Another New Member

[Pamela Williams]

Hi everyone. So pleased to find this group as I am slowly driving myself crazy. I noticed my tinnitus about 15 years ago and though it distressed me at the time I quickly got used to it and from then on really only noticed it
when I was in bed or in a really quiet spot. As a former anxiety sufferer I was pleased with how I had handled it. The only times it got worse was when I had a head cold and ended up with blocked ears and possible infections. The tinnitus got worse but thankfully faded back to normal levels as the head cold improved. This time however I am really concerned. I had been feeling a bit achy and sniffly and a bit dizzy/light headed and thought I had a flu coming on. I woke up in the morning to an extreme worsening of the tinnitus. I manged to forget about it for most of the day but soon realised it hadn't really gone away. The next day the cold/flu came on in full force complete with ear ache and popping, crackling noise in my ears. The tinnitus was bad but I had confidence it would go once the ear cleared up. I went to the doctors a couple of days later (not my normal one) and he said my ear drum was red so he suspected I had an infection. He put me on antibiotics - amoxycillin, and told me to inhale steam to try and clear the passages. That was a couple of days ago and whilst I no longer have any ear pain the tinnitus is still raging in my head and I am fearful it is not going to abate this time. Background noise does help but the only time I don't really hear it is in the shower. What should I do? Should I keep taking the antibiotics? Do you think it will reduce once the head cold/tubes clear? I can feel all the tell tale signs of anxiety - the headache, light headedness, tingling, chest pain, dry mouth, loss of appetite etc coming on and I really want to get on top of this before it gets too debilitating. I am back to work tomorrow and am hoping the return to a normal routine will get my mind off of it. Any advice would be appreciated, as in where to next - a doctor, ENT doctor, psychologist? Where is it best to start?

 

[jimH]

Welcome to TT, Pamela!

I do believe that your Tinnitus will eventually go back to where it was. What we refer to here as your "base" or usual volume and sound. Being that it was made worse by what is a temporary condition. Amoxycillin should be safe for you to use. Please read the post by Karen, one of the truly knowledgeable and helpful ladies here:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-very-scared.3266/#post-30111

You stated that you can feel all of the tell tale signs of anxiety coming on and that you want to get on top of it before it becomes debilitating. Anxiety and stress are mentioned many times in posts on this forum! The consensus is that they make our T condition worse. Even if it is only temporarily worse it can be a very difficult time for us.

So, as far as what to do next, I would recommend seeing your doctor. They may prescribe an antianxiety/depressant medication for while. Are you able to sleep ok at this time? If not, let them also prescribe something to help you sleep.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

[Karen]

Hi, Pamela, and welcome!

I agree with Jim H; you should continue taking the amoxicillin to be sure you get rid of the ear infection. After that, your tinnitus should return again to its baseline level.

Anti-anxiety medication (short-term) would probably be a good idea, so it would be good to go to a follow-up appointment with your doctor to see what he says. It certainly isn't much fun having a cold and ear infection when you also have tinnitus, but things will get better!! The main thing now is to get rid of that ear infection so you won't have the ear pain any more.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you're doing.

 

[LadyDi]

Greetings, @Pamela Williams
Agree completely with @jimH and @Karen.

Sounds like this will go away once your infection is resolved.

A short course of amoxy won't hurt you. And you should stay on antibiotics to shake the infection.

And anxiety can spiral out of control very quickly, particularly (at least for me) when you are worrying about personal health issues. This is a good time for a short-term prescription for a quick acting anti anxiety drug. When the infection resolves, discontinue the anxiety med ( under doctor's instructions).

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[jeffie7]

Question is how much more do you focus on your T when you know a cold or other sickness is coming? Does the sickness cause a spike or does your mind naturally focus in on the T expecting a spike?

I agree with everyone else, keep taking the meds and over time I'm very confident your levels will go back down. In enough days you'll get sidetracked from it and bam back to normal levels it goes.

