Help Please!

hi guys.. my name is lisa.. im 32 years old and have a 3 year old little girl.. i have been experiencing constant all day and all night static and crackling in my left ear.. this started happening about two days after i flew home from a vacation to mexico.. it woke me in the middle of the night.. i have barely slept since..

its only in my left ear.. i rarely get any relief.. maybe thirty seconds every ten or so minutes.. i am starting to feel anxious and depressed..

ive been to two ents and they cant help me.. ive been on amoxicilin, steroids and flonase.. have also tried to see a chiropractor.. can anyone help me? what else should i do?

this is effecting me being able to care for my daughter.. i am exhausted and cry all day.. if anyone has any insight id appreciate it.. thank you!

 

Sorry this is happening to you, what did the ENTs say? Do you think you had barotrauma on the plane?

 

im not sure! i did feel more pressure than usual when flying and had a little pain but nothing overly alarming and once landed i felt fine.. im just assuming it had to do with flying since i did have some allergies or a very slight cold when i flew.. the ent at first cleaned my ear and when that didnt help he did a sinus scope and said all looked well.. he said possible eustachian tube issue and gave me the steroids and flonase.. and that was it.. i am going to go back.. i just dont know what to ask him to do?

 

If nothing helps , try TRT therapy. Read on websides. Generally the aim of this is to make your brain get used to these sounds. It may or may not help but I think it's worth trying. And to comfort you- I'm 30 and I've got terrible tinnitus, I hear it all day long so... it's not so bad, it coud be worse, believe me.

 

Hello, I can't imagine it not being from flying (too coincidental), especially since you has a cold. Mine came out of nowhere this past January, but I have T in both ears and prior to that I have had right ear issues since 2012 (a fullness feeling), I have had two CT Scans of the sinus since and they have not found anything. He feels the fullness in the one ear may be a Eustachian tube issue, but not sure about the T. You may want to have them do a CT scan. It is frustrating, I've been to two different ENT doctors, and a chiropractor (which I have since stopped). When you first notice it, it is frustrating and stressful because your anxiety level is high which makes the T worse but once you educate yourself about T it gets better, I was there. After a while you get used to it and can cope, it's not the end of the world. I sleep with a fan next to me. I truly believe mine is due to the central nervous system and anxiety. I was quite bad off when I had the onset. Good luck to you.

 

Welcome to the forum. Your stressed and fearful reaction to a new T is quite normal. Many of us have been there. In fact my T started similar to yours although I still don't know if my T was from taking a flight. Mine started a week after a flight and I remember struggling to balance the pressure due to blocked nose and the ear drums felt pressured a bit. And then a week after I woke up with this high pitch T screaming ever since. Saying that, I won't rule out stress plus hearing loss as a cause for my T. I have hearing loss in the high frequency thus my T is very high pitch.

Right now, at the initial stage, your new T sensation is foreign to your brain that it tries every means to shake it. Failing to do so and failing to find a remedy from the doctor(s), then the brain just went into the stratosphere of negative reactions to T, thus creating so much suffering to the body. You are now functioning in fight or flight mode under the limbic nervous stem and T is erroneously considered by the brain as a mortal threat. As such it zooms in on T all day making it so much more louder and thus more stress and alarm over the situation.

The best course of action is, after seeing ENTs or your doctors, to stay calm and positive that T will fade over time or that your brain can fade it out due to habituation. You can experiment with different treatments if you like, but giving enough time and trying to stay positive will help you in the long run. Don't worry too much. Things will improve. I have had very high pitch T plus severey hyperacusis and suffered so much initially. But now I live a normal, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. The following is my success story listing some helpful strategies. Check it out if yo have time. Take good care, God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Hi Lisa,

Sorry to learn about your situation.

Fear not, as your reaction is perfectly normal to this "intruder". For the first two weeks last year (March as a matter of fact), I was Googling up a storm until I finally found this site and read all the wonderful comments and suggestions.

My tinnitus is also in my left ear and it was due to acoustic trauma (car with loud engine roared behind me with my driver's side window partially opened causing my ear to pop). When I went to bed that night and put my head on the pillow, I could hear what I hear now... hissing/crackling. At first, I was fighting to and contemplating cowardly thoughts until I took control of myself; tinnitus is not lethal I said to myself. In all honesty, it took a good 6 months for me to habituate to it. That is the clinical term meaning that your nervous system does not construe tinnitus as lethal and ultimately gets swept under the rug. Most people habituate over time and resume normal activity. In your case, you have a family to take care of so this is of the utmost importance to you, obviously.

It is not easy, but it can and must be done. Similarly, aside from tinnitus, I am going through a mid-life crisis myself. The idea is the same... you have to rest your mind, distance yourself from the circumstances, think positive thoughts, and all will be well.

Good luck

 

thank you SO very much for all of your responses.. it does help that i am not alone.. i go to see a therapist today and i am going to ask for some medication to help me relax and maybe then it wont be so noticeable, this constant crackling popping in my ear.. ive been taking benadryl to sleep at night for over a week and that does help a bit.. my ENT says it may be brought on by stress and anxiety because i recently moved across the country.. and if i possibly get the anxiety under control the T will decrease.. has anyone on here had their tinnitus go away? i cant say that i am not terrified to try and live with this for the rest of my life.. i still feel like there may be a eustachian tube problem and am scheduled for an MRI as soon as my insurance clears me.. can an MRI show fluid behind me ear or a possible eustachian tube problem? any info so appreciated!

 

Hi Lisa,
Fluid behind the ear drum is easy to detect.
For your eustation tubes a tiny camera up your nose can check that out.
Its so tiny and does not hurt as they spray your nose first...
Your tinnitus as every chance in going so try be as calm as you can as anxiety can cause and spike tinnitus.
For sleep you could try melatonin or a very low AD med can help sleep.

Lots of love glynis