Fighting Tinnitus the Second Time in My Life — It Got Worse After COVID-19 Infection

Hi, I'm Paul from Germany, 32 years old.

I got tinnitus and hyperacusis in 2011 during a techno festival and had some very bad months after that. Some voices appeared like robots to me. But I recovered somehow with lots of vitamins, but no medicines.

So I have had tinnitus since then but I didn't hear it when I was not focusing on it. This changed 3 weeks ago.

I got COVID-19 infection despite being twice vaccinated. I had a really bad headache, slight fever and was very tired for 1 week. At the end of this week I woke up one morning with pain in my left ear (the outside, not the inside). It went away after maybe 4 hours but what stayed since then is louder tinnitus on that ear and worse hearing quality. I didn't have an audiogram yet but it's clear that some frequencies have trouble on that ear.

Now I am very unsure what will happen next. Does it go away or get quieter again or will it get worse...

Sadly even the experts don't really understand how COVID-19 is connected to tinnitus, if it's a virus thing or some autoimmune thing from the own body against its own cells.

So now it's going to be the second fight in my life, I am ready for it but tired and now 11 years older than the first time.

 

Hi, welcome here, with the voices issue, raise vibes / vibrational energy, but you've dealt with that anyway - so the jab thing, did you fear having it - or not bother you.

 

If there was pain, it could be an ear infection. It’s not unusual to get a bacterial infection following a viral one. Worth a look.

Many people have seen improvement in COVID-19 related spikes. I hope you are one of them.

 

Hm, I went to 2 doctors, there is no swollen or red area inside or special things to see which would be typical for bacterial infection.

And after my last doctor visit I have the problems in both ears now They tested my hearing with a measuring pressure device for a few seconds, after that the tinnitus is twice as loud with worse hearing That gives me real trouble, before that it was "just" one ear, now both.

 

Well I've had this head blocked up cold for the last 3 weeks, can't shift it, but ears are unblocking today, tinnitus that is normally under control has been up a notch or two for those weeks - I've got this friend only in his 30s, been off for weeks with a hip issue and lots of pain - I told him a virus got in my hip in 2017 - 6 weeks of agony, but it went, that hips as good as new these days - I researched viruses for 5 years since / mind strength and self-healing.

 

If the test was not overly loud then it shouldn’t damage your hearing/cause permanent damage.

I recently had an audiogram and just after the tone and volume of my tinnitus changed, obviously I freaked out. But to be honest, I think it was just a coincidence.

Have a look around the forum, many people are seeing improvement with COVID-19 spikes. Try stay positive and wait it out.

 

Thanks for your positive words. As I now know, it was an acoustic reflex test with volumes up to 90-100 dB and other users here posted bad after effects too... but how should have I know that as an amateur and trusting doctors. The tinnitus in left ear was bad before yes but now the right ear is nearly as bad as the left. The right ear was 100% ok 2 days ago. That really bothers me.

But no one has a time machine so I must learn from this and hope I can sleep later on with these ringing noises in both ears, ugh.

 

This is a great attitude to have! If it makes you feel any better, I had tinnitus purely in my right ear for 3 weeks, and without any tests or interventions it spread to my left ear. So never beat yourself up for getting the test done. However, I would always refuse it in future, just in case.

Keep positive.

 

Is your tinnitus better now? Did you do something special before it improved?

 

@Bodycount2022, yes, my tinnitus is ‘better’. To be honest it has not changed much, but I am far (far far far) less bothered by it. Going from borderline suicidal, to oh, this is annoying AF. I still have anxiety, but not the all consuming, my life is over kind.

I took some medication to help me sleep in the first few weeks, I also started intermittent fasting 2 weeks ago and that seems to be helping me more than anything else (I do 18:6, but you can also do 16:8). Eating pineapple (the core included), and drinking nettle / hemp seed tea also help. Sounds crazy, but I don’t think I am imagining it...?

The fullness/pressure is my ears is now my main problem. However, I have hearing loss which makes it more likely to be an ongoing issue. I have read that in most cases this feeling will disappear over time, and I am still hopeful that in my case it will go away eventually. Sometimes it feels like my head will explode!

 

It is weird.

I think I had COVID-19 in early 2020 before anybody really knew it by name. It didn’t affect my ears in any way.

No problems through 2021 until I took the Pfizer vaccine.

Now loud bilateral tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus. Who knows what is going on. There is talk of spike proteins and nanolipids affecting the immune system.

We can only hope and pray and let time do its work.

 

Same thing happened to me with this test. My good ear became a hellscape of static, hissing, 3 pure tones that I hear everywhere. My tinnitus was just a hissing sound before that I could hear outside but not while driving or anything, something I could deal with decently.

Things are now even worse after recovering from COVID-19 4 weeks ago.

 

I got heavy panic attack yesterday during watching TV without warning. So I was nervous the whole night, strong heart beats and not tired enough to sleep.

Is this caused by new tinnitus and hyperacusis or something else like COVID-19 after effects?

