Help!

[Chris Alexander]

Hi everyone

So this is my first time posting on a tinnitus forum and needless to say I am a little stressed over it all.

So I went out at the weekend to a rather loud nightclub and the next night could not sleep due to the noise in my ears ( it sounds like someone has left the TV on and its static ). I actually had a panic attack and was really stressed - which no doubt contributed to even more ringing ( i suffer anxiety occasionally, so I know this well ).

Anyway for the previous week I could feel that both ears felt - 'full'... and slightly, but not overly painful. Much the same as when you go in the bath and water gets in.. before you tilt your head and drain them.

So I have been to the doctor and he looked and noticed that I have a fair bit of gunk behind my ear drums and noticed my right ear was ' deformed '... I assume because so much crap is in it?? He advised that it would resolve on its own, he didn't try to drain my ears or anything like that.

My nose is pretty bunged up... and when I talk i feel like i'm talking with my fingers in my ears a little but not much.

I can also swallow and some gunk will looses from behind my nose into my throat... without me even trying to clear it.

My ears have been pretty weird however -

*One ear will go really full and the other will exhibit quite a high pitched noise.... this has only happened once. Didnt last long.

*Once a day since its happened, I will have a loud high pitched noise in both or occasionallly just once ear.... lasts for about an hour and then goes...

*If I tense my ears, I can feel them popping and crackling....

Overall IF i have Tinitus its pretty mild... it just sounds like someone has left a tv on and quite east to ignore.. I am sure I will get better at ignoring it as time goes on.

However its the other things that are freaking me out - the loud whining etc... That is way much harder to deal with.

Sometimes I can hear a whine - I cover my ears and its just the normal static sound i have....

Has anyone experienced this type of thing before?

I am pretty sure my anxiousness over this is probably making it worse because I'm focusing on it....and I sincerely apologise for the rambling!!!!

I'm just freaking out a little tbh...

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lorenzo74]

Hi @Chris Alexander And welcome to our noisy club..

I am sorry you are experiencing these sounds and awkwardness on your ears.. And don't worry about your ranting, this is the right place to do that..

I don't have the same symptoms as you have so I cannot say much about it I am sorry..
The ENT didn't try to clean some of the gunk out manually ?
I am sure it will all settle down as you get less anxious about it and some gunk will clear out..
Try to work on your reactions and attitude towards it and with a bit of luck it will resolve on its own..
Do protect your ears when in noisy environment from now on and have a look around the site for suggestions and tips..

Best of luck !!

Take care of yourself and you ears !!

 

[Marijana]

Hey Chris!

I know it's hard to stay calm when you hear noises that you don't understand and that weren't part of your life, but the point is that you have to calm down.
Working on your reactions and attitude, as Lorenzo said above, is the best way of dealing with it.
As time passes by things will be better, you are at the beginning of this journey. However, do every examination because that's the least you can do.
Stay positive and avoid stress as much as you can.

Live life with fullest but from now on taking care of your ears a little bit more

 

[Chris Alexander]

Hi guys

Thank you for the replies.

Needless to say that the last 11 days have been awful.

I went to the doctor again who told me that I have fluid in my left ear - now the ringing noise is mainly coming from there OR it feels like the middle of my head.
However my right ear will pop but the one on my left wont.

In the last 11 days, I have barely heard it on 2 random days and then on days like today its more noticeable with about half an hours worth of really high pitch sound.

Trying to control my anxiety is proving extremely diffuclt and its disrupting my work life already.

The doctor has just said that it will run its course but of course I am panicking big style, 2 days without eating for example!!!

Can an ENT ( if I ever actually get referred to one ) drain the fluid from behind my ear drum?

In addition, can anyone recommend any in ear noise generators that I can use for when it gets bad?

I hope this goes soon - I really do not know how much more of it I can take :/

Thanks guys
Chris

 

[patwalsh]

Hi Chris
Your doctor can give you some medication to help you deal with the panic attacks. I don't like taking Meds but it was the only thing that would help me calm down. Once the anxiety is under control your feel a lot better. I have to watch what I eat as certain foods can make it worse, chocolate and fast food is a big no for me. I put the radio on at night to drown out the noise from my ears, along with a sleeping tablet and I manage to get to sleep.
Hang in there and remember things to improve. Don't forget to get yourself to the doctors and get some medication and a appointment with the ENT
Regards Pat

 

[Tamika]

Hi Chris

I agree with Pat. You might want to consider meds. I don't like taking any drugs as I'm very health conscious. However like you I'm having a bad time with anxiety attacks as well as depression. At one point I did not eat for 3 days. I only weigh 50kg so can't do that for too long. At the moment I'm taking mirtazapine at night which helps with depression, anxiety and sleep. I also take a melatonin tablet. During the day if I'm feeling panicky and have to hold it together to go somewhere or do something I take a small dose of diazepam. Have a talk to your doctor about the impact this is having on you emotionally.
Regards
Tamika

 

[Lorenzo74]

Hey @Chris Alexander

If you had a couple of days where you barely heard it, it is probably healing, so try to think as little as you can about it, keep busy to get physically and mentally tired and so you get more hungry too..

