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Hi-

I'm hoping someone can shed some positive light as I'm quickly losing it here. About 2 months ago, I began feeling a sense of fullness in my ears. I've always had sensitive ears, but didn't think anything of it. I also had just had a molar removed and suffered some nerve damage and began taking trileptal for the pain. A very low dose. As time went on, the fullness progressed in both ears but more so in my left. The past few days I'm noticing some very faint background sound in my left ear and when it all gets bad enough, my head is heavy, full ears and always the need to pop them though I'm thinking doing the valsalva maneuver is now doing more harm than good.

I have seen 4 ENTs and my general practitioner. Have had countless hearing tests, all good and pressure tests, all good there too. No active infection and no fluid. I've done the decongestants and nose sprays and antibiotics.

I'm preoccupied. Worried sick and feel totally helpless. I walk out of these doctors offices with no answers. Latest ENT wants to do some allergy testing.

My family went on vacation without me bcz I would not get on a plane.

I'm at a loss. My anxiety is off the charts. It's effecting my family now. I'm not myself. Have lost so much weight. I'm not able to eat or sleep. And fear that this will be the new me for the rest of my life and it just isn't an option.

Just looking to tak to some ppl who might have or have had the same or similar issues.

 

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk Teresa.
I have just read your story and wonder if your tinnitus is allergy related as can cause extra mucous in your nose and ears.
Also do you have jaw problems TMJ basically any jaw inflamation like clenching your teeth ect can cause inflamation on your jaw joint or make your jaw click and as the joint is by your inner ear can cause tinnitus and pressure in your ears..
Anxiety can make tinnitus worse so if it does not settle then medication or talking therapy can help you .
Try eat healthy as not eating can add to low mood and make you I'll.
..lots of love glynis

 

Teresa, perhaps you should consult with your MD and maybe get a prescription of ambien so you can get some sleep and perhaps Xanax low dose to help you with your depression and anxiety until they can figure your ear problem out. Personally I would stop popping your ears and far as the sound your hearing in your left ear that could be caused by pain meds or antibiotics. You are going to be alright and will get through this so try to stay positive.Oh Glnis has a point maybe try some allergy meds it may have something to do with the pressure your feeling in your ears.

 

CT Scan? MRI?

 

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate the reassurance. I do take Xanax for anxiety as I suffer panic attacks. And it calms me down a bit for sure. I also take pain meds for debilitating migraines and fibromyalgia and have for many years. Yep, I have a lot going on. I'm just really nervous over the fact that perhaps I've done some damage and my ears are never going to be or feel the same. I'm seeing a chiropractor today. She's also some sort of "natural/holistic" Doctor. Perhaps she has a different prospective. My diet is terrible. Often crave sugar and don't eat well at all. And lastly, forgot to mention the most important thing of all. I work for the board of education. I'm around hundreds of screaming kids all day. Just recently started wearing ear plugs and I look forward to having 9 more days left. Perhaps I can get this all sorted out. What wd an MRI CT scan show. I've had numerous but all prior to this ear issue.

 

I'm not the best at reassuring people and if I seem a little angry, I am.

To answer your questions; It's tremendously rare but some people with tinnitus have a neuroma, a form of small tumor on the ear nerves. This would also cause as drop in hearing ability and would typically only appear in one of the ears. It would be visible on an MRI but it would not explain the fullness in the ear.
People also like to think a chiropractor works because a chiropractor seems to work for a lot of things. It has been proven that chiropractors works precisely as often as not doing anything about something.. Chiropractors are for a bum knee or a stiff back, nothing else. They usually haven't the slightest clue. And anything with holistic near it I would run from.

I personally think Xanax is your problem right there. Benzodiazepines are the number 1 product of the biggest pharmaceutical company, they are used far too often. Benzo's alter the glutamergic metabolism in the brain, your body will naturally adapt to it to keep the brain signals flowing. When your dose drops your system is slightly flooded with excess glutamate, which will have the same effect on the auditory system as acoustic trauma if severe enough. Whatever you do, if you're on Xanax do not stop taking it abruptly. Obviously the Xanax was a necessary evil.
Much as I hate to agree with my lovely parents, prolonged stress has recently been proven to damage the brain significantly. Mostly by damaging precisely those cells that protect us from glutamate toxicity (the glia). Meaning that our threshold for hearing damage through either acoustics or medication would be lowered.
You also mention you have migraines, so did I until a few years ago. I had therefor looked it up and it turns out people with migraines have a slightly off glutamate control system. There's more on it here; http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20100830/first-genetic-link-to-common-migraine-found.
Your general practitioner and neurologist don't know about this because they weren't smart enough to get an actual doctorate. If required I can back up all my statements with scientific studies and if you wish to discuss it with your physician and want me to explain the details I'm here for you.

Eat well, reduce your stress levels (not with more xanax), and get a lot of sunlight it will help. I'm dead serious when I say, don't worry about it. A new easy tinnitus treatment option is coming out soon made by Auris Medical, and many others are working on it. I had done some preliminary testing yesterday until 4 AM.
I'm really sorry you're not well. Since more people seem to be having this glutamergic system problem I've sped up talking to specialists in neurotransmitters so that we can get some answers, hopefully one day soon someone can even find a way to fund some research on it.

You have my best.

P.S
@Beste has a lot of experience with Benzo's and could probably tell you things I can't.

 

Hi Teresa

I'm sorry for you going through so much suffering. I can totally relate to it.

I know how it feels to see bunch of doctors but getting no answers. This is a big shame for science not to help people in terms of tinnitus.

I got my tinnitus from a benzodiazepin which was clonazepam. I had to take ot for 8 months 1 mg per each night for sleep. I have to confess that you have never felt that good in my entire life while I was using it. And bear in mind that I have been taking psychiatric treatment for my chronic GAD and insomnia for the last 6 years and I had used 9 different drugs till clonazepam. It was too late for me to learn that one should not use benzos more than 3 weeks because they are highly addictive. Despite you may see some members within us say they are not that dangerous, I know many people still suffering after 5 years even they had tapered them with Ashton Method(Prof. Ashton is the God of benzos, you can google her name and get more detailed info) I quited clonazepam cols turkey because I knew no better. No doctor warned me not to do so. Even my boyfriend who is about to be a doctor. So please do not take them for too long.

If you have any question about them please feel free to ask me anytime.

Take care

 

It can show all kinds of things, from acoustic neuromas to bone structure issues (superior canal dehiscence, otosclerosis, etc). I'm not saying it will show something for you, but if you've exhausted all other leads, then you need to bring more data to the table, even if that data is to rule out other possible problems. There is value in knowing what it's not, even though knowing what it is is the ultimate goal.