Hello! Five Days In

[ericdking1010]

Hello everyone. Long post ahead!

I am a 23-yr old male who has just experienced Tinnitus for the first time.

My Tinnitus began on the night of Sunday, March 11th. I was lying in bed, tossing and turning, a bit stressed out over the bed sheet I was lying on, which ripped down the middle , and I was making it worse with my constant tossing and turning (I have insomnia, sleeping is hard for me, so I toss and turn a lot).

One time when I turned to lie on my left side, I had something happen which has occurred before.

My hearing essentially went out, and was replaced with a loud, high pitched ringing.
This lasted only around 5 seconds, then went away completely.
However, it was replaced with another high pitched ringing, though it was lessened in volume, and only occurred in my right ear.

Monday I got myself a complete new bedsheet, so that stress was gone… But the sound in my right ear persisted. I've had this noise ever since.

I went to a walk-in clinic and had my ear cleaned out with water, then prescribed an oral steroid and an antibiotic, in case of possible infection. I doubt that's the issue, but once I'm done with my prescription, I'm going to see an ENT doctor for more insight.

Now, if this were caused by a loud noise, I could come to terms with the cause, if nothing else. The thing that bothers me is that I can't figure out a reason as to why this happened. Stress, anxiety, or maybe I had it and never noticed it quite as much until now.

I believed that I should post this here for a few reasons: If anyone else has had a similar experience, I'd love to hear of it, and so if someone in the future has any experience like this, they can hopefully find this thread on Google.

Regardless, I'm just beginning my journey, and I'm relieved to know that this forum exists. So many people with positive outlooks. I aim to pop in from time to time to give updates.

Also, for those curious: I have been on Lorazepam for insomnia (my insomnia is mostly caused by anxiety) and Diphenhydramine (CVS sleep aid) for occasional sleep aid.

I look forward to getting to know you all!

 

[billie48]

Now, if this were caused by a loud noise, I could come to terms with the cause, if nothing else. The thing that bothers me is that I can't figure out a reason as to why this happened. Stress, anxiety, or maybe I had it and never noticed it quite as much until now.

Welcome to the forum.
There are many causes, single or combined, which can trigger or aggravate tinnitus including but not limited to drug side-effects from ototoxic drugs, ear wax build-up, ear-wax removal suction, inner ear infection, Eustachian tube disorder or ETD, ear drum injury, fluid build-up in ears feeling pressured or fullness, sinus infection & congestion especially with a bad cold, TMJ, TTTS, autoimmune disorders such as Lyme Disease & Fibromyalgia, high blood pressure or blood circulation problem, anemia, loud noise exposure or acoustic trauma/shock, head injury or TBI, neck injury or muscle problems, hearing loss from aging or other causes, Meniere's Decease, barotrauma from rapid pressure changes in flights or diving, especially with congested nose or sinus causing failure to balance the pressure changes, slapping of the ears, deep grief, untreated sleep apnea, extreme/extended stress, anxiety & panic disorder, depression, sleep deprivation, etc.

T can also be caused or made worse by unhealthy diet such as too much salt, sugar, caffeine, MSG, alcohol etc. or by lacking some mineral or vitamin supplements, such as Magnesium, Zinc, B12, D3 etc.

 

[ericdking1010]

Thank you kindly for the introduction & welcome, Billie!

This forum looks to be a wonderful place, and I've been reading many posts. We are all in this together!

 

[SugarMagnolia]

Hi @ericdking1010. Sorry to hear about your tinnitus. I hope you are able to get some sleep and take care of yourself while you're waiting for some answers.

 

[ericdking1010]

Thank you for the warm welcome, SugarMagnolia!

I've been doing reading on the forum, and do remember I had a tooth-cleaning procedure the Wednesday before I got my T. It was on the problem side of my mouth too. I did read "Many people on this forum got their T as a result of ultrasonic dental cleaning."

I wonder how I would know if that's what I had... Or whether or not the T is usually immediate after such procedures.

A long journey ahead... But I'm right there with you all!

 

[Bill Bauer]

I wonder how I would know if that's what I had...

If the dental hygienist had been physically scraping plaque off of your teeth, then it was "manual cleaning" and not ultrasonic cleaning. If you could hear high pitched sounds during your cleaning (as opposed to the sounds of scraping), then it was an ultrasonic cleaning (I could be mistaken about this last part, as I had never had ultrasonic cleaning done, however it is my understanding that ultrasonic cleaning is accompanied by high pitch sounds.)

whether or not the T is usually immediate after such procedures.

