Had Grommets Inserted: Terrible Spike, Need Help and Advice

[Michellejean]

Hey everyone, I had grommets inserted into my ear drums on Tuesday and I'm now realizing I am having a terrible spike. I don't even know if it's a spike or brand new tinnitus.

My left ear is doing fine, no problems but a little bit of pulsatile tinnitus. My right ear is so loud I can hear it outside, in the car, pretty much wherever. It's an electronic sharp high pitched sound. Before the tinnitus in my right ear was like water running through the pipes in another room. Now it's like someone is holding a robot siren next to my ear.

Yes my tinnitus is reactive so I could always hear a static sound in cars or outdoors but never a pure tone. Now I hear the pure tone in my right ear all the time so loudly and I can't be in an environment that's silent without feeling deafened from the loud high pitched tinnitus.

Is this a spike? Is this new tinnitus?

The grommet is inserted in the eardrum through a tiny incision that was made in the ear drum and then the small tube is placed there.

I'm so disappointed with the decision I've made. A day before the surgery I was even feeling really good and was telling myself I was 80% there now I feel like I'm back at square one. I have terrible Anxiety and I just kicked benzos! I was 16 days off of Ativan, had the surgery, now I'm doing all I can not to take an Ativan but I don't even know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. Ugh.

Can anyone offer advice? Could this just be a spike due to inflammation of the ear? Is it due to a hole being in my ear drum? Should I remove the grommet? I'm so worried. I was just starting to move forward and now i feel like I did when this all began.

Thank you kindly for any response. I need serious help right now friends.

 

[GregCA]

It will most likely settle down in time. The insertion of the grommet shouldn't have impacted the cochlea, but any surgery is bound to create some inflammation around the area that is being "worked on".

Yes you have a hole in your ear drum, but that shouldn't mean new T. You will not feel pressure anymore when you go up and down the mountain (or plane, etc) as both sides of the ear drum will equalize in pressure through the tube, and you will probably incur a bit of conductive hearing loss that should resolve when the tompanostomy tubes come off and the hole closes.

Any loud T is very difficult to cope with, whether low frequency or high frequency. Give it some time.

Good luck!

 

[glynis]

@Michellejean ,
Try holding a warm towel over your ear and play soft music around you.
I hope it settles down for you soon and feel the benefits of having the tubes in.
Keep us posted on how you get on.
love Glynis

 

[Michellejean]

Thanks @glynis and @GregCA
I am holding onto to the hope that it will settle in time. Greg I think you're right, it can't be new tinnitus just my same tinnitus but incredibly loud.

I have a big part of me that believes it will settle down within a months time and I just hope so much this is true.

I just feel regretful as I was finally coming to terms with my tinnitus and even had a really enjoyable date night with my partner. It took me 5 months to get there and now I'm back to square one and so sad.

 

[Michellejean]

Update:
Although my tinnitus is still VERY loud and I have what sounds like the old AOL dial up connection running within my ears I would say I woke up with a 10% decrease in loudness with my spike. I hope and pray it will settle back down to previous levels.

It's loud as shit though after being around noise!! It always was reactive but now it's 100 times worse. Still hoping this all settles

 

[Davey126]

I hope your doing better today @Michellejean stay positive and remember it's most likely temporary while your ear recovers. Keep busy and try to not focus on the sound so much. I'm going through a spike right now myself. Keep your head up and reach out if you need anything.

 

[EarHair]

Why did you get the grommets inserted?

 

[Mystery Reader]

@Michellejean
Hi -- Just saw your post and wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and hoping this will settle down for you. A 10% reduction seems a step in the right direction! Will check here for updates -- hope things have calmed down for you over the past few days.

Mystery Reader

 

[Michellejean]

@Davey126 @EarHair @Mystery Reader

Hey another update for you guys. Thanks so much for your support and kindness.

Today my spike which made my tinnitus 100xs worse is now 50% better.
(My ENT removed the tube in my right ear yesterday and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. It hurt so badly. I think removing the tube made a huge difference and my voice sounds normal again.)

I was able to go outside without hearing it today(for the most part) It is still louder in both ears and sharp, where as before my brain dulled the noise like it was in the other room.

I hope the recovery continues to trend this way until my tinnitus reaches base level.

I really thought getting all of the fluid and mucous sucked out of the left ear would actually relieve my tinnitus a lot in that ear but it just made things worse.

Does anyone think it's just an adjustment for the brain since the fluid and mucus is gone now and I'm hearing differently?

My dream is in 4 weeks I'm back to my old annoying tinnitus.

But what really gets me down is I was 16 days off Ativan and had to go back on it. It's my crutch again. So dissapointed. I will be so grateful and no longer upset about my tinnitus when it goes back to normal.

I didn't realize how good I actually had it.

Much love everyone

 

[Michellejean]

I'll cut to the chase.

2 weeks ago had grommets put in ears. Terrible idea. I miss my old tinnitus a lot. Can't believe I'm saying that. I am holding onto hope that it settles back down.
Last Monday (1 week after surgery) I had my ENT remove grommet in right ear. Was incredibly painful. Immediately I felt a little relief.
Have had a high pitch ultra high cricket sound in my right ear since surgery and I can hear it over EVERYTHING. Where I work in ONE 13x13 room we have an industrial sized air conditioner, 2 white noise machines on that purify the air, and a fan. I can hear tinnitus over all of it. It's not that the cricket sound is LOUD but so high pitched I don't know what could mask it.

All in all my tinnitus was 100% worse after surgery. Now it's like 35% worse than it was and it's only been two weeks so I hope in 1-3 months it's back to what I had before.

Thank you everyone for the support!
I hope these updates help someone some day.

 

[dingaling]

@Michellejean

Was the reason you had the grommet inserted because of fluid behind your eardrum?

if so, perhaps the tinnitus was "muffled" by the fluid and once it was suctioned out, you perceived it as louder?

Has the hole in your eardrum closed up after removal of the grommet?

Hope you continue to improve, but I'll cut to the chase too: don't monitor your tinnitus