Ear Fullness/Anxiety — Looking for Support

[Falconfox]

It's been a long time since I posted. Years I think. I've largely habitutated to my tinnitus (twice now) and it really doesn't bother me. The anxiety around it is still a problem but it's still quite the hole to come out of. Recently however over the last 3 weeks to a month I've been having trouble with ear fullness and all the anxiety it's causing.

About a month ago it felt like my left ear closed up a bit, it's hard to describe exactly but fullness or pressure would be a good way to explain it, sometimes it radiates away from my ear into my cheek/sinus. Because I have anxiety, particularly around ear stuff, this really freaked me out and I was on the edge of a panic attack for about 4 hours, though the pressure went away eventually. Everyday since then I've been on high alert for it and everyday the pressure feeling shows up and then goes away. I've tracked it up and down the past month, sometimes it shows up most of the day, other times only for 1 hour in the day. I think it might be related to my anxiety cause the times when it was better I was feeling more relaxed and assured that it was just a stress response.

I've went to the doctor to rule out ear infection and he assures me all's well. He though it might be ETD but that seems off as the pressure comes and goes in the day and I can still pop my ears fine. I'm also pretty sure it's not actual pressure in my ear cause I've experienced elevation change with this and was able to pop my ears just fine from the actual pressure that caused. I've also gotten a massage and though it felt great no change. I've also ordered a custom night guard but that has yet to reach me.

I've been up and down and back and forth wondering what this could be, TMJ, Anxiety, TTTS, ETD and can't seem to land on anything, which just perpetuates the anxiety. I'm hoping that someone here has been in a similar situation and can offer up some hope. So fed up with this. Sorry if this was came off as a ramble or rant.

 

[Bambam0]

Hey there, I have a similar problem.

Fullness that comes and goes. I think it's largely TMJ related. While I'm certain my tinnitus is noise related I think it's relatively common for those of us who have it to also have it be further affected by stress, posture, more noise, etc.

I sometimes will take a wet washcloth, put it in microwave for like 20 seconds and then place it over my TMJ/ear and it kind of helps. I also religiously take Magnesium as I "feel" like it helps relax all those muscles. Sorry you're going through it.

 

[Falconfox]

Thank you, I really appreciate the input. I'll give both those a try.

 

[Falconfox]

I think the most confusing thing for me is that if I engage in something meaningful and like fully get my mind off it, often the pressure goes away entirley. So I'm failry positive anxiety is at least a factor.

This leads me to going back and forth as to if what I'm feeling is even "real" so to speak. Makes me feel f***ing crazy.

 

[Forever hopeful]

I have a similar issue with my left ear. Are used to equate it with my tinnitus but now I realize that it isn't related at all and has everything to do with TMJ.

 

[tae.aot]

Hello! I have really bad anxiety myself. I had been dealing with tinnitus for over a year and my anxiety/panic became unbearable. I have recently received intensive treatment for it and my tinnitus has gone away. It's back to the level of gentle ringing. I had very soft and quiet tinnitus before the sudden onset of extremely loud unilateral tinnitus and it's back to that point. If everything checks out with your ears, even hearing, and jaw I would recommend looking into treatment for the anxiety. It worked for me so it may for you.

Anxiety can manifest in any physical way possible. A psychiatrist has told me that she's seen it manifest in many ways including a skin rash. If there's no medical explanation for this, it COULD be anxiety. If you have any more questions or want to know what I did and went through to treat my anxiety, let me know!

Best of luck! <3

 

[GeorgeLG]

I think the most confusing thing for me is that if I engage in something meaningful and like fully get my mind off it, often the pressure goes away entirley. So I'm failry positive anxiety is at least a factor.

You are living proof that our emotions and how we think about our tinnitus affects our outcome, and in some cases even creates and hence can eliminate the symptoms. You can create a more positive emotional environment and can make your problem disappear or become unimportant and hence stop suffering. That's huge. You should take this as validation of the mechanism and incorporate it into a 24/7 approach and be done with the suffering. I have books and videos if you need some help really locking this in and being done with the suffering.

All the best,
George

 

[PortugalTheMan]

Hello! I have really bad anxiety myself. I had been dealing with tinnitus for over a year and my anxiety/panic became unbearable. I have recently received intensive treatment for it and my tinnitus has gone away. It's back to the level of gentle ringing. I had very soft and quiet tinnitus before the sudden onset of extremely loud unilateral tinnitus and it's back to that point. If everything checks out with your ears, even hearing, and jaw I would recommend looking into treatment for the anxiety. It worked for me so it may for you.

Anxiety can manifest in any physical way possible. A psychiatrist has told me that she's seen it manifest in many ways including a skin rash. If there's no medical explanation for this, it COULD be anxiety. If you have any more questions or want to know what I did and went through to treat my anxiety, let me know!

Best of luck! <3

I'm dealing with my anxiety, but the antidepressant I started this week is giving me nausea, headaches, some dizziness and my tinnitus feels different, like crickets.

Did you have that at the beginning of the treatment too?

 

[MindOverMatter]

Aural fullness / fullness in ears is very closely connected to fear and tension in the body. Anxiety. Same with TTTS. TMJ tension is also a trigger for these symptoms.

If you do therapy and massage to release TMJ tension over time, and keep your anxiety and stress levels low, the typical fullness and TTTS symptoms often will ease or even go completely away.

 

[tae.aot]

I'm dealing with my anxiety, but the antidepressant I started this week is giving me nausea, headaches, some dizziness and my tinnitus feels different, like crickets.

Did you have that at the beginning of the treatment too?

Unfortunately I did not experience much of these symptoms at all but everybody responds to medication differently. The most physical thing I felt was my head felt fuzzy and light. When I would turn my head to the side I felt dizzy and my head felt funny. It's hard to describe, but that's all I really felt physically though it's gone now. Most side effects should be temporary especially when beginning a medication, so give it time and it should go away. If they continue and are bothersome to you, please contact your psychiatrist! Let me know if you have anymore questions

 

[PortugalTheMan]

Unfortunately I did not experience much of these symptoms at all but everybody responds to medication differently. The most physical thing I felt was my head felt fuzzy and light. When I would turn my head to the side I felt dizzy and my head felt funny. It's hard to describe, but that's all I really felt physically though it's gone now. Most side effects should be temporary especially when beginning a medication, so give it time and it should go away. If they continue and are bothersome to you, please contact your psychiatrist! Let me know if you have anymore questions

What worries me most here is an increase in my tinnitus. I am taking 10 mg of Escitalopram. I'm glad the medication hasn't affected you.

 

[tae.aot]

What worries me most here is an increase in my tinnitus. I am taking 10 mg of Escitalopram. I'm glad the medication hasn't affected you.

Ahh, I gotcha. You may want to talk to your psychiatrist, though, because I found online that Lexapro can cause ringing in the ears. Mine has done nothing but become significantly quieter since increasing mine and starting intensive therapy. I take 100 mg of Zoloft and 100 mg of Lamotrigine, btw.

I take two different ones because taking two is supposed to work together with one another and even boost the effects. You could bring this up to your doctor if you'd like. I know my mom takes Effexor and Abilify to do the same thing.

Just thought I'd let you know what has been working for me