Hi all,
I'm in my late 30's, and the last 6 months I've been suffering from anxiety/chronic stress for the first time really in my life. This has been getting better of late but in the meantime I'm concerned about the onset/possible worsening of tinnitus and especially hyperacusis.
Here's the story.
Around March of this year I had a bit of a breakdown for various reasons work and non-work related. I started to get really bad sleep and soon this turned into insomnia. About two months in, I thought initially my central heating system was playing up because I could hear this water trickling sort of sound in each room. I eventually realised when I stayed at my parents that it was my left ear! I also retreated into a really quiet/silence space in the evenings, even though this wasn't because of any ear problems, but my anxiety/stress/breakdown made me lose any interest in music, TV, etc. and I seemed to just want to stay in bed all the time and try to sleep.
Shortly after, pressing on my tragus, I could also hear a dual sound - a consistent tone rather than a ring.
As my anxiety/stress was ongoing, my GP prescribed me Citalopram. I was initially determined I was going to overcome my anxiety/stress without the need for anti-depressants/SSRIs, but after 3 months I decided to do it as I was still having attacks. I only lasted one 10mg tablet as what little bit of sleep I sometimes got (around 1-2 hours sometimes with Zopiclone) collapsed entirely, my appetite which was still mostly good also collapsed. After a few days the side effects including dry heaving wore off again. I had about 4 days worth of teeth pain around this time too which I saw my dentist about. I thought I might be grinding because of the stress/anxiety but the dentist wasn't entirely convinced and having found an infection at the back of my gum - left-hand side too, I was prescribed Amoxcillin and it cleared up. I'm not aware I've had any grinding since or TMJ.
I struggled on, having some better days/weeks and some worse. After one bad panic attack especially, I caved in and took another 10mg Citalopram and 7.5mg Zopiclone (sleeping tablet). I had the same side effects as before (which my GP said to expect). The night after, I accidently took 200mg of Ibuprofen instead of a Paracetamol for such incredible headache. It was the morning after that I realised my voice sounded incredibly loud to myself, and other noises seemed increased in volume. Again, I never took another Citalopram or other tablets.
After a few days, my sensitivity to noise seemed better but my voice still seemed loud to me, and a little distorted/echo-like. I rang my GP in panic as I read that Ibuprofen shouldn't be taken with Citalopram, but my GP assured me this is because of risk of bleeding and is very rare. I'd taken Ibuprofen in the past before and never experienced any problems so presumed it would be ok. At this point, I'd never even heard of ototoxic drugs.
Roll forward another month, my tinnitus hasn't got any worse. It's still only my left ear and it's very changeable - even during the day. Sometimes I hear dual tones, sometimes just a low rumbling/water trickling sound. If I do a sort of breathing exercise (not classic breathing exercises but one where I breathe in only a little, but breathe out more heavily) over about 10 minutes, the tinnitus rumbling often halves in its volume. I sometimes also get squelches, multiple clicking when I swallow. I have no problems with my right ear at all.
The tinnitus itself I think I can live with but its the weird sensation of my own voice and sensitivity to noise that worries me - and possibility of hyperacusis. This seems to change day by day, depending on my anxiety/stress level (the original reasons for anxiety/stress aren't such a factor now, having been replaced my a new anxiety/stress about my ears!) and sleep patterns. For example, I got about 5 hours sleep one night and my sensitivity to noises around me seemed less pronounced. Last night I got very little and today everything seems very loud/irritable around me. It also seems to be the left ear where this is pronounced.
At the moment, I wouldn't say its that bad sensitivity - I notice it mostly on the bus to/from work (engine noise), in our canteen with people talking, and occasionally traffic noise going past. I seem to be tolerating life in general ok, TV, music (which I now listen to at reduced volume than I have in the past!) although seem to have more difficulty in following people's conversations against background noises and after listening to music my left ear sometimes feels more sensitive and 'buzzy' - sometimes it feels like it's 'more open'.. I don't get any pain and I don't seem to see any obvious pattern with my tinnitus volume or sensitivity to noise. Having read articles about hyperacusis, I realised that my retreat into silence when I had my initial breakdown might not help and so I am ensuring I expose myself to everyday noise and music again so as to not worsen things.
My own voice loudness/distortion/echo effect varies also, often throughout the day. Sometimes it seems that if I sniff, it goes down a bit in distortion/echo. Certainly it seems better those days I've had some sleep and I'm feeling less anxious/stressed. It's improved since a month or so back when I first had the sensation come on after my panic/Citalopram/Ibruprofen episode.
