Newly Acquired Tinnitus from Cold/Sinus Infection (?) — Severe Anxiety

Hello all!

My name is Clare, and I'm 22 from New York.

My tinnitus journey started about one month ago. I'll be as descriptive as possible so you get the full picture. I was overseas on a 6 month cultural exchange program. During our last week in Italy, I came down with a head cold. I think it was due to sleeping poorly that week and just overexertion due to the nature of the program (performing, volunteering, traveling).

I had been diligent that week in taking actifed, cough drops, hot tea, and a throat spray. I was super stuffed up. By our last day in Italy, I was super stuffed up, couldn't hear very well, and my voice was also going. My left ear also hurt a bit that day, but it wasn't terrible. We had a 20 hour bus ride to Germany overnight. I knew how sick I was and tried to settle in with my medicine and throat spray. By the last bit of that bus ride, I was nauseous, but I couldn't tell if it was because of motion sickness (which I have a history of) or because of the sickness I was getting over.

By the time I got off the bus and had our first day in Germany, I felt significantly better. My voice came back and I was less stuffy and I thought I had beat the illness.

The next day, I was at my volunteering site at a German thrift store and right in the middle of the day I heard a distinct ring in my left ear start to occur. I have fleeting tinnitus from time to time so I tried to stay calm and figured it would go away in a few minutes. It did not. That night I went back to my German host family and my host mom gave me some eardrops to try. I dripped about 3 drops into my left ear and tried to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and that ear was clogged, and my right ear was starting to lightly ring as well. I was panicky at this point. I've known about tinnitus and must admit it's always been a fear of mine to get, so this whole ordeal has been extremely traumatizing.

I wasn't able to get to a doctor in Germany until a few days later. He looked in and said that I had mucus and water in my ears, more in the left though, which was my more problematic ear anyway. I was relieved because I figured, okay, there is a problem and most likely a solution. He gave me a week of methylprednisone and nasal spray. I did these religiously which did unclog my ear but I still had discomfort and ringing. After the first week the ringing started to turn into more of an ocean type noise, a lot of whooshing. The next week we were in Switzerland, and I went to another doctor there when these problems did not clear up. She also said there was still fluid and mucus in my ears, and that my inner ears looked red. I thought okay, I just need to wait a little longer. She gave me a nasal spray and a type of pill that you dissolve in water to help break up mucus. I started to take those religiously as well that week, all to no avail. I was starting to seriously have my mental health threatened, and I called my parents nearly everyday crying. I decided to leave the program a week early due to my mental health over this. I was beside myself with anxiety.

I came home 2 weeks ago and I have been an utter mess to say the least. I saw my ENT who I've gone to my whole life, and she assured me my ears are now clear and there's no more fluid in them. She did, however, do a nasal endoscopy and told me that my adenoids that I had taken out when I was 11 seemed to be growing back. Yup, the adenoid tissue is growing back, and that there is mucus hanging off them (lovely right?).

She told me that this could be causing my ear issues, since the Eustachian tube is literally right next to the adenoids and diagnosed me as a case of ETD. She proposed doing another adenoid removal surgery in 6 weeks if nothing changes. I don't know what to think. I am more convinced that the sounds I'm hearing are due to my sinus infection because it happened right after.

SO it's been almost a month, and the sounds have morphed a bit. My left ear ocean sound has died down a bit but now there's wavering eee eee eee sounds that go up and down, but are always there. My right ear has one straight tone that is moderate level.

I know this case is super specific but has anyone dealt with anything REMOTELY similar?? I hear ETD cases get resolved in a number of months, so I'm still holding on to hope. But I feel like I've put my life on hold. I'm so anxious, I cry all the time, and I have plunged into a terrible depression. That seems normal at this stage according to this site, though. I have started to take supplements to possibly expedite healing, these being vitamin D, lipoflavinoid plus, magnesium, zinc, calcium, probiotics, selenium, and iodine. I also continue to use nasal spray (nasacort) and sudafed. I take Benadryl before I go to sleep at night (which also helps with sleeping in general).

NOTE: DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS THREAD with anything negative. I'm stressed and anxious enough as it is. I've been reading only success stories and want to keep my head in an only positive environment. Thank you.

 

Did you have an audiogram?
But your problem seems to be flowing from the inflammation you had during your illness, which may take a while to go down.
Your tinnitus is very recent so if I were you I would wait before doing any operation.
Good luck.

 

@thinlay Yes! I had an audiogram done. My ENT called it a "beautiful test". So there's no hearing loss that is discernible.

 

Warm welcome to the forum, Clare.