My T began 11 days after my acoustic trauma...

 

[ericdking1010]

Thanks for that info, Bill! I'll have to call tomorrow and see. Though I believe it was a bit of both. And from what I've read, it should simmer down in a few months.

Now that I think of it, I may have had T for a bit longer than I thought, just never noticed it until now.
I aim to keep everyone posted!

 

[ericdking1010]

A sudden decrease came last night when I was tossing and turning. Went from a raging turbine to something more akin to a hissing noise, which is where it's at now.

Don't know why or how it happened so instantaneously, but at least I'm not in an anxiety attack, though I'm still really rattled about this whole ordeal, constantly seeing how bad it is... Even when I know I shouldn't.

Went to the clinic, and should have an ENT appointment... eventually. A few weeks perhaps. These waits suck, but I try to keep positive!

 

[Bill Bauer]

Went to the clinic, and should have an ENT appointment... eventually. A few weeks perhaps. These waits suck, but I try to keep positive!

Don't place too much hope on that appointment. The doctor will most likely just tell you to live with it.

It is a good sign that you had experienced healing/fading at such a rapid pace. It ought to keep fading!

 

[ericdking1010]

Thank you, Bill!

It's come and gone today, along with a dizzy spell, and some aching in the ears.

Really it's the anxiety that's the worst at the moment, but I've read many stories here, and keep thinking to you all wonderful people for inspiration and motivation to keep going!

 

[Bill Bauer]

It's come and gone today, along with a dizzy spell

Daily fluctuations in tinnitus are not important. What is important is the monthly (long-run) trend.

Perhaps you Could benefit from seeing a doctor. The doctor ought to look into what is causing that dizziness. Perhaps when the cause of that dizziness is eliminated, eventually your tinnitus will fade too.

I don't want to worry you unnecessarily. Dizziness is probably a symptom of many diseases. My father passed away from brain cancer. His main symptom was dizziness. He would feel dizzy for a couple of seconds and it would be gone. He also experienced headaches, but it was not as often as those dizzy spells. A little later he began to briefly lose control of his arm and leg on one side of the body for a couple of seconds (and this would happen only a couple of times each day). He was 42 when he was diagnosed with it. Chances are that this is not what you have, but you might want to ask your doctor's opinion about this. To know for sure, you would do a CT-scan of the head...

It is most likely that what You have is some Eustachian Tube problem...

 

[ericdking1010]

Hi Bill,

After seeing 3 different physicians before finally seeing my Primary Care physician (who just came back from vacation... perfect timing), they could not find anything wrong with my outer or middle ear based off of their observations. I'll still be seeing an ENT to be sure.

My Primary Case physician and I discussed possibilities, and we are both leaning towards it being due to an Anxiety disorder. To me this makes perfect sense. My dad and mom both have it, my mother more-so.
I got it tossing and turning in bed with my anxious thoughts, and I've had anxious episodes before. Just a lot shorter.
And I know that when I take my nightly insomnia meds ( anti-anxiety Lorazepam meds), the ringing goes so far back in my head I hardly care... if I notice it at all.

What I do know is that I do have tinnitus in both ears, but for some reason I am drawn to focus on my right. And the cycle of anxiety on top of my family history led me to now being put on paroxetine and see how that helps my overall wellbeing in the next month or two.

Whenever it is I acclimate to this... And I know it takes people a good while, I hope to post more on here with knowledge gained. This site has been a real blessing.

 

[ericdking1010]

Though I should definitely mention my Doctor did say she believed it may also be a Eustachain Tube problem, and that it could be a few weeks before it resolves.

Too early to tell, but I will be open to anything, including this being something that lasts a looooong while!

 

[bsimo2213]

Hi @ericdking1010 , showing some love on your post! Sorry to hear you just accumulated the T symptoms. Here to support you as well, and best of luck on your journey to recovery. Anxiety/stress could be a factor like you said, but to be the only factor doesn't seem right, perhaps there is another underlying issue (I could be wrong though, I just got T symptoms in February '18 and still learning).

 

[ericdking1010]

Thinking about it, yeah, I agree. May very well have been that dentist.

The hardest part is not knowing, sometimes.

 

[Rajin]

@ericdking1010 hope you feel better soon. The taught of not forgetting how you get T can be a big problem. Keep thinking constantly about how you get it , can make T worse. It happened to me , been 6 months and it is the hardest thing to get off my mind . Try to forget about that , don't think of it will help you. I feel if I can just accept it , don't matter how I got it . We can't go back and change it. Try to forget about it , can help. Not easy but it will make things better.

