Ear Fullness and Tinnitus Spike

[Samantha R]

Hi Guys,

I don't normally have problems with ear fullness and spikes (except overnight when I'm woken out of my sleep cycle early).

I'm a little under the weather at the moment with some sort of mild tummy bug, not sure if it's hunger, some dehydration or the bug, but all of a sudden, my left ear felt full and started ringing like crazy. I had a strange sensation (like tingling) wash over me, and I felt a little off in the head.
I must say, I'm pretty much habituated to my normal tinnitus, which is usually mild to moderate at times.

However this was pretty awful and it happened in my left ear (my regular tinnitus is head noise).
After having to take 1mg of Clonazepam to calm myself (which I have not had to do for a very long time), things seemed to have settled. I think the tinnitus settled before the Clonaz had time to work it's magic. Now I'm supposed to be working but could take a nana nap! Lol.

I'm not normally needing help this days, but would appreciate any input someone might have on this who has experienced the same thing.

I should add that there is no obvious acoustic trauma that I've suffered recently (other than the odd screams and shouts from my children), no medication.

I have modified my diet and am restricting calories (safely).

I wonder what the hell caused it but it scared the shit out of me.

Sam.

 

[dpdx]

Hey what causes your T in the first place?

 

[Samantha R]

@dpdx
Not sure.... a month after a C-section delivery of my twins it started.
Not sure if it was hormonal, or the IV drugs I was given for the spinal block, pain relief afterwards.
I also had some sort of inflammation or infection post delivery...
No specific event or acoustic trauma.
It did start of as an on/off low hum with the ear fullness in my right ear. The hum went away (thank God as I could hear that everywhere except over the car engine) as did the ear fullness, and was replaced by this high pitched hissing tinnitus I have now.
A recent course of prednisolone and I noticed a significant decrease in the head noise. Not sure if that means inflammation or the prednisolone is affecting my hormonally or something else.
The great mystery....
I've tried a few things (namely stem cells) with not much luck.

 

[dpdx]

@dpdx
Not sure.... a month after a C-section delivery of my twins it started.
Not sure if it was hormonal, or the IV drugs I was given for the spinal block, pain relief afterwards.
I also had some sort of inflammation or infection post delivery...
No specific event or acoustic trauma.
It did start of as an on/off low hum with the ear fullness in my right ear. The hum went away (thank God as I could hear that everywhere except over the car engine) as did the ear fullness, and was replaced by this high pitched hissing tinnitus I have now.
A recent course of prednisolone and I noticed a significant decrease in the head noise. Not sure if that means inflammation or the prednisolone is affecting my hormonally or something else.
The great mystery....
I've tried a few things (namely stem cells) with not much luck.

Have you ever done an audiogram or DPOAE? My audiogram in October 2017 was perfect but I had damaged outer cochlea cells (DPOAE test).

 

[Samantha R]

@dpdx
Yes, I had an extended audiogram done. Essentially normal hearing to 8khz, with losses after that. I suspect that has to do with a component of my tinnitus.
Also a family history - father and younger sister who was 24 when she developed tinnitus nine months post partum. Didn't know any of this until I got tinnitus.
No, never done a DPOAE test (at least I don't think so). I might have to look into that.

 

[dpdx]

@dpdx
Yes, I had an extended audiogram done. Essentially normal hearing to 8khz, with losses after that. I suspect that has to do with a component of my tinnitus.
Also a family history - father and younger sister who was 24 when she developed tinnitus nine months post partum. Didn't know any of this until I got tinnitus.
No, never done a DPOAE test (at least I don't think so). I might have to look into that.

Interesting.

 

[Hex]

@dpdx
Not sure.... a month after a C-section delivery of my twins it started.
Not sure if it was hormonal, or the IV drugs I was given for the spinal block, pain relief afterwards.
I also had some sort of inflammation or infection post delivery...
No specific event or acoustic trauma.
It did start of as an on/off low hum with the ear fullness in my right ear. The hum went away (thank God as I could hear that everywhere except over the car engine) as did the ear fullness, and was replaced by this high pitched hissing tinnitus I have now.
A recent course of prednisolone and I noticed a significant decrease in the head noise. Not sure if that means inflammation or the prednisolone is affecting my hormonally or something else.
The great mystery....
I've tried a few things (namely stem cells) with not much luck.

I got the same symptoms but it was a loud roaring/humming/seashell sound on my left ear and it went away within 10-14 days and then a week later after that I got a high pitch ringing sound on both ears.