I think aside from the adenoid issue, your other symptoms such as sinus congestion, fluid or mucus build up, ETD etc., these are quite common occurrences for tinnitus sufferers. Try not to worry too much nor panic. There are many success stories written by members whose tinnitus has been caused by these symptoms. Your tinnitus is very new and that is why the tinnitus seems to be morphing. Typically the unstable ears with a new T can change tones, jump ears, clogged ears feeling pressured, etc. Such changing conditions and symptoms can cause great anxiety and stress to a new sufferer. But people generally get better over time, both in the condition of the ears and the tinnitus too. You should find many success stories of such kind in the Success Stories forum. Some have more complicated problems, such as severe hyperacusis, pulsatile, vertigo, ear pains etc. to go with the intrusive tinnitus. Yet many do get better. I have ultra high pitch tinnitus plus severe hyperacusis at the start. I was in a mess initially like others. I never thought I could recover and have my good life back. But today I live a normal, happy, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. Never thought it was possible in my darkest time. So don't panic nor despair. Have bright hope for the future and give your body some time to heal. If my success story which contains some helpful insights will help you, you can follow the link below to read it. Take good care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Some updates - @billie48 and @thinlay

I don't know if anyone is following this thread but if anything it feels GOOD to get stuff off my chest, lol!

I went to my GP last week and she looked in the ears too. She said she saw fluid in both my ears, AND- the part I found interesting- she did a tympanogram and found total negative pressure in both ears. The value for both was 0. She said that my eardrums are not moving how they are supposed to, that they're "stuck". This honestly relieved me because I know that there is still something physically wrong which is probably causing the tinnitus. She advised me to keep taking decongestants and nasal spray, which I have definitely been doing. I'm pretty sure the negative pressures are indicative of ETD.. since my tubes are supposed to equalize it.

ANYWAY, I am in my 6th week now since onset (feels like forever though), and I must say that I *think* things are improving in general. The tinnitus in my right ear is barely noticeable, only at bedtime do I hear it, and if it stayed this way forever I'd be fine with that. My left ear has become less of an up and down eeee tone and is stabilizing to more of one note. That note seems to be quieter, too. Whenever I turn off my masking noise that I use in my bedroom to listen, it's just my left ear that is still giving my issues.

Another thing that is interesting- right before my right ear tinnitus improved, I used a propolis nose spray I got from CVS, just to try something different- and it hurt like a mofo. It was so crazy strong. I feel like it went up to my brain. My head and ear hurt for like 2 hours after inserting it. But the next day, the right ear was quieter and hasn't been bad since... interesting right? I've been curious to do the same maneuver to my left ear but also worried because it hurt like crazy.

I think this is overall improvement. Even if it's not, it's been better for my mental state to say "Yes, it's getting better! Things are improving! I am healing!"

Yes. That's all for now.

 

Have you YouTubed the correct way to use a nasal spray? Many ppl do not administer it correctly. Check it out! The difference for me was a godsend.

 

Want to keep updating this thread- if anything, to continue marking progress for myself.

I went to another ENT last Friday, the same office I usually go to but a different doctor. He told me that GP's are wrong about ear stuff 60+% of the time. I was like... okay then.
He then did a tympanogram and said, "well, your doctor was right about that". I still have negative pressure in both ears and have hypo mobile eardrums. No fluid though. He then did nasal endoscopies in both nostrils to check out my sinus passages and throat. He noted that the openings to my Eustachian tubes are swollen, particularly worse on my left side (where the ringing is worse. That gave me relief).

So this kind of confirms that I have ETD. I think many doctors have thought this, but none of them really have a surefire way to treat it.

For now I'm still on my supplement regimen and using nasacort twice a day. My ears definitely ache. I feel the soreness everyday. I wonder if this is a sign of healing or just the blockages causing irritation.

There is ringing that kind of sounds like hissing sometimes in both ears, worse in left. There's also a faint up and down tone that comes and goes in my left ear (I consider this a slight improvement, considering that tone used to be louder and more constant).

Out in everyday life (cafes, stores, etc.) I don't really notice my right ear's sounds much. It isn't very bothersome. I'm most focused on my left ear and hoping that improves. I would think it's logical that when the inflammation my ENT saw on the left side decreases... it should get better as well. I will see and update. Things seem to change every week/ every 2 weeks or so.

 

I just wanted to say that I think you have really big potential of recovering completely. You obviously have some serious physical issues with your ears, but once that blows over your T should settle down as well and maybe even disappear completely. I wish my ENT had been as thorough as the ones you've been seeing. She did almost nothing for me.

