Medically Worsened Tinnitus

[Kert67]

Hi! My name is Derek, I am 15 years old, and I have had tinnitus since I was very little. It was always very, very faint. Like the room had to be completely silent, like in a bathroom with no noise. I have had many ear infections, and have taken many different antibiotics over my lifetime becuase I cant seem to stay out of the doctor.

Last Saturday, I went to the doctor because my ears were ringing more prominently and I felt pressure. I assumed it was just another ear infection. And it was. They prescribed two 500 mg tablets 3 times a day for 10 days and some prednisone. Over that week, my ears would ring a little bit and stuff, but this last Sunday I took my last pills. I didn't have pain or pressure, but my ears would still ring. Now its today, June 25, and my ears have been ringing bad, but not intolerable. They would go away when I mask it with a fan and the tv, but it would still be there in the background.

I am just asking from you reading this, does it sound like my recovery could take a long time? Or does it just sound like the medicine caused the ringing to be worse and now it's just maybe a week until it goes back down to almost nothing.

I have been keeping high hopes, but with being in the summer and having nothing to do to distract it but watch tv and be on my phone, I'm hoping for some reassurance.

 

[Kert67]

UPDATE: I recently had pain, and pressure form in my ear with popping. I may be overreacting and it may just be the same ear infection but it probably never went away fully. I may need to try a different antibiotic if it's a bacterial infection.

 

[dayma]

Hard to tell what recovery is for anyone. If you had T and it was quiet before maybe it will go down to that as a baseline. Sounds like the new levels are recent so have hope that it will go back down. It could take weeks or months. Nobody can tell you really...

 

[Jiri]

Hi @Kert67 was it your GP or an ENT doctor who precribed for you the course of antibiotics and Prednisone? ENT doctors should know which drugs are ototoxic and which aren't. Ask about it.

If you still have pain and the other symptoms I recommend you see an ENT doctor for this. It may also be your stress response to it that's making your ringing worse, so try to keep calm.

 

[Kert67]

It wasn't a ENT. I have been looking online and other people have had ear infections where amoxicillin didnt affect it. I've never had my T get worse before and I have had an uncountable different amounts and types of antibiotics in me in the past. I think my T might be a genetic thing because it wasent noice od medically induced as far as I can remember.

 

[Jiri]

OK, but taking certain drugs especially in high doses and combos could affect and potentially worsen your tinnitus. That is why you should schedule an ENT's appointment. Bring your medical history with you and tell him what you wrote here. That's the best you can do, imo. Until then try to relax. Ask your GP for a referral in case you need it.

 

[Kert67]

I am at a doctors place right now, I'll tell them about my T and stuff but it really feels like a near infection because with my T it was never really a constant ringing. The ringing I could hear over stuff was only when I had an ear infection. It would fade in, ring, then fade out completely. I feel like this whole ordeal is placebo knock on wood, and the doctor is aware of my T and is prescribing a different type of antibiotics that are safe and I got a steroid shot just now. She wants me back in the place in 2 weeks and if it's still bothering me then shell tell me to go to an ENT

 

[Jiri]

That almost feels like she's 'shooting from the hip.' Can you not go straight to a hospital ENT department? On the bright side, it's a good thing your T was never really a constant ringing. Hopefully, it'll return back to its baseline soon.

 

[kelpiemsp]

9 times out of 10 something like this is acute otitis media. More than likely your tinnitus is caused by the fluid/pressure in your ears, if there is infected fluid this could possibly irritate some of your hearing structures. Be aware that it may last quite a while, but will most likely go down! Best thing to do is focus on your health and stress levels. Get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, exercise a reasonable amount. Stay away from drugs etc especially at your age!

 

[Kert67]

So far what I am feeling is the ringing that I presume is from the ear infection has been going down since my steroid shot. I feel like I just freaked out and in an effort to make myself feels better I went to the internet. I will reply in a week or two on an update but so far, i feel like my auctual T is not being affected by the medicine I am on right now and isn't affected by the ear infection for the most part. But for now I'm on the road to recovery on like my 10th ear infection or more

 

[Kert67]

They prescribed clindamycin, which is an antibiotic that is sometimes in my case used for bacterial infections that do not respond to weaker antibiotics. I am taking one 300mg pill 3 times a day and this medication isn't known at all to be of toxic. Like my last update, just on the road to recovery! I've been drinking alot od wayer, and have been exercising and may start walking daily

 

[Kert67]

One more thing. I've had many ear infections like I've said in this post, and in every one my ears would ring during the infection then the ringing would subside as much as the ear infection subsided. I've always had narrow ear canals, which is why it's easy for me to get an ear infection like swimmer's ear. This is the only ear infection I've had, though, where it has sent responded to the antibiotics that they gave me (2 500 mg amoxicillin pills 3 times a day for 10 days.) Since I've been on a steroid shot since yesterday, the ear infection has gotten better with less pain. I was most worried that I had a resistant infection, but that seems to not be the case. All good moods from here on out! Thank you guys for the information on what I can do and what to do to help recovery.

