I Am Depressed, Can't Sleep, and I Can't Believe I Have This!

I am at a loss, I have not been able to sleep and I am super depressed. I just found this forum and I am hoping your experiences will challenge me and be uplifting. It all started Thanksgiving week with a very bad cold, I tried to fight it with OTC meds and ended up in an urgent care the week after Thanksgiving. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and was given antibiotics. After a week on antibiotics my right ear felt stuffed up, I could not sleep and the next day I went to see my primary care provider. He checked my ears and said I had a lot of wax, so he took a huge syringe and blasted warm water in my ear three times to get all the wax out. My ear felt fantastic after that day. Two days later my ear felt full again over the weekend after leaning back in my recliner. Again I could not sleep and I ended up at another urgent care, the doctor change my antobiotics and prescribe prednisone. It took two weeks to feel better from the sinus infection, but the ear continued to feel full and dull. Fast forward to this week over a month later and my ear still feels full, during the day it feels like I am hearing just a hiss from my right ear, like an old cassette tape playing with no music on it. At night I hear a ringing and it drives me crazy, I was only able to sleep 2 hours last night. I have tried putting in headphones with Jazz, Nature Sounds and other sounds and some nights it has worked others like last night did nothing.

I went back to see my primary care provider today and he believes it may be T or sinusitis, although he says that the ear wash he gave me could not of possibly caused T. He prescribe 4mg of MethylIPREDNIsolone, stating this may help and it may not but give it a try. He also referred me to an ENT which I have an appointment on Friday. I am going to take Tylenol PM tonight, but I don't want to have to do this every night. Can we live a peaceful life with this? Is this reversible? I know there is no cure as I have been reading about T. I am depressed that this issue will impact my life and those around me like my wife and my children. I look forward to hearing from some of you who have been dealing with this for a while.

 

Felix G, Was in your exact situation when my tinnitus started. I simply could not sleep. Lost 20+lbs so fast I could not believe it. I read that Amitriptyline might help with sleep. Ran this by my doctor and he prescribed a low dose. Read up on it and I think you will find it is also prescribed for insomnia. It's generic so the cost is low. Your top priority is to get your sleep under control. Believe me when you know you can get a regular nights sleep that is the best thing you can do. This is just what helped me to get a decent nights sleep. Like I said read up on it and see if it's something you might want to discuss with your doctor.

 

Felix G, You might want to check this out. This drug worked wonders.

http://www.drugs.com/answers/effective-amitriptyline-sleep-618122.html

 

Welcome Felix, at this early stage of T a new sufferer will usually be very scared and worry about the future. T is undesirable but livable, even long termed. But at the new stage, a sufferer usually falls trap into thinking life with T is not acceptable nor livable, therefore giving rise to so much anxiety and stress.That will change gradually over time. You are now functioning with the limbic nervous system which functions in fight or flight mode, and everything about T feels so much worse than it is. Over time you normal parasympathetic nervous system will take over and things will be easier to handle. If you read the success stories, you will find most people take some time to get better. If they have a good positive attitude as well as some effective strategies or treatments, they will recover even faster. So don't panic. Give it time. Learn from others what work for them and apply what you learn. Things will definitely get better. Yes, definitely we can have a peaceful life even after T. It may not be reversible but it is definitely livable. Your perception about T will likely change over time like most of the recovered member do. I suffered and feared my ultra high pitch T (and hyperacusis too) a few years back and I was in a mess. But now I don't give a dime about T high or low. My body is hardened to this ringing and its tyranny over me is truly over. I live a normal and absolutely enjoyable life. Don't panic and don't lose hope. Take care & God bless.

 

Elvail (Amitriptyline) works excellent for me. Been on it for nerve pain for 8 years then 2 months ago I got T but it is still helping me sleep and when it doesn't I have a 5mg xanax for a back up and I only had to use that once in 2 months cuz Amitriptyline works

Other things are a glass of wine or OTC ZZZ quil or Tylenol PM or a Bendryl Why suffer?
No sleep ramps up the T sound you need a break from this noise hell

 

i tried Amitriptyline , it gave me a really dry mouth and a headache. in the paper work supplied it said one of the side affects is ringing in the ears?

 

All benzo side-effects will include tinnitus.

 

Hi, You might just have fluid in your middle ear. Fluid can get trapped there and it takes awhile for it to drain out. I have it right now. The ear that has the fluid is also ringing. My ENT said this should stop once it all clears up. He said the ringing might linger on even after it all clears up. Go see an ENT and get more info

 

That fluid behind the ear can cause damage to the hair cells causing permeant damage, so watch it...Mine started with an ear infection, has fluid behind my ear and bang, full blown tinnitus even after the fluid subsided.

 

Its frustrating how some of us dont think about the health of our ears until we hear ringing, then we find out that the ear is extremely sensitive and complex and is one of the most important parts of the body to protect.

 

When you have it for a while you will get used to it. Don't panic. It's amazing what you can adapt to. If you read my story you.l know. I've often said if someone could have my symptoms just for an hour they would wonder how I even manage to walk or do anything at all because my tinnitus is accompanied with vision jumping in time to the noise and loss of balance. I can't hear what people are saying and I can't make my eyes keep still long enough to look at a persons face or sometimes to read a word on a page. Had this for seven years. Some days I prayed not to wake up in the morning! But in here and most people I meet have no idea that anything is wrong with me. It's thought to be coming from my brain but no one can figure out where or why. I now do everything I used to do and get tired more than I should because it's all an effort. But I'm happy and living a normal life on the surface and coping with this rubbish though I'd prefer not to have to. Hang in there. You'll adjust and perhaps the tinnitus might even go away.

 

Hi there Felix. I was in your shoes when I first got T, but things got a LOT better with time. I feel just about normal, and you can too. You need some time and space, and find a way so that you sleep. Sleep is the most important thing at the beginning. I was like you and got nearly no sleep. Remeron and Trazadone work well for sleeping, and in your own time you can wean off it. You just take it at night. Try asking a Doc about that.

 

Does any one find that weather affects their T? Here in Michigan on humid or damp days the T does spike.
Does anyone find that loud noise affects T? I was at a graduation ceremony and the lady next to me clapped and yelled the whole time. I like noise for distraction because if I put in earplugs then you hear the T louder. So frustrating.

 

Is Amitriptyline non-ototoxic? Dr. Neil Bauman has a book on toxic drugs for ears... It'd be good to see a list of
drugs that will not aggravate the ears or tinnitus.

 

Hi I am feeling the same way as you felix. I have had tinnitus since around 2010. I have some hearing loss so not sure if it is from that or something else. I also have had thyroid cancer and have heard thyroid issues can cause tinnitus. But i am now at the point that it is getting worse. It was only my left ear and it is like loud electrical noises. Now my left ear has just recently started and it is not the same it is swooshing noises so nothing worse than have both ears making different noises at the same time. I am at the point i just want to sleep and never wake up. The noises are so loud nothing masks it at nite to help me sleep. I am so lost so thought i would try a forum.