My Tinnitus Is Clearing Up, Hopefully!

[Voxic]

Hi all,

I've only been on these forums for several weeks now but I'd like to talk about my hopeful road to recovery!

An overview of my tinnitus is thus, I was diagnosed with fluid behind both eardrums about 1.5 months a go , this itself follows along from when my T started in both my ears. In between that time and now I've seen doctors, audiologists at the hospital and audiologists privately. My latest audiogram, both pure-tone and bone conduction shows little to any hearing loss in both ears, the tone was altered (warbled?) to get past the tinnitus.

When it first started the noise was unbearably loud, this has started to reduce slightly as the time went by. I'm currently at a stage where for the last 3ish days I've had no ringing in my left ear at all, my right has also reduced drastically in volume, whilst I can still hear the ringing at night, when I lay on that side, and in an enclosed space that's quiet. I'm hoping that within the next week or two the gradual reduction will continue and my right ear will be clear too.

I'm honestly really thankful to everyone who has offered support / answered questions I've posted and to everyone in general whose threads / posts I've read. It really helped me come to terms with what I was suffering with. This has really opened my eyes to have easy it is to damage my ears and has made me take efforts to protect my hearing as best as possible. Whilst I still have the ringing currently I'm no longer bothered by it, which I think is a good sign regardless.

I'll keep this post up to date within the coming fortnight, mainly to let anyone interested know if the T has cleared up completely. I think it's time I stop browsing this forum as much as I am and to actually live my life again.

My sincerest regards.

 

[baz 22]

@Voxic did you have any kind of treatment or supplements?

 

[Voxic]

I've done nothing but use sound to distract me from the T and a hot water bottle on both ears whenever the ear ache got rather bad. My doctors said it was all down to time for when my ears would clear up, so far that seems to be the case. I guess in terms of things I've taken paracetamol is the only one, but that was because the ear ache was causing massive headaches during the early days.

 

[Voxic]

Might be a bit early but I've just woken up an hour a go and the ringing from the right ear is practically gone / only present for a small amount of time. There are still a few spikes which make it present in both ears but on the other hand it seems to be clearing up nicely.

 

[derpytia]

Congratulations on your T reduction! And good for you for learning to take care of your ears. The rest of us don't have it so lucky so take care! You might not get a second chance like this...

 

[Voxic]

Another full day of what I think is no T in my left ear, apart from spikes in both, and only slight ringing in the other when I fully block my right ear. I can still feel fluid / wetness within both my ears so I'm assuming the fluid is still there and that my eustachian tubes are slowly returning back to normal.

 

[Voxic]

A partial day, the majority of it so far, my left ear has been clear of T, I've had the odd sound for a few minutes now and then but I'm positive still. My right seems to have flipped the table, it's bunged(?) up again from the feel. The T itself in that ear is not as bad as it originally was but is definitely more pronounced today than it has been.

 

[Voxic]

Another good day in regards to my left ear. My right for the most of the day has been ringing quite consistently, although for the last 3 hours it has stopped ringing altogether unless both my ears are fully blocked! I believe I'm on the final stretch to recovery now.

 

[Voxic]

Yet again, another day in where the T has been considerably low in both ears, except for the odd spike now and then. These spikes seem to last 10-20 seconds in total before fading again in to the background. I'm back to where I was nearing the start of my experience with T in regards to that I'm only really hearing it when I block both my ears up fully. Both my ears are still feeling blocked / stuffy like they have for the last 5-6 weeks but I'm taking this volume reduction as a good sign of the fluid clearing up.

 

[Voxic]

I've had a weekend of near silence, the T was only audible during the night, very faintly, or when my ears were fully blocked up - earbuds with nothing coming through etc. It seems to be staying like this, beside the random spike once or twice a day. I'm still in week 6 of the 6-8 weeks recovery period my doctor suggested so I'm hopeful it will clear soon. Although, if it stayed at the level it is permanently I believe I'd be more than capable of coping with it.

 

[Voxic]

Hi everyone,

The fluid built back up quite badly this week. Bringing the T back with it to a constant volume that I can hear. I've definitely noticed that it's not as loud as it once was. I've started taking decongestants again in an effort to clear my sinuses and hopefully allow the fluid to drain for good this time. I definitely can hear the difference between the 5 days of near silence to what it was like now, and to also what it was like during the first few weeks.

I met with a family friend a few days a go that I haven't seen in a while. Apparently they had a very similar situation to myself years a go which persisted for over 1-2 years, that been fluid in the ear, ear-ache etc and it eventually cleared up to the point of pure silence again. I'm still optimistic that it's going to go for good.

I am back with my doctor again on Tuesday next week, mainly because I'm nearing my 8 weeks time period. Is there anything I could / should potentially ask for to help open my Eustachian tubes / clear my sinuses or shall I just stick with my decongestant tablets?

 

[Voxic]

Week 7.5? (I think.) update, I've went to the doctors about a week earlier in regards to my 8 week appointment as I'm busy next week and won't really have a chance. The doctor, who I've seen previously, has checked both my ears and the fluid is no longer actively visible behind them. Although this is a good sign, regardless of the T still ringing slightly in one of my ears and sometimes for a few seconds in my left, the inflammation is still there based on my other symptoms.

I've been given a 4 week course of steroid nasal spray to try and remove the inflammation. I'm on about day 3 of this so far, I don't think I've let the spray build up enough yet to start having an effect but I'm hopeful. I've been told inflammation should go once my cold goes.

On the note of the spike I've been hearing when at work, a co-worker just returned the other day from a holiday and he's also heard a note similar to mine, it turns out one of the ceiling vents was making a high pitched hiss that only us two could hear.

