New & Devastated :(

Hello,

I would appreciate any help.

I'm recovering from a severe head cold.

I have blocked ears / muffled hearing (6 days) and intense tinnitus (past 3days)

The left ear is the most problematic.

I can't sleep at night...

I visited the ENT (too late?) and he checked my throat, cleaned my ears (it kinda hurt on one side) and did a tympanogram test. He said it is a viral infection and that there is no fluid. The tympanometry results were different for each ear but "normal" type A. He prescribed an antihistamine (bilastine), an anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) and a nasal spray (budesodine).

Both medications list tinnitus as a side effect and the topical is well... a steroid! So I haven't began taking or using any of it just yet... What do you think?

Also, could this be permanent? I'm so scared

Thank you.

 

500_miles

First off, I'm not a doctor, but its very likely that after you get through this infection that your tinnitus WILL return back to your baseline, so try not and worry about that. The same thing with the medication, even if it say's "COULD cause tinnitus it very seldom does, most medications say it tiny fine print under "other" at like .00001%. So small of an amount that its hardely worth even listing it on the lable. We can thank the FDA for that. If I had a dime for every drug that I read that it can cause tinnitus I would be rich. And even if it does cause some slight increase in your tinnitus it will go back down once its cleared out of your system. The half life of most drugs is like 2 hours so try not and sweat it. Steroids are not a problem, they are used for just about everything. I was just on a 9 day course about a month ago with no problem. Just try and stay calm and foccus on the problem at hand, the infection. Your hearing was probarlly muffeled because your all stuffed up with flem.


You hang in there you will be fine.

Take care


Louie
Quietatnight

 

Sorry to hear your suffering. I am not medically trained to advise you on the drugs and how it can affect T. Each person is different. Many members here have suggested for new T sufferer to get a course of prednisone (steroid) to treat your T asap. There is no guarantee that it will remove the T, but hopefully it can reduce the level of ringing.

Remember when T is new, it usually traumatizes its victims to the point that the normal parasympathetic nervous system is taken over by the limbic system which functions in 'fight or flight' mode, and things will appear a lot worse than they are. You will be easily scared and the brain will zoom in on any bad or threatening sensation and magnify its significance. You will be flooded with distorted thoughts at this stage, especially 'catastrophic thinking' about the future (like my future is doomed or there is no future), as well as 'all or nothing thinking' (like my life is not worth it with T ringing). Beware of these thoughts. They are called cognitive distortions, a term used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and they can create havoc in people mental suffering if not challenged. Our reaction to T can determine the degree of suffering or its intrusiveness. So we need to understand where these thoughts come from, defuse and counter them as much as possible. By doing so, we gradually remove the fear or phobia of T and then meaningful habituation will begin to happen over time. You can read Dr. Nagler's writing 'Letter to A Tinnitus Sufferer' and hopefully you will learn to counter/challenge your distorted thought:

http://www.ata.org/nagler-letter-to-tinnitus-sufferer

Millions of people have T and most have gone on living a normal life. There are many success stories here. You can read them to help you. So don't panic and stress out. The more relax you are, the easier T can become. You may want to try some masking and here are some masking tracks from TT plus some nice tips for new sufferers:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

 

You need a hearing test (also) as starting point to detect any hearing loss (I am strongly assuming you did get that despite you only mentioning the tympanometry test, twice).

This is actually quite important whenever there is muffled hearing without noticeable infection/fluid of the middle ear. But I can only imagine the doctor took the right approach.

 

Billie

I usually don't get involved with other posters views, but we have no idea if this person has or will ever end up with ANY tinnitus at all. She has an infection that's all. I can respect you feeling that you need to inform her of ALL of the in's and outs about tinnitus, but don't you think that you are putting the horse way before the carriage ? Their is a more then very good chance that she will get through this fine with out getting tinnitus. Sorry I just don't see the point. But your right I'm not a doctor. But I have been on tinnitus support sites for many many years and have spoken with hundreds of people and seen many get infection's and end up just fine with out tinnitus.


That's all I have to say, I don't like talking about "worst case scenarios" call me an Optimist I guess.