I couldn't tell if the first course of prednisone helped me since it went away within 10-14 days. When it came back I finished two more courses of prednisone but it didn't help at all.

I'm still stuck trying to find out what's causing it.

 

[dpdx]

@dpdx
Yes, I had an extended audiogram done. Essentially normal hearing to 8khz, with losses after that. I suspect that has to do with a component of my tinnitus.
Also a family history - father and younger sister who was 24 when she developed tinnitus nine months post partum. Didn't know any of this until I got tinnitus.
No, never done a DPOAE test (at least I don't think so). I might have to look into that.

Your pregnancy might have something to do with it. A lady at mom's work told my mom how she got T after she gave birth. She had it for some time now, but who know I think yours might go away.

 

[Samantha R]

@dpdx
Yes I suspect the pregnancy too, mostly due to the fact it was twins and so many hormones running riot. I had a nasty hormonal rash towards the end that made me want to scratch every inch of my skin off my body, and gestational diabetes too. It really messed my body up, and so did getting sick afterwards. Not to mention I was pumping myself full of IV fentanyl post c-section when they gave me medication to induce contractions..... bloody hell. As if a C-section wasn't enough.
I was hopeful of it going away, but I'm not so sure. My sister's hasn't, and that's been around 7 years.
I was going OK, this weird spike has me monitoring again though and that's not good.

@Hex sounds like we have a similar experience. My hum was loud too, and it was low pitched. Kind of like an electrical appliance going (I initially thought my husband had left our dryer running). Interesting thing was that when I went for the hearing test, when I put on the headphones to start the test, the humming was gone. Same if I plugged my ears.
Let's stay in touch and let I'll let you know if I try something that works for me, and you let me know too. So far, prednisolone is the only thing that helps me.
Have you ever experienced the hum since the initial onset? I haven't (touch wood).

 

[Hex]

@Samantha R

Yes, mines was low pitched but it was extremely loud. I took an audio test when the loud seashell like sound went away and I didn't have any ringing until afterwards.

I had a wisdom tooth infection and I took a 7 day course of penicillin. After 7-8 days I started the symptoms a couple hours after I ate an extremely salty and spicy ramen. It first started with my left ear muffled and then I slept it off. Once I woke up, there it was, the loud annoying sound.

I thought it had to do something with my wisdom tooth since both of them were impacted and I accidentally flossed some food down a tooth near the impacted wisdom tooth and had terrible pain for about 5 days even with ibuprofen (I was on a vacation trip in Asia during the flossing incident).

I took my wisdom tooth out 11 days ago and nothing has changed.

Luckily and thank God the loud low pitch sound never came back and I hope it doesn't.

I started a low sugar / low salt diet 3 days ago to see if it helps.

I unfortunately got hyperacusis as well around the 4-5th day of having the roaring loud sound.

 

[Samantha R]

@Hex
How loud is your current high pitch ringing?
Mine is much quieter than the hum, but consumes my whole head, which makes it extremely unpleasant in a completely slient room.
The spike today was awful, but I suspect maybe that was more to do with the current state of my health. I felt faint, haven't been eating a whole lot, and maybe slightly dehydrated. I sat down and masked the noise, and it calmed down in about 10 minutes.
I have slight sound sensitivity as well, but it's not bad at all.
I think it's reasonable that you connect your tinnitus to your wisdom tooth, seems likely given the timing.
I have had this for over 2 years now, and I have come to the realisation (and it's comforting now for me that I'm at peace) that I might never really know what caused my tinnitus.
I am habituated pretty much, manage well day to day, and the noise isn't intrusive. The noise I had this morning on the other hand, wow, that was full on and not sure how people would live with that day to day.
That's my biggest fear I guess, the fear of severe intrusive tinnitus and how I would cope.

 

[Hex]

@Samantha R

I could mask it with a loud fan at times but I can hear it when I'm driving with the windows up.
I can always hear it at night and it consumes my whole head as well. I know about the unpleasantness in a silent room.

The first month was hell, I was suicidal, anxious, depressed, I basically went through every emotion during the grieving process.

Yeah, I've been trying to connect everything. I have back and neck pain so I started going to an upper cervical chiropractor last week. I didn't know anything about them but they only work on the c1 and c2 bones and a bunch of nerves go through those bones.

I still need to go to another chiropractor for the back pain.

