Unknown Tinnitus Second Week Now

[Anastasia]

Hello. My name is Anastasia, I'm 20, and this is my second week with tinnitus. It started last Thursday.

It sounds like a high pitched wavering tone that will occasionally stop for a split second before starting up again. I can hear it in silence and quiet environments, but most of the time I can mask it if I'm doing something.

The strange thing about it is that I have it in my right ear only, and I have no clue what caused it.

On top of this, I have no other symptoms. It bothered me a lot, so I went to see my GP the day after the T started; she found my right nostril to be congested when she looked into it and found some water in my right ear. Assuming it was the congestion causing the ringing, she recommended to me a nasal spray and Sudafed PE congestion tablets.

She wanted me to return after three weeks if the ringing persisted. Since the T started, I have had very bad anxiety, felt nauseous, and couldn't eat properly. I have also had trouble sleeping and have been using a fan at night to mask out the tone. The T also seemed to get worse. I got impatient and scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist.

Day of the appointment, which was 8/10, I described to him the situation, and he completely dismissed what my GP put me on. My vitals were perfect, and so were my ears. He didn't find any problems with the eardrums, no excessive wax, no sign of infection, the water wasn't there anymore, nothing. Only thing worth mentioning was, again, my congestion.

He then let an audiologist take over, who performed a standard audiogram on me. The results showed my ears were working perfectly fine with no sign of hearing loss.

ENT got back to me and explained the results, mentioning that what I had was more than likely temporary. He prescribed to me Fluticasone Propionate as well as Prednisone 10 mg per day (neither of those are helping at the moment). In two weeks time, he wanted me to come back if symptoms persisted, in which case he wanted to perform a myringotomy on my affected ear. After hearing patients responses to that surgery, I am really against it as an option at the moment. It also seems oddly experimental to me.

I'm going to see another ENT specialist next week on Tuesday for a second opinion. Though I want a confident answer and solution, I have a feeling nothing will come out of that second appointment.

So this makes me wonder: is it really possible that what I'm having is just a temporary occurrence, despite there being no known cause for what my ear is going through?

A lot of people say it doesn't go away, and a lot of other people affected seem to at least have some other symptoms. The only things I can come up with as a cause for my T at the moment is a sugar-heavy diet, excessive caffeine, immersing my head in water when bathing, using q-tips to clean out wax (I don't do that anymore), bad posture that strains my neck, and a cold.

The ENT specialist I went to see already ruled out most of what I listed above.

I'm really sure what to expect with my current situation, and any advice would be helpful.

 

[Kolisar]

Welcome @Anastasia.

So this makes me wonder: is it really possible that what I'm having is just a temporary occurrence, despite there being no known cause for what my ear is going through?

@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )

The rate of recovery determined by the studies would indicate that there is a good chance that it could be temporary.

That being said, there are many of us here for whom it appears to not be temporary.

but most of the time I can mask it if I'm doing something

That is a good sign (assuming that you are not covering it up with louder sounds, which is dangerous and may cause more hearing damage). If you are able to, on occasion, not notice it, you may be able to habituate, which according to the success stories (if you have not read through that section of the forum, you really should) will allow you to return to a normal life.

For some good information on headphones and tinnitus, see the following post by @Michael Leigh https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/

 

[Amiel]

Praying for you.

 

[fishbone]

Hello. My name is Anastasia, I'm 20, and this is my second week with tinnitus. It started last Thursday.

It sounds like a high pitched wavering tone that will occasionally stop for a split second before starting up again. I can hear it in silence and quiet environments, but most of the time I can mask it if I'm doing something.

The strange thing about it is that I have it in my right ear only, and I have no clue what caused it.

On top of this, I have no other symptoms. It bothered me a lot, so I went to see my GP the day after the T started; she found my right nostril to be congested when she looked into it and found some water in my right ear. Assuming it was the congestion causing the ringing, she recommended to me a nasal spray and Sudafed PE congestion tablets.

She wanted me to return after three weeks if the ringing persisted. Since the T started, I have had very bad anxiety, felt nauseous, and couldn't eat properly. I have also had trouble sleeping and have been using a fan at night to mask out the tone. The T also seemed to get worse. I got impatient and scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist.

Day of the appointment, which was 8/10, I described to him the situation, and he completely dismissed what my GP put me on. My vitals were perfect, and so were my ears. He didn't find any problems with the eardrums, no excessive wax, no sign of infection, the water wasn't there anymore, nothing. Only thing worth mentioning was, again, my congestion.

He then let an audiologist take over, who performed a standard audiogram on me. The results showed my ears were working perfectly fine with no sign of hearing loss.

