MemberHello, I am in my thirties, from Europe. This is my unfortunate story of tinnitus onset.
This year in March I went to a public event. For the first time in years I did so without wearing a mask. In hindsight, I was feeling overconfident since I had all the vaccinations and boosters, and thought that nothing serious could happen to me. Almost nobody else wore a mask either.
A few days later I developed the usual symptoms of a cold. They were mostly mild, although they continued for the next two weeks in some form. I did multiple SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests, which came out negative.
Not long after other symptoms appeared, I woke up at night and noticed a pure ~1 kHz tone in my right ear. I was very sleepy, so I put the right ear against the pillow, which silenced the sound, and fell asleep again. In the next days and nights I was noticing the sound more and more, and a new close tone appeared in the same ear, which was constantly modulating, not unlike a Morse code transmission. Simultaneously, a ringing sound also appeared in the same ear. Both sounds were gradually becoming louder, to the point I could hear the ringing outdoors. I also noticed the sounds became louder if my body was in a horizontal position.
For the first few days I hoped this was a temporary symptom from the cold and that it would go away. After a week or so, I started panicking and scheduled an appointment with my ENT. At this point my sleep was already substantially impacted; I would wake up at night and couldn't fall asleep due to the loud sound.
I visited the ENT a few days later. They did a hearing test up to 8 kHz and it came out fine with 0…10 dB HL for both ears. They also said there was no fluid behind the eardrums and that the Eustachian tubes appeared to be functioning. They referred me to multiple tests, including MRI, and prescribed pentoxifylline. The same day my GP prescribed me zolpidem for sleep issues.
For the next multiple weeks, I was doing a lot more examinations and doctor appointments. All tests were mostly fine, didn't show any inflammation, deficiencies or relevant pathologies. The doctors also noted tense neck muscles and referred me to massage therapy. The therapy did help with the tension, but not with the tinnitus.
Meanwhile, the tinnitus sounds started to change. They would become more quiet in the morning and gradually ramp up for the evening. Sometimes in the evening the sound would be very loud, even louder than at onset. A slight hissing appeared in my left ear, followed by another pure mid-range tone which appeared to be centered in the head.
As this continued, I was reading Tinnitus Talk (which has been both the source of information and despair for me), and stumbled upon a thread stating that Zolpidem can cause tinnitus. I understood it could have been the source of the new sounds. I had made the same mistake as @DRobi! The drug description, which I did read before taking the pills, didn't mention tinnitus or anything ear-related. I had been using Zolpidem for about 6 weeks at the time, gradually reducing the dose as it can't be used for too long.
That day I cut the dose in half with the intent of stopping the drug as soon as possible. On the second day of the reduction, this proved to be another mistake as I got intense fever and tremors due to withdrawal. Still, I stuck with the reduced dose, thinking that the withdrawal had passed, and the day after that even didn't take the sleep pill at all. BIG mistake — that night I woke up with 10/10 suicidal tinnitus in both ears. I eventually took the missed dose and the ringing subsided somewhat, but this event also changed the tinnitus characteristics. After this I took a slower two-week path to stop Zolpidem, but the changes from that event have remained.
Then, as if this hadn't been enough, I underwent a second MRI (1.5 Tesla) and got a spike one day after that. If before that I could average 4-5 hours of sleep, now for the past weeks there have been many days I can't sleep at all due to intense ringing. It's been about three weeks since the MRI and the spike hasn't subsided.
Currently I'm taking various supplements: magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, and melatonin or valerian for sleep, but so far I haven't noticed any substantial effects.
Physically and emotionally, this has been hell for me. My life is falling apart, I have been unable to sleep or work for months, and the future looks very bleak. Previously I had good sleep schedule and used to sleep 8 hours or more. Now I just exist day after day being sleepy and fearing the next night. I am using a sound machine, but it only helps somewhat, and the sound itself is a distraction as previously I used to sleep in silence. Ironically, I think I would have been better off if I hadn't sought medical help.
I should add that I used to watch movies with headphones often. This may have predisposed me to getting this ailment.
I feel for everyone who has this torturous condition. Treatment can't come soon enough.