Try maybe some natural methods to relax first, like camomille, magnesium, look around the site and you will find plenty of threads about different natural strategies.. Look into things like CBT, meditation to keep you centered..

The more you think and concentrate on it and look if it's there the more you are doing his game, do not monitor it and forget about it as you heal, protect your ears when in noisy environments and probably it will go away on its own as it came..

I don't use in ear noise generators, I try not to stress in any way my ears.. I have an app on iphone, you can find lots for free with white noise / pink noise and others and I put it on when going to sleep or when needing some background masking...

Hope it resolves soon for you and take care !

 

[Chris Alexander]

Hey guys, that you for the replies.

I went to the doctor who has given me citalopram for the longer term anxiety, diazepam to help with the immediate panic attacks and some sleeping tablets. He has also referred me to the ENT.

When I try to block nose and blow, my right ear will but my left won't at all. Has anyone had this before?

Thanks

 

[patwalsh]

Hey guys, that you for the replies.

I went to the doctor who has given me citalopram for the longer term anxiety, diazepam to help with the immediate panic attacks and some sleeping tablets. He has also referred me to the ENT.

When I try to block nose and blow, my right ear will but my left won't at all. Has anyone had this before?

Thanks

Yea I have tried to block my nose and blow, I get a response from my right ear but nothing from my left

 

[billie48]

I hope this goes soon - I really do not know how much more of it I can take

Hi Chris, don't panic and don't give yourself more stress. Your panic and anxiety about these alien sensations are quite normal. Most of us were where you are at the beginning. The hardest phase of T suffering is the initial phase because your brain doesn't know what to do with these uncontrollable sensations and it considers them erroneously as threats. So your natural defense mechanism is activated by the limbic nervous system resulting in your brain functioning in fight or flight mode. As such your reactions to each 'bad' or alien sensations are amplified and you grow more worrisome.

At this stage your brained is flooded with many distorted catastrophic thoughts, called cognitive distortions in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. These distorted thoughts about T and about the future are what is driving your mental and psychosomatic reactions right now. Google search on cognitive distortions and you will find many of your current thoughts or worries about tinnitus are cognitive distortions. It is important to write down each of these distorted thought and challenge or counter them with a more realistic or positive one.

If you read the success stories, you will find many people do just that to get better. This approach will help reduce your anxiety and hopefully reduce your need for meds. How I know? I did just that. I have much worse T & H, plus relentless anxiety and panic attacks too. I never thought I could recover. Today I am living a normal, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. So don't give up hope. You can be well again. Here are the links to my success story for more detail. Hope you have time to read them. Take good care & God bless your recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light-how-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

[Chris Alexander]

Hey

Thank you for all the replies.

I am having a really rough time at the moment.

For some reason the ringing changes throughout the day. My ears are constantly really sore and feel like they are on fire.

In the morning its not really so bad, I go to work and it progressively gets worse with some days where I have a really sore head along with a high pitched tone in my head.

Does anyone have an ideas they could suggest in order to help with this? I am on meds just now put the panic and anxiety is draining the life out of me.

Thanks

 

[pactribe]

Hey

Thank you for all the replies.

I am having a really rough time at the moment.

For some reason the ringing changes throughout the day. My ears are constantly really sore and feel like they are on fire.

In the morning its not really so bad, I go to work and it progressively gets worse with some days where I have a really sore head along with a high pitched tone in my head.

Does anyone have an ideas they could suggest in order to help with this? I am on meds just now put the panic and anxiety is draining the life out of me.

Thanks

Just try to relax and force yourself to focus on stuff that you like doing. Go outside, ride a bike. Don't stay on this forum too long. Read a few of the success stories.

I am two months on my way after this audio assault while wearing 25DB earplugs:


I am doing better each day. Did you wear ear plugs at the club you went to?

 

[Chris Alexander]

Hey Pactribe

Nope I not - although my left ear will not unblock which could be making it worse :/

See it's strange - it can go hours and it's hardly there then it gets louder for an hour and thensometimes it goes away completely. It's weird.

I'm pleased to say that I've taken a week off work and went home to my family and in general I'm a lot better than when I wrote the above post. I'm still feeling the strain though and still hoping it goes - it's still on my mind daily.... However the panic and anxiety ha reduced to like 10% of what it was. Thank god!

 

[Chris Alexander]

Yeah - I've read one excellent success story and also wrote my own CBt stuff - only come on here maybe once per week. The biggest mistake I made when I first got it was googling it.... Horror stories galore!

 

[pactribe]

Just try to relax and force yourself to focus on stuff that you like doing. Go outside, ride a bike. Don't stay on this forum too long. Read a few of the success stories.

I am two months on my way after this audio assault while wearing 25DB earplugs:


I am doing better each day. Did you wear ear plugs at the club you went to?

Yeah - I've read one excellent success story and also wrote my own CBt stuff - only come on here maybe once per week. The biggest mistake I made when I first got it was googling it.... Horror stories galore!

Take care brother.