 

[Lane]

nothing to do to distract it but watch tv and be on my phone, I'm hoping for some reassurance.

Sorry to hear about your dilemma @Kert67, and I hope things improve for you. Your ears seem to be in a very delicate place at the moment, and I would "baby" them as much as possible while they heal. Which includes--and you may not want to hear this--limiting your time on the phone and watching TV. This might be a good time to spend more time in nature, and away from the artificial environments we are usually in. -- Just food for thought.

All the Best!​

 

[fishbone]

It is quite possible for the tinnitus to ring or ring louder due to wax build up, ear infections and illnesses. First address the issue (which you are) and take the meds needed to get better. It can take a bit of time for the infections/illnesses to get better or go away. There is no telling how the tinnitus will act/re-act. Only time will tell what will happen.

Just hang in there and let things heal up

I hope your ears/ringing does get better, if by any chance it doesn't....trust me when I say this, you will be OK and can live your life. Many including myself are doing it and I am sure you will be ok.

 

[Kert67]

I hear ya, I went outside today and just sat down and took in fresh air, then went for a walk. And yes also I have been noticing the ringing is something that happens with every ear infection i have, and so far its been acting as so, the ringing gets louder as the day goes on, but by night I make sure to not have anything loud to let my ears just adjust because if I have more low noise during the night the ringing Is completely tolerable like right now I barely notice it at all.

 

[Kert67]

I also keep the volume low on my phone in case an "ear rape" video shows up

 

[Kert67]

I at least have a good update for tonight, it's supposed to rain! I love the white noise of rain aslong as no thunder scares the crap out of me tonight's gonna be a rest easy night. I hope the same for all of you who I bet some have managed to habituate worse T than I have or think of having even. Stay strong people!

 

[Kert67]

It is quite possible for the tinnitus to ring or ring louder due to wax build up, ear infections and illnesses. First address the issue (which you are) and take the meds needed to get better. It can take a bit of time for the infections/illnesses to get better or go away. There is no telling how the tinnitus will act/re-act. Only time will tell what will happen.

Just hang in there and let things heal up

I hope your ears/ringing does get better, if by any chance it doesn't....trust me when I say this, you will be OK and can live your life. Many including myself are doing it and I am sure you will be ok.

Sorry if I messed up this reply, I hit quote I think that's what you're supposed to do. Anyways, my fan is not quite loud enough to fully drown out the sound, the low setting is relatively quiet. But the louder setting is a big step up and would be enough to fully drown out the sound. Since I've never had noise worsened T, I dont know how much noise is too much.

 

[fishbone]

Sorry if I messed up this reply, I hit quote I think that's what you're supposed to do. Anyways, my fan is not quite loud enough to fully drown out the sound, the low setting is relatively quiet. But the louder setting is a big step up and would be enough to fully drown out the sound. Since I've never had noise worsened T, I dont know how much noise is too much.

I have intrusive/loud/non-maskable tinnitus. There are times like right now... when I have my hearing aids in my ears playing natural ocean waves sounds. My masking noise/ocean sound is not even close to being as loud as the tinnitus. It's a gentle noise that plays and my brain still gets relaxed from it. I have played masking sounds loud before and it has just caused me stress and gave me a headache. I am assuming that your tinnitus is not that loud. Don't use a loud background noise, use something light that drifts the mind from your tinnitus sound to the fan/background noise.

Do whatever that makes you feel comfortable, but I never have loud background/masking noise

PS-By me using the hearing aids, it recharges my brain and calms it down. I think tinnitus and that constant noise can stress out our brain/system. So it's a great idea to recharge and relax our brain at times...

 

[Kert67]

I have intrusive/loud/non-maskable tinnitus. There are times like right now... when I have my hearing aids in my ears playing natural ocean waves sounds. My masking noise/ocean sound is not even close to being as loud as the tinnitus. It's a gentle noise that plays and my brain still gets relaxed from it. I have played masking sounds loud before and it has just caused me stress and gave me a headache. I am assuming that your tinnitus is not that loud. Don't use a loud background noise, use something light that drifts the mind from your tinnitus sound to the fan/background noise.

