Stress Induced? Inverted Tinnitus, what could it be?

OK so just like many i have been suffering with this for a while now, almost 2 years to be exact but the problem is so "weird" to me.
It all started of Feb. 11 2011 I got out of the shower and cleaned out my ears with a "Q-Tip" but i guess i pushed some of the wax back in my right ear, covering my ear drum and i was unable to hear for the whole night. Next day i used "Debrox" to clean it out and it worked like a charm but i could still "feel" a little bit of wax in the way. So before going to bed i decided to use a little more and leave my head tilted on my pillow all the way for about 5 mins. OMG! That's were it began. My ear got completely clogged and very few liquid drained out. So i ran to the clinic and after being in panic for about 3 full hours they finally checked me and said there was nothing covering my ear. I was so scared and thought i was going to be deaf forever! Those stupid nurses didin't help out only frightened me more and just gave me a nasal spray and some drops saying, most likely the fluid softend the wax and it had gone behind my drum and was blocking my ear causing me to hear muffled. So i used those and next morning my ear was hurting really bad and i started crying. I was terrified! I called in to work and began looking around for an ENT specialist were appointments were like 3 to 4 weeks from then and i was broken dowbn even more! I noticed after sitting in my couch for a while, finally calmed down i began to hear a static "buzz" sound. By the time the afternoon came it had turned into a "eeeeeeee" noise. I stood like that clogged and with tinnitus for about 5 days when i finally drew the courage and used Hydrogen Peroxide and managed to un-clogged my ear, I could hear again! However the tinnitus stood there and two weeks after i finally got an appointment with an ENT.

I went into the specialist office, explained to him what had happened and the first thing he did was clean out my ear really good. I told him i could still hear the noise so he said that most likely i had damaged something in my ear and i was going to go deaf as tinnitus was one of the first symptom. So after i took and Audiology Test he was shocked to find out that my scores were excellent! He said if every one had my hearing he would be out of a job! He told me to just relax and not worry about it since it was not damage it would eventually go away. By that time, the weird part was that every day in the morning i would have this clear oily liquid drain from my ear... Most likelihood it was all that "Debrox" coming out.
I continued like that for the next few months and although the tinnitus had not gone away it WAS slowly diminishing every day. It was usually quieter in the morning and got louder after 10:00 am but like in the 3rd month something oddly strange started happening...
One morning i woke up to hear this very weird sort of "grinding" noise in that ear. Imagine somebody cutting metal with a disc, or someone slicing ham at the deli. It vibrated up and down with no pattern and sounded like "gring, grin, griiing, gring". The weird part is that it only lasted a couple of mins UNTILL i completely woke up and it would disappear. Then my other now "buzzing" would start i guess since the other one was not there to mask it up. So that happened for about three more weeks straight and it stopped doing that.

Then finally i was already in my fifth month! Now throughout this time i had already gone to two different specialist all said the same.I had gone to different doctors and tested for high blood preasure, diabetes and even did an MRI for tumors. Everything was fine. But i guess i was really stressed out to the point i got gray hair on my third month from worrying to much. Many times i cried in bed, went into depression and anxiety attacks and overall felt awefull.
Then one day in my 5th month out of the blue like at 12 noon i suddenly got that grinding noise again! Just out of no were i noticed it, causing me to freak out but after going to sleep that day it was gone. I.was doing much better now the tinnitus was almost gone and it was a slight buzzing now. So at the beggining on my sixth and last month at like 5pm that weird grinding noise came again! I remember i felt like as it came from out if nowhere again and i thought i was almost done with tinnitus. So that afternoon at 9pm i was in my couch alone and crying in depression. I was deviatated and fell to sleep there for about 30mins. When i woke up a miracle happened again! The grinding was gone! I felt really relived and now it was just the low buzzing there so i went to sleep.

Three more weeks and i woke up on July 31 2011 completely cured! YES the tinnitus relief we ate all looking for i experienced on that day! I remember covering my ears all day long and I had nothing i was finally free! Unbelievably free! So with my greatest joy yet i went to sleep that night ready to start again next morning.