 

I did have a few full blown panic attacks in the beginning, so it’s possible that it’s down to your tinnitus/hyperacusis. How are you feeling now? Maybe it’s best to speak to your doctor.

 

I am really nervous. The heart jumps all over the place and I have fear of the upcoming night when I still can't sleep. I also don't want to eat anything. I have no joy of hobbies like TV or gaming. I am just scared.

 

Just sounds like straight-up, run of the mill anxiety to me.

You're suffering from a tinnitus spike at the moment mate; the only people who can experience one of those without suffering severe anxiety, are people who are Tom Cruise level insane.

 

I was the exact same for 6 months. There is no magic pill here. In time your brain will normalise the sound to some extent, and the panic will pass. As you said, you’ve been here once before and you came out the other side able to live a perfectly happy, normal life. Keep that in mind.

Get a munch on the go, and try rest as much as you can. If your work is stressful then take a break, nothing matters more than your health. Our bodies heal themselves better when they are properly fed, watered, rested, and stress free.

Best advice: get some earplugs and protect your ears from loud noise. Exercising is also good, I’m not talking pushups and dead lifting here, just a walk in a quiet enough place so you can take the earplugs out and relax.

Seeing threads like this breaks my heart because I wish I could help you more. All of us here know exactly how you feel and it’s such a horrible place to be. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Unfortunately though, it’s just something you have to wait out.

If your anxiety is getting the best of you, you could always ask your doctor for some medication. I don’t have much knowledge of this though, I just let time do its work because unlike medication, it’s risk free. This approach may not be suitable for you though.

 

Or try LDN or Curcumin to see if this settles down inflammation?

 

This is really good advice. Mine has spiked. Im a nurse and I taken a leave of absence and its really helping. Its bad now but its been getting better. I don't know. Its six in the morning and im reading this and this just really made me happy to see. So thank you for your advice to everyone.

 

I’m a musician and private music teacher unable to do my job going on 4 weeks now.

Terrible robotic distortion on all sounds in my right ear along with an accompanying interval tone that started as a mild flute-like extra pitch...

I recovered from COVID-19 early January. I had horrible lung issues from late January into February. Ear issues started early March. Now I have tinnitus in both ears, roaring in right, as well as the sound distortions, vertigo, nausea, headaches.

I am living a NIGHTMARE. Audiologist and ENT are baffled. Have been on steroids, antihistamines, antibiotics, muscle relaxers, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Advil, and Ginkgo biloba.

MRI tomorrow.

 

Be careful not to take too much medication. The body has enough to deal with without all these strange substances being thrown at it.

I recovered from tinnitus after 2.5 years. At the start I was like yourself taking all sorts of medication, supplements etc. However, after a while I realised these were probably causing my body extra stress and possibly making the problem worse. At about the 5 month mark I stopped taking medications and supplements even though my tinnitus was severe. Over the next year or so I just ate good food, took long walks in nature in forests and by the sea. This had the effect of calming the nervous system which was causing the tinnitus and hyper awareness of it. One of the best things I ever did was take a holiday abroad by the sea. It showed that joy was possible even with loud tinnitus. Over the next year I habituated. I didn’t care about the tinnitus really. Then miraculously the sounds themselves disappeared.

I had nearly 3.5 years of blissful quiet.

Unfortunately I took the Pfizer vaccination in November last year and everything came back and then some.

But my point is treat your body gently, walk in nature, eat good healthy food and you will find your body will do the rest.

Good luck.

 

Glad to hear this man! Do you have tips for me to think about other things apart from the nerves/ears? Problem is that I can't stand any sounds from electronic devices because of hyperacusis and reactive tinnitus, so no music or YouTube etc

 

Stay away from those pain meds, they tend to make your tinnitus worse. Watch the MRI too. Protect your ears during the MRI. Ask for a quiet machine if they have one and double up on protection. I believe you can ask for both earplugs and something like earmuffs. There are people here with better knowledge that can help you.

 

Nothing really other than listen to the sounds of nature intently. The sound of the sea especially. It's all about calming the nervous system as much as possible. Tinnitus is often a problem of the hyperattentiveness causing fear.

 

@volsung37, you said that one of the best things you ever did was take a holiday by the sea. May I ask where this was?

Are you entirely sure that is was the Pfizer vaccination in November that caused the exacerbation in your tinnitus? As you say yourself, hyperattentiveness can be a huge factor in perpetuating the cycle of fear and awareness of sounds. A deep conditioning then sets in.

 

The holiday was in Malta.

I am absolutely sure the vaccination caused the return of my tinnitus.

I had virtually zero tinnitus for several years

If you do a search you will see that tinnitus is a very common adverse effect of all the vaccines.

Vaccines take 7-8 days to begin working in the body effectively. My tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus started 8 days after vaccination

 

I'm sorry to hear about your bad reaction to the vaccine. I have had 2 AstraZeneca vaccines and 1 booster shot of Pfizer. Thankfully I had no worsening of my tinnitus from any of the shots.