High-Pitched Frequency Tinnitus, Ears Rumble and Click

Hi everyone, my name is Hannah Warning- I'm going to go on a typing rant right now. Here's a little about me and a lot about my tinnitus: I'm 22 years old and my tinnitus started one night over two years ago. I was relaxing at home when my ears started high pitch ringing so loud that I couldn't hear / think about anything around me. It lasted for about two hours then stopped completely. The same episode happened six months later, and around another six months again. The first times caused me panic attacks (tingling in feet and legs, troubling breathing etc.) but not anymore because it's so frequent. Fast forward to now, tinnitus has become a part of my everyday life. It is very high pitched in both ears, not always ringing at the same time. It's causes me to socially isolate myself and miss class and work. More recently, doing dishes and hearing my dogs bark is extremely uncomfortable and almost painful. Sometimes my ears feel like they are rumbling. I can hear a loud click in both ears with almost any jaw movement. I've had really bad neck pain episodes over the last six months, with vertigo and nausea.

It's super frustrating not knowing what's going on because I've always been very healthy. It's hard to talk to people in my life about it because they don't really understand the magnitude of it and how it controls my life everyday. The other night I had my worst tinnitus "volume" yet. I was trying to sleep and it was getting SOOO loud. I usually just focus on my breathing and it helps calm me a little bit, but nothing was working. I also have sleep paralysis about 4 nights a week and this started after my tinnitus began. So all of the sudden, I had the strangest feeling and it was my nerves on the left half of my back felt as if they were intensely firing, like way more intense that a tingling feeling. It threw me up out of the bed because I didn't know what was happening. But then even weirder, the tinnitus stopped!! I had slight tingling in my back still and very faint tingling/numbness on my face. Oh and when I have the neck pain episodes, I get a tingling sensation on the top half of my back, kinda over my shoulder blades. I have no idea if they're related but who knows at this point. It makes no sense to me anymore what's going on!!

I just hope my doctors can figure out what's going on so I can take my life back. My primary doctor said my ears are very clean so it's not ear wax. I got an audiogram a month ago and my hearing is completely normal, but the lady who administered the audiogram said that my ear drums had bad reflexes. I'm waiting for my ENT appointment but it's not until June.

Anyways, thanks for reading It's helpful to lay it all out there on a forum for people who understand!

 

Could it be that you got exposed to some relatively loud noises within two weeks of each of those first few episodes?

Could it be that you have TMJ? You need to consult a dentist who specializes in treating TMJ... Treating TMJ often resolves tinnitus.

 

I don't remember being exposed to loud noises during the first few episodes. I have been to concerts before and been around loud music but not around the times of the episodes. I've read about TMJ and I saw a lot of similarities with symptoms, but I don't have any jaw pain. My dentist 4 months ago mentioned that I grind my teeth, probably when I'm sleeping.

 

Tinnitus due to TMJ can go away after TMJ is treated. I've been reading this forum for over 3 years, and I don't recall anyone describing tinnitus that is similar to your tinnitus. Usually it's on 24/7. This seems to imply that your tinnitus isn't due to things like ototoxic medications or an acoustic trauma. If I were you, I would see a TMJ specialist.

 

I'll definitely be looking into seeing a TMJ specialist! Thanks for all your input I appreciate it

 

Just a thought - you mentioned ear rumbling, vertigo and nausea. I hate to suggest more doctors, but to assist them in your diagnosis (if the doctors are willing to LISTEN to you), you might research reliable websites like Stanford, Mayo Clinic, Wedmd, even drugs.com. I get a lot of guidance from these sites (not self diagnosis), and I consider doctors as partners in my health. No one knows everything. This approach helps me to better understand what the doctors are telling me, and helps guide us to other specialists when cures/relief is not found. I have a damaged vestibular, my story is in the introduction part of this site. Results include rumbling, severe vertigo, vomiting, a new tinnitus on top of my old ringing, over sensitivity to certain sounds (like those air hand dryers in public restrooms).

Rumbling - "squinty-eyed syndrome". Sounds really silly, but apparently when some children who throw temper tantrums (eyes shut tight and body tension) can inadvertently make their eardrums vibrate. They get scared, and have to be convinced that they will grow out it, so the symptom got its own name. When I stretch or yawn, my right ear rumbles. It is so loud that my cats turn and look at me. Over tensioned tensor tympany muscle - likely as a result of my damaged inner ear. Look it up.

Vertigo - not PPV, but too much fluid pressure in the inner ear. Bouts begin with ear feeling full like cotton slowly forming inside my ear canal. Again, almost Menier's, (meaning you get vertigo with no apparent cause), but with the help of a physical therapist, we located a pinched nerve in my neck. Treated that, no more vertigo - its been over a year. Still have the pinched nerve, but constant specific exercises for that nerve keeps the really bad spinning, vomiting, debilitation from happening. I still have the other irritating symptoms, those don't seem to be getting any better. Still working on those.

Again, just a thought on my part. Keep at it with your health, and I wish you good luck.

Take care,

gregv