Sudden Onset Tinnitus

Hello everyone I need some advice.

I developed sudden constant tinnitus that goes back and forth between both ears a week ago.

I have been worried about having some type of oral or nasopharyngeal cancer causing this. I've had a bad case of post nasal drip and some reflux. I saw an ENT who did a CT Scan and the normal checkup and insists bo chance of cancer.

Should I take him at his word or ask for an MRI?

I also have hypothyroidism and diabetes I just found out.

Any help is appreciated.

 

ENT issues can cause tinnitus, yes, as far as I know. Getting checked for cancer also sounds like a good idea. Ask your doctor what he recommends to rule out cancer if he suspects it.

I can't quite gauge, though, if your doctor recommends looking into cancer testing or if he was saying your issues had a possibility of being cancer. If it is the latter, you might be worrying too much. On the other hand, I don't live in your body, none of us live in your body. Only you can choose on how you want to go about this.

If you want an MRI, depending on what hospital you go to, it will probably be quite noisy. As someone who now has tinnitus, make sure to bring earplugs if you commit to this test.

 

@Superman17 ,
When you have post nasil drip the mucus that goes down the back of your troat can go in your Eustation Tubes causing tinnitus and especially at night so use an extra pillow help draining.
A steroid nasil spray will help clear your tubes.
Make sure you bend your head down and spray towards the outer side in sinuses.
A basic allergy medication will help reduce the mucus also working together to contol and stop post nasil drip.
I get this due to allergies and if I don't use my nasil spray it soon comes back.
If you wake up with a snotty taste in your mouth it's an indication your post nasil drip is back and need to use a nasil spray.

love glynis

 

You could try a nasal and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for piece of mind.

Are you taking anything for your reflux? You also have to be careful of what you take there too. A lot of acid reflux meds are otoxic, with tinnitus as a side effect.

See this article: http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/acid-reflux-gerd-drugs-cause-tinnitus-heres-the-solution/

 

Really? Nasal drip can cause tinnitus? Seems like such a harmless, normal, and common thing. I'm going through that right now and have had a worsening spike all week. Any idea if spikes from nasal drip are temporary? I thought allergy medications were ototoxic. Do you recommend anything safe?

 

@Red ,
The mucus clogs up your eustation tubes and stops your tubes opening and closing to equalise ear pressure.
Tinnitus caused by this will settle down as long as you keep your post nasil drip at bay .
I have to take 120mg fexofenadine all year round as a sever asthmatic on lot's of meds and inhalers and nose spray.

I'm not the best one to ask about antihistamines but a pharmacist could be of help or other members.

love glynis

 

Thanks for replying to me. This has helped a bit. So as far as worrying about cancer being these cause based on my ENT's advice I should not be concerned with that you believe? He said he would've seen something if it were there and affecting me like this

 

I already has the sinus endoscope were they use the camera thing to look and also checked throat as well. He saw nothing but some congestion and also my CT SCAN was clear

 

I don't exactly understand why you suspect cancer and if your doctor says it's not cancer then it sounds like you might be worrying too much.

At the same time, I don't want to tell you you're wrong for being proactive about looking into cancer screenings. It's ultimately up to you. Perhaps you could get a second opinion?

 

Yes I suppose that's correct. Just worried about it and idk why. Everyone I talk to tells me it isnt what I believe it is. Perhaps I am looking to much into it? I'm sure my ENT knows exactly what he's doing.

 

I also just recently started taking Citroprolam I believe it's called. So idk if that could be having an effect or not.

 

I understand where you're coming from. I've had to deal with worrying over these kinds of things for a long long time. Everyone who is close to me typically gets pretty exasperated when I worry about a health problem. Although, as you might have noticed, some of those health problems ended up being real.

Although, I will say that overall being anxious about my health has been more detrimental and is how I got chronic pain in the first place.

There has to be a healthy middle ground between being proactive about your health and not worrying so much. I, myself, am still trying to figure out where that lies.

 

I agree with you totally. So I should definitely trust my ENT because im sure he wouldn't lead me down the wrong path. I just have a hard time trusting people I guess. Have anxiety even before all of this however you would advise me not to worry about cancer at this point?

 

Also I do have hypothyroidism and doctor tells me now I have diabetes

 

Those things aren't going to affect tinnitus, most likely. Or at least that I know of.

Might I ask what your age is?

 

Yes I'm 34. Which I know is odd. Just seems weird. The CT Scan and endoscopy he did showed nothing

 

Just let it go @Superman17. You had all the necessary tests which concluded that you do not have cancer. Believe the results and stop thinking about it. Be thankful that you are okay. Stop the negative thought process by repeating that the test results were correct.

I don't find reason for an MRI at this point but that choice is yours to make.

Relax...enjoy life.