Ear Infection/Noise-Induced Tinnitus Recovery?

Hi everyone,

I've been on this site for the past two days and if it wasn't for this forum I would have not gone to urgent care.

It started out as a quiet refrigerator high pitched sound. I don't know if that makes sense, but I know the sound because the apartment we are currently in makes a high pitched sound whenever it is on.

Anyways I thought I was imagining things with my ears but I heard it through the night (when I plug my ears the ringing is there even outside of the apartment). I was doing some aerobics with my headphones on (which got my heart pumping hard) and thought that might be the cause to the ringing in my ear.

It started on 1/17/17 and didn't bother me much until 1/20/17 when the ringing got louder and I couldn't sleep at night. So that was when I started calling the offices but none were open so I thought I would wait to see if it'll go away on it's own.

I hopped online and read your stories (most of them terrified me, I have anxiety and ocd), then cried to my husband about it and he took me to urgent care on 1/22/17. The doctor said he said there is fluid in both ears and my left looked red and irritated. He prescribed me prednisone for 7 days and amoxicillin for 10 days, along with pseudoephedrine.

I have booked an appointment to meet my primary care doctor this Friday for a check up and if anything to get a referral to an ENT if nothing goes well.

I started the medications yesterday. I have ups and downs, and right now I am feeling down because my ringing hasn't gotten better and my ears hurt. I know I keep telling myself that my ears need time to heal.

Is there any hope for me? Can anyone share feedback who's been through this? I stare at my son and husband and feel like I can't be the same person I used to be anymore. I am trying hard to look normal on the outside.

 

An update:

The ringing is still there, it fluctuates but I am able to sleep through it. I found that the pseudoephedrine was causing anxiety in me so I stopped it and replaced it with loraditine. I am not as upset about it as I used to be but in the mornings I do wake up with disappointment. I know this is only day 4 of my meds and it's still early to tell if there will be improvement.

I found that my evening shower helps reduce the ringing and I'm able to sleep better. The ringing in my ears seems to be sensitive to sound, which is odd because sometimes covering my ears helps the sound not be as loud. I am thankful that I am able to at least "feel" normal as far as being able to control my feelings. The pseudoephedrine really had my heart jumping out of my chest. My husband and son have also come down with a cold now so something viral is definitely going around. I'm just still not sure if the T I'm hearing was noise induced or caused by the infection/fluid in ear.

 

Hopefully your T is only temporary. My wife had a bad sinus infection resulting from a plugged ear during a long flight from India. Her ear rang for about two weeks. She's had sinus problems, and when she gets a bad flare up she'll get T.

Yours may clear up, hopefully it does. If not, don't worry, you'll be fine. Just takes a little time to get used to it. I've had T for almost four years. First six weeks were quite difficult - sleep, difficulty focusing on work, etc., but then I turned the corner.

But you've only had yours a short while. Likely it will clear when your ears are better. Good luck.

 

Thank you

 

an update:

I went to my regular GP instead of urgent care (we just moved so had to get a new GP). She looked in my ears nose and throat and said they were all red and looked bothered..eardrums were also bulged. She also said the urgent care doctor gave me a really low dose of amoxicillin. She said to drink at least a gallon of water a day and gave me a higher dose of amoxicillin and flonase.

Yesterday the ringing was hardly noticeable during the day then got loud at night and earlier this morning. A bit of disappointment but I feel it has calmed down now. I am trying my best to stay positive and just wait while habituating.

The ringing also isn't a single tone. It doesn't go with my heartbeat either. *sigh* I need more hope.

 

Hey @hopeforme
My T started off with an ear infection too, and I really believe it would've gone away if I had really protected my ears. I was starting to feel better after about a week, (my infection cleared up quick too) even able to sleep without masking. But a couple loud events later and here I am. So for the next few weeks/months while your infections goes away, do your best to guard your ears, bring along ear plugs just in case you end up a loud environment.

 

I will thanks! again I hope all of us here on TT have a good day.

