Woke Up Fear Stricken with Ear Feeling Hollow — Tinnitus Worse Ever Since

[tester81d]

Hello All,

As far back as I can remember I've had tinnitus. As a child I remember it would bug me once in a while but was mostly mild and easily masked.

However, as of late August, 2020, I would say that my tinnitus "loudness" has gotten worse. It's starting to affect my personal relationships and daily life. I had a weird experience prior to the onset of my worsening tinnitus, and was wondering if anyone else has had anything similar happen to them.

I was woken up in the middle of the night, practically fear stricken with a very bizarre feeling in my right ear that I can only explain as it feeling hollow. It was such a weird feeling, I had to jump out of bed and pace around my living room for 5-10 minutes before ultimately the feeling subsided, I felt better and was able to go back to bed. Ever since that night, all I can do is focus on the sound of my tinnitus, as if I had been habituated to it for 30+ years and all of a sudden the flood gate just busted wide open.

I went to an ENT, who couldn't find anything wrong and who had me sent for an MRI (with/without contrast) and also an Audiologist. MRI was clean, and Audiologist said I had no hearing loss. At this point I've pretty much given up on trying to find a reason why this happened to me.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has had that hollow, panic inducing feeling, ideas for what it might have been and advice on what my next steps could be, either seeking further diagnosis' or therapy of some sort.

Thanks for reading.
N.

 

[FGG]

Hello All,

As far back as I can remember I've had tinnitus. As a child I remember it would bug me once in a while but was mostly mild and easily masked.

However, as of late August, 2020, I would say that my tinnitus "loudness" has gotten worse. It's starting to affect my personal relationships and daily life. I had a weird experience prior to the onset of my worsening tinnitus, and was wondering if anyone else has had anything similar happen to them.

I was woken up in the middle of the night, practically fear stricken with a very bizarre feeling in my right ear that I can only explain as it feeling hollow. It was such a weird feeling, I had to jump out of bed and pace around my living room for 5-10 minutes before ultimately the feeling subsided, I felt better and was able to go back to bed. Ever since that night, all I can do is focus on the sound of my tinnitus, as if I had been habituated to it for 30+ years and all of a sudden the flood gate just busted wide open.

I went to an ENT, who couldn't find anything wrong and who had me sent for an MRI (with/without contrast) and also an Audiologist. MRI was clean, and Audiologist said I had no hearing loss. At this point I've pretty much given up on trying to find a reason why this happened to me.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has had that hollow, panic inducing feeling, ideas for what it might have been and advice on what my next steps could be, either seeking further diagnosis' or therapy of some sort.

Thanks for reading.
N.

My first thought is maybe a eustachian tube issue?

 

[Sayeed]

I am new and can't offer much help. But wanted to say I am praying for you and you are not alone.

I recently got tinnitus and while it stays around 5/10 , I get daily spikes that makes it go 10/10 for an hour or so. Most of the time it happens when I sleep and it wakes me up. What I do is just listen to masking music on blast and take Melatonin and go back to sleep... usually the spike is gone when I wake up.

Have you tried masking it when it happens? Has your diet changed?

 

[tester81d]

My first thought is maybe a eustachian tube issue?

Thanks for the response. Can an eustachian tube issue be chronic? Is it hard to diagnose? I can't imagine an ENT would miss it.

I am new and can't offer much help. But wanted to say I am praying for you and you are not alone.

I recently got tinnitus and while it stays around 5/10 , I get daily spikes that makes it go 10/10 for an hour or so. Most of the time it happens when I sleep and it wakes me up. What I do is just listen to masking music on blast and take Melatonin and go back to sleep... usually the spike is gone when I wake up.

Have you tried masking it when it happens? Has your diet changed?

Thank you, it means a lot to me.

White noise masking seems to work well, and I use it when I'm feeling especially down, but my tinnitus is this constant high pitch "eeee" sound that is just relentless. And once I turn the sound masker off, it's back to focusing on it. In fact I'm finding it especially hard to get out of my own head, which I think also makes it sound louder.

My diet hasn't changed in 3 years, I normally do intermittent fasting and I would say I follow the Mediterranean diet pretty closely. My tinnitus doesn't seem to respond to Alcohol or Coffee, as I've cut them both out for an extended amount of time and nothing had changed.

 

[FGG]

Thanks for the response. Can an eustachian tube issue be chronic? Is it hard to diagnose? I can't imagine an ENT would miss it.

Thank you, it means a lot to me.

