New Here, Almost 4 Weeks In Now

Took a cold about 6 weeks ago which turned into an ear infection, red eardrum, fluid behind it etc, got antibiotics to clear it but they did nothing, went back to the doctor and he gave me strong decongestants and nasal spray which seems to have cleared the fluid out, problem now is that the ringing is still there non stop and my sinus (left hand side) feels like it is still bunged, pressure etc. Have another appointment with the doc next Wednesday which will be 4 weeks of this nightmare.

 

It’s early...entirely possible it will go away...

 

I really hope so, this noise 24/7 is crazy!

 

@Dave11 Hi - Im new too. Its crazy and hard to believe. I was using an eye drop with tobramycin in it and on night 2 i put the drop in and an hour later, just laying in bed watching tv "eeee". Assumed it would go away but not yet. Now on day 10 and cant really believe this. I realize now i was also taking a little Advil (one pill, here and there) so maybe it was that? Going to ENT on Tuesday. Not expecting too much. Anyway, T Talk has been a real help so (unfortunately) welcome. (?)!

 

Hi @Julryan 5 weeks today it's been for me, was coping ok but the last 2 days the pitch has got extremely high and i have resorted to using sleeping tablets that my doctor gave me last week (was hoping to avoid using them) if it is still with me this Friday my doctor has told me to phone down to him so he can get the ENT appointment scheduled. Did your ENT appointment go ok?

 

Hi @Dave11 sorry about your spike. Im sure its temporary but it sucks!! Thanks for asking about the ent appt. It was useless. Im going to tell you the details so you can be prepared in case it goes the same way for you. He told me "it will probably either clear up or you will habituate" and insisted it was stress induced. He said "you'll get used to it". Gee, thanks, pal. You get used to it! He ignored my other symptoms, i.e. ear popping, feeling of ear fullness, headaches, neck pain. Said my ears looked fine. I told him i had sinus pain and pressure and he took a look and said "all looks clear" I explained that when i get sinus infections, i just get pain and pressure but he just said firmly "you dont have an infection of any kind" . Then i got a hearing test but my t was really loud in my left ear today and so it came out that I have less hearing in that ear but still in normal range. Im not sure if T being so loud can throw off the test or if i have a little hearing loss in one ear. That prompted him to say i need to come back in 3 months to check hearing again to make sure its not worse because that could mean an acoustic neuroma . Great, scare me to death why dont you. (Apparently, when the hearing is not symmetrical they check for that, lots of people on here have had unnecessary mri's due to that - i researched after I got home. Its actually very very rare.) Next he handed me a list of vitamins to take, which have been basically disproven to work. As he was leaving the room i said what about eustatian tube issues or something and over his shoulder he said "well you could try flonase if you want" Im telling you all this so you can be prepared in case yours goes poorly! Im really disappointed and not sure what im going to do next. Maybe i should have been more aggressive in trying to get answers. But he was not really open to anything. So thats the story!

 

@Julryan nice writeup of your exam and reactions. I wanted to point out that the standard audiologist hearing tests only go up to 8000Hz. That's what I had. In my case, I believe I have hearing loss above 8000....and that may be the main cause of the audio system/brain making the T noise(s). I did have a small loss in the right ear at 6000Hz, but really seems insignificant compared to hearing NOTHING at say 15kHz and limited at 11k and up.

I hope you and @Dave111 come to have decreased T and less long-term impact and get over the scariness of the early days. Life is possible. Keep busy and try not to over-focus on the T.

 

That’s sounds exactly how mine started. Apparently it can take a while to clear up completely so you could have a chance of it going. Do any sounds irritate your ears? Try getting an app on your phone or iPad etc and use some nature sounds/rain etc and keep the volume below your Tinnitus and see if this helps you sleep. Let us know how you get on at the ENT.