Still in search of the cause of my Tinnitus!

First time poster here, so bare with m. Before my "T"started, I was going through some weird things.. almost like a neurological issue of sorts, where my head felt foggy an I felt like I was going to pass out. It got so bad, that when I went to a football event in a high stadium, I felt like someone was trying to push me from behind and going to push me forward over the edge. During this time, I found out I had a Hepatitis B virus. During the same time, I needed to get a crown on one of my teeth. I also had allergy testing done. I've went to a neurologist for the head fog as it as scary and they did an MRI, which found nothing. This was all before the tinnitus. (This was all July-August 2013)

Fast forward about a month later (Septembr 2013), and I started to hear all he sounds outside of my house AMPLIFIED after taking meclizine for 3 days for the head fog.. No, it was not tinnitus at this point but it was driving me nuts and threw off my sleeping patterns big time. I'd start going to be at 7:30pm and waking up at 2:30-3am and not go back to sleep (my norm was 11pm-6/7am).

A few weeks after this, I went from weird sleeping pattern to getting NO SLEEP AT ALL. By the way, still no tinnitus at this point. At some point, I counted that I got 3 hours of sleep in 5 days. During this time, I was having weird flashes in my head. I also noticed I was CLENCHING my teeth. Something I never did before in my life. I also needed a root canal. Sometime after the root canal, as I was trying my best to fall sleep, still clenching teeth and felt like my right ear closed up on me while in bed and my tinnitus then started.

I've been to several ENTs who have found nothing and prescribed useless medications. I've ben to chiropractors, one who has been amazing in treating my neck and back, and may be on to a TMJ issue that could be causing my tinnitus (my dentist suggests the same... possibly the height of my bite no bein adjusted right as well from my crowns and root canal). In the meanwhile, I still get the tinnitus. While faint, there are times when it intensifies louder for 10 seconds and goes away.

At the current writing, I am still having issues with heights since this all started (neuro and ENT said it's an inner ear issue that woul go away.. it hasn't gone away in 8 months), issues with balance (going up escalators is rough), issues with theaters or big rooms that have amplified sounds, etc. I am trying to find the cause of the tinnitus and have come up with the following:

-Neck issue: All this started with a neck issue during a long road trip, went to PT and things got worse. Chiro is doing an awesome job in this treatmet. X-rays showed my neck is not on right.

-Hepatitis B virus: I'm 100% positive that a needle stick from my old dentist or the allergy testing caused this. Could the virus, which is now considered chronic, be causing this?

-Dental issue: I'm having my teeth looked at and will be considering taking care of the tooth grinding as well as having a TMJ issue possibly looked at (and having the bite on the crowns adjusted, etc.). Could this be the cause?

-Continue with ENT and maybe a neuro, just to have head MRI again post tinnitus

I feel bad for all of you suffering through this as well... some for so long! Here's to hoping they either find a cure or find how to tell what the root cause is. Also, whether or not I cut out salts and caffeine and alcohol does not seem to make a difference in this case. I've tried and everything always remains the same, though I did cut back DRASTICALLY!

 

You are essentially asking us to do a diagnosis. Most of us are not doctors - and if your doctors close to you cannot help you - then it is somewhat unlikely that people on this board can. You need a diagnosis from your doctor(s). That's their job.

But here is my opinion (for what it is worth).

Neck problems - depending on the severity - can cause head fog (and possibly tinnitus). Chiropractors can do adjustments and improve your condition, but chiropractors tend to sometimes focus specifically on certain therapies (ie. adjustments). Adjusting your neck will not help alone because if the condition has been there for some time, then you will most likely have developed trigger points along the tendons in your neck. These need to be eliminated. This can be done via shock therapy or trigger point massage; shock therapy is by far the most effective (and expensive), but it is also more difficult to treat around the neck tendons (because only certain treatment positions are allowed in these areas). A third option is to treat the trigger points via lidocaine injections - but this needs to be done via a doctor and not a chiropractor. Expect to have about 10-15 trigger points. If this is a factor, then you will start to feel better already after the first few sessions, but it can take a while before symptoms disappear completely. Trigger points can also be treated by self therapy. This is one lead which can either help or help rule out the possible causes for your tinnitus.

I don't know much about infectious diseases, so can't really comment on it - and this is a tinnitus forum. What I can say is that Hepatitis is unlikely to be the cause of your tinnitus. There are other infectious diseases such Herpes Zoster that can cause tinnitus (depending on where the outbreak occurs).