I know that I'm doing all these things at once and because of that I may never know what's triggering the T.

I'm glad you habituated and I totally understand what fear you have of severe T. I'm thinking the exact same way and I'm scared of waking up one day to it.

Did the prednisone get rid of your ringing temporarily?

 

[Samantha R]

@Hex
Yes, I've tried chiropractor as well, stem cells in Thailand, all sorts of herbs and supplements, but prednisolone is the only thing that worked.
It silenced the head tinnitus, it was just a faint, gentle hiss which didn't bother me at all.
I still had the mild ring in my right ear, but this doesn't bother me in the slightest. I could happily listen to that all day.
I'm habituated in the sense that my tinnitus is maskable and that's how I manage most of the time.
It doesn't strike the same sense of fear into me if I hear it at night now, but I certainly can't sit there in a quiet room and listen to it hissing away.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Samantha R So sorry, but maybe in time your T will continue to improve.
https://www.omicsonline.org/unilate...n-section-a-case-report-2155-6148.1000211.pdf

I have a friend who is an anesthesiologist and he said that it's very rare to get tinnitus from an anesthesia spinal - epidural, anesthesia or other drugs commonly used. He said a patient who had a complaint days or longer after a C-Section had an infection or what's in this link. All I know is that this anesthesiologist is one of the most honest doctors that I have known as he has told me on one occasion in confidence outside of work that a OB doctor committed mal-practice today.

 

[Gman]

@Hex @Samantha R
I also get a very low frequency hum on and off. Like a tumble dryer in another part of the house or turbo prop plane in the distance. I've narrowed the source down to my tensor tympani or stapedius muscles kind of vibrating I suppose. Almost positive this is the reason. Not saying this is the cause of yours. It's annoying but I don't worry about it anymore.

 

[Hex]

@Samantha R
It could be because of inflammation. Have you ever had jaw or TMJ problems? I have a friend that had TMJ and jaw problems and prednisone worked for her so she narrowed the problem to be her jaw.

Today I noticed that after I ate some beans with a tiny amount of salt my T was a bit louder and I started to get a headache on my forehead area. I don't know if it was the salt or the depression/stress/anxiety I was going through today.

@Gman

You know what? Whenever I plug in some ear plugs and sit in a complete silent room I open my mouth wide enough and I hear this vibration sort of trembling sound. If I close my mouth I also hear it. If I keep my mouth open at the right angle it will not vibrate/tremble. However the ringing is always there always constant.

Do you do any face/jaw exercises?

 

[Gman]

@Samantha R
It could be because of inflammation. Have you ever had jaw or TMJ problems? I have a friend that had TMJ and jaw problems and prednisone worked for her so she narrowed the problem to be her jaw.

Today I noticed that after I ate some beans with a tiny amount of salt my T was a bit louder and I started to get a headache on my forehead area. I don't know if it was the salt or the depression/stress/anxiety I was going through today.

@Gman

You know what? Whenever I plug in some ear plugs and sit in a complete silent room I open my mouth wide enough and I hear this vibration sort of trembling sound. If I close my mouth I also hear it. If I keep my mouth open at the right angle it will not vibrate/tremble. However the ringing is always there always constant.

Do you do any face/jaw exercises?

Could possibly be nerve and muscle related then. I guess I just try to keep my jaw as relaxed as possible as I tend to tense it a lot. Surpringly chewing gum seems to help things a bit.

Also I massage my neck, jaw and ears, with focus on where my trigeminal nerves kind of are as they get sensitised often which cause TTTS cramping issues (inc the humming).

 

[Samantha R]

@Greg Sacramento
Thanks for the information above. Very interesting.
I didn't think it was from the spinal block, maybe IV fentanyl, but that was a month after the fact....
I was generally unwell for a few weeks post my C-Section. I was re-admitted to hospital the day after I was released, I felt unwell with stomach bug like symptoms, no appetite and just felt yuck. They took blood and I was discharged the next day (I had to get home to my babies!).
Anyway, it resolved and at my 6 week check up, the OB told me the blood tests showed some sort of infection/inflammatory process was going on as a particular marker was elevated.
Gee, thanks Doc for telling me way after the fact.
I wonder if this had something to do with my tinnitus?
I just don't know.

