Tinnitus Had Been Pretty Much Gone Before Drinking Alcohol (A Whole Bottle of Jack Daniels)

[Adam Patton]

OK. So tinnitus was new to me til I had a week long ear ringing after a concert last year. October 10th is when I had relief. It has basically been non existent since then, only noticeable in a silent room when I am actually trying to hear it. Yesterday all day and til about 9 at night, I drank. Yeah yeah I know I cut loose and shouldn't have. Whole bottle of Jack Daniels later, and I wake up this morning with the ringing back! At one or two points today it subsided and then came back again. Currently still going.

Anyone ever dealt with this, and how did it last if so? Just trying to give myself a timeline to start stressing.

 

[Adam Patton]

OK. 32 year old male. No major medical history. No known hearing loss. Only bout with tinnitus was about a few days worth of ring after a concert.

So... The other day, I cut loose drinking. Woke up the next morning to the ring. It hasn't stopped since. I have noticed it has came and gone a time or two, and the intensity of it has eased at times and then resumed.

A few details. If I cup my hand and plunge my ears, especially my left, I feel like there is fluid that I can hear deep in there. The pinching my nose and blowing out method seems to work much more on the right side.

If I cover one ear at a time, the ring seems to be in both. Tilting my head and plunging my ear gently seems to offer some sort of relief, as does tilting and pulling on the lobe at times.

Most of the time, I have some sort of sinus issue going on, whether it be chest congestion or a runny nose, but I don't have the symptoms of a true sinus infection.

I have read everything from high blood pressure from the alcohol, to the alcohol destroying my ears, to there is no reason and this will forever be my new norm.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

 

[Chinmoku]

Alcohol impacts GABA receptors and neurotransmitters in the brain. Benzodiazepines do as well, that's why drinking while on benzos is dangerous. Disrupting GABA is suspected to alter signaling in the cochlea, this is why often people get tinnitus when discontinuing benzodiazepines. All that alcohol in one shot may have disrupted your GABA system. Hopefully it is only temporary but I would advise not to drink so much in a single session, and you may have to wait a while for your GABA levels to renormalize.

It's not necessarily GABA, it might be something else, but this is one possible explanation.

 

[Adam Patton]

OK. 32 year old male. No major medical history. No known hearing loss. Only bout with tinnitus was about a few days worth of ring after a concert 7 months ago that went away.

So... The other day, I cut loose drinking. Woke up the next morning to the ring. It hasn't stopped since. I have noticed it has came and gone a time or two, and the intensity of it has eased at times and then resumed.

A few details. If I cup my hand and plunge my ears, especially my left, I feel like there is fluid that I can hear deep in there. It squishes. The pinching my nose and blowing out (valsalva) method seems to work much more on the right side.

If I cover one ear at a time, the ring seems to be in both. Tilting my head and plunging my ear gently seems to offer some sort of relief, as does tilting and pulling on the lobe at times.

Most of the time, I have some sort of sinus issue going on, whether it be chest congestion or a runny nose, but I don't have the symptoms of a true sinus infection.

I have read everything from high blood pressure from the alcohol, to the alcohol destroying my ears, to there is no reason and this will forever be my new norm.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I wake up this morning with the ringing back!

Wait at least three months before assuming that it isn't temporary. Even if its still there three months from now, there is a chance that it will fade in a couple of years. Goes without saying that you will want to be careful to not have too much alcohol now.

 

[Static Sophie 73]

Cut back on the binge drinking, particularly of hard liquor. Bad for everything!

 

[Adam Patton]

Sorry for my duplicate post. Today is a much better day. It is really only there when I slow myself down and try to listen for it. Hopefully it continues to fade as I also feel less congested in my sinuses.

 

[Tybs]

I've had a similar (yet shorter) occasion like this. Went over to some friends a few months ago, had a nice evening and a few more drinks than planned, Jack Daniels as well. Went to bed afterwards, and when I woke up in the middle of the night a few hours later, my tinnitus was raging like wildfire...

Small note that my tinnitus is neck-induced, not from hearing loss. The spike went down after roughly four hours.

 

[ASilverLight]

Note to self: avoid Jack Daniels. Especially if it gave you a spike, Tybs, it's almost certain to give me one too

In all seriousness, don't worry too much. Most spikes are temporary, and you already noticed an improvement. Stay away from too much booze, and hopefully you'll be okay.

 

[Tavia R]

Hi Adam,
So if your tinnitus is actually a symptom of a migraine (not all migraines have headaches with them, I'm currently being treated for migraines to rule it out as a cause of my severe tinnitus and hyperacusis) which is actually very common, then alcohol is simply a trigger. I'm on a migraine diet avoiding all foods, chemicals, and habits that could even remotely trigger a migraine, so I know there are plenty of foods that affect different people different ways and alcohol causing migraines with the symptoms of tinnitus could be yours. Of course that could be wrong, but I'm just letting you know that I think that you are going to be okay and even if you find alcohol does cause you to have tinnitus, you can decide if it's worth it. If I didn't have pain I would totally say every single migraine trigger out there was worth it to me.

If you're interested in learning more the book I read about it was "Heal Your Headache, The 1-2-3 program for taking charge of your pain" by Dr David Buchholz.

 

[Adam Patton]

To update everyone. I had been having horrible neck pain, headache that seemed like congestion. I tilted my head and finger blasted my ears basically, heard so much squishing. Once I plugged my ears and removed my fingers, lots of fluids came out, and the ringing subsided. I am guessing this is all stemming from congestion and fluid behind the eardrum. As of today, it isn't there unless I sit in silence and search for it.