New Onset of Tinnitus, Causing Me Serious Distress (PLEASE HELP!)

Hello TT Forum,

I stumbled upon these forums looking for help and assistance in this desperate time. I am a 38 year old male. I have always enjoyed music, probably a bit too loud up until late last year. Karaoke was my old friend, now an ex-friend. So needless to say, I have since stopped that now. I have only been to one musical concert in my entire life mind you though, but my ears have always been the sensitive kind I believe.

Let me preface my story by stating that I am a highly anxious person who suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) with a "component" of Depression along with Panic Disorder. I was treated for this with Lexapro for a short time, with no real effectiveness. I have, and am currently in treatment for all 3, but good therapy or a good therapist a rare find. I have had a difficult time learning the skill of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as well. In addition, since October 2013, but really since November 2015, professionally speaking and career wise, my life gas taken a tail spin that I have not yet been fully able to recover from.

So, on the evening of November 20th, I was simply sitting at my computer and all of a sudden, I felt my left ear close on me. At the time, I did not panic. I simply went to bed and when I woke up the next day, I was thrown into a full blown all out panic attack in which I felt totally hopeless. I managed to get myself together enough to get down to my local ENT office. They were kind enough to see me as they could probably tell that I was in full blown all out panic mode. I simply could not calm myself down at that time. The doctor, who was not very social, took a look at my ears and cleaned out some ear wax from them. It did not help with returning my ear to the way that it was before though. They then did an audiogram. They said that the was no noticeable or measurable difference between the two ears OTHER THAN my right one has a mild slight s/n notch at 4000...or what have you...whatever that means? Doctor did not make a big deal of it. Doctor simply put me on Flonase nasal spray for a month, and that while it could be Menieres Disease, it probably was not because I had no and currently have no dizziness or vertigo. So, ETD eustachian tube dysfunction is what he said that I have and that I will pretty much have to live with it.

A few weeks after finally coming to terms with this, the left ear actually cleared up. Then the right one started to act up. Then I got very sick with a flu-like cold or bug. No temperature. I then went to my Primary Care Physician who gave me a tripak of Azithromycin 500mgs 1x a day for the 3 days. It cleared up any infection that may have been going on inside my ears. I got better. However the right ear has now developed further into this high pitched whistle type of T noise. I believe that I may have always had T since whenever, but that I simply did not notice it as much before, but I could also be mistaken. This had started fairly recently, within the last couple of days or so and it is very debilitating to me. It is not exactly loud though, for now anyways, but it is noticeable in complete silence. I have always slept with a fan, and will continue to use it as a "white noise" at night to help me sleep.

I saw a audiologist doctor today because I woke up with the high pitched whistle this morning. All that I could do on Friday and today was cry and beg God to take this noise from me . The audiologist doctor tried to calm me down as best as she could with self-management techniques and suggestions for me to try. She seems to think that due to the overwhelming amount of stress that I have been dealing with and the major panic attacks that have only gotten worse over the last few weeks, that it could be stress induced. Could that be the case? Could the fact that my anxiety and panic attacks have exacerbated a mainly non issue until now? I am on a 10mg 2x a day dosage of Buspirone for my anxiety which really is ineffective. Medicine wise I also take Pioglitazone for Type 2 diabetes, Metoprolol for High Blood Pressure, which aside from the anxiety of panic attacks, is well in control and Pantoprozole for Acid Reflux. I wastaking a baby Aspirin daily to thin my blood, but after reading that Asprin can cause the T to get worse, I stopped taking it.

She also looked into my ears and noted that while the left one looked okay, the right ear drum was, while not red nor inflamed or infected, some yellow on it and cloudy and she said was not reflecting enough light on it I guess . The light on the right ear drum was not as distinct bouncing back as the left one is . Again, all Greek to me. She said it can take a little time for "that", whatever "that" is, to completely clear out. I should have asked her if she was referring to the fluid that COULD BE still behind the ear drum. But I would like to think that if there was fluid in my ear, that she would have noted that to me .

Does anyone have any suggestions that me, or can anyone offer me any light at the end of the tunnel if this T is just stress and panic attack induced? Or is this something that because my ears got whatever they had going on with them before and due to the s/n notch, I will now have permanent damage ..

