One Month Update — Ear Fullness. Would Appreciate Advice.

Hello,

I got tinnitus one month ago from what I believe was Lexapro (an SSRI antidepressant) side effects. The first two weeks where pretty bad, I could hardly sleep, also anxiety was creeping in because I quit the medication on a very short taper. Third and fourth week were a bit better, same volume but somehow I managed to get shut eye a couple of nights without sleeping pills. The tinnitus began to change from being 24 / 7 at the same volume (pretty loud I would say, sometimes I would hear it even when driving to work with the radio on) to being almost 10% of the regular volume in the morning and slowly building to the regular volume in the next couple of hours. I do not like to use the n / 10 notation because I would not know what 10 is, tinnitus is pretty subjective after all. Does this change mean anything? Is it expected?

Ok now is the 5th week and I have a new problem, since 5 days I experience ear fullness in my left ear, my left nostril is stuffed and I also feel some sort of pressure under my left eye. Sometimes I even feel like there is some fluid coming out of my ear, I can literally feel it almost like dripping on my ear lobe but when I check there is nothing there nor inside my ear.

What could this be? I have been to an ENT doctor a couple of days after I got tinnitus and he checked my ears with an otoscope and I think he also did what it's called a tympanometry. He said all looks good. What are the chances of an ENT missing an ear infection or some fluid? Could this be something that coincidentally happens while I have tinnitus but be unrelated? Should I go to another ENT to get a second opinion?

Another thing, but unrelated to the ear fullness problem. I bought a bottle of CBD oil 5% concentration and took 5 drops one evening (about one week ago). It was hell, my tinnitus spiked a lot, was probably worse than the first day when it started, I had really bad stomach cramps, I could not feel my tongue, and my anxiety was over the roof. I could go to sleep only after taking a full xanax pill which is the first time I do. Normally a quarter (0,25 mg) is enough to knock me down. Good thing is I was better in the morning and my tinnitus got back to normal level until the end of the next day. The question is how can this be? I see there is a whole treat dedicated to CBD oil and I see three categories of people 1) helps their anxiety but has no effect on tinnitus, 2) helps their tinnitus, 3) has no effect. Could I be allergic to this stuff or I took the wrong dosage? Would it be crazy to try it again?

I know it is a long post, I appreciate any input. Thanks

Cheers,

SkyHigh

 

I think I posted this in the wrong place... I apologize. Can I move it somehow to the normal Tinnitus > Support?

 

Solved in the meantime

 

Ear Fullness means hearing loss. I have it as I have mild hearing loss on my left ear.

 

Are you sure it can only mean one thing? After googling this it could also be other things, like an ear infection. I don't think I have hearing loss, but could be. How to find out? Is there a specific test for this and if yes, is it safe? I do not want to do some test to find out that I have hearing loss only to make my tinnitus worse...

 

@Contrast help me out here bud

 

Oh @sky_high the ear fullness is really annoying isn't it? I don't think this is only due to hearing loss. I had congestion in my inner ears after a plane flight. It drove me nuts because everything sounded so weird. I cleared that up with antihistimes (Claratin).

You can have your hearing tested regardless. For me the test sort of made my tinnitus a bit weirder because it felt like the tones from the test stayed in my brain. But this went away after a few days. This happened when I first got tinnitus back in 2002 so I was really anxious about every little thing.

 

@sky_high You probably do have some fluid buildup from increased pressure within enclosed inner ear structures. There's two facial nerves that connect to the ears. This can cause a sinus like discomfort within the temples, nose and eyes. It should clear up.

 

Two months later I still have ear fullness in my left ear (never had it in the right one). It's not better, it's not worse... it sometimes goes away for a couple of hours but it always comes back. I don't notice any hearing loss, no sensitivity to sounds, tinnitus is maybe just a bit better... not sure what to do with this ear fullness thingy though

 

If you don’t think it’s hearing loss try a steam room