 

An update:

Today was the first day in a long while that I didn't think a lot about "T". I have a high pitched morse code in my left ear with an eeeeeeeee in my right. When it first started I could hear the T's reacting a lot to sound all around me...even the fans that I use everyday were irritating me. But I am coping well now and they don't bother me anymore. The sounds have reduced, I get spikes at night but they settle down as I drift off to sleep.

I went out with my son to the pool today, exercised, ate healthy (something I am trying to do permanently now). I have dropped maybe 10lbs since I first posted because I could not stomach anything down. I had to buy meal replacement shakes to get some nutrients in me..speaking of which, the day after I saw my ENT I decided I was going to try whatever it takes to make me better even if she couldn't help me.

So for a week now I've been taking lipoflavonoids along with tumeric. I think pushing myself forward and making myself stay busy has helped a lot.

This is going to sound cheesy but I think of all of you guys. I dream of a place where it's a huge retreat with waterfalls and hot springs we all can just chill in with no worries...or just any kind of room that'll ease our pain.

 

Another update:

The last week was hell. It wasn't from the sounds but because of my anxiety. My biggest fear is things getting worse but I am trying to have a positive outlook that I will get better. Better attitude. I'm seeking behavioral help.

But I am trying everyday to turn the corner.

My left ear is not a high pitched Morse code anymore. It is a hissing that isn't bothersome. My right ear has quieted down a lot.

I still feel a bit of fullness in my ears from time to time and have random popping.

I'm still taking the lipoflavonoids and now have started taking lemon balm. I switch it with valerian root once in a while.

More updates to come. It helps to read back and see how things were and how its changed.

 

Another update:

The gas leak sound in my left is has gone down so maybe a 1/10 and the eeeeeeeee on my right is hardly there. Maybe 0.5/10 but lately I haven't been hearing it.

Throughout the day I don't hear anything even in a silent closet. (I do a lot of laundry so I have to go into the quiet spaces). At night I still hear random tones but they are getting much quieter.

I still take it one day at a time. When all of this first started I couldn't eat. I didn't sleep well.

Id like to note I was taking Benadryl to help me sleep but I feel like it actually caused more depression. Once I stopped it and started taking the lemon balm my life turned around.

I read lemon balm is often used as an antiviral also. So I still don't know if my T is caused my noise but there definitely was some kind of infection there.

If you're reading this, have hope. My sounds have faded and it'll be close to two months soon. God bless.

 

@hopeforme this is great news. I hope you continue to feel better and are fully recovered soon.

 

@hopeforme , i got ear infection 6 days ago and i finished 5 day antibiotics medication today. My T started 3 days ago and its very loud. I went to urgent care and also to pcp. They are saying give it sometime to recover but i am really getting nervous with the continuos noise in the ear. Today i started with Methylprednisolone which is a 6 day course. Please let me know how is your T now? Is it subsided? I feel like crying every min as it is very loud.

 

Hi. I figured mine is noise-induced looking at my audiogram. I have a dip at the 4khz-6khz and this was after 2 doctors said I had an ear infection. It could be a combination of both idk, BUT it's not as loud as when it started. Still there but I am coping so much better.

My advice:
-take plenty of hot steamy showers
-sleep elevated ..if you have a recliner sleep on that. You want any kind of liquid to drain down.
-drink hot teas, I like lemon balm as it relaxes my nerves.
-wear ear protection when in loud environments. Even if it's not noise-induced, I feel like ears are prone to damage with an infection.

What kind of infection is it? Middle ear? Either way it can take months to clear up. Don't sit in silence too. That'll just drive you more nuts.

 

@hopeforme, thank you for your response. Doctor mentioned it was middle ear infection. Today during pcp visit, he said the ear looks clean but gave me Methylprednisolone for 6 days to see if it helps with sound. This sound is really annoying. I will definitely follow your suggestions.

 

@Sam5560 try to stay calm. your tinnitus is in a very early stage which means there is a great chance it will subside

 

@hopeforme happy to hear your T has reduced! hopefully it subsides over time! I really think there are more success stories than people are aware of!