 

[Samantha R]

@Gman
Yes - mine sounded like yours.
I've never had it since that first week of misery, but the audiologist I saw at the time who is quite well-known for her work on TTTS - suggested this was what it was.
We felt it was something mechanical because I could feel it start up (a vibrating like sound), and plugging my ears or wearing muffs stopped the noise / sensation.
I would give my right arm to know exactly what was going on.... it will most likely forever remain a mystery.
I definitely think some inflammation is at play due to my response to prednisolone.

 

[Samantha R]

@Hex
No, I don't have or have ever had TMJ issues.
I do have a Class 3 malocclusion and I'm not sure how long I've had that. I'm getting braces shortly to help correct the open bite.
I've started snoring like a train - so desperately trying to get back to my pre-baby weight to see if that's the reason why I'm snoring. My Orthodontist said my tonsils are huge and I've never had any dentist or doctor comment on either my open bite or the size of my tonsils.
Otherwise, something else is at play and it all started around the time of pregnancy and after.
Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I just want to accept things and move on.
Then I get the spike like yesterday and I'm back to wanting to solve things and in a somewhat negative frame of mind.
I still can't shake the fact that prednisolone helped my tinnitus and that if I can just work out why.... I can live the rest of my life in relative silence! Bliss.

 

[Hex]

@Samantha R

You've done a lot to try and figure out the cause. Have you visited a neurologists or neuro-otologist?
Have you tried to eat anti-inflammatory food daily?

I know what you mean, I just want to accept this and move on but it's just complete hell.
Yesterday a car alarm went off right in front of me and I had my earplugs off just to try and get used to the sounds and now my whole left ear, face, and even teeth hurt. I just hope it's not permanent damage.

 

[Samantha R]

@Hex
I'm sorry to hear about your car alarm scare. It's most probably temporary, but it is the not knowing what's happening that's scary.
How long were you exposed to the noise?

Yes, I visited a neurologist about a month ago. I wanted to explore the prednisolone experience. He wasn't so sure it was inflammation, he said pred could have other effects with hormones ( for example), so can't definitively say it's inflammation.
He prescribed me Pregablin.
I am going to explore an anti inflammatory diet, and supplements such as curcumin and phytocort.
It's worth a try.

 

[Hex]

@Hex
I'm sorry to hear about your car alarm scare. It's most probably temporary, but it is the not knowing what's happening that's scary.
How long were you exposed to the noise?

Yes, I visited a neurologist about a month ago. I wanted to explore the prednisolone experience. He wasn't so sure it was inflammation, he said pred could have other effects with hormones ( for example), so can't definitively say it's inflammation.
He prescribed me Pregablin.
I am going to explore an anti inflammatory diet, and supplements such as curcumin and phytocort.
It's worth a try.

I was exposed for about 5 seconds but the first two hit me so hard. I still have ear fullness from it.

How's your ear fullness by the way?

Can you tell me what the neurologist does to people with T?

I have to wait and see one but that could be in months because of my insurance.

Yes, please try that diet! There's a bunch of vegetables and fruit that are anti-inflammatory.

 

[Gman]

@Samantha R

You've done a lot to try and figure out the cause. Have you visited a neurologists or neuro-otologist?
Have you tried to eat anti-inflammatory food daily?

I know what you mean, I just want to accept this and move on but it's just complete hell.
Yesterday a car alarm went off right in front of me and I had my earplugs off just to try and get used to the sounds and now my whole left ear, face, and even teeth hurt. I just hope it's not permanent damage.

Sorry to hear this @Hex. Was it one connected to the car horn? I've had a couple of incidences of this in the past with hyperacusis and once was in an underground car park. Really horrible.

It does sound like acoustic shock to me, if even your teeth are hurting. I've experienced that also and I've dedinitely had acoustic shock which developed into acoustic shock disorder (cramping style TTTS with trigeminal nerve activation). The trigeminal nerve might be why your face and teeth hurt.

If you have H then it might set you back a bit and give you a decent spike, but ultimately it, hopefully, won't affect your T, as I have found after suffering for some time.
Do you have muffled hearing? If so, it's a situation where I would consider getting prednisolone.

 

[Hex]

Sorry to hear this @Hex. Was it one connected to the car horn? I've had a couple of incidences of this in the past with hyperacusis and once was in an underground car park. Really horrible.

It does sound like acoustic shock to me, if even your teeth are hurting. I've experienced that also and I've dedinitely had acoustic shock which developed into acoustic shock disorder (cramping style TTTS with trigeminal nerve activation). The trigeminal nerve might be why your face and teeth hurt.

