Newbie... Tinnitus Started One Week Before My Daughter Was Born

I recently started experiencing tinnitus, roughly one week before my daughter was born. It’s consuming my thoughts and has greatly damaged my mental capacity already, it’s only been one month. I am immensely sad about not being able to be there as much as I want to be for my newborn, I could cry about it.

My PCP recommended a nasal spray and a decongestant at night. It was rapid onset that just showed up at my house overnight. I’ve gone to great lengths to protect my hearing over the course of my life. I don’t do concerts, I wear ear protection when doing outdoors work, etc. I had no issues and then an immediate issue one night.

I am terrified at the thought of having tinnitus for the rest of my life. I’ve looked up some of the worst things I can look up about this. I am so sad for my wife and child that they’re getting the absolute worst version of me.

The ringing seems to be in the back of my head and changes which ears it comes from. The noise changes from a hissing, to a ringing, to a fluttering noise.

I know that no one here can tell me it will be okay, there’s no guarantees in life. But I live with fear that I will have this my entire life. I don’t know that I am as strong willed as many of you champions on this forum who make it through.

The only relief I currently get is going outside. It is immediately gone from my system and I can’t hear a modicum of ringing. I miss silence, I just want to hear my child cry, or coo, or laugh without this issue.

I took my daughter and wife grocery shopping today. I spent most of my time seeing if I could hear the ringing. I fear the long term impact it will have on my relationship with both of them.

I don’t know that I’m looking for help, or reassurance, just needed somewhere to share it.

 

Hello @JimM -- I'm sorry to hear how your distressing tinnitus showed up at what should be a celebratory time in your life. -- I don't want to come across as trying to give you some kind of unfounded optimistic prediction, but I've come to believe the those who don't know what's caused their tinnitus likely have a better chance of recovering from it.

When tinnitus is known to be caused by loud noise exposure, or medications, or some kind of head trauma, etc., it seems something has been "injured". When the cause is unknown, it's more likely that various kinds of subtle things have combined to finally have tinnitus emerge. And the chances of positively affecting that are greater.

In my mind, the thing to do is to diligently pursue tracking down any possible things that could be causing or contributing to it. Are you going through a lot of stress at this time? How is your diet? More specificially, are your blood sugar levels OK? Are you getting enough exercise? Do you sit a lot, to the point of possibly having tinnitus be the result of tight neck and/or upper back muscles?

Are you going through any kind of PTSD, where your body is not able to fully relax? How is your sleep? The questions I could come up with are almost endless. But not knowing what your health care orientations are, I'll leave you with a link to a story you might find interesting. -- Don't despair; Stay calm; Take care!

Tinnitus: How an Alternative Remedy Became the Only Weapon Against the Ringing

Some selected snippets from the article:

I have tinnitus. I have had it for 14 years. When my ears started ringing, I ran around to various doctors seeking a cure, until one of them took pity on me and explained that there was no cure. I would have to get used to it.

I discovered the Chinese approach to understanding and dealing with tinnitus by wandering into Acumedic’s clinic on Camden High Street in north London last year out of curiosity. Not expecting that they could offer any help with a condition that leaves Western medicine baffled, I didn’t mention that I had tinnitus. The female doctor told me to stick out my tongue – tongue analysis is a basic diagnostic tool in this system – and after examining it, she asked, “Do you have ringing in your ears?” ......

An imbalance between your organs affects the harmony between blood circulation and qi, and this in turn translates into an imbalance of yin and yang.” By closely inspecting one’s tongue and taking one’s pulse, they obtain an accurate idea of the state of one’s internal organs. They then proceed to treatment. ......

I had no good reason to suppose it would have any effect, and for two or three weeks the ringing continued as normal. But then, as I continued to slurp my daily potion, I realised with surprise that things had begun to improve. I woke in the morning resigned to the usual relentless racket – and it was different: first it lost its ringing quality, so all that remained was a sustained shushing; then the shushing itself reduced, to the extent that sometimes I was able to forget about it for hours at a time.

Dr Lily had explained that the ringing in my ears was caused by an internal imbalance, which the tea she prescribed was intended to correct; now, lo and behold, it was taking effect and my baffling condition was getting appreciably better. Eventually, I would ask myself: am I still suffering from tinnitus? It would take a conscious check to confirm that, yes, there was still this fuzziness clouding my hearing. But for many hours and days I would be all but unaware of it.
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Hi JimM, sorry you are hear and stressing... believe me I know.

You mentioned that when you are outside you can’t here it. This is a really good sign I believe. Lane who posted before me is very knowledgeable and encouraged you to endeavor on what’s the source of your tinnitus. Perhaps getting some blood work done? Have an audiogram?
I am not really good at medical advice... but emotional support i can give and would like to give to you.

It’s early days... things will change and with luck may change for the better. You can enjoy your baby laughing and cooing and you should. Hug your wife, cry if you need to, express yourself and let your loved ones know where your out.

If being outside helps, do that... go early in the morning or when you get a chance... do that everyday. Do relaxing things, such as a hot bath, or sauna, or what feels good.

Try, I know it’s not easy, I struggle everyday, to find calmness, through breathing, meditation, exercise.
I am shit at meditation, but I am good at exercise... so that’s where I can defuse a lot.

We are here for you... stay well fella.

 

Why did s/he recommend that?

Have you gone down the diagnosis path? Get a hearing test done with an audiologist. For some treatments, time is of the essence, so I wouldn't wait too long to see a specialist.

See https://www.tinnitusresearch.net/index.php/for-clinicians/diagnostic-flowchart

Good luck!

 

In feel for you Jim! My tinnitus started about a month after my son was born. I'm in the same position. It's horrid.
Are you managing to sleep OK? It may be a good sign that it keeps changing, but someone more experienced needs to talk more about this with you.

Are you taking any medication? Have stopped the nasal spray? Before jumping into having an MRI scan or in-depth hearing tests (more than an audiogram), please be warned that these can sometimes make the tinnitus worse. It did in my case. others may never have problems.

 

They believe it to be allergies because of the rapid onset, the fact that my ears feel clogged, pressure behind ears, etc. Since there’s no incident I can genuinely point to, that’s where we’re at for now.

Setting up an ENT and Audiologist appointment next week. Saw a chiropractor for the first time last week. Doing absolutely everything that I can.

 

My sleep is average but interrupted due to a newborn.

I’m still taking nasal spray, decongestant at night, and other allergy medicine throughout the day.

Planning on several appointments this next week with different specialists to do what I can.

 

Have you checked to see that the medicines and spray you are taking aren't actually causing or making worse the tinnitus? Worth checking.

 

Hey @JimM -- Just a cautionary note: -- A lot of "specialists" know little to virtually nothing about tinnitus and/or hyperacusis, especially when it comes to things that can cause or exacerbate it. In fact, many immediately begin to make recommendations for various types of tests and treatments that can worsen tinnitus, and should only be done after being given considerable research and thought.

So, before doing any number of things that might be recommended to you, you might want to check with this website, or somewhere else online before going forward. Things like antidepressants and other various kinds of drugs can make a bad situation intolerably worse. Other things can be just as bad. -- Not to be scaremongering, but there are many on this site who dearly wish they could take back their decisions to blindly trust health care practitioners who often didn't know what they're doing regarding their best interests.

 

The first 3 months are the worst. Hopefully within a month you will experience fading. If you do, it will continue to fade and improve.

 

THIS POST by @HeavyMantra pretty passionately and succinctly reinforces what I said above.