 

[Pamela Williams]

Thanks everyone for your encouraging replies. Thankyou Jim for that link - I read through those posts and there was some really good advice. I am trying to carry on as normal but the tinnitus hasn't abated yet. My ear feels very full still with much reduced hearing on that side. I have a constant headache too which I am well aware may be stress related. I am continuing the amoxycillin and I will take everyone's advice and go back to the doctor and see about a prescription for something to reduce anxiety. I've managed 20 years without medications for anxiety/anti depressants but I think this time I need some help. I got through work today (I am an Early Childhood Teacher) feeling light headed, tired and out of sorts but I think I ended the day more positive than when I started. I have been putting off going to bed but my husband has some anti anxiety tablets (I think they are out of date!) so I might take half of one of those. I will let you know how I go.

 

[jeffie7]

I had a friends who had fluid in his ears causing all kinds of issues sorta matching what you are describing .

His first ENT missed it... Normal doctor a few weeks later saw it...

You mention your ear fills full. By chance do you think it could have fluid in it? That would cause both stronger T and temp hearing loss in that ear.

 

[Pamela Williams]

Thankyou jeffie7. I went back to the doctors today so they could have another look at my ear. It was a walk in clinic but the doctor was really encouraging. He said I have about 7 gallons(!) of fluid behind my ear drum. Not really much I can do about it apart from blocking my nose and gently popping my ears but he said it will get better and will probably take 10 to 14 days. He said he has had quite a few cases recently and some people have had it both ears and been temporarily deaf. So I am hopeful it will go and the T will go back to normal levels. If it wasn't for the T I would be dealing with this a lot better. It's given me a real fright. I still have an appointment at my normal doctors next week so I will see how I go. Hopefully I will be able to cancel it. It was the onset of anxiety due to the T that had me really concerned.

 

[LadyDi]

Hi @Pamela Williams: If I had fluid in my middle ear (7 gallons? How is that even possible?) I would go straight to a good ENT pronto. There are things that can be done. Maybe simply staying on the antibiotics is the right decision, but I would get the advice from a specialist. Walk-in docs can only do so much and I have not had great experiences with those clinics.

 

[jeffie7]

Maybe gallons auto corrected from grams? Lol.

A gallon of water is 8.34 pounds. That would mean you have almost 30 pounds of fluid in each ear.

 

[ampumpkin]

@Pamela Williams My left ear cloggued last April and my T went throught the roof because less ambient sounds was getting to my inner ear...it couldn't be masked as well as before...

Unlike you, I took antibiotics that was bad for my ears I wish I had taken Amox instead...

 

[Jay M]

SUPPLEMENTS
NAC
ALA
MELATONIN

 

[Pamela Williams]

Well I assumed he was joking when he said 7 gallons! He basically was saying there was a lot of fluid. I ended up back at the doctor on Sunday because I woke up with really bad vertigo. I nearly fell over when I stood up so of course anxiety set in again. Deafness in left ear and strong T were still there as well. It was my normal clinic and I have seen the doctor before. He did a few tests with reflexes, coordination etc and concluded the ear fluid had probably now crossed into my inner ear. He said he could give me stematil but I was concerned about side effects. He was really nice though and offered to squeeze me in the next day if I hadn't improved. As I already had a long appointment for the next day I said I would keep that one. Anyway, this next doctor was very nice too. He said all my symptons - the increase in T, the deafness and fullness in my ear, headaches and vertigo could be explained by the substantial amount of fluid behind the eardrum. He said it could take weeks or even over a month to resolve itself. He gave me a prescription for Diazapam to use sparingly. He mentioned seeing a Cognitive Behaviour Specialist for anxiety concerning the T if things don't settle. He also mentioned seeing an ENT and the possibility of grommets in that ear if the fluid levels don't resolve. But basically he wants me to wait a few weeks to see how things go. The vertigo is now subsiding. I am still deaf in that ear, especially in the mornings but I am noticing it is slightly better as the day goes on. As for the T - no change at present but I am trying to keep busy and get my mind off of it and for some parts of the day at least I am forgetting about it. So progress I suppose. What would you think of surgery for grommets? Good or bad idea? Also Stematil - has anyone tried it?