Confused

Hi. I've just joined the forum as I'm confused, worried and I have no answers. Hopefully someone here may be able to help.
I will spend a lot of time reading old posts here etc.

OK, I am 34 years old and and am having my first episode of continuous tinnitus. I have had occasional tinnitus in the past, but it only lasted for maybe half an hour every few months.
I'm now on day 5 of continuous tinnitus in my left ear. I've read that tinnitus in one ear, can be a sign of acoustic neuroma. This is worrying me quite a lot but I am trying to stay positive as I haven't had a diagnosis yet.

I had an appointment with a nurse today who confirmed there was no ear wax or perforated ear drum. Essentially the ear looked completely normal.

I have an appointment with a doctor on Monday. who will no doubt be of no help what so ever. Hopefully at that point I will be referred to ENT.

In the meantime i'll probably worry about it being a tumour or something equally scary.

My question is, does anyone know what else it could be other than an acoustic neuroma?

Also I should mention I have no other symptoms, for instance blurred vision, headaches or facial numbness.

Any advise or help would be appreciated as I have no answers. Also I don't want to trawl the internet looking for answers as this this usually ends with me finding out i'll be dead within the ear.

Thanks, Bob.

 

Give us more details...how did it start? Did you go to a concert, a club? Did you take meds? Do you have a pre-existing health condition?

Acoustic neuroma are rare. My ENT had seen only one case in his whole career... he said that one person out of every 100 000 gets that...

try not to worry too much. It could be due to something else. Could also be temporary. Did you have a cold recently?

 

@BobDigi I'm sure you'll be fine. Tinnitus is usually a symptom of hearing loss; that's it. The hearing loss may be gradual from aging or a from lifetime of loud sounds. Moreoever, it could also be from going to a concert or shooting a gun.

Likewise, tinnitus could be from a very bad cold or allergies. There are really many causes. But tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease. I'm sure you're okay, but you may have to adjust to the noise. That alone is stressful for most people at first.

When you go to your doctor, tell him if you're having problems sleeping. This is a common problem for people with tinnitus. Most people will go to sleep with water sounds or some type of calming background noise to help make their tinnitus less noticeable. But sometimes you may also need help, either something from your doctor or an herb or even bedtime herbal tea formulated for sleeping.

Here's a link for sleeping ideas:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...e-supplements-medication-etc.4509/#post-44510​

Take care and let us know what happens. And I'm glad you found TT! You are not alone!

 

Thanks for replies. I haven't any trauma to the ear, nor did a loud noise bring it on. I noticed one day a week a go it was coming on for about an hour at a time. Then the following day it just stayed, and hasn't gone since.

I haven't been taking any new meds. I have been on PPI's for over three years. They reduce the ammount of stomach acid. This is because i have something called Barretts disease. Besides this i'm pretty fit and healthy (i hope)
This said i"ve been low on energy the last few weeks. The strange thing is, my energy levels are back up. But now i have this?

 

T

Thanks a lot for reply. Sleeping hasn't been so bad actually. I've found leaving a fan and tv on while i drift off very helpful. 1 in a 1000,000 is a reasuring number. Thanks a lot. I'll read the link too. Doctors phoning today. I'm going to ask for a referal to ENT. Thanks again.

 

Tinnitus can come from myriads of reasons and if you have read many posts you are aware of some of them, like hearing loss, acoustic trauma, stress, taking some medicines, ear problems, etc., etc. I hope the medical people can help find and rectify your problem. If not, you don't need to be too anxious with what caused the T. Focus on how to live with T if it doesn't go away. Don't panic or despair. Being so new with T, it may just disappear or fade away. Even if it stays, life goes on. It is not an end game. Many people here are living normal productive life. Many have recovered and moved on. Many posted their success stories to help out the newer sufferers. I encourage you to read through them. If you keep a positive attitude, it will even help the habituation process. I encourage you to read Dr. Nagler's Letter to a Tinnitus Sufferer. It has helped many people including myself to begin the road of recovery. All the best to you and may God bless your recovery.

 

Thank a lot for your reply. I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow morning. I'm praying she is going to tell me there's fluid in the ear. Atleast then there's a chance it may clear up and leave me tinnitus free. For some reason i've a feeling this wont happen though. Today i broke down as the noise was driving me mad. I keep reading about habituation, but that seems a long way off. I swear if my tinnitus goes not only am i raising money for tinnitus research, i'm going to look after my ears and enjoy every day a little bit more.

 

I feel you @BobDigi , i'm having T now for 3 weeks and trust me even in short term it gets better, the first week i was also really freaking out about it, the possibility of never hearing the silence again, all those moments where you relax and chill out in silence ruined by the ringing... But it does get better! i'm still full of hope that it will fade away too, as i really love silence (don't we all), and as the cause hasn't been found yet too, but in the meantime i'm slowly starting to enjoy things again, it's surprising how quick your brain learns to tune out the sound, only at night it's annoying, but during daytime there are hours in which i don't notice it anymore, stay positive! as @billie48 says there are really a lot of causes for T and a lot of them are treatable or do get better at least, and in the worst case there is still habituation, at first i thought it would at least take years, as you can't imagine how it happens, but i'm already noticing the brain is capable of a lot of things given enough time.

That aside i also now realize what a bitch T is, and will do everything to help solve the T "mystery" regardless of it stays or fades away.

 

Thanks. Your words are comfoting. The doctor said my ear looks completely normal. Which is a shame. I'm going to ENT soon. So they might find something. I'm going from being being positive and strong, to being a crying mess. But it's nice to hear from people who are beggining to cope better. I look forward to it.
Even if I went a few hours without noticing it I'd feel a bit better. So far I'm only getting the odd ten minutes.
Thanks for your message and I look forward to getting to where you are.