Jeff

 

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

Your on alot of meds that are ototoxic which damage the ears.

 

This sounds very much like fluid behind the ear drum and usually this clears up by itself in about 5-6 weeks. If still persistent after 3 months, I would visit the ENT again and get a check-up.

As for the anxiety and stress part, I have indeed experienced my T getting worse due to major stress/panic/anxiety, and not to forget depression. I am recovering from it now, but these things take time bc it is a major load on the entire body. Eat clean and regular, sleep well, meditate, get some moderate exercise daily and sunlight 15 min per day, thats about what you can do to help your body recover from the stress.

Best of luck to you!

 

Interesting point that you make. Someone else here on the forums had actually posted the list of ototoxic medicines, but I did not see any of the ones that I take listed but then again, I could have been mistaken.

 

Hi Jeff,

You should know that people are reading your posts and that we understand. Its a little bit of a learning curve and during the period, you are going to feel anxious and afraid. Its normal. I remember thinking, this is something I cannot turn off, and have no control over - for me that is the scariest part.

I also had anxiety and panic attacks, but over the years, I learned CBT and its been reduced by about 90 percent (Anxiety and the thoughts that cause depression). I learned CBT by accident because I became a trainer helping people with recovering from depression, so I understand a little of what causes depression, anxiety, and so forth. It helps a lot if we take the time to learn what causes these issues. It was very surprising for me to learn that much of depression and its components can be controlled by CBT. A lot of people shrug it off because they think it means putting in effort all the time to combat inner problems. Actually, that is only true initially. After awhile, it becomes second nature and it can mean conquering a whole lot of issues - and the side superbenefit (my word) is that it helps you to be a better communicator, father/mother, friend and more.

Just understand, all of us go through varying levels of what you are going through. I wake up in the middle of the night with it seemingly increased. (Right now, for example) But, as I get busy with my day it becomes less noticeable.

I read your post a couple days ago, and put you on my prayer list then.

Don't give up.

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

Thank you, and thank you to the others, for taking the time to reply to my post.

As I sit here in my vehicle waiting for a ride (I do rideshare driving due to extended unemployment), I am feeling a bit anxious about the high pitched whistle type of noise. I met with my therapist this afternoon and explained the situation in depth. It was funny, at that time, as I was talking about it, the noise went away. So, it seems to go and come back. The worst times are definitely at night, yes. And my about it seem to make it worse. Yes, I know that stress, anxiety, panic attacks and depression only further aggravate the situation, but right now, I cannot help it. I just wish that this damned pitch would pitch off! Ugh! .

Sometimes it is strange what happens to me, at least in my situation anyways. I will have major episodes of complete panic with and uncontrollable sobbing lately since this onset of T, but then afterwards, I might feel a little bit better. Sometimes.

Like you said in your above post about how you remember thinking, this is something I cannot turn off, and have no control over - for you that is the scariest part. For me, that IS the scariest part of it . I appreciate your find sentiments of understanding with regards to the anxiety and depression that this causes someone like myself.

Medically speaking, when I first went to tje ENT office bacl in November for that blocked lefy ear, they did an audiogram. I uploaded a picture of the report. The results are as follows:

'AD-WNL's with a mild SN notch @4kHz,
AD-WNL's through 8kHz
Excellent Era's AU.'

Again, as I posted earlier before, the doctor did not make a big deal of it and stated that there was no measurable difference between the two ears. But the cold/flu symptoms that I had about 2 weeks later on responded to the Azithromycin antibiotic medicine that was prescribed by my PCP. That was after the left ear finally cleared up, but then the right one got blocked up. I am dealing with T now along with a malfunctioning eustachian tube.

What a mess! The audiologist doctor said that she thought that this would fade, but she did not do a very thorough evaluation other than telling me that while it was not red or inflamed at all, my right ear drum was yellow and not reflecting enough light on it as the left one was.

If that is the case, then I am wondering if there is fluid behind my ear drum which could later become infected OR if my ear drum and/or hearing has been compromised now??

Thank you for reading. I ask for your prayers. Feel free to reply ..

 

Bumped..