Louie
Quietatnight

 

I agree with you, Louie. Always deal with the medical causes first. She does say she has 3 days of intense tinnitus that is getting her stressful and scared that it may be permanent. If T has a cause. All the better. That is what the link of TT suggests, seeing a doctor first. If it is caused by infection, it can be taken care of and hopefully T will go away. That will be nice indeed. Obviously I am trying also to help Ana to see that her anxiety level is a bit too high and she is suffering a fear of the future. I try to encourage her to relax and be informed of ways to deal with a new T by providing the TT link. That is all the purpose of the post. Hopefully she will be well soon with the infection over. I am no doctor and I don't know what drugs will do what to people. But I agree with you too that side effects are just side effects which happen to a small group of users. I personally use anti-histamines for my hay fever, use nasal spray for my often congested sinus, and have been taken Ibuprofen for headaches. I am trying to live without worrying about what things I do or take can worsen T. That can be quite an individual thing and if she has a need to use them with the advice of the doctor, why not? I think we are in agreement for the most part.

 

Hi @500_miles,
I had a severe case of flu last year and it felt like my level of tinnitus doubled. My ears were blocked too. Even after the flu had disappeared, it took another 2 weeks before my tinnitus returned to its previous level. I have full confidence that you feel better soon. In the meantime, take good care of yourself. Hot showers, warm drinks and chicken soup (might sound silly, but its actually been proven to help) might help you recover faster.
I hope you feel better soon.
Maria

 

I'm with Quietatnight. If there was an ear problem to be had, I likely got it ... 50 years ago and ongoing for a years. Your eardrums are fine - that means when they were tested they moved somewhat (as a drum would if you hit it) and that allows the sound to be carried through your middle ear through the stapes footplate into your inner ear and onto your receptors in your brain. That's fabulous news. Your bones are working and moving. Different results in both ears is totally normal and you aced both tests. No fluid means no tubes need to be put in your ears because there's nothing to drain. Seems like even your eustachian tubes are doing their job.

MariaH mentions chicken soup. It has a lot of potassium and other nutrients in it. It's a good idea.

Antihistamine makes sense. Ibuprofen and a nasal spray will likely be short term and I would not worry about them. I'm not fluffing you or padding a thing (ask Louie ). Steroids ... again, short-term. Let me worry - it seems to be part of my life but I'm not worried at all about what you've said.

We all make choices on this forum. Yes, aspirin may cause tinnitus. Due to a not so recent knee issue, I was taking it to sleep at night. It's ototoxic. But the pain in my knee kept me awake. My choice - perchance to sleep and I took some aspirin stopped and will see an orthopedic in a couple of weeks.

I'm one of two folks on this forum who has a history of hearing issues and in my case since birth. I'm also a skeptic and a bad cynic when I feel it's appropriate. I'm NOT skeptical about the small things being prescribed to you. If you took them long-term, I'd be concerned. I know muffled. Give it time. If you can b r e a t h e and not panic, it would likely help you. Unwind and, if you can, give it some time and see if your muffled hearing clears - it's typically temporary.

Best wishes and keep us abreast with what will likely be positive changes for you.

 

So no fluid = virus? Did he check your blood?

I'd like to hear about the hearing test.


Histamine produces increased vascular permeability, causing fluid to escape from capillaries into tissues, which leads to the classic symptoms of an allergic reaction — a runny nose and watery eyes.

 

I appreciate all of your responses and do apologize if it seemed they weren't gratefully received... Yes, I was, and still am, in such a bad shape I could not mumble a faint thank you in return. It's been almost two weeks and I haven't been able to stop crying, I have been dumped and I am very close to also being fired. I am deeply disappointed by and ashamed of my lack of character but all I can think about it ending it all... Yes, I am weak and whiny... I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of you who are fighting this and learning to live with it and I am humbled by your strength, courage and determination. But I don't think can endure this much longer

I visited a second ENT in hopes of getting prednisone prescribed but he didn't think it'd be helpful.

@attheedgeofscience I followed your suggestion and asked for an audiogram the following day of my post which came out normal but only went up to 8kHz. I have yet to locate a professional in this god forsaken place that tests higher frequencies... Based on your comment I did my research and I think I now understand why that was so important. So, again, thank you.