I've been to my GPs again, and they seem to either think its anxiety related - and that I need to give SSRIs proper chance to work. Although I'm coping really quiet well now with no panic attacks for a month, mostly functioning ok and working. I said I'm scared now that the potential side effects of SSRIs (especially in regards my ears) makes me reluctant to. They seem to think I'm blowing it out of proportion and the amounts I've had of Citalopram/Ibuprofen in only two sporadic occasions wouldn't cause any of the problems with the loudness of voice/sensitivity to sound. I did mention that I'd read that these and other drugs are known to be ototoxic and on one site lots of people claim that they're tinnitus/hyperacusis possibly came on only with a handful of Ibuprofen, etc. I just don't know what to believe.
Perhaps the sensitivity to noise is only anxiety or lack of sleep related? And if I can keep my anxiety/stress down and get some decent sleep back and regularly, then it'll get better. Perhaps my retreat into silence at the height of my breakdown has just made my brain less tolerant for a while and it just needs some re-training/getting used to noise/music again.
My GP thinks the voice loudness/sensitivity is a combination of this, and also Eustachian tube dysfunction. I tried to get a referral to an ENT but they're not being very receptive and they've given me Mometasone nasal spray for a month and Cetrizine anti-histamines before they'll consider anything else.
I've not experienced any ear pain, balance or vertigo so far. I've not been to an audiologist for any tests but I can't detect any obvious hearing loss - if anything, everything seems louder and my hearing seems pretty good still.
As I'm mostly functioning, I'm really reluctant now to attempt SSRIs again even though my GP, another GP, therapist and occupation health nurse at work all seem to sing their praises! I did wonder whether Mirtazapine might be worth a try primarily to get my sleep really properly under control (and its side effects seem much less worse than any other anti-depressant out there). I'm a bit baffled though that some resources regard it as not ototoxic, but other people say that it can cause/make hyperacusis worse?!
Thanks for reading and any thoughts and advice I would be most grateful (even if its that I'm probably over-reacting/overly worrying/am a hypochondriac!)! I'm so scared that one or both are going to get worse, especially as music is such a big part of my life.
Steph
I'm in my late 30's, and the last 6 months I've been suffering from anxiety/chronic stress for the first time really in my life. This has been getting better of late but in the meantime I'm concerned about the onset/possible worsening of tinnitus and especially hyperacusis.
Here's the story.
Around March of this year I had a bit of a breakdown for various reasons work and non-work related. I started to get really bad sleep and soon this turned into insomnia. About two months in, I thought initially my central heating system was playing up because I could hear this water trickling sort of sound in each room. I eventually realised when I stayed at my parents that it was my left ear! I also retreated into a really quiet/silence space in the evenings, even though this wasn't because of any ear problems, but my anxiety/stress/breakdown made me lose any interest in music, TV, etc. and I seemed to just want to stay in bed all the time and try to sleep.
Shortly after, pressing on my tragus, I could also hear a dual sound - a consistent tone rather than a ring.
As my anxiety/stress was ongoing, my GP prescribed me Citalopram. I was initially determined I was going to overcome my anxiety/stress without the need for anti-depressants/SSRIs, but after 3 months I decided to do it as I was still having attacks. I only lasted one 10mg tablet as what little bit of sleep I sometimes got (around 1-2 hours sometimes with Zopiclone) collapsed entirely, my appetite which was still mostly good also collapsed. After a few days the side effects including dry heaving wore off again. I had about 4 days worth of teeth pain around this time too which I saw my dentist about. I thought I might be grinding because of the stress/anxiety but the dentist wasn't entirely convinced and having found an infection at the back of my gum - left-hand side too, I was prescribed Amoxcillin and it cleared up. I'm not aware I've had any grinding since or TMJ.
I struggled on, having some better days/weeks and some worse. After one bad panic attack especially, I caved in and took another 10mg Citalopram and 7.5mg Zopiclone (sleeping tablet). I had the same side effects as before (which my GP said to expect). The night after, I accidently took 200mg of Ibuprofen instead of a Paracetamol for such incredible headache. It was the morning after that I realised my voice sounded incredibly loud to myself, and other noises seemed increased in volume. Again, I never took another Citalopram or other tablets.
After a few days, my sensitivity to noise seemed better but my voice still seemed loud to me, and a little distorted/echo-like. I rang my GP in panic as I read that Ibuprofen shouldn't be taken with Citalopram, but my GP assured me this is because of risk of bleeding and is very rare. I'd taken Ibuprofen in the past before and never experienced any problems so presumed it would be ok. At this point, I'd never even heard of ototoxic drugs.