To conclude, here are the mistakes I made due to carelessness/distress, all of which were also entirely preventable:
This year in March I went to a public event. For the first time in years I did so without wearing a mask. In hindsight, I was feeling overconfident since I had all the vaccinations and boosters, and thought that nothing serious could happen to me. Almost nobody else wore a mask either.
A few days later I developed the usual symptoms of a cold. They were mostly mild, although they continued for the next two weeks in some form. I did multiple SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests, which came out negative.
Not long after other symptoms appeared, I woke up at night and noticed a pure ~1 kHz tone in my right ear. I was very sleepy, so I put the right ear against the pillow, which silenced the sound, and fell asleep again. In the next days and nights I was noticing the sound more and more, and a new close tone appeared in the same ear, which was constantly modulating, not unlike a Morse code transmission. Simultaneously, a ringing sound also appeared in the same ear. Both sounds were gradually becoming louder, to the point I could hear the ringing outdoors. I also noticed the sounds became louder if my body was in a horizontal position.
For the first few days I hoped this was a temporary symptom from the cold and that it would go away. After a week or so, I started panicking and scheduled an appointment with my ENT. At this point my sleep was already substantially impacted; I would wake up at night and couldn't fall asleep due to the loud sound.
I visited the ENT a few days later. They did a hearing test up to 8 kHz and it came out fine with 0…10 dB HL for both ears. They also said there was no fluid behind the eardrums and that the Eustachian tubes appeared to be functioning. They referred me to multiple tests, including MRI, and prescribed pentoxifylline. The same day my GP prescribed me zolpidem for sleep issues.
For the next multiple weeks, I was doing a lot more examinations and doctor appointments. All tests were mostly fine, didn't show any inflammation, deficiencies or relevant pathologies. The doctors also noted tense neck muscles and referred me to massage therapy. The therapy did help with the tension, but not with the tinnitus.
Meanwhile, the tinnitus sounds started to change. They would become more quiet in the morning and gradually ramp up for the evening. Sometimes in the evening the sound would be very loud, even louder than at onset. A slight hissing appeared in my left ear, followed by another pure mid-range tone which appeared to be centered in the head.
As this continued, I was reading Tinnitus Talk (which has been both the source of information and despair for me), and stumbled upon a thread stating that Zolpidem can cause tinnitus. I understood it could have been the source of the new sounds. I had made the same mistake as @DRobi! The drug description, which I did read before taking the pills, didn't mention tinnitus or anything ear-related. I had been using Zolpidem for about 6 weeks at the time, gradually reducing the dose as it can't be used for too long.
That day I cut the dose in half with the intent of stopping the drug as soon as possible. On the second day of the reduction, this proved to be another mistake as I got intense fever and tremors due to withdrawal. Still, I stuck with the reduced dose, thinking that the withdrawal had passed, and the day after that even didn't take the sleep pill at all. BIG mistake — that night I woke up with 10/10 suicidal tinnitus in both ears. I eventually took the missed dose and the ringing subsided somewhat, but this event also changed the tinnitus characteristics. After this I took a slower two-week path to stop Zolpidem, but the changes from that event have remained.
Then, as if this hadn't been enough, I underwent a second MRI (1.5 Tesla) and got a spike one day after that. If before that I could average 4-5 hours of sleep, now for the past weeks there have been many days I can't sleep at all due to intense ringing. It's been about three weeks since the MRI and the spike hasn't subsided.
Currently I'm taking various supplements: magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, and melatonin or valerian for sleep, but so far I haven't noticed any substantial effects.
Physically and emotionally, this has been hell for me. My life is falling apart, I have been unable to sleep or work for months, and the future looks very bleak. Previously I had good sleep schedule and used to sleep 8 hours or more. Now I just exist day after day being sleepy and fearing the next night. I am using a sound machine, but it only helps somewhat, and the sound itself is a distraction as previously I used to sleep in silence. Ironically, I think I would have been better off if I hadn't sought medical help.
I should add that I used to watch movies with headphones often. This may have predisposed me to getting this ailment.
I feel for everyone who has this torturous condition. Treatment can't come soon enough.
To conclude, here are the mistakes I made due to carelessness/distress, all of which were also entirely preventable:
- Not wearing a mask at a public event.
- Panicking early at onset.
- Using a sleep medicine. STAY AWAY FROM ANY PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES!
- Not heeding warnings about potential MRI harm.
