What's the Cause of My Tinnitus — Stress/Anxiety/Depression/Antidepressant (Escitalopram) or ETD?

[Mahmut Sırdar]

Hello,

I've had tinnitus since May, and I still don't know what caused it. I'm almost sure it's not noise induced as I've never been in noisy environments in my life, like noisy workplaces, nightclubs, concerts etc. and never excessively used headphones (only for a short amount of time, with the volume never exceeding 25-30%.) So I'm suspicious of stress, antidepressants or ETD.

I've had a very depressed mood since puberty. I didn't take it very seriously and lived with it for 5-6 years. However, depression began to affect my cognitive abilities, causing severe brain fog, weakening my memory, and recently I've been having panic attacks. So, I wanted to try antidepressants. Both of my parents have been taking Escitalopram for three years and were happy with it, so I had a psychiatrist prescribe me 10 mg Escitalopram and started with 5 mg a day. After 6 days of use (3 tablets in total), I woke up with moderate ringing and pressure feeling in both ears. After asking the psychiatrist, I stopped the antidepressant cold-turkey immediately and didn't switch to any other antidepressant.

In addition to the tinnitus, I also experience crackling and popping noises when I swallow, yawn or sometimes even randomly without doing anything: It feels like my eardrum is moving outwards and the pressure is somewhat equalized thus I hear strong popping. But, my hearing is not muffled.

This clogged feeling is still happening frequently even after two months. I have the feeling that the tinnitus increases greatly when my ears are blocked. If not, it seems very mild that I can even sleep listening to my mild tinnitus. Also, my tinnitus fluctuated a lot during these two months. I have literally heard every single sound people with tinnitus have described (ringing, hissing, extremely high frequency screeching, morse code, crickets, buzzing, etc.). And today I woke up to a whole new sound like gas leaking out of a flat tire (which somewhat disappeared in few hours), again a moderate ringing that still continues in my right ear, and again an extreme feeling of pressure in that ear. However, yesterday I had no feeling of pressure, and my tinnitus was faint. Also since my tinnitus is onset I am protecting my ears with earmuffs when going outside. So I can't find any reason for these spikes and new tones.

On the first day of my tinnitus, I also saw an ENT doctor. The usual tests were done. No hearing loss up to 8 kHz. However, the tympanometry test revealed that I have negative pressure (approx. -200 daPa) in both ears. Also, when I listen to frequency sweep videos on YouTube myself, I can hear up to 18 kHz without gaps. When reaching extreme high frequencies, the tone fades away slowly.

So, what could be the cause of my tinnitus? I am very suspicious of the antidepressant because of its ototoxic effects. But my parents have used it for years and don't have tinnitus. Besides causing tinnitus, could the antidepressant also cause the clogged feeling that hasn't completely gone away even after two months? That's why I'm also very suspicious of ETD. It might also be related to depression, anxiety, and stress, but I don't believe those three alone can cause ringing in the ears.

It is also very coincidental that my tinnitus started two days after reading about the suicide of a tinnitus sufferer on a news website. Up until that day I didn't even know what tinnitus was and I started experiencing it first hand two days later.

 

[Tryn2BHopeful]

It's hard to say. My tinnitus started 2 days after starting 10 mg of Escitalopram. Which I had taken years prior with no issues. I am not saying that's the cause of your tinnitus or it may not even be the cause of mine... just when I put the pieces together, that's what changed. I stopped cold turkey as well and still have the hiss in the middle of my head a month later. Waiting for and ENT appointment, but I don't have my hopes up. I don't know about the clogged feeling, I am not having that.

 

[ErikaS]

Hello,

I've had tinnitus since May, and I still don't know what caused it. I'm almost sure it's not noise induced as I've never been in noisy environments in my life, like noisy workplaces, nightclubs, concerts etc. and never excessively used headphones (only for a short amount of time, with the volume never exceeding 25-30%.) So I'm suspicious of stress, antidepressants or ETD.

I've had a very depressed mood since puberty. I didn't take it very seriously and lived with it for 5-6 years. However, depression began to affect my cognitive abilities, causing severe brain fog, weakening my memory, and recently I've been having panic attacks. So, I wanted to try antidepressants. Both of my parents have been taking Escitalopram for three years and were happy with it, so I had a psychiatrist prescribe me 10 mg Escitalopram and started with 5 mg a day. After 6 days of use (3 tablets in total), I woke up with moderate ringing and pressure feeling in both ears. After asking the psychiatrist, I stopped the antidepressant cold-turkey immediately and didn't switch to any other antidepressant.