TLDR: The ringing is still occuring but definitely at a lower volume. I'm on steroid nasal spray to try and remove the inflammation that's stopping the fluid in my ears from draining.

 

[Tom60]

Glad to hear that your T is getting better. My situation is similar to yours. Mine started about 2 weeks ago. Apparently I had a tooth abscess that I was unaware of, so I don't know how long I'd had it. Anyway, the infection spread, first to my sinuses and then to my right ear. Then the tinnitus started. It was about 8 days ago when I finally noticed the tooth infection. I went in and was put on antibiotics to take for 10 days. The infection seems to be cleared up, and I have 2 more days with the antibiotics. I noticed a gradual decrease in intensity during this time, but I also did some research on the internet and found out that one of my medications, Tramadol, has also been known to aggravate this. I stopped that medication 2 days ago, and the intensity has decreased even further. I still have some stuffiness in my ear, but the pain is gone. It could be fluid in my ear still. I'll have to follow-up with my pcp on that. If my T stays at this level I should be able to cope with it. I have to admit that at the beginning of it, it was causing me a lot of anxiety. Well, it still is, but not as bad. Anyway, good luck to you and I hope you continue to get better.

 

[Voxic]

That was one of the main problems for me early on too, in that I was quite anxious about the T and it made the entire time seem worse. I've come to accept it, in it's current state that it is. I'm rarely if at all noticing it in every day life right now. My goal is to just let my ears get on with it and that it will at some point clear up, I'm still using hot water bottles etc to try and move the process along but at this point I'm back to how I was beforehand.

 

[Tom60]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it gets better again for you. As far as the anxiety goes, it can really be bad at first. I literally didn't know what to do with myself. So I started cleaning my apartment. And cleaning. Unfortunately I was so upset that I began looking for remedies on the internet without doing proper research. And there are a lot of "remedies" out there. I ordered some stuff online and even bought something at a local drugstore. I don't want to mention their names, because I don't want anyone reading this to get taken. Around $28 in total, probably thrown down the toilet. Homeopathic stuff that's probably no better than a placebo. But I bought it, so I'm using one of them. Pills that dissolve under your tongue. I didn't realize the extent that homeopathics are diluted. Oh well, lesson learned. I use my tv as a computer monitor as well, so I sit fairly close to it. The sound of the tv pretty effectively masks the tone. I also go to youtube a lot and listen with headphones. For some reason that has a residual effect. Even after removing the headphones there is a reduction in volume for a while. Those are some of the things that have helped me. Well, I hope you're able to get that fluid build-up cleared out of your ears. That will probably help. It just takes time.

 

[Voxic]

I should probably clear up that I was only having the anxiety in the first 2-3 weeks. I know it seems really early to call this but I think I've partially habituated to the noise. Thankfully I saw my doctors quite early on so they steared me away from all the remedies etc that I found from Google. I do hope your T stays reduced, if not goes completely as I believe mine will as well.

 

[Tom60]

Thank you. I ended up going out to the Urgent Care area of the VA this morning to see if I still had an ear infection. What was concerning me was the association of that with the infected tooth. The Dr. didn't notice an infection, just a skin condition in my ear canal that is probably related to a scalp condition. I got some hydrocortisone drops for that. My T was louder today. I started thinking again about medications. I also take Hydrocodone for a serious spinal condition, as well as the Tramadol. I looked through the literature I get with my prescription refills on all my meds, and ringing in the ears is not a listed side effect for any of them. So I did quite a few google searches, and couldn't find very many reports of it being associated with even Hydrocodone. I read that it's been a reported side-effect in about 1% of people. Negligible, like a placebo effect. I looked through several lists of drugs known to be ototoxic, and none of my meds were there. Mainly certain antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs and some others. I have worked in some very noisy workplaces in the past though. When I was in the Navy I worked on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, and it doesn't get much noisier than that. Also, I've listened to a lot of loud music with headphones. So I don't know. I guess I'll see how it goes and if it keeps up I'll tell my pcp about it when I see him.

 

[Voxic]

In regards to working in loud workplaces and listening to loud music, have you had a hearing test to see if you have hearing loss? That was one of my major worries when I had the onset of my tinnitus, due to my use of headphones in the workplace. I had two hearing tests done, one was within the first week of T and I was unable to actually hear the tone due to the ringing. The later I had done by a company in the UK (Specsavers) when my T has started to recide, thankfully it shown that I had no visible hearing loss on the scale and that I was generally below 5-10dcb across the board with some lower than 0dcb, mainly in the higher frequencies. Alongside the tone test that was performed I had a bone conduction test as well, this was mainly to check how badly the fluid was blocking my hearing, it did show a slight change in what I should hear normally and the general consensus that I've got from all my doctors / specialists I've visited is that all I need to do is wait for the fluid to drain completely.

 

[Tom60]

Yeah, I had a hearing test conducted before I got out of the Navy, and it was normal. I didn't notice any T in those days, but I've heard it can manifest years, even decades later. As for loud music with headphones, I've done that for most of my life. Mainly to not bother other people, but I've always used high-quality headphones which frankly sound better than any speakers I've had. I guess those days are over, at least at high volume.

 

[Voxic]

When it comes to music / anything sound related I generally set the volume to 60% and I've noticed no problems. I've been meaning to purchase a dcb meter just to satisfy my own curiosity in regards to the noise certain parts of everyday activity cause. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't loud music etc only cause tinnitus permanently if hearing loss occurs? I've heard stories of people getting tinnitus from loud music temporarily when their hearing is fine and in the same regard causing permanent T from actual hearing loss.