 

[ericdking1010]

Figured I'd put an update here. If nothing else it'll give me something to read further down the line.

So far I'm 16 days in.

I'm not exactly sure where the levels are at now, but the tone definitely changed over the last few weeks from a high pitched ringing to more of an electric hissing. Heck, sometimes it's pulsative at a fast pace. I will say if I time it right, it goes well with fast hip-hop. Which is neat.
Otherwise, I can't say if its slowly getting better, or if its just that I'm not constantly having an anxiety attack over this.

There are times in which the noise is so reduced I hardly notice it. Usually this happens after I take my lorazepam, or early in the day til around 11am. I see moments like this as an "a-ha! This is what my habituation could be like!" But try as I might, it's hard to keep in the back of my mind, and it just goes up as the night comes on.

I still don't have confirmation that my referral to the ENT was even put in, which is pretty lame... But I'll stay on 'em on it.

Basically, I'm just spending time trying to come up with a list of things that could be causing this. Could be the dentist appointment, could be related to my lorazepam, or it could be something I've had but never noticed til recently. If I could concretely nail it down, it might bring peace of mind. Or not. You might definitely have a point in not ripping my hair out over this,@Rajin . lol

Being put on a low-dose anti anxiety SSRI was probably a good call by my doctor. It should help me settle down in a few weeks, and might even be good for taking me off the lorazepam in the long run. Even though I've only been on a 1mg dose, it's been for years, and that's not cool.

Again, to the regulars on this forum, you're awesome for keeping us fresh-meat from going totally bonkers. You guys have saved lives.

 

[ericdking1010]

Another quick update...

I've gotta step away from this site for a while and focus on myself. You guys are all wonderful, but just seeing the "Tinnitus Talk" text reminds me of my tinnitus.

It's been a month, and I've had a very slow, but also noticeable, improvement. The last week I've had moments where I've gone 30-40 minutes without noticing it. Definitely hoping for more improvement.

Noise-wise, it's usually at a constant "electrical hissing" which is different from the high pitched ringing I had before.

Going to see an orthodontist about my jaw, and will see an ENT eventually.

If I have a true success story, I'll definitely post it here. But for now, who knows! See you all whenever (hopefully!)

 

[ericdking1010]

A proof-of-life post. And a good one for people to read!

2.5 months in, give or take, and things have gotten WAAAAYYYY better. The ringing has continued to subside, and is currently at a very minor "high pitched hissing" The loud ringing is completely gone.

For around a week I didn't even notice it at all! The last few days I have, but during the day I don't even notice it. Only later in the evenings when it gets quiet.

Finally went to an ENT and Audiologist. I'm good across the board. No perceived hearing loss up to (I believe it was) 8,000Hz. Everything checks out! That alone gave me relief, though still no real answer as to why I have this.

In any case, I was told that due to my improvements over the last few months, there was no reason not to think this won't eventually fade completely. Even so, I can live with what I have now. I'm going to continue keeping myself busy, and keeping positive. The people on this forum are incredible, and helped me through one of the roughest times of my life. Thanks everyone.

 

[dkota]

I have terrible tinnitus from prescription drugs. My wife has a lessor degree of tinnitus from taking a strong antibiotic. If you were taking any prescription drugs while getting tinnitus I would check to see how ototoxic the drugs are. Just check the internet for that info.. Sometimes the tinnitus will go away when discontinued. Please check with your doctor before getting off any prescription drugs. There may be an alternate drug less ototoxic. Best of luck with your journey.

 

[ericdking1010]

Thanks. I'm taking Ativan/Lorazepam. Have for years. Never had any problems with it before. And from my own self research, I haven't seen a direct result for that specific drug. Though who knows.

 

[Pewpewpew]

Hi I was reading your post and I was quite surprised how similar your symptoms were to mine. My tinnitus started around 3 am on May 29 while watching youtube trying to fall asleep. I suddenly heard a really high pitched sound on my right ear for about 5 seconds before it gradually reduced to a softer less noticeable high pitched T. I thought it would go away after a few seconds but now I'm 5 days in. It sounds more like an electrical current flowing through my head now, cant really tell if its from the right or the left. I sometimes barely notice the sound during the day, but its been keeping me awake during the night. Not because of the sound itself but more of an anxiety issue I guess. I mean I cant help but thinking about it.. it drives me crazy. The other day I could barely notice the sound I thought it was finally over until it came back during the night. Well I'm glad you're making progress and I hope mine goes away too I definitely wont be missing it.

