had had some sort of an aneurysm or something scary, so I went straight into a loop of panic attacks.
One of my big fears is that my tinnitus is going to get worse, I am sure many of you understand or share this fear. That it will get so loud I won't be able to cope with it anymore. And on that day it seemed like it had actually happened.
So a doctor told me it was an Eustachian pressure thing, and it sometimes happens when you have tinnitus. I got a nose spray, and next day it was gone. This is where I started spiraling down into anxiety, doubting myself and the symptoms. What is real, what am I causing?
Left ear is also occasionally clicking and rattling now. Right ear occasionally has a new ringing that reacts to sounds coming from outside, like a weird echo.
Pressure in head when getting up from sitting or lying down. Migraines used to be on both sides randomly, now only on my right side.
A weird kind of pressure in my neck, behind my collarbone and in my head. Stress or heartburn? Except these could last for days, even when I am not stressing out. Also pulsating tinnitus and pulsating vision happen during these times. I usually wake up with this, feeling really weird in my head.
At first I though the anxiety had broken my brain somehow...
The flickering I have in my eyes can get so bad after moving around or exercise, that it affects my entire vision. And after standing still or resting it can take 15 minutes to go away. It makes me feel lightheaded.
Tinnitus gets louder in my left ear. It used to last ten minutes, and it would then fade. Now it lasts almost all day. Moments of mild ear pain, feeling fullness in ears. I feel dizzy more often, but I never faint.
Waking up extremely exhausted... Or feeling like a zombie, just really crappy feeling.
Many told me the symptoms are from stress and anxiety, I believed them. But now I realise that I know my body best. I know what anxiety and stress are like. This is different.
Can you imagine I get anxious, when the vague symptoms keep piling on top of each other?
I had my eyes tested at the hospital because of the increasing flickering. My eyes are perfectly fine. So it is either neurological, or something to do with my blood vessels... or could it all be connected to a Middle Ear/Eustachian Tube problem?
My blood was tested, as well as my blood pressure. All was well.
Ironically after visiting the hospital for my eyes, I got something that looked like middle ear infection. Minus the extreme ear pain - I had just mild ear pain. Dizzy for days straight, watery eyes, feeling sickly and weak. I read middle ear infection can cause constipation or bowel problems. Which is what I have been having for a year now? Is it connected somehow? And why do many things happen on the right side of my head?
I have to wait almost 2 months until I can visit the ear doctor at the hospital... I keep my ears covered with hats just in case.
I hope things don't get worse, and that you guys can help me get some clarity. Some peace of mind would be great.
My medication is Venlafaxine 75 mg + 37.5 mg a day, I can imagine this causes some visual effects and slightly louder tinnitus.