Do whatever that makes you feel comfortable, but I never have loud background/masking noise

Okay, I don't have a hearing aid so I can't do none of that, but if the ringing is slightly louder than the tv I can easily drown it out. Maybe I need to turn the tv down and see if I can still get the same affect. I'll post a reply soon

One more thing, during the night I have slight insomnia, not from the T but just what it is. It makes it harder to fall asleep becuase ig I focus on something hard enough like a fan while trying to sleep, while the T od whatever ringing it is goes away. But I also can't sleep because I'm focusing on something it's a catch 22 but eventually I get tired enough around midnight/1:00AM. good thing its summer

 

[fishbone]

Okay, I don't have a hearing aid so I can't do none of that, but if the ringing is slightly louder than the tv I can easily drown it out. Maybe I need to turn the tv down and see if I can still get the same affect. I'll post a reply soon

By having your tv louder, you are forcing the brain... to listen to louder noise anyways. The point is to have our mind be relaxed. Loud noise in general whether it's tinnitus or something else can cause excitement/anxiety/stress and possibly rattle the system.

 

[Kert67]

By having your tv louder, you are forcing the brain... to listen to louder noise anyways. The point is to have our mind be relaxed. Loud noise in general whether it's tinnitus or something else can cause anxiety/stress and possibly rattle the system.

I just turned the tv down about 10 notches, from 30 to 20 (not a very high level) and I can still drown it out and focus on the movie. I'm going to keep stepping it down maybe to prepare for the night

 

[fishbone]

I just turned the tv down about 10 notches, from 30 to 20 (not a very high level) and I can still drown it out and focus on the movie. I'm going to keep stepping it down maybe to prepare for the night

Believe it or not, you are in a good spot! You have the classical low level hiss/beginner stage of tinnitus. I got my tinnitus close to your age and I had the same situation. I did not have this forum and mentors helping me. Take my advice young man, protect your ears and don't be foolish and make the mistakes I made.

No one helped me or gave me advice, you are being given. I feel like I am talking to myself about 30 years ago

I'd do anything to have that low static noise back. Appreciate your situation and read this post each time you decide to listen to loud music or go to a loud party

 

[Kert67]

Believe it or not, you are in a good spot! You have the classical low level hiss/beginner stage of tinnitus. I got my tinnitus close to your age and I had the same situation. I did not have this forum and mentors helping me. Take my advice young man, protect your ears and don't be foolish and make the mistakes I made.

No one helped me or gave me advice, you are being given advice. I feel like I am talking to myself about 30 years ago

I'd do anything to have that low static noise back. Appreciate your situation and read this post each time you decide to listen to loud music or go to a loud party

I've had T for a long, long time. At the worst, in a dead silent room, it was a high pitched ring, very faint. It's never gotten worse either. The only time I would hear ringing worse than that is when I had an ear infection. Then the ear infection would go away and all would return to normal. I'm just now on a waiting game for this ear infection that I've had for close to a week and a half to go away. My first run of antibiotics did not work and I was on vacation so i couldnt do anything but just keep taking them because they helped alittle.

 

[fishbone]

I've had T for a long, long time. At the worst, in a dead silent room, it was a high pitched ring, very faint. It's never gotten worse either. The only time I would hear ringing worse than that is when I had an ear infection. Then the ear infection would go away and all would return to normal. I'm just now on a waiting game for this ear infection that I've had for close to a week and a half to go away. My first run of antibiotics did not work and I was on vacation so i couldnt do anything but just keep taking them because they helped alittle.

This may be the case, but trust me if you abuse your ears... it CAN get WAY worst and make you possibly regret it. I don't have much regret, because no one educated me on tinnitus and damaging of the ears.

 

[Kert67]

This may be the case, but trust me if you abuse your ears... it CAN get WAY worst and make you possibly regret it. I don't have much regret, because no one educated me on tinnitus and damaging of the ears.

Okay I definitely wont forget this I'll keep this in mind this 4th of July and whenever we go mudding it shooting guns (yes, I live in the south lol) I'll wear ear plugs I definitely wouldn't want my T to get worse. Especially since the classroom Is always quiet.

 

[Kert67]

Also, my medicine for the ear infection can take 2-3 days before the symtoms begin to have a noticable difference of subsiding, so until then I will focus on not letting it bug me, which it really hasn't that bad since I've been on these forums and reading stories and advice.

 

[Jazzer]

...trust me when I say this, you will be OK and can live your life. Many including myself are doing it and I am sure you will be ok.

"Thank god for the encouraging and supportive presence of our one and only @fishbone
- my mentor." xx

(...by the way, I'm an agnostic,
but that's a minor detail....)

 

[DebInAustralia]

It wasn't a ENT. I have been looking online and other people have had ear infections where amoxicillin didnt affect it. I've never had my T get worse before and I have had an uncountable different amounts and types of antibiotics in me in the past. I think my T might be a genetic thing because it wasent noice od medically induced as far as I can remember.

It could be a cumulative effect ….noise exposure, meds, etc

 

[Kert67]

It could be a cumulative effect ….noise exposure, meds, etc

So far, it's the second day of taking the meds and I haven't noticed the ringing getting worse, and me ear infection has stopped doing the popping that it does. For now I am believing it is just the cause of the ear infection. I will not know, though, until the ear infection is completely gone. Which could take a couple days.