I wish you luck with your T and I think you're right to stay away from negative posts. You need positive thinking right now. It's so crucial, especially in the beginning.

 

@Lurius Hi thank you for your reply! I would like to think so - my parents frequently ask me if I think its any better, improving at all.. and all I can say is the sounds have changed a LOT. I would describe it as I used to have more layers of sounds.. an ocean woosh, a more loud constant chirping, other weird phantom noises.... and now it seems to have reduced to JUST ringing, classic head buzzing. Which still sucks, and is moderate volume. But even if I can get this down to a mild level.. I'd be okay with that. I'm going into my 7th week this week.

 

Is it smart to wait until the 24 month mark before giving up on recovery/life?

I assume I should give it a reasonable amount of time to fade before completely giving up.

 

Clare, please never give up! You can recover even if it means having tinnitus in the future. There is no reason to think you can't adapt to this horrible noise. You can! I did! It may still be there, but even if it is, soon it will only be a noise in the background. It sounds like your sounds have stabilized to just ringing. That will help! You will be surprised how well your brain will ignore it in the future. I know, it's hard, but I know it is possible.

Please take care of yourself both physically and emotionally. We are here. This is an awesome support forum. If you haven't yet, post to Dr. Nagler's Doctors' Corner here on Tinnitus Talk, he's excellent, has tinnitus, and has a great story. He can give you a physician's perspective having been down this journey. Reach out to him if you are in need of it!

P.S. don't give up hope it won't resolve. You still have plenty of time, but even if doesn't, don't let it stop you from living your life!

Best wishes.

 

Realistically I think I’m gonna give myself a year or two and that’s it. I’m not planning on being miserable for the next 60 years, 3 months and I’ve already had enough.

 

Yeah! Being patient is hard but it's what you've gotta do. I can't believe how much better I'm doing 4 months out. It's still sort of soul crushing though haha.

Plus by the end of the year we'll get the word from a few major studies to find out if treatment is on the way. I'd say don't worry about what your limit is until you're a year in. The most important thing is being kind to yourself and trying to make something stablle of your life in this current moment.

 

Hi Clare, in one post you mentioned having a ''layer of sounds'' which you described as being sort of similar to mine (I'm terrible at explaining my noises) which settled to one tone. Did this happen gradually? Mine seem to be pretty random and on/off, present when lying down in my bed but not sitting up in the living room even if both are dead quiet etc.

I too have (or had) fluid behind my eardrum. It's been about 6 weeks for me now, but I do know it'll take time if it resolves. Don't give up yet, I'm trying not to, too!

 

Hi all,

I’ve posted a few times regarding my cold/sinus infection/inflammation induced tinnitus, which started about 3 months ago.

The sounds changed like daily since then- from ringing to hissing to static to everything in between. From what I gather on this forum (for the most part) is that if you stay away from loud sounds, protect your ears and mask when necessary for the most part it should improve.

I got white noise generators recently (set like at the level of my tinnitus, which I feel like I’d classify as severe at this point) and taking them out today, it was INSANE. It’s all over head ringing that is crazy loud.

I’m so confused as to WHY it’s getting so much worse??? I thought if anything it would get incrementally better , which I tried to convince myself it was the first 2 months or so but now I’m just kidding myself. It’s bad . Really fucking bad.

I’ll mention also that I posted before that one ENT gave me Augmentin/Prednisone for crazy inflammation she saw, which worked wonders for like 3 days. I was near silence. Then it all came roaring back, even though she put me on another week of the steroids.

I’m just so confused as to why it’s progressively getting worse. I’m not doing anything inherently harmful other than masking because of the distress it’s causing.

 

Are you certain your tinnitus was caused by sinus issues and not noise? I would advise you not to use any in-ear maskers. When I first got tinnitus I would use my ear buds to listen to music to drown my tinnitus out and it made it worse. Even listening at low levels. Unfortunately, I had to stop using headphones/earbuds all together. I would suggest you do the same.

Try not to despair too much. Tinnitus is permanent for many BUT there are a few treatments and maybe even cures on the horizon. Check out the tabs in the research section. Sorry you're going through this.

 

@Clare Johnson,

Tinnitus can come and go from day to day and change sound and strength.
If your eustachian tubes are clogging up it could well be allergy related causing post nasal drip and at night goes down the back of your throat and clogs up your tubes from extra mucus.

Steroid nasal spray and antihistamines can help and a extra pillow at night and staying on a antihistamine can help reduce the mucous.

Try not get disheartened as our mood can soon drop and add to the problem.

love Glynis xx