ENT got back to me and explained the results, mentioning that what I had was more than likely temporary. He prescribed to me Fluticasone Propionate as well as Prednisone 10 mg per day (neither of those are helping at the moment). In two weeks time, he wanted me to come back if symptoms persisted, in which case he wanted to perform a myringotomy on my affected ear. After hearing patients responses to that surgery, I am really against it as an option at the moment. It also seems oddly experimental to me.

I'm going to see another ENT specialist next week on Tuesday for a second opinion. Though I want a confident answer and solution, I have a feeling nothing will come out of that second appointment.

So this makes me wonder: is it really possible that what I'm having is just a temporary occurrence, despite there being no known cause for what my ear is going through?

A lot of people say it doesn't go away, and a lot of other people affected seem to at least have some other symptoms. The only things I can come up with as a cause for my T at the moment is a sugar-heavy diet, excessive caffeine, immersing my head in water when bathing, using q-tips to clean out wax (I don't do that anymore), bad posture that strains my neck, and a cold.

The ENT specialist I went to see already ruled out most of what I listed above.

I'm really sure what to expect with my current situation, and any advice would be helpful.

There is no telling if it will stay or go away. Only time will tell. Try not to be too hard on yourself, this is a scary thing but in time, things will adjust. Tinnitus is a tough battle and it takes lots of heart and courage to live with it. Some (including myself) have full blown/LOUD/High pitch tinnitus in both ears and it is pure HELL.

Please protect your ears and avoid loud places and people that don't respect your situation...

Take care

 

[Anastasia]

Welcome @Anastasia.



@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )

The rate of recovery determined by the studies would indicate that there is a good chance that it could be temporary.

That being said, there are many of us here for whom it appears to not be temporary.



That is a good sign (assuming that you are not covering it up with louder sounds, which is dangerous and may cause more hearing damage). If you are able to, on occasion, not notice it, you may be able to habituate, which according to the success stories (if you have not read through that section of the forum, you really should) will allow you to return to a normal life.

For some good information on headphones and tinnitus, see the following post by @Michael Leigh https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/

Those two threads were an interesting read, Kolisar. Thank you for providing them. Like you said, what I'm having could very well be temporary, considering that I am on the younger side. I really wish I could get to the bottom of what's causing my T, then I could get a better indication of what to avoid in order to make it better.

My method at masking my T is to avoid silence as much as possible. I started doing this by spending more time with my family, having music playing softly from my phone when working on something, driving/getting driven around, even when turning my computer on and having the hum of it working, I can't hear the tone. I have been avoiding putting anything inside or on my ears since the T started, so no more headphones or earbuds. At night, it gets really quiet in my house, and that's when the T gets loudest. I put on a fan at night that really helps me fall asleep.

At this point, I wonder if I got it from simple earbud/headphone wear. I love listening to music, and I have been listening to it quietly in the car, through my headphones/earbuds, and phone since a concert I went to last summer in August. I have experienced temporary T before from going to many concerts and never felt panicked because I knew it would go away. I got into a good habit of wearing very good earplugs that would prevent me from getting T afterwards, but that night, it was really not smart of me to forget them. Since that concert, I've been trying to preserve my hearing as best as I could. This information at hand plus me having no hearing loss makes me wonder if it's possible that unhealthy lifestyle habits/vitamin imbalance might be the cause. I also have a really bad posture. Maybe I should get a physical done. I'm thinking about taking up a sport for physical health as well.

The thing about habituation is that I think I have been able to do it before. When I was 12, I went to get a hearing test done for very quiet T in both my ears. More than likely it was because I was listening to a lot of moderately loud music through earbuds all the time. Back then, I was a finicky eater as well. They told me at the time it was probably nothing, and eventually I got to the point where hearing it didn't bother me. It was in the background and I have gone this entire time not noticing or caring about it. If anything, it gave me relief that that's as bad as it would get. However, that T was incredibly quieter than the T I'm experiencing now to the point that I can't hear it over my current T.

Praying for you.

Thank you very much, Amiel. I appreciate it, and I give the same well wishes and thoughts to you.

There is no telling if it will stay or go away. Only time will tell. Try not to be too hard on yourself, this is a scary thing but in time, things will adjust. Tinnitus is a tough battle and it takes lots of heart and courage to live with it. Some (including myself) have full blown/LOUD/High pitch tinnitus in both ears and it is pure HELL.

Please protect your ears and avoid loud places and people that don't respect your situation...

Take care

I'm thinking the same thing. It isn't fun when the T and these meds are making me hate all the things I used to love: eating, sleeping, silence, listening to loud music, being alone. In the end, I can't say for sure if this will go away, but I have to get myself together and not let this affect me too much, even if it is really permanent. I've been avoiding loud environments and started working on eating healthier, in case this might be the root cause of my issue here. Maybe a sport will help. I think it would be a good idea to discuss everything above during my appointment on Tuesday.