Roll forward another month, my tinnitus hasn't got any worse. It's still only my left ear and it's very changeable - even during the day. Sometimes I hear dual tones, sometimes just a low rumbling/water trickling sound. If I do a sort of breathing exercise (not classic breathing exercises but one where I breathe in only a little, but breathe out more heavily) over about 10 minutes, the tinnitus rumbling often halves in its volume. I sometimes also get squelches, multiple clicking when I swallow. I have no problems with my right ear at all.
The tinnitus itself I think I can live with but its the weird sensation of my own voice and sensitivity to noise that worries me - and possibility of hyperacusis. This seems to change day by day, depending on my anxiety/stress level (the original reasons for anxiety/stress aren't such a factor now, having been replaced my a new anxiety/stress about my ears!) and sleep patterns. For example, I got about 5 hours sleep one night and my sensitivity to noises around me seemed less pronounced. Last night I got very little and today everything seems very loud/irritable around me. It also seems to be the left ear where this is pronounced.
At the moment, I wouldn't say its that bad sensitivity - I notice it mostly on the bus to/from work (engine noise), in our canteen with people talking, and occasionally traffic noise going past. I seem to be tolerating life in general ok, TV, music (which I now listen to at reduced volume than I have in the past!) although seem to have more difficulty in following people's conversations against background noises and after listening to music my left ear sometimes feels more sensitive and 'buzzy' - sometimes it feels like it's 'more open'.. I don't get any pain and I don't seem to see any obvious pattern with my tinnitus volume or sensitivity to noise. Having read articles about hyperacusis, I realised that my retreat into silence when I had my initial breakdown might not help and so I am ensuring I expose myself to everyday noise and music again so as to not worsen things.
My own voice loudness/distortion/echo effect varies also, often throughout the day. Sometimes it seems that if I sniff, it goes down a bit in distortion/echo. Certainly it seems better those days I've had some sleep and I'm feeling less anxious/stressed. It's improved since a month or so back when I first had the sensation come on after my panic/Citalopram/Ibruprofen episode.
I've been to my GPs again, and they seem to either think its anxiety related - and that I need to give SSRIs proper chance to work. Although I'm coping really quiet well now with no panic attacks for a month, mostly functioning ok and working. I said I'm scared now that the potential side effects of SSRIs (especially in regards my ears) makes me reluctant to. They seem to think I'm blowing it out of proportion and the amounts I've had of Citalopram/Ibuprofen in only two sporadic occasions wouldn't cause any of the problems with the loudness of voice/sensitivity to sound. I did mention that I'd read that these and other drugs are known to be ototoxic and on one site lots of people claim that they're tinnitus/hyperacusis possibly came on only with a handful of Ibuprofen, etc. I just don't know what to believe.
Perhaps the sensitivity to noise is only anxiety or lack of sleep related? And if I can keep my anxiety/stress down and get some decent sleep back and regularly, then it'll get better. Perhaps my retreat into silence at the height of my breakdown has just made my brain less tolerant for a while and it just needs some re-training/getting used to noise/music again.
My GP thinks the voice loudness/sensitivity is a combination of this, and also Eustachian tube dysfunction. I tried to get a referral to an ENT but they're not being very receptive and they've given me Mometasone nasal spray for a month and Cetrizine anti-histamines before they'll consider anything else.
I've not experienced any ear pain, balance or vertigo so far. I've not been to an audiologist for any tests but I can't detect any obvious hearing loss - if anything, everything seems louder and my hearing seems pretty good still.
As I'm mostly functioning, I'm really reluctant now to attempt SSRIs again even though my GP, another GP, therapist and occupation health nurse at work all seem to sing their praises! I did wonder whether Mirtazapine might be worth a try primarily to get my sleep really properly under control (and its side effects seem much less worse than any other anti-depressant out there). I'm a bit baffled though that some resources regard it as not ototoxic, but other people say that it can cause/make hyperacusis worse?!
Thanks for reading and any thoughts and advice I would be most grateful (even if its that I'm probably over-reacting/overly worrying/am a hypochondriac!)! I'm so scared that one or both are going to get worse, especially as music is such a big part of my life.
Steph
Member
). We all (i guess) have/had the times we do not want to do anything anymore. I thought I could never have sex again because this damn T all the time. I am very open about this....but if I have a bad T day....nothing can make me feel to be intimid with my girlfriend....and I realy love her...so when that feeling is gone (not the love...cause that is always there) for that day..... I know I have to pick myself up. You cannot lie to yourself ....you know when you have a bad day or a good day.....but you have to be strong.