If you have H then it might set you back a bit and give you a decent spike, but ultimately it, hopefully, won't affect your T, as I have found after suffering for some time.
Do you have muffled hearing? If so, it's a situation where I would consider getting prednisolone.

Yeah, it's unfortunate and it was so freaking loud. The next day (which was today) I was feeling quite dizzy and extremely tired. My left ear still feels full and muffled. I'm hoping it goes away. I'm avoiding the prednisone and just taking magnesium instead.

Yeah, whenever I get setbacks it takes a week to recover and then I can stand normal sound of voices (but no loud voices) but this one is the hardest and loudest setback I've gotten. I don't know how long it's going to take.

I actually want to find out more about the trigeminal nerve. I don't know how I got T yet but 2 hours after I finished eating a 5/5 spicy salty ramen and some flavored ice that's when my left ear got muffled and I slept it off. Next morning, I had this loud roaring/seashell like sound and then it eventually lowered to ringing but in both ears.

I'm wondering if I have TTTS. My jaw hurts but I don't know if it's because my top wisdom teeth want to come out.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Hex Your facial nerve is getting influence from your trigeminal nerve and this is caused from your wisdom teeth. So your hyperacusis and sensitivity to sound start with your facial nerve that would muffle one side. Also clenching teeth can make things worse.

Updated: Read section: A Puzzling problem
http://www.hyperacusis.net/what-is-it/what-causes-this/

 

[Gman]

Yeah, it's unfortunate and it was so freaking loud. The next day (which was today) I was feeling quite dizzy and extremely tired. My left ear still feels full and muffled. I'm hoping it goes away. I'm avoiding the prednisone and just taking magnesium instead.

Yeah, whenever I get setbacks it takes a week to recover and then I can stand normal sound of voices (but no loud voices) but this one is the hardest and loudest setback I've gotten. I don't know how long it's going to take.

I actually want to find out more about the trigeminal nerve. I don't know how I got T yet but 2 hours after I finished eating a 5/5 spicy salty ramen and some flavored ice that's when my left ear got muffled and I slept it off. Next morning, I had this loud roaring/seashell like sound and then it eventually lowered to ringing but in both ears.

I'm wondering if I have TTTS. My jaw hurts but I don't know if it's because my top wisdom teeth want to come out.

All your symptoms sound like acoustic trauma/shock as far as I have experienced it. I really feel for you - it's extremely unpleasant. You also taking NAC and other stuff besides magnesium?

Some dimwit in my office who sits opposite me just slammed an insect on their desk so loud it scared the hell out of me and triggered a spike. I hate inconsiderate people. Ugh.

 

[Samantha R]

@Hex
I really hope things settle for you, but they guys have offered some great insight above.

My ear fullness has settled, and no nasty spikes either (touch wood).

Given that tinnitus is essentially generated by the brain, some neurologists have an interest in it. The one I saw was certainly knowledgeable and interested, but frustrated that he couldn't help more.

I was in touch with Prof. Dirk De Ridder of TRI, and he suggested low dose naltrexone. Unfortunately, this neurologist didn't want to prescribe it for me, but I'm going to find a prescriber and give it a try.

I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Hex]

@Hex Your facial nerve is getting influence from your trigeminal nerve and this is caused from your wisdom teeth. So your hyperacusis and sensitivity to sound start with your facial nerve that would muffle one side. Also clenching teeth can make things worse.

Updated: Read section: A Puzzling problem
http://www.hyperacusis.net/what-is-it/what-causes-this/

Yeah, I thought all of this was because of my wisdom teeth. The bottom two that I had were impacted and one of them got infected. I took penicillin for it and the pain went away. A month and a half later, I took both of them out (2 weeks ago) but the ringing and hyperacusis is still the same.

I thought it was because of the salt intake because of the salty ramen.

Another thing I was thinking about is it may have been nerve damage.

 

[Hex]

All your symptoms sound like acoustic trauma/shock as far as I have experienced it. I really feel for you - it's extremely unpleasant. You also taking NAC and other stuff besides magnesium?

Some dimwit in my office who sits opposite me just slammed an insect on their desk so loud it scared the hell out of me and triggered a spike. I hate inconsiderate people. Ugh.

Yeah, it sucks! I still have ear fullness on my left and I hear this new heavier ringing sound on my left ear. Hopefully it goes away.

Ouch! I'm sorry for that. It's unfair when that happens Do you have H as well?