Pinpointing the Cause of My Tinnitus Was a Nightmare — Birth Control Was the Culprit

[MacKenzie]

I'm looking for I guess opinions on the data I have as to what all the causes could be and what I think caused it. I had an absolute crazy storm of stuff that happened that could all be the cause:

1. 11/19/2021 - Hit a curb going 35 mph, car in left turning lane decided to go straight instead and they didn't see me. No soreness afterwards & didn't hit head. Whiplash maybe?
2. 11/21/2021 - Got birth control (Progestin) for first time in over 20 years. Couldn't take estrogen due to history of migraine with aura. I took the first pill right before bed.
3. 11/22/2021 - Woke up, ear felt weird and had slight tinnitus. I put Q-tip in ear to clean (I know that's bad) and I hurt something.
4. 11/27/2021 - Was a weekend, wanted to see a doctor, did telehealth video visit, but they needed photos of ear. I have an earwax removal tool with a camera so I unscrewed the wax scoop and jammed camera in there. May have agitated ear. They prescribed the standard Z-Pack, nasal spray, antibiotics. No relief.
5. 11/28/2021 - Other symptoms were extreme fullness in ear, being dizzy, feeling nauseous, couldn't even take my dog for a walk.
6. 11/29/2021 - Went to my doctor, he put the otoscope in, turned it, and I screamed. He said it was swimmer's ear. I have had swimmer's ear before, it was so much more painful so I didn't agree with it. Gave me swimmer's ear ear drops. Didn't work.
7. 12/01/2021 - Asked doctors if it could be the birth control, they said no, I stopped taking it anyways.
8. 12/07/2021 - Went crazy and went to hospital, said my canal is no longer red or inflamed and told me to be patient.
9. 12/??/2021 - Early December went to ENT who didn't give me any cause. No help or relief, just said it'll go away.
10. 12/26/2021 - Felt like it was finally going away!
11. 12/30/2021 - For whatever idiotic reason I was convinced it couldn't have been the birth control so I started taking it again that afternoon. At night I laid down with that ear facing the ceiling it began clicking like bubbles were coming up out of water and popping.
12. 01/01/2022 - Tinnitus was back with a vengeance, only took one more birth control pill thinking maybe it was unrelated. That night the clicking and bubbling thin happened non-stop. I didn't take anymore after that
13. 02/01/2022 - Previous weak tinnitus was all rated 1/10 or maybe 0.5/10 but today it's rated a 4/10.

Phew I know that was a lot. I was glad to finally find the cause but wow let's hope it's not permanent! I am close to my menstrual cycle and maybe the hormone change is what makes it worse.

Doctors said women usually get tinnitus from a drop in certain hormones so it's weird but not outside the realm of possibility that this happened.

Never had an issue with the estrogen patch I took 20 years ago and no issues with the emergency contraceptive pill.

So do you think it was the birth control as well? Same night/next day symptoms started everytime I'd take a pill. I took 8 days worth. The first time around it got so bad I couldn't even stand. I took 2 days worth the second time around.

 

[Kendra]

Progesterone and Progestin have been linked to hearing loss.

Both birth control pills and hormone replacement therapies have been studied and shown hearing loss linked to both of these.