I went back and thought about everything that occurred since my cold symptoms appeared and I'm now even more concerned about the permanency of my condition. First, it was conductive hearing loss, then an inner ear viral infection, now I am almost certain it is due to barotrauma / sensorineural hearing loss.

Recap: 20 days ago I came down with a head cold that completely blocked my ears for 4-5 days and there was immense pressure and hearing loss. I couldn't not clear / pop them and then one night I blew my nose and a huge amount of air traveled up and got trapped in my left ear and no amount of yawning or swallowing would release it. It was extremely uncomfortable so, in an attempt to let the air out, I did a forceful Valsalva maneuver that made things worse with my swollen one-way tubes (yes, genius, I know) and that's when I panicked and frantically and ever so stupidly cupped my ear and pressed hard and repeatedly to "push it down" to "open up the tube". It hurt I could literally feel my expanded eardrum bouncing! It was painful but not excruciating... The following day, my tinnitus appeared and has been tormenting me ever since

I visited three doctors so far and I am "just waiting it out"! My cold's now resolved, there's no congestion of any kind, I can hear a little better (but muffled) on the left side and my T is just as bad. I have a follow up appointment in 10 days. Thanks to you, I feel a lot more informed and educated and will probably ask for an otoacoustic emissions test if one is not offered.

What do you think caused my tinnitus and should I now give up any hope of it ever going away? Could the above described incident cause barotrauma? Could it still be a middle ear issue (despite normal tympanogram and no detectable fluid build up) with a better prognosis? Is damage to the inner ear from either barotrauma / noise or a virus identical? Can tinnitus caused by barotrauma ever be temporary? Would an OAE test reveal such damage? How long after hair cells are damaged do they die off? And how does that show up an a DPOAE test? Does it show both dead / missing hair cells and damaged / under-performing cells? Any words of wisdom?

I am not a religious person, but I prayed to Him not to test my like this... just... not like this

Thank you all so very much and sorry for the rant.

 

@500_miles I can speak for everybody here that it is very common to have that sense of panic and "fight or flight" response. I had a tremendous strain on my life in every way when mine started, and your "origin story" sounds extremely similar to mine.

The good news is that I am doing much better due to the passage of time, some CBT-based therapeutic techniques, and the body's ability to heal. I still have ringing in my left ear but it no longer "reacts" to loud noise as much as it did at first and in general I feel back to being "myself" 100%. And I really didn't think I would ever feel that way again.

If you are having trouble at work I would try a employee assistance program if you have one. T doesn't have to take your job and relationships away and over time you will adjust. And it is important to know that it is common for your T to resolve itself. Take care of yourself and try to relax as much as you can. Try some ASMR videos when you are feeling really anxious and some masking sounds. Most everybody here might still be bothered at times but very few are feeling that fight or flight response anymore.

We are here for you!

 

The wisdom I can share is to stay calm. Get some medical opinion on your ear problem and if treatments can help you, all the better. As for barometric pressure change, yes it can cause tinnitus to flare up when the ears seem be blocked. But such condition should be temporary. I have the experience of such problem on a long flight a few years back when a bad cold plugged my nose pretty bad. I didn't have nasal spray and so even with the best attempt to do yawning & swallowing action on the mouth, the ears just didn't pop to balance the pressure. The ears felt in a cocoon for a few days with T blasting very loud. But I was staying calm the whole time to not add more stress to the body, knowing the pressure thingie should resolve itself over time. Sure enough in a week or two, the ears felt normal again and T was back to baseline. So stay calm and positive. Your T is very new. So expect some unpredictable moments with T. Expect some setbacks. But stay calm and positive as best as you can. Read up the success stories to give you some hope. Use masking to help reduce the anxiety to the ringing. But most of all, be patient to let time do healing on the body and the ears. When your normal nerve returns, you won't be so panicky, especially after reading success stories enough to know that you will most likely be getting better like others do.

 

Hi @NiNyu, sorry I missed your question.

