Help Please: Tinnitus for 2 Weeks — Could It Have Been Caused by Pain Medications?

Hello all,

Firstly I'll introduce myself. My name is Craig, from Scotland, 36 years old and quite fit due to my work.

I've just started suffering from tinnitus. It's been 2 weeks. It came out of nowhere. It's pretty much all I can think about and it's starting to worry me so much after all the research I have done.

The noise is manageable so far during the day, but when I'm watching TV or trying to sleep, wow it's so so loud in both ears.

I have been to my GP, my ears are fine, no underlying health conditions or no previous conditions.

I was on pain medications for an accident not so long ago, so I have my suspicions it's caused by this, but I could be wrong as there are so many reasons why you can get tinnitus.

My GP gave me antibiotics and nasal spray, I firmly believe this won't help.

I'm willing try try anything really.

I've read about the Niacin + Lion's Mane, can anyone advise me on their results and dosage?

Anything would be greatly appreciated. I plan to try lots of things and report back on here with outcomes to help anyone I can.

For anyone who reads all this, my sincere thanks. I'm worried I'm going to go on a downward spiral as it's already affecting me. It's all I can hear. Wow did you not appreciate what people who have this go through.

I don't think I can get used to this and learn to live with it forever. I'm determined to find a way to beat it. I know this is very unlikely, but surely one day someone will come up with a cure. I'm going to try stay positive as long as I can. Many thanks for reading and those who reply anything positive or negative.

 

HI @Craigyboy11111

Tinnitus can appear for no reason but usually something causes it and many things can. The most common is exposure to loud noise.

Before the tinnitus onset, did you frequently listened to music through headphones, earbuds, or regularly used a headset?

Listened to loud music at home, in the car or go to places where loud music was played?

If yes to any of my questions then you probably have noise induced tinnitus. Other forms of loud noise exposure can cause it too.

If it's not noise induced, then it could be an underlying medical problem within your auditory system. Please click on the links below and read my posts: New to Tinnitus, What to Do? Tinnitus, A Personal View.

All the best
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Tinnitus, A Personal View | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

You didn't happen to get the COVID-19 vaccine before your tinnitus started? That's been the more recent cause of tinnitus, or actually getting COVID-19.

 

Hello, thank you so much for the reply. This is the first time I have replied or posted so I hope this is the correct way to reply to someone.

I don't use headphones, nor listen to loud music. I will get an appointment with the hospital if the antibiotics have no effect. I also didn't have the COVID-19 jab yet.

So I've got a feeling my tinnitus is caused by something deeper and that worries me.

To think there is no cure is absolutely frightening as I'm sure you all are aware.

 

Hello and thanks for the response. I have not had the jab yet. I have seen it is causing some cases on here.

Perhaps if I have tinnitus already, the jab will reverse it! Hah, wishful thinking!

 

LOL. Very wishful!

 

Try to relax and calm down Craigyboy. Since you don't use headphones or listen to loud music your tinnitus is probably not noise induced. Many things can cause it including stress and earwax. The important thing is not to try and treat it at this very early stage as you could make it worse. Don't buy any tinnitus treatments online or at a store, just leave your ears alone as this is the best treatment for now.

Please take your time and read my articles in the links I have sent you and those in the links below. Use low level sound enrichment during the day and at night. More about this is explained in my articles. Try not to mask the tinnitus by covering it up so it won't be heard. Keep the sound enrichment slightly below the tinnitus.

The tinnitus can go away in time so please leave your ears alone and do nothing. Wait for your appointment at ENT.

Take care
Michael

Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Acquiring a Positive Mindset | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Michael, I was just saying thank you for the advice. I've been reading a lot of information from you. It's great. You really are a credit to this forum.

I put a YouTube video on of water flowing just below my tinnitus and eventually I fell asleep and slept almost all night! First time since it started, I couldn't believe it was 6 am when I woke. So that's thanks to you for the sound advice (no pun intended). I've calmed down, and not frantically searching for a cure like you suggested in another post.

I'll wait for the ENT appointment to come. I also have a funny feeling it could be the vaping causing the tinnitus. Perhaps the sucking is damaging my ears as I do have to inhale hard sometimes to get the vape, that and the nicotine could be damaging my ears. I have read that others have this problem too, but as vaping isn't 100 years old, not much proper research is available. I'm going to stop the vape, it will be hard but if it can stop the ringing, it will be worth it. I successfully quit cigarettes last October after 15 years. Vaped since, I have a funny feeling it could be the culprit.

Thank you again for your posts.

 

Thank you for your kind comments and the additional information on vaping.

Congratulations on giving up smoking. I visit various tinnitus groups where people have mentioned an increase in their tinnitus or hearing additional sounds soon after they quit smoking and started to vape, so it might be good idea to stop this and try an alternative.

Many people habituate to tinnitus within 6 months, sometimes longer. You will probably be told this after you are seen at ENT. Tests may show no hearing loss or underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus. Therefore, the best treatment in the early stages which you are in is to do nothing and wait. If a person is having difficulty with managing the tinnitus, medication and a referral to an Audiologist or Hearing Therapist specialising in tinnitus management, is usually recommended. Many people do not require this, so carry on using low level sound enrichment and wait to be seen at ENT.