 

[DenisFerns]

I have T too (as yet unknown cause) - though it also points to ototoxity Since you stated u had T before it may have just returned and will possibly go away - I researched that T goes silent and returns if you've had it before -For me tebonin , B12 and Niacin seems to have reduced the tne - however my T reacts to ANY sounds (seems like H?) and that is healing VERY slowly

 

[Anastasia]

I have T too (as yet unknown cause) - though it also points to ototoxity Since you stated u had T before it may have just returned and will possibly go away - I researched that T goes silent and returns if you've had it before -For me tebonin , B12 and Niacin seems to have reduced the tne - however my T reacts to ANY sounds (seems like H?) and that is healing VERY slowly

I wonder if mine could also be due to ototoxicity. About three weeks prior to my symptoms, I got a really bad sunburn on my legs at the beach. I've been taking painkillers one and a half to two weeks because the pain was unbearable. So the T could be a weird late withdrawal symptom? I still haven't eliminated caffeine and sugar in my diet as a possible culprit.

The T has returned (8 years later), but it got louder and is now at a higher pitch than what I used to hear. I can't hear my prior T at all. I'm hopeful that it will possibly go away. That's what my ENT told me, but I'm really looking forward to getting a second opinion this Tuesday.

I've read a lot about vitamins and such helping T. I went and bought Magnesium to accompany my daily vitamin D3 since I'm vitamin D deficient. I read somewhere that you have to take both simultaneously in order for them both to be effective. I really don't want to be on any serious meds, considering that I have no other symptoms (other than my congested nostril). I heard that Tebonin really helps some people with T. I will bring it up during my next appointment. If there's a a no go, I will try out whatever they want me to do, follow up with a check up, etc.

I feel like if there was a known cause for my T, dealing with it, maybe even treating it, would be a lot simpler.

 

[Anastasia]

Update: I spent today outside, and it's pretty humid/warm out. My ear with the Tinnitus started to feel clogged, my right nostril feels congested, and I feel like there's pressure on the right side of my face. This sounds a lot like a nasal congestion. I'm hoping for the best.

 

[attheedgeofscience]

I really wish I could get to the bottom of what's causing my T, then I could get a better indication of what to avoid in order to make it better.

This is probably the reason:

At this point, I wonder if I got it from simple earbud/headphone wear. I love listening to music, and I have been listening to it quietly in the car, through my headphones/earbuds, and phone since a concert I went to last summer in August.

"Patient history" is in the year 2017 (still) the best way to unravel causes behind the development of tinnitus. Speech-in-noise testing can provide further clues, however. Additionally, I do wonder how it is possible to listen to music quietly in the car with background noise present (same thing for those who commute on trains/subways and such).

 

[Anastasia]

This is probably the reason:

"Patient history" is in the year 2017 (still) the best way to unravel causes behind the development of tinnitus. Speech-in-noise testing can provide further clues, however. Additionally, I do wonder how it is possible to listen to music quietly in the car with background noise present (same thing for those who commute on trains/subways and such).

Could be, but wouldn't I be suffering from hearing loss as well? Maybe I should get another audiogram done to see if my ears are fine for sure. I've been trying to think of all the possible reasons I'm getting T. Doctors only bother mentioning my congested nostril. They seem to not be worried when I say I only hear it in silence. I'm anxious about how my next appointment will go.

 

[attheedgeofscience]

Could be, but wouldn't I be suffering from hearing loss as well?

Audiometric assessments were designed to establish the depth of hearing loss (if any); not the presence of tinnitus. So no. Audiograms are not reliable for pinpointing tinnitus in single individuals in young adults. On a group level, it is a slightly different matter. See more via the attached file if you are interested.

 

[Anastasia]

Audiometric assessments were designed to establish the depth of hearing loss (if any); not the presence of tinnitus. So no. Audiograms are not reliable for pinpointing tinnitus in single individuals in young adults. On a group level, it is a slightly different matter. See more via the attached file if you are interested.

I see. So, at this point, in my case, cause of onset could be indefinite as well as whether it could go away or be permanent.

 

[Anastasia]

Day 12: I can't tell if I'm imagining it, starting to habituate, or if it's actually getting quieter, but the T seems to have really quieted down. I can barely notice it when my ears are plugged. If it has gotten quieter, I'm not sure exactly what I have done to make it so. I have felt more accepting of it in the past couple of days, so my anxiety has gone down (apart from what my medications make me feel.) I am now about to head out to my ENT appointment. Much will be discussed.

 

[Anastasia]

Today it sounds like the T is almost completely gone. It was probably just inflammation. I probably won't be updating this thread anymore if it doesn't get worse.