From my 6 month experience i was able to find out my tinnitus:
1. Felt directly in my ear as if it was in my eardrum i could "feel" the ringing
2. Got louder and spiked up with loud noise
3. Was quiet in the morning loud throughout the day
4. When i ran or did exercise it would diminish but then go back up
5. Started as a buzz then went into a ring and back into a buzz and went away
6. When i would stick my finger in my canal and messed with it it would also diminish.
7. It was always there no matter what.

So guess what? I woke up the next day and guess what i found?!
That awefull "grinding" noise had comed back! After completely curing the first tinnitus i went to sleep at 100% and then rised to the grinding noise. It seemed louder that usual and i couldn't believed it. I thought maby it was just an after effect and would go away except next morning i woke up it was screening unbearable. Next day even worse!
Once again i ran in total anxiety to the ENT got another hearing teast only to find out this one was BETTER that my first. My hearing was nearly perfect! I dididnt understand what had happened and after 2 months or so this one was not diminishing but staying completely the same. Later i came across an "Iridologist" who said it was my liver and kidneys that were "weak" gave me some natural supplements that didint help at all. Not even running would diminish it like the last one. Then i visited various Chinese doctors for accupunture and they all backed up the whole kidneys and liver thing, gave me more herbs and no improvement at all! So ever since then up to today i have been spending all this money doing TONS if alternative therapies that have nearly touched it. The mos effective one i could say was when i took this thing called "Psyllium" for my bowel as another iridologist said it was "contracted" due to Hugh stress. I have changed my diet to vegetarian, mainly organic and have done all that i can and seen little results. This grinding noise is completely inverted to the firs one as:

1. It reduces whenever i have loud noise, yes it masks it but after i go back into silence i can enjoy it for about one minute before it rises again
2. Running or physical activity don't have any effect on it
3. It is crazy loud in the mornings when i wake up
4. Whenever i press in my ear really hard or move around my ear canal with my finger it goes to completely max volume.
5.It grinds up and down unstably and its not a constant "eeee" like the first one.
6. I feel it as if it is somewhere behind my ear completely detached from anything in it, almost floating.

Trust me when i say i have done unimaginable things to try and cure it but nothing has worked. I do know it causes me to worry everyday and yes u do stress about it but i cant help it. The only good in this is that it hasn't gone louder it has actually decreased like 40% since it started. The weird part is that if i am around liud noise for a wile it it almost completly gone when i listen out for ut but after being in silence for 5 mins. It rises again almost like a submarene. If anyone else has a lead in this i would REALLY appreciate it! Any comments are welcomed, please help me!!!!!

 

Welcome to TinnitusTalk, Alonzo!

I must say your tinnitus is very similar to mine based on your description. I have no hearing damage either. My tinnitus also fluctuates a lot, is usually more quiet in the morning and becomes louder throughout the day. My tinnitus did also go away completely on two occasions, but it always came back later. I honestly feel I have no control over my tinnitus at all, it has a life of it's own!

Now the grinding sound. One thing that assures me we experience the same thing is how you mentioned that it goes "up and down". I also had this kind of grinding sound (which I described as an "electric drill") on few occasions and it changed it's pitch up and down constantly. Thankfully it always went away after few hours.

I wish I could help you but I am sorry, I don't know what is the cause of my tinnitus either. I can give you a hint, however. It is possible that our tinnitus is caused by blood circulation problem. Have you done a RTG scan of your spine? I have a problem with my upper neck that obstructs blood flow and according to one of my ENT doctors this is the cause of my tinnitus. Another thing is, has any doctor ever requested you to do a "Doppler" test? There can be a problem with neck arteries that causes tinnitus. Few things I have tried that help is upper neck stretching exercise and massages + betahistine 24mg twice a day. Betahistine is a relatively safe drug that improves the bloodflow in middle ear. Maybe ask your ENT about it if you haven't tried it yet? It might not hurt to try!

Good luck and cheer up! It went away once, it can go away again!

Fish

 

OK thank you so much for reading and your reply!
If you think of it though, lets say it IS bad circulation for a minute... Right? Wouldint physical activities like running or exercise diminish it at least for a moment? I think there is more behind it that what these so called "specialist" say. How did yours come about? I guess we are some of the very few to be lucky without hearing damage... I guess there is still hope.