In addition to the tinnitus, I also experience crackling and popping noises when I swallow, yawn or sometimes even randomly without doing anything: It feels like my eardrum is moving outwards and the pressure is somewhat equalized thus I hear strong popping. But, my hearing is not muffled.

This clogged feeling is still happening frequently even after two months. I have the feeling that the tinnitus increases greatly when my ears are blocked. If not, it seems very mild that I can even sleep listening to my mild tinnitus. Also, my tinnitus fluctuated a lot during these two months. I have literally heard every single sound people with tinnitus have described (ringing, hissing, extremely high frequency screeching, morse code, crickets, buzzing, etc.). And today I woke up to a whole new sound like gas leaking out of a flat tire (which somewhat disappeared in few hours), again a moderate ringing that still continues in my right ear, and again an extreme feeling of pressure in that ear. However, yesterday I had no feeling of pressure, and my tinnitus was faint. Also since my tinnitus is onset I am protecting my ears with earmuffs when going outside. So I can't find any reason for these spikes and new tones.

On the first day of my tinnitus, I also saw an ENT doctor. The usual tests were done. No hearing loss up to 8 kHz. However, the tympanometry test revealed that I have negative pressure (approx. -200 daPa) in both ears. Also, when I listen to frequency sweep videos on YouTube myself, I can hear up to 18 kHz without gaps. When reaching extreme high frequencies, the tone fades away slowly.

So, what could be the cause of my tinnitus? I am very suspicious of the antidepressant because of its ototoxic effects. But my parents have used it for years and don't have tinnitus. Besides causing tinnitus, could the antidepressant also cause the clogged feeling that hasn't completely gone away even after two months? That's why I'm also very suspicious of ETD. It might also be related to depression, anxiety, and stress, but I don't believe those three alone can cause ringing in the ears.

It is also very coincidental that my tinnitus started two days after reading about the suicide of a tinnitus sufferer on a news website. Up until that day I didn't even know what tinnitus was and I started experiencing it first hand two days later.

Your case sounds directly linked to ETD. ETD can hang around for some time, but things that can help calm it down are anti-histamines and possibly a steroid pack if your ENT felt good about having you try that. The fact that your tinnitus sounds notably calmer/faint on days where the ETD subsides a little, that right there tells you a strong indication in my opinion.

 

[Tomba]

Vistaril (or Hydroxyzine) is helpful for anxiety.

 

[Mahmut Sırdar]

Your case sounds directly linked to ETD. ETD can hang around for some time, but things that can help calm it down are anti-histamines and possibly a steroid pack if your ENT felt good about having you try that. The fact that your tinnitus sounds notably calmer/faint on days where the ETD subsides a little, that right there tells you a strong indication in my opinion.

I hope so but there might also be ear damage, because loud noises spike my tinnitus. I had a noise accident yesterday and today my left ear has ultra high-pitched hissing/screeching, which is simply unmaskable and makes me go crazy. I am desperately trying to listen the ringing tone, which I have in both ears and to which I have semi-habituated, to draw my attention away from that terrible sound.

I also went to another ENT doctor. He detected a cyst and multiple masses in my nasal passage and verified them via a CT scan. He claimed that they are blocking Eustachian tube openings and preventing ventilation thus I am having pressure feeling in my ears. So in a few days I will be having a surgery to remove them. Maybe the ringing goes away but the new screeching is much much worse than the ringing; it's literally eating my brain.

 

[ErikaS]

I hope so but there might also be ear damage, because loud noises spike my tinnitus. I had a noise accident yesterday and today my left ear has ultra high-pitched hissing/screeching, which is simply unmaskable and makes me go crazy. I am desperately trying to listen the ringing tone, which I have in both ears and to which I have semi-habituated, to draw my attention away from that terrible sound.

I also went to another ENT doctor. He detected a cyst and multiple masses in my nasal passage and verified them via a CT scan. He claimed that they are blocking Eustachian tube openings and preventing ventilation thus I am having pressure feeling in my ears. So in a few days I will be having a surgery to remove them. Maybe the ringing goes away but the new screeching is much much worse than the ringing; it's literally eating my brain.

Oh wow, the cyst and masses could absolutely be impacting your ears/Eustachian tube and aggravating tinnitus. There is a success story on Tinnitus Talk about someone who had bad tinnitus and found out through CT that they had growths or something like bacteria packed in sinus cavities, I cannot remember what exactly, but I do know that once it was addressed, the tinnitus became very mild or went away. I will hold out hope that surgery brings you much relief!