Hi! I'm Doris. I developed tinnitus in my late 20's (I'm nearly 40) after a really bad ear infection (related to a throat infection). Since then I hear what I can compare to hearing lots of crickets far away (I mostly hear it when everything is quiet). I also hear my blood pumping (on and off).
But 6 weeks ago I had COVID-19 (Omicron) which was mild, although I had a runny nose for weeks and up to this day I have congested sinuses. I noticed that as soon as I felt sick my tinnitus was more pronounced. I understand now that this was because of the inflammation in the nasal passages that are inevitably connected to the ears.
But I think I made it even worse by using a saline nasal spray that went to my ears (I felt it in my ears straight away). That was a week ago, and now not only is my tinnitus more pronounced but I hear a new sound, a quite loud whistle which is more bothersome that the other sound that I had quite gotten used to.
I went to the ENT who checked my ears and confirmed that I indeed have fluid in both my middle ears. She explained that normally that fluid drains by itself through the Eustachian tubes (that connect the nasal passages with the middle ear) but in my case they're probably inflamed and blocked because my nose and throat still showed a lot of inflammation (from COVID-19).
I researched long COVID-19, and it seems like it's caused by an over activation of mast cells (kind of an allergic sort of reaction) which produces lots histamines in your body and they actually have studied how anti histamines have considerably reduced long COVID-19 symptoms in a few people. My ENT prescribed antihistamines and nasal corticosteroids but I refuse to take them due to side effects I have suffered in the past (mental side effects are the worst).
So putting 2 and 2 together (considering also that I've had allergies for a long time) I think the inflammation in my ears must have a lot to do with histamines and mast cells, so I want to explore nutrition and maybe natural supplements to see whether I can reduce histamines in my body naturally. I read somewhere here that someone's tinnitus was 90 % gone by treating mast cell activation. It kind of makes sense. I'll post the process and results!
But 6 weeks ago I had COVID-19 (Omicron) which was mild, although I had a runny nose for weeks and up to this day I have congested sinuses. I noticed that as soon as I felt sick my tinnitus was more pronounced. I understand now that this was because of the inflammation in the nasal passages that are inevitably connected to the ears.
But I think I made it even worse by using a saline nasal spray that went to my ears (I felt it in my ears straight away). That was a week ago, and now not only is my tinnitus more pronounced but I hear a new sound, a quite loud whistle which is more bothersome that the other sound that I had quite gotten used to.
I went to the ENT who checked my ears and confirmed that I indeed have fluid in both my middle ears. She explained that normally that fluid drains by itself through the Eustachian tubes (that connect the nasal passages with the middle ear) but in my case they're probably inflamed and blocked because my nose and throat still showed a lot of inflammation (from COVID-19).
I researched long COVID-19, and it seems like it's caused by an over activation of mast cells (kind of an allergic sort of reaction) which produces lots histamines in your body and they actually have studied how anti histamines have considerably reduced long COVID-19 symptoms in a few people. My ENT prescribed antihistamines and nasal corticosteroids but I refuse to take them due to side effects I have suffered in the past (mental side effects are the worst).
So putting 2 and 2 together (considering also that I've had allergies for a long time) I think the inflammation in my ears must have a lot to do with histamines and mast cells, so I want to explore nutrition and maybe natural supplements to see whether I can reduce histamines in my body naturally. I read somewhere here that someone's tinnitus was 90 % gone by treating mast cell activation. It kind of makes sense. I'll post the process and results!