 

@hopeforme I also am curious about your audiogram. I think I asked you about this on a different forum. if your audiogram is in the normal range why are you so convinced that your T is noise induced? is the dip only at the 4khz frequency that different from all other frequencies tested?

 

Do you use earbuds or have you been to any concerts lately? Mine was hard to pinpoint the cause because I was sick and using earbuds. The prednisone should be able to help bring down the swelling, but it did drive my anxiety through the roof.

@ryan1234 yeah not a success story yet I still think about it a lot but I'm not as scared as I used to be. I'm working on my thoughts and trying to my best to do what I did before T.

 

@hopeforme maybe not yet but hopefully you are on your way to a success story!

 

Mine kinda looks like this.

 

Googling "noise induced hearing loss" and that comes up.

 

@hopeforme i ask because my audiogram is somewhat similar. There is a slight dip at 6000 but it goes up afterward. I guess only time will tell regarding my ear ringing. Everybody's tinnitus is different! Wishing you the best

 

Yeah I believe even a slight dip can cause us to have tinnitus. But what matters is that we put on a positive attitude. Thank you for being positive too! Wishing you the best also!

 

@hopeforme, i had very bad cold and cough last week. Then the ear pain started all of a sudden. When i went to urgent care about the pain they gave the antibiotics which reduced the pain but on 2nd day i felt like my ear is blocked so my husband had put few ear drops to relieve from blocked feeling. Soon after i started feeling headache and took 1 asprin tablet. After some time i started to listen some noise in my ear. Its been 3 days, i am unable to sleep, ear or do anything. I hope i will get used to this noise atleast

 

@Sam5560 do everything you can to not focus on the noise. it may be helpful to have a white noise machine or fan on in the background to distract your brain from the ringing sound. as I said before also if your ear ringing started 3 days ago it is very likely that it will go away. it is very possible that the ear infection caused some temporary inflammation which could take a week or two to subside but when it does the tinnitus will likely stop

 

Ok well hopefully it clears up for you dear! In the meantime try to stay busy, put some low music on. Avoid ototoxic meds like aspirin, ibuprofen..there's a whole list out there. It hasn't been long for you , it can clear up

I am getting used to my noise. I have my good days and bad days. Bad days I talk to my friends who have T and they help me out. I also have a screenshots of success stories to help me.

 

@ryan1234 thank you for your support. I hope it will subside or atleast lessen in noise.

@hopeforme thank you so much for all the information

 

I just recently got T from going to the outdoor shooting range . I know exactly when it happened. I sat down to shoot my .40 cal in my lane which had a wood cover on each side. When I shot I felt the sound wave hit my left ear but no pain. I had ear plugs but I just not in correctly . I only noticed after we left that I couldn't hear and things sounded really really distorted. But I thought it would fade . But it didn't.. this was on April 3.2017 . I only took like 6 more shots after the 1st one that I felt . Then left the range. I'm doing much better but still have a slight T which can easily be masked but I can still hear some sorta distortion when I plug my ear up and try to hear some sounds like music or tv . I'm hoping it'll go in due time I'm only 27 . So I hope things go smoothly like some if y'all here god bless y'all . Never give up hope.

 

Might I add I went to a ENT 3 days later and had moderate hearing loss in the high frequencies which he said I would be better if if I got the steroid shot to the eardrum since I was still in the 3 day window to receive it and see improvements. Even get my hearing back. Which I did get it and I got my hearing back just have the mild T which compared to the first days it was bad because I didn't know what was going on. I went thru depression and anxiety attacks . And as I said I own guns which seemed to be the way . But I believe in a greater power And plus talks with loved ones made me see things in a clearer view. For me my kids n my wife. So don't give up everything we go thru makes us stronger it shows us who we really are. It's only temporary don't dwell on bad things but live for the good ones

 

@hopeforme Did your T ever get better? I just started dealing with this and I can't even imagine dealing with it for weeks/months/years! I can't seem to find anything positive out here in my searches.