Pinpointing the Cause of My Tinnitus Was a Nightmare — Birth Control Was the Culprit

I'm looking for I guess opinions on the data I have as to what all the causes could be and what I think caused it. I had an absolute crazy storm of stuff that happened that could all be the cause:

1. 11/19/2021 - Hit a curb going 35 mph, car in left turning lane decided to go straight instead and they didn't see me. No soreness afterwards & didn't hit head. Whiplash maybe?
2. 11/21/2021 - Got birth control (Progestin) for first time in over 20 years. Couldn't take estrogen due to history of migraine with aura. I took the first pill right before bed.
3. 11/22/2021 - Woke up, ear felt weird and had slight tinnitus. I put Q-tip in ear to clean (I know that's bad) and I hurt something.
4. 11/27/2021 - Was a weekend, wanted to see a doctor, did telehealth video visit, but they needed photos of ear. I have an earwax removal tool with a camera so I unscrewed the wax scoop and jammed camera in there. May have agitated ear. They prescribed the standard Z-Pack, nasal spray, antibiotics. No relief.
5. 11/28/2021 - Other symptoms were extreme fullness in ear, being dizzy, feeling nauseous, couldn't even take my dog for a walk.
6. 11/29/2021 - Went to my doctor, he put the otoscope in, turned it, and I screamed. He said it was swimmer's ear. I have had swimmer's ear before, it was so much more painful so I didn't agree with it. Gave me swimmer's ear ear drops. Didn't work.
7. 12/01/2021 - Asked doctors if it could be the birth control, they said no, I stopped taking it anyways.
8. 12/07/2021 - Went crazy and went to hospital, said my canal is no longer red or inflamed and told me to be patient.
9. 12/??/2021 - Early December went to ENT who didn't give me any cause. No help or relief, just said it'll go away.
10. 12/26/2021 - Felt like it was finally going away!
11. 12/30/2021 - For whatever idiotic reason I was convinced it couldn't have been the birth control so I started taking it again that afternoon. At night I laid down with that ear facing the ceiling it began clicking like bubbles were coming up out of water and popping.
12. 01/01/2022 - Tinnitus was back with a vengeance, only took one more birth control pill thinking maybe it was unrelated. That night the clicking and bubbling thin happened non-stop. I didn't take anymore after that
13. 02/01/2022 - Previous weak tinnitus was all rated 1/10 or maybe 0.5/10 but today it's rated a 4/10.

Phew I know that was a lot. I was glad to finally find the cause but wow let's hope it's not permanent! I am close to my menstrual cycle and maybe the hormone change is what makes it worse.

Doctors said women usually get tinnitus from a drop in certain hormones so it's weird but not outside the realm of possibility that this happened.

Never had an issue with the estrogen patch I took 20 years ago and no issues with the emergency contraceptive pill.

So do you think it was the birth control as well? Same night/next day symptoms started everytime I'd take a pill. I took 8 days worth. The first time around it got so bad I couldn't even stand. I took 2 days worth the second time around.

 

Progesterone and Progestin have been linked to hearing loss.

Both birth control pills and hormone replacement therapies have been studied and shown hearing loss linked to both of these.