I Developed Tinnitus the Day After Surgery

Hello ,my name is Paul and i had a routine prostate surgery for BPH on feb.18 2016.The next day i started getting a ringing\hissing sound in my right ear that would come and go for a few hours at a time.

Each day after it would stay longer and a week later it did not go away.I went to an ENT doctor and she gave me a hearing test and sent me for a brain MRI.

She said when you have it in only one ear the first thing to do is the MRI to eliminate the possibility of a tumor.

The MRI was negative and she said i had tinnitus and there was really nothing that could be done to help me,that i just had to learn to live with it.

Prior to the surgery my only medical issues were the BPH[constant urination]and i was on medication for many years for mild depression.The surgery definatley helped with the BPH but my life has changed dramatically since then.

Dealing with the tinnitus has resulted in my depression getting much worse and i i am now seeing a psychiatrist who has me on 3 medications for severe depression,anxiety and insomnia.I use a fan at night to try and drown out the noise but without the meds i would never be able to sleep.I own a contacting business and the first day i went back to work the loud noise of the tools i work with[power saws,compressors etc.]sent me into a panic attack like i couldn't believe,i started shaking,,the volume of the ringing went up dramatically.

So i stopped working and the shaking and louder volume lasted for about an hour.When i finally calmed down i tried working again and the same thing happened and it really freaked me out.I went to see the ENT doctor and told her what happened and she said it was hyperacusis.And again she said there was nothing she could do for me other than advising me to wear ear protection when working.I tried that and it did not help.In addition to thease conditions i have also become more forgetful,can't concentrate for long periods.I ended up having to close my business because i didn't feel it was safe and i couldn't do my work effectively.Since then I have had several other episodes with loud noises that have had the same effects.

I find myself extremely angry that this all started the day after the surgery.I wanted to blame someone.I contacted a couple of lawyers who both said that i would have to get a doctor to say that my conditions were directly a result of the surgery and their is not much chance that that would happen.There is just no way of proving this.I am having such a hard time accepting all this,no one can explain what happened to me,why this is all happening,and that there is really nothing that can be done other than taking medication and seeing a therapist once a week and talking about it.

This is really hurting financially,i have applied for disability and am waiting to hear but that will not make up for the loss of my income,i made good money with my business and now everything my wife and I worked for is in jeopardy.

During the day the sound i hear is is like the sound of crickets sort of high pitched.For the past couple of weeks when i wake up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom[i get up once or twice a night now compared to 6 or 7 times before the surgery] what i hear is different,its a much louder hissing sound ,I really dont get this.I told the doctors about it but they don't get it either.

D0es anyone else experience anything like this?I would appreciate any feedback you guys may have.

Lastly I want to say i'm glad i found this forum,being able to communicate with people that understand, I think will help me deal with this.If you do read this I want to say thanks for taking the time and again would appreciate any feedback.
Paul

 

A warm welcome to Tinnitus Talk senko83.
A have read your story and just might be worth looking in to Tinnitus induced through anasetics ......lots of love glynis

 

do you have fatigue in addition to Tinnitus?

 

In your job you use loud power tools you wrote - did you use ear protection all these years ? The crickets/ hiss sounds like mine which is due to noise damage .

The uncomfortable loud effect is H and it's due to noise damage and inner ear nerves damage .

My guess is that you had some tinnitus due to noise damage for a while but your brain was able to switch it off and then some stressful event or surgery made it uncover and now you focus on it and it gets louder as its more of a threat to your brain .

 

Injections of Ropivacaine (pf) 0.5 % (5 Mg/ml) Epidural Solution in the scar tissue may ease the tinnitus.
Please, spread the word!

 

What kind of anesthetic were you given? Was it a spinal epidural? Cohen says the facebook groups of tinnitus have a number of moms that got T and H from possible epidurals at childbirth. Something about the needle puncturing wrong and affecting cerebrospinal fluid or something.

 

@senko88

MOST POWERFUL TINNITUS SOUND THERAPY|Tinnitus...

This sound on video has helped me with my tinnitus. I have the same cricket sound as you. My T changed from a ringing sound to crickets after I first got T. I got T from loud noise exposure from a lot of headphones usage. I hope the video helps. Also, the sound of the video is the same sound I hear in my head. I don't know why, but hearing it outside my head feels better than in. STOP using the link if it worsens your T. What works for me might not work for you.

 

Hi, Paul, just wondered how your T was?
I got my T the day after a surgery..and it seems to get worse with every surgery I’ve had (I’ve had 3, for different things). I also think it’s connected to sleeping pills or other sedation. Very frustrating!

 

I sometimes think my tinnitus was connected to my Zolpidem use. I had one good day without using them the night before. But it's inconsistent.

 

Hi there. I had surgery in July and then August in 2016 to remove melanoma on the right side of my head above my ear. The procedure was performed with local anaesthetic. The second operation was required because all the cancer was not removed with the first.
In early April 2017 my wife and I went overseas for two months. A month into the trip I bent down to get some clothes out of my suitcase and ringing started in my right ear. I week later when we were in London I ended up seeing a specialist and then went to a private hospital where I had an MRI. I did not have any tumors so the doctor carried out a procedure injecting steroids into my ear drum.
He said if the ringing did not stop in 7 to 10 days, that it could be permanent.
The ringing has not stopped and I have had tests confirming that about 50% loss of hearing in my right ear.
I have always had perfect hearing up to that point and can only think that the anaesthetic has caused a reaction in my inner ear.
The specialist thought it could have been a mini stroke or meningitis attack on my ear drum.
Has anyone else experienced something similar and managed to find a cure? Cheers Vic

 

Good idea, I was thinking it might have also been by a ototoxic medicine given to help his prostate problems but that would make sense too. Tinnitus and hyperacusis together are a 99.9% guaranteed chance of hearing loss present.