My tinnitus started on 9/23/19.
I use ear plugs to sleep at night as I live on the 2nd floor of an apt building near a subway station in NYC and it gets noisy in the mornings. I work evenings so the ear plugs prevent the noise from disturbing my sleep. When I first put them in I tend to hear a buzzing as the ear plug expands and conforms to the ear. It then goes away and I don't hear anything. That morning I awoke with a buzzing sound in my right ear. At first I though my ear plug was loose so I reached to re-adjust it but it was not there. Confused I started to think maybe I had water in my ear. I figured it would go away on its own but two days later it was still there so I went to CityMD. The doctor immediately told me I had an ear infection and gave me drops and antibiotics. Told me to use the drops until I felt better, mostly likely by Friday, (this was on Wednesday 9/25) and to take the antibiotics until I finished them.
A week later I still had the buzzing in my ear and now my ear was swollen and red. Due to issues beyond my control I could not get myself back to the doctor until Sunday 10/6. I saw a different doctor who told me I was having an allergic reaction to the neomycin in the drops. Was given a cream for the ear, more antibiotics and told to make an appointment with an ENT for after the allergy is dealt with. I saw the ENT on 10/15 and he said I had no infection and did not see anything wrong with the ear so he ordered a hearing test. I failed miserably. I had been having issues hearing with for a number of years but never really thought much about. Turns out my hearing is great but only on the left. On the right it starts at 30 and slopes downward dramatically from there. He gave me Prednisone. 60mg for 7 days then 40, 20, 10 for two each. He also told me to get an MRI, which I got done 10/21. I saw him yesterday morning and everything was fine except for a sinus issue on the left maxillary sinus. He also repeated the hearing test. Nothing had changed. Still buzzing and still hard of hearing.
He offered to give me a steroid injection to the eardrum. He gave me the pros and cons and said I had a 40% chance that it MAY help but I needed to make up my mind quick as the % decreases after the first month which would be today. Not knowing enough about it to really make a knowledgeable decision I declined. He could not tell me if the buzzing would ever go away but gave me some literature on alternative treatments and pointed me to this forum.
Deep down inside I have known all along that I had a hearing problem and so I have accepted that (my friends and spouse have already started shopping for a hearing aid). But what about the buzzing? I have read some of the success stories in this forum and also some of the not so successful. I wonder which category I will fall into. I know I need to research this more and ponder what to do but at the moment I am feeling tired and overwhelmed. As luck would have it before any of this happened I had already planned a week in the sun starting this Thursday. I plan on doing my best to enjoy myself and recharge my batteries so that I can be in a better state of mind to face this head on.
Thank you for providing a space to educate myself.
I use ear plugs to sleep at night as I live on the 2nd floor of an apt building near a subway station in NYC and it gets noisy in the mornings. I work evenings so the ear plugs prevent the noise from disturbing my sleep. When I first put them in I tend to hear a buzzing as the ear plug expands and conforms to the ear. It then goes away and I don't hear anything. That morning I awoke with a buzzing sound in my right ear. At first I though my ear plug was loose so I reached to re-adjust it but it was not there. Confused I started to think maybe I had water in my ear. I figured it would go away on its own but two days later it was still there so I went to CityMD. The doctor immediately told me I had an ear infection and gave me drops and antibiotics. Told me to use the drops until I felt better, mostly likely by Friday, (this was on Wednesday 9/25) and to take the antibiotics until I finished them.
A week later I still had the buzzing in my ear and now my ear was swollen and red. Due to issues beyond my control I could not get myself back to the doctor until Sunday 10/6. I saw a different doctor who told me I was having an allergic reaction to the neomycin in the drops. Was given a cream for the ear, more antibiotics and told to make an appointment with an ENT for after the allergy is dealt with. I saw the ENT on 10/15 and he said I had no infection and did not see anything wrong with the ear so he ordered a hearing test. I failed miserably. I had been having issues hearing with for a number of years but never really thought much about. Turns out my hearing is great but only on the left. On the right it starts at 30 and slopes downward dramatically from there. He gave me Prednisone. 60mg for 7 days then 40, 20, 10 for two each. He also told me to get an MRI, which I got done 10/21. I saw him yesterday morning and everything was fine except for a sinus issue on the left maxillary sinus. He also repeated the hearing test. Nothing had changed. Still buzzing and still hard of hearing.
He offered to give me a steroid injection to the eardrum. He gave me the pros and cons and said I had a 40% chance that it MAY help but I needed to make up my mind quick as the % decreases after the first month which would be today. Not knowing enough about it to really make a knowledgeable decision I declined. He could not tell me if the buzzing would ever go away but gave me some literature on alternative treatments and pointed me to this forum.
Deep down inside I have known all along that I had a hearing problem and so I have accepted that (my friends and spouse have already started shopping for a hearing aid). But what about the buzzing? I have read some of the success stories in this forum and also some of the not so successful. I wonder which category I will fall into. I know I need to research this more and ponder what to do but at the moment I am feeling tired and overwhelmed. As luck would have it before any of this happened I had already planned a week in the sun starting this Thursday. I plan on doing my best to enjoy myself and recharge my batteries so that I can be in a better state of mind to face this head on.
Thank you for providing a space to educate myself.