 

[ericdking1010]

Yeah man. I hear you. Right now mine is ringing again in my right ear. It comes and goes. But as noted by plenty of people on here, yours can fade over time! Mine isn't as bad as it used to be. The hardest part will be your anxiety. I'm still dealing with mine, but plenty of people adapt and prevail. Just gotta let your brain do its thing.

 

[ericdking1010]

Figured I'd post again. Hopefully this thread will get bumped and maybe someone can reference me in the future for people with newly onset conditions.

My tinnitus is finally gone. Basically over the first 4 months it decreased, but never really vanished. Hell, for a month it went from my right ear to my left. No clue why, but I can only nail down that I've been stressed out to hell. Perhaps that started this whole thing. If anything, work is pushing me to my limits, but the tinnitus itself is gone. Only around 2 or 3 weeks ago at this point has it been completely gone. So 7 - 8 months.

I was pretty concerned for a while, and truly distressed over it. But after a few months of having it, although I never got used to it, it wasn't quite as frightening.

This whole endeavor put me on an SSRI (briefly) where I had some calm, but also gained a shit ton of weight and had a few other side effects beside that which still haven't gone away. So while that helped, I'd say for those who don't already have anxiety issues, try to hold off on this option if possible.

Otherwise, I did come across four people who also have tinnitus in my life I never knew had it. One is my best friend and roommate. He's had it ever since he went to a Kanye West concert-- front row. He says it's always there, but never notices it unless it's brought up in conversation. He says in his subconscious, he's just adapted to the noise as a natural part of the world around him, and generally forgets about life before tinnitus unless it's mentioned. As for the other 3, same thing. They all don't notice it. Even one of my coworkers who only has it in one ear. Habituation is real, and the time it takes to adapt can vary greatly. But when I asked them, they pretty much all told me that eventually they just couldn't take worrying about it so much, and their brain began to tune it out. Personally that didn't happen for me completely, but for my friend, two coworkers, and the audiologist (I think it was) I visited, that was the case. Time heals all wounds, the saying goes!

Basically, habituation is incredibly possible, and I know plenty of people see the "if it doesn't improve in 6 months, you might be stuck with it forever". This forum helps show that isn't the case. It can go away at any time. 1 month, 6 months, or 5 years... And if it doesn't, so long as you keep positive, it won't weight you down like it is right now.

I know most people on this forum don't return after a few months, so there's a bias here. Not intentional, but still.
This whole ordeal had me look inward on my life, and I've taken steps outside of this tinnitus to improve many things I put on my "to do" list. From eating healthy, to investigating my life-long insomnia, to getting surgery on my carpal tunnel, to even fixing my frigging teeth which needed braces and will need jaw surgery.

Do what you need to do to put this past you. If you need to ignore it, do what you have to. If you need to sit in silence and embrace the noise, do that. Everyone is different, and the only way to beat it (for now) is through your own strength. Loved ones, friends, and the lovely people on this forum will help. But you can do it!

 

[Autumnly]

And if it doesn't, so long as you keep positive, it won't weight you down like it is right now.

Please remember that 3-7% of people with chronic tinnitus will continue to struggle severely. I think 20 million people in the US alone are moderately impacted. Habituation doesn't mean a happy end for everyone. This condition can be very debilitating, especially in combination with hyperacusis. But I'm glad to hear your tinnitus is gone.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Habituation is real, and the time

Habituation is very real and I have written many posts on the process of habituation:https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

Please be under no illusion of what @Autumnly has correctly written in her post. Tinnitus can be a seriously debilitating condition for some people but fortunately, most do habituate and carry on to lead a fulfilling life doing everything that they want to, without too much problems with tinnitus.

However, please take the following as a friendly warning as I have a lot of experience with this condition and corresponded with many people over the years with it. You have had tinnitus for a very short while. You may believe that it has gone or you have habituated successfully and for that I'm pleased and hope it remains this way for you. Unfortunately this is where the danger is with tinnitus. A person habituates and the tinnitus can be so low they hardly hear it. They may decided to use headphones or frequent places where loud music is played: concerts, clubs etc without using ear protection. Even when using ear protection one still has to be aware of loud sounds.

Under the circumstances I have described above especially using headphones even at low volume. The tinnitus can return with a vengeance that you wouldn't believe possible and make your life a living nightmare. Please be careful and respect tinnitus and whilst I don't advocate dwelling over it try not to forget about it and what you went through.

I wish you well.
Michael