Have Had Tinnitus for a Long Time But Now It's Worse

[toddfw2003]

I have had tinnitus for as long as I can remember. I havent noticed it unless I get in a quite room. I am not sure what caused it. When I was a kid I listen to my music very loud.

Thats where I am guessing it has come from.

A week ago a I got these weird painful shocks around my right ear that only lasted for a few second. it happen periodically throughout that day and then went away. I went to an Urgent treatment center and they said it could be nerve issues or TMJ.

Later that night I became dizzy and the normal tinnitus become much louder and I could hear everywhere I went. So the dizziness and tinnitus has been non stop.

I am not so dizzy that I can walk but just a little to feel out of wack or kind of spaced out.

I get fullness in both ears, more so on the left. Also the tinnitus is more profound in the left ear. I also have been getting some pain in both ears that comes and goes. kind of a stabbing pain.

Also it feels like I need to clear my ears all the time. I have an appt with an ENT friday.

I have read it could be anything from TMJ to a benign tumor or it can be something that they cant fix. I am more worried it will be something they cant fix

 

[Shellbailey]

My ENT thinks I have Ménière's disease, which has pretty much all of your symptoms. I'd suggest looking into that to start. It seems like the more I research online, the more possible diagnoses I find

 

[toddfw2003]

thanks much appreciated

 

[Karen]

@toddfw2003

I agree with @Shellbailey that you should definitely ask about Meniere's disease, which has a lot of the symptoms you describe. Hopefully, your doctor will be able to perform tests to see if that may be the cause.

But I do want you to know that I had a lot of the same symptoms when my mild tinnitus first worsened (nearly six years ago). I had dizziness, bouts of vertigo, and that feeling of fullness in the ear. Also, some pain around the ear itself. Now, however, those symptoms have gone away. I still have the increased tinnitus, but I have learned to live with it, so that I can function normally again. If it turns out that you don't have Meniere's, I want you to know that the symptoms may subside with time, and it is possible to live with this condition. I think that the crazy symptoms sometimes may have something to do with the body and brain adjusting to the new level of tinnitus.

Please post again when you go back to the doctor, to let us know what he finds. I'll be interested to hear if you do have Meniere's, and if he is able to treat you for that condition.

Best wishes and hugs,
Karen

 

[Fungus]

toddfw2003 , you don't say whether you have deafness, which is part of the trio of symptoms of Meniere's (tinnitus, deafness, vertigo) and the fullness in the ear, pains and increased tinnitus may indicate nothing more than ear infection. Meniere's it may be, but there are other things it could be.

I have deafness, tinnitus and vertigo, I don't have Meniere's. My deafness and tinnitus were caused by a virus which damaged the Eustachian tubes and cochleas and I had Benign Positional vertigo which antedated the other two symptoms by at least 7 years.

Dizziness and vertigo are very different. In true vertigo objects in the environment appear to rotate or you feel that you yourself are rotating (usually associated with profound nausea of the 'travel sickness' type). Dizziness is a much 'softer' symptom.

You may have Meniere's, but the symptoms of that disorder aren't constant, meaning you'll live with it and cope with it eventually.

As Karen says a lot of early symptoms of any of these ear problems eventually diminish or disappear altogether.

Good luck with the ENT.

Fungus.