My Story with Tinnitus Thus Far

Hi guys, new to this board. Lost my job back in September and decided to get a ringing checked out in my right ear before insurance ran out. Dr. said both ear drums were ruptured, which made me panic and I scheduled an appt. with the ENT. 5 days later, the ENT said the ear drums were fine and there was no rupture. By then I was already in high stress mode and the ringing was getting louder. Had an MRI, but that also freaked me out due to being claustrophobic, which didn’t help. I started taking Gingko and Lipoflavinoid which the ENT recommended. The ringing got so loud at one point that I had trouble hearing what people were saying in my right ear. That lasted for weeks and weeks. I began noticing a plugged feeling in my ears a little bit after that which made it really hard to hear. I became a nervous wreck, crying quite a bit and was afraid to be alone. Sought out a therapist and started doing acupuncture, which I’m still doing. I did have a feeling of sounds like trucks going by upsetting me and being intolerable as well as little beeping sounds that would go off in stores, but that went away after a few weeks.

I went to a neurologist who said I don’t have hearing loss and the hair cells aren’t damaged so he’s saying the ringing will go away in 12-18 months worst case without acupuncture and exercise. The plugged feeling is bothering me as well though. It’s gotten a bit better but still can’t pop my ears to their normal state. He said that I don’t have eustachian tube dysfunction according to his tests and that it may be jaw related. I know that when i bite down on my back teeth the ringing increases on the right side until I stop. It is driving me crazy, but I am trying to remain positive and hope that it goes away. Just not sure what the plugged feeling is from. No matter how much I try to pop them, they never feel clear. Anyway, the ringing has gone down a bit. Still sleep with noise machines and don’t notice it as much during the day when busy. Wish the plugged feeling would go away though.

Anyway, curious to hear what others think.

 

How did the Dr. think you had both eardrums ruptured if they weren't, that seems like a pretty big misdiagnosis to make if he looked in your ear it would be pretty weird to mistake healthy eardrums for ruptured ones? They attribute your hearing issues mainly to stress or maybe your jaw? Glad to hear you are coping well, keep us posted on how your recovery goes. Your doc saying 12-18 months it will clear gives me hope. I'm 9 months in and still hoping. I also have ringing and "plugged" feeling in ear too (but i refer to it more as a "heavyness" sensation in the ear) I had acoustic trauma though. You didn't have noise exposure? Welcome to the forum, and best of health, keep us posted.

 

Hi Naoptebuna,

Welcome to the site.

You mentioned in your post the following. "He said that I don’t have eustachian tube dysfunction according to his tests and that it may be jaw related. I know that when i bite down on my back teeth the ringing increases on the right side until I stop."

I would go to an oral surgeon and relate this to him; he may be able to help you! Best of luck.

 

Welcome to Tinnitus talk @noaptebuna.
You could ask your doctor about a low dose of Amitryptaline or Nortryptaline as that will help you relax from anxiety and help you sleep and can help settle sever tinnitus.
Out of the two the nortryptaline has less side effects and just make you a little sleepy for two days nothing nasty and has helped me a great deal...
Prednisalone is only given for a few days so have a chat with your doctor...lots of love glynis