Take care
Michael

 

@Craigyboy11111 assuming by "painkillers", you mean opioids, probably combined with Tylenol or Ibuprofen, yes, these drugs are known to cause hearing damage and tinnitus. That doesn't mean it won't improve in time, though.

I've noticed that when I've needed to use opiates for several days, about 10-14 days later I get a really insane tinnitus spike that lasts 4-5 days. This prevents me from using them outside of fairly dire circumstances.

COVID-19 vaccines cause hearing impacts in 0.5% of people who report adverse side effects; painkillers are much more likely to cause hearing issues based on extensive data sets.

 

Hello,

Many thanks for the reply. Yes indeed I did mean opioids. Perhaps I was taking too many over a long period of time. Someday I would take a bit more if I was sore, and sometimes less if I wasn't.

It's been almost 3 weeks now. The last few days I do feel it has quietened down from a 7-8 to a 4. I have been doing the Eustachian Tube exercise on YouTube. I've been eating bananas and pineapple more, taking multivitamins and Feroglobin liquid. I've been eating less salt and sugar. Tinnitus relief music at night I've been keeping below my tinnitus. Now I don't need my fan on to sleep so I know there has been progress. This could just be fluctuations so I'm not getting too excited that it's reduced in volume.

I'm waiting for my appointment at the ENT, so hopefully I'll get more of an idea if it's something wrong with the Eustachian tube, jaw or ear, or if it's something else. But overall I'm coping better and I do feel all the things I'm doing combined are helping.

Thanks to all who have replied.

 

Hello,

Since you are still kind of early on it might be worth it try a Hail Mary attempt with steroids (Prednisone). It is one of the few effective treatments if done early enough. You are kind of far out at 3 weeks and there are some side effects so ask your Doctor or ENT if they think it is a good idea.

 

Yes I have been reading about Prednisone. I'll perhaps ask about that when I get my ENT appointment, but I'm still waiting to hear what date that will be. It's really weird as for 2 weeks day and night it was so loud and non stop in both ears, and now it's really low. I'm struggling to even hear it during the day, and night it's not bad. As I said, I'm not getting excited but I'm really wondering if the simple things I've been doing since it started, is helping.

I'll find out more when I have my ENT appointment but I'm pretty relieved it seems to be getting better.

 

I really hope it gets even better for you my friend.

 

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Just woke up and it's just a really really high pitched noise, but it isn't very loud so I'm happy.

I firmly believe my diet is helping with the exercises. But I'll find out more at the ENT whenever it comes around if there is an actual reason why I have tinnitus. I'm hoping it's a jaw problem or something as I feel that's easier to fix. Worst case is everything is fine!

But these last few days have been bliss compared to last 2 weeks. I could live a happy life like this if it stays at this level, as I know what it can be like when it is loud. I actually can't believe I didn't know what tinnitus was and how bad it could be. People who don't have it or just say they can deal with it as they have to focus to even hear it, just have no idea.

I put a high frequency sound on my phone and played it at dinner one night, very similar in volume and frequency to what I was hearing, for the whole dinner, and everyone was going mad by the end. Maybe they have a better understanding now!

 

I wish I knew about this condition before I got it as well. I definitely would have been more careful with noise. When I show people the noise I hear they are usually driven crazy by it too lol. I have been talking with friends and family more too now and I am starting to learn that a lot of my friends and family have it too. It's kind of reassuring in a a way.

 

Finding yourself bereft of silence seemingly with the blink of an eye is something that is very hard to learn to deal with, especially when all your mind wants to do is focus on the unwanted new noise.

The advice you've been given in previous posts is sound, even though it probably doesn't feel this way to you at the moment because you want to go and do something and actively try get rid of your tinnitus. When you start surfing the Internet for tinnitus relief, you'll come across plenty of costly options. Many of them useless and only taking advantage of people's desperation, so please don't fall for them.

It's a good thing you've found a masking sound that's worked and got a good night of sleep. Because the more anxious and sleep-deprived you get the more trying your tinnitus will be - at least, that's the way it is for me.

And just out of curiosity:
Watching TV has become a problem for me because my tinnitus has become reactive to certain sounds. Is it the same for you or why is your tinnitus getting harder to deal with when you're watching TV?

 

Yea I totally agree with all you have said. I really believe there are people out there waiting to take our hard earned money in search of a cure.

So when watching TV, I can hear it, but it's not loud enough to get me mad. I try not to think about it. We have this small fan that sits on top of the fireplace to spread the heat. When it's on, I can't hear my tinnitus at all, it's bliss. But yes in general it'd be harder to deal with in the evenings and bedtime, but I've found things that have helped. I would say after any sleep or naps my tinnitus is louder and slowly gets quieter! It's so weird. But it's at a level I can deal with so I'm pretty happy although I wish it would go away because sometimes it does make me crazy!

I don't think mine is reactive to sounds.

 

It's good that watching TV still works for you because a good distraction can bring you quite a bit of relief. I'm experimenting with earplugs at the moment because I miss my shows but the results are so so...

I believe that's a statement every single person suffering from tinnitus will agree to!

 

Someone wrote to me and said hemp oil really helped their tinnitus, taking it from around an 8 to a 2... I'm going to try it, although mine is around a 3-6 daily on a 1-10 loudness-annoyance scale.