The way I understood it is:

Fluid behind the ear drum = middle ear, Eustachian tubes = middle ear, Middle ear = conductive (poss. temp.) hearing loss / tinnitus, Normal tympanogram = no eustachian tube dyfunction & no fluid build up = inner ear = sensorineural (prob. perm.) hearing loss / tinnitus, SNHL due a cold = virus

I will post my hearing test results as soon as a have them, in about 10 days.

Thank you @marqualler That's so hopeful...

What really bums me out is that I'd just turned 34 and was finally getting my health / life back together. I was doing great, realizing life long dreams and goals... then bam, T!

@billie48 So, barotrauma can exacerbate tinnitus but not cause inner ear problems resulting in tinnitus? Thank you for your positive words and I did try reading the success stories but all I could see was habituation... and I don't wanna get used to this damn tinnitus, I want it to go away, it's robbed me of everything good in my life

Okay, off I go, I'm getting emotional again.

Thanks everyone for the support

 

I would NOT do the Valsalva maneuver anymore. Some years ago I did damage my right Eustachian tube with this maneuver . Since then I'm suffering from a dysfunctional (patulous) Eustachian tube.

If yawning doesn't work you can only try inhalations.

Does your T react to other sounds?

Probably the cold, I'd say.

Barotrauma can also be a possibility when the pressure in the middle ear is severely different from the ambient pressure. Nobody can tell if you have permanent or temporary T. Only time can.

No.

Word!
Same here, it destroyed my life completely and I want it to stop -- one way or the other. 'cause this isn't life anymore. But not everbody gets it.

You can make a hearing test yourself,

http://plasticity.szynalski.com/tone-generator.htm

But be careful with the volume!

 

When a person is truly habituated to T, he/she is not aware of T most of the time unless there is a attempt to be reminded of T. That is as good as it gets. I have read many posts in which people mention that they know friends who have T for years and they are not aware of the T most of the time until someone asks them about the T. So if you are not aware of the T, it is as good as it is not there.

If you just want treatments, there are many treatment options too besides habituation. You can go to the Treatment Forum to read up on those. There are discussions on AM-101, Trobalt, etc as well as the use of meds to lower the volume of T.

 

By that definition every single active being on TT is either not truely hab. or constantly aware of their T. Irony?

 

Hello ,
I took bilastine for the first time in february just before going to sleep and i Wake up during the night , there was a big noise in my head. The tintinnus haven't stopped since this day even i stopped immediately to take this drog so i think you are right to be scared
regrds

 

Firstly, I am not a doctor, so the thoughts I have are mine and should not replace the advice of a doctor with years of training and hopefully many more of experience, but I have spent a lot of time researching treatments and drugs for nasal/sinus/ET problems. The below are some of my findings:

I wouldn't bother with the bilastine. Research for antihistamines for nasal swelling and inflammation where allergies are not indicated is very poor, but a lot of doctors seem to still give it a whirl - of course if you do have allergies, then there could be some value in it, but there are lots of different antihistamines available. The drying effect can reduce drainage as well.

No one can tell you how you will react to any of these drugs, but last year budesonide was issued more than 30 000 times during the summer months by the nhs as a nasal spray - how many of them are currently on this forum complaining that they have tinnitus now after taking it? Generally, short term topical corticosteroids are very safe, although again, the likelihood that it will make much difference to the tubes is questionable.

One huge problem is the fact that if you type tinnitus and almost any drug (maybe even food stuff) into Google, you will get some sort of relationship between the two - much of it is hearsay and rumour, but you have to make your own call on how valid a source is.

On the one hand, you could let nature take its course and let things settle down on their own without intervention, the other is to try everything you can to recover as quickly as you can in the hope that a quick recovery will leave fewer long term effects.

Whichever you do, you'll probably wish you did the other (I know I do)...

 

Aspirin, Tylenol, Sugar, Caffiene, Advil, Antibiotics, and Steroids have always irritated my T but only temporarily.

 

I think you're probably right. When mine first started, I was pretty devastated/worried/panicky, but after 4-5 months, I started to cope and didn't think about it. Sadly, it then stepped up a notch and I haven't managed to get a handle on it since.