White noise masking seems to work well, and I use it when I'm feeling especially down, but my tinnitus is this constant high pitch "eeee" sound that is just relentless. And once I turn the sound masker off, it's back to focusing on it. In fact I'm finding it especially hard to get out of my own head, which I think also makes it sound louder.

My diet hasn't changed in 3 years, I normally do intermittent fasting and I would say I follow the Mediterranean diet pretty closely. My tinnitus doesn't seem to respond to Alcohol or Coffee, as I've cut them both out for an extended amount of time and nothing had changed.

It can absolutely be chronic. Usually you would have abnormal ear pressure if they looked at that or there might be exam findings like ear drum would look recessed or there is fluid build up (you don't always see this) but they could always catch it at a good moment if it's fluctuating.

You could always get a second opinion and emphasize the hollow ear feeling (sometimes the more unusual symptoms are a good place to start) and see what they say.

 

[Matchbox]

Thanks for the response. Can an eustachian tube issue be chronic? Is it hard to diagnose? I can't imagine an ENT would miss it.

Thank you, it means a lot to me.

White noise masking seems to work well, and I use it when I'm feeling especially down, but my tinnitus is this constant high pitch "eeee" sound that is just relentless. And once I turn the sound masker off, it's back to focusing on it. In fact I'm finding it especially hard to get out of my own head, which I think also makes it sound louder.

My diet hasn't changed in 3 years, I normally do intermittent fasting and I would say I follow the Mediterranean diet pretty closely. My tinnitus doesn't seem to respond to Alcohol or Coffee, as I've cut them both out for an extended amount of time and nothing had changed.

I've experienced the "hollow ear" when my eardrum ruptured and my tubes stayed open. One ear sounded muffled or hollow, the other ear sounded more echo like, and you can hear your breathing very clearly.

The tube thing tends to be fixable and temporary... swallowing or moving your jaw would likely fix it. It happens regularly when my sinuses dry out and I exercise heavily. So if you couldn't hear your breathing "differently" as if being in an echoy room, I'd probably say it wasn't your tubes.

I'd imagine you had an ischemic event (like a mini stroke) in your ear and that if it was a clot it broke up relatively fast.

I also had this where I woke up one day and my hearing was muffled on the left after a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy session. It could've been a gas block, who knows (it was temporary too).

 

[tester81d]

I've experienced the "hollow ear" when my eardrum ruptured and my tubes stayed open. One ear sounded muffled or hollow, the other ear sounded more echo like, and you can hear your breathing very clearly.

The tube thing tends to be fixable and temporary... swallowing or moving your jaw would likely fix it. It happens regularly when my sinuses dry out and I exercise heavily. So if you couldn't hear your breathing "differently" as if being in an echoy room, I'd probably say it wasn't your tubes.

I'd imagine you had an ischemic event (like a mini stroke) in your ear and that if it was a clot it broke up relatively fast.

I also had this where I woke up one day and my hearing was muffled on the left after a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy session. It could've been a gas block, who knows (it was temporary too).

I really hope a mini stroke wasn't the case. Wouldn't something like that most likely have been picked up on the MRI? And if that's the case, does that mean the damage is permanent and I should try to get used to the new loudness?

 

[FGG]

I really hope a mini stroke wasn't the case. Wouldn't something like that most likely have been picked up on the MRI? And if that's the case, does that mean the damage is permanent and I should try to get used to the new loudness?

A cochlear vascular event seems pretty unlikely to me without noticeable hearing loss and a normal audiogram. I would see another ENT and give them a really good history including the unusual parts of your case.

 

[Matchbox]

I really hope a mini stroke wasn't the case. Wouldn't something like that most likely have been picked up on the MRI? And if that's the case, does that mean the damage is permanent and I should try to get used to the new loudness?

It'd be moreso nerve damage then hair cell damage. I don't agree you wouldn't have hearing loss. Those tests test thresholds which involve outer hair cell function more than anything else. My issues with hearing only begin when things start getting louder, and my audiogram is pristine.

Who knows if it's permanent... there's various diet ideas out there focused on improving nerve function/outgrowth... but if they work it'd be a very slow process anyways for them to recover.

Plus, your brain has a lack of blood occur everytime you pass out, get dizzy, get too cold, have fleeting tinnitus, etc. It could've also been a vasospasm... really who knows but ultimately the ability for the brain to "re-inhibit a signal" should exist when blood pressure drops happen and nerves go through metabolic stress.

I got tinnitus once from hypothermia. It didn't go away until I warmed up and faded a day later... clearly I did some damage but the key is "it went away".