Musician Struggling with Tinnitus Shifting from Bilateral to Unilateral After Loud Bar Exposure

[jimlalad]

Hello,

I have been on the site for a few weeks now. I am a musician in my early 40s. About six weeks ago, I went to a very loud bar, and the next morning, I developed tinnitus. It has not gone away since then, and it was most definitely present in both ears initially.

A few weeks ago, I visited my general practitioner (GP), who examined my ears and noted a significant amount of earwax. Since then, I have been using ear drops, starting with a sodium-based one and then switching to Otex Olive Oil. My right ear seems to have cleared up, but my left ear is taking longer, and I still have the high-pitched tinnitus. It now seems to me that the tinnitus is only in my left ear.

I have searched the site but cannot find any instances of bilateral tinnitus changing to unilateral tinnitus. Does anyone know anything about this?

The sound is loud and has prevented me from sleeping for the past six weeks. I am now using sleeping tablets for the first time in my life. This situation has made me feel very down, especially since music is my profession.

 

[jimlalad]

Update: It has now been 11 weeks since the noise exposure, and I feel like things are getting worse. I'm really struggling with sleep and mental health.

I would be grateful for any advice.

Thank you.

 

[Dr Nick]

Welcome to the forum.

My experience is very similar to yours. My tinnitus started the day after visiting a very loud bar for a few hours. However, unlike yours, mine was one-sided from the beginning.

I found it very difficult to sleep for weeks. I would wake up every few hours and go into a panic attack—sometimes several times a night. That stopped when I was prescribed Mirtazapine, 7.5 mg before bed. Now I can sleep through the night, and a year later I'm back at work as usual.

It does get easier, but without the Mirtazapine it would have been so much harder.

Best wishes,
Nick