Howdy Folks...

New here and new T sufferer. Mine started about a month back related to an abscessed right rear molar. Unfortunately my dentist wasn't around and the guy I saw proscribed me ibuprofen 600mg for the pain - should have just pulled the damn tooth without the freezing - even though I told him I had high BP and it was on record in the office. So I did that an amoxicillin for a week - I've done plenty of penicillin in the past with zero problems - but I didn't know ibuprofen spikes BP. Well mine shot up running 160-190 and spiking over 200 at points. I thought it was from the pain and inflammation of the tooth. Anyway, the T started for about 2 days, disappeared for 2 then reappeared and has been here since.

And of course the timing couldn't have been worse as my doctor was moving and on vacation so trying to get help has been like pulling hens teeth but it's coming together at least. Saw the cardiologist last week - with all the tests coming up next week - and seeing a neurologist on Friday - my doctor says she's really good and has a sterling reputation, so fingers crossed. He also gave me a new course of antibiotics - doxycyline hyclate 100mg - because he thinks my T might be being cause by a sphenoid sinus infection. And needle in a haystack - not trying to get my hopes up - I came across a post on CNN from a couple of years back about T and a guy had real similar circumstances to mine and after a week on the hyclate his T stopped. It's probably too much to hope but fingers crossed. I had botched sinus surgery back in Feb and a lot of problems since then so that's the one reason my doc thinks it may be related. I was supposed to see an ENT specialist in Nov. for this issue anyway, but depending on what the neurologist says my doc will do his best to get it bumped up or get me into see someone else faster. Also going to see an oral surgeon - seeing as this started in the jaw - next week and an audiologist - just to cover all the bases.

The early consensus seems to be that this is stress related, but who knows. I've been doing a ton of research and after a while it gets to be more confusing than clarifying. Most of the time it's pulsatile in nature, but it's mostly bilateral, but there are somatic components to it as well. If I overturn my head hard to the left of right the noise gets much louder, same yawning, but not just moving my jaw around, only really engaging the muscles. Same with BP, anything that elevates my BP definitely makes it louder and calmer really quiets it. A few times I've woken up with it just barely there and only when I get going does it start. And it seems like a lot of other people it seems to go up and down in volume as well, though fortunately it seems to be on the lower side most of the time. So somatic, pulsatile, somatosensory? Who knows. But hopefully I'll find out ASAP and then be able to start dealing with it better. Other thing is I find I'm super tense in my spine - upper and lower - and the other soma cues make me wonder if this is a tension things. Enh, guess we'll see.

Meantime, I keep researching, changing diet for the better, trying to exercise and keep the stress down. The hardest part is sleeping, getting to sleep actually. I'm using sounds and melatonin - switching off to magnesium tonight actually - and I find when I actually get down I'm good for 4-6 hours then if I wake up I can generally drift off again for another hour or two as the T is usually quite low. The upside is I've lose 10 pounds in the last month - 40 more to go to reach BMI! - and my doctor's never been happier with my blood results and I even stopped taking fibrates. It's amazing how a good diet and some exercises actually work isn't it? Still, that stress of the evening after 8pm trying to unwind with the T going on is hard as you all know.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for all being here. Thanks to all the mods and managers here for providing this space. I find it mind boggling that so many people all over the world suffer from this and it doesn't receive massive attention not to mention funding. You can bet if someone like Bill Gates got T there'd be a whole lot more advances by now, heh. Well you know where to donate your fortune if you ever win the Powerball. Looking forward to getting to know you and trying to help out and get some help in turn. It's nice meeting you and best of luck to all of us. Thanks again.

Sean

 

Welcome to the forum and we surely love to have you help out the struggling members. Your T is new and yet you seem to be quite informed about different causes of T. Yes, blood pressure, stress, and somatic issues all can cause T. Sometimes it can be a combination of causes.

There are many causes which can trigger or aggravate tinnitus including but not limited to drug reaction or side-effects from ototoxic drugs, ear wax build-up, ear or Eustachian tube infection or ETD, ear drum injury, fluid build-up in ears feeling pressured or fullness, sinus infection & congestion especially with a bad cold, TMJ, TTTS, high blood pressure or blood circulation problem, loud noise exposure or acoustic trauma/shock, head trauma & injury, neck injury or muscle problems, hearing loss, Meniere's Decease, barotrauma from sudden change of air pressure such as during landing & taking off on flights especially with blocked nose causing failure to balance the pressure changes, slapping of the ears, deep grief for the loss of loved ones, untreated sleep apnea, extreme, extended stress, anxiety & panic disorder, etc., etc.

If a fixable cause is known then T can fade or disappear when the cause is taken care of. Often, such as the case of drug side effect from ototoxic drugs, T can remain even though the drug is stopped. It is best we then focus on managing T so that it is not so intrusive. Your T as you say seem to have times that are low and not intrusive. Consider it a positive that there are breaks from facing madly screaming T. Living with T, positivity is a key factor in taming T as positivity will help to keep stress and anxiety low which then can help tame T.

I think there are times we need to masking T when it gets too intrusive and bothersome. We just have to do this as a new normal, as this doctor posted about this for his own T. Take good care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/curing-tinnitus.4136/page-5#post-40854

 

Thank you, Billie, that helps. I'm in a pretty bad place right now because the timing was so lousy with my doctor being gone but at least I'm seeing everyone I need to see - for now - in the next 2 weeks - with the neurologist on Friday. Going to start some antidepressants and anxiety meds for the time being at least until we figure out exactly what the hell is going on. Like most others I think maintaining during the day is much easier than at night and trying to get to sleep. I've got my sounds and meltonin/magnesiums - and meds soon so I'll be better if I can just level off and get some real rest over the next 2 or 3 weeks - which should be easier knowing I've got a bunch of specialists trying to get to the root of it. I know they say avoidance is bad for habituation for the long term but I imagine it's quite necessary initially for most everyone when they're tossed into this pain. Thanks for the reply. Talk to you soon.