Sudden Unilateral Tinnitus: Looking for Some Support

Hello, I am a 23 yo, male from Toronto. Last Monday I experienced an SBUTT (sudden tinnitus that disappears after 10 seconds) to my right ear. This has been happening a few times for the last month but I made nothing of it as it would go away quickly. I have also been experiencing ear fullness, which started on my left ear but would move back and forth between ears. I don't think my hearing has been affected but its hard for me to tell. I've done a bunch of hearing tests online and they all seem to come out mostly fine.

I am a hypochondriac so I've been searching about this for hours a day. I even decided to go to the ER today however I ended up leaving because the wait was long and I couldn't help it with my anxiety. I had already been to the ER last week for some other health issue I was experiencing and that was already draining. The triage nurse was nice and tried to help me, but I just wasn't able to stay. She made sure to ask if I was suicidal and I said no (I am not), but I have been having very dark thoughts lately. For the last month and a half I've been a mess. I've been under constant stress due to health issues and a very serious health issue that happened to a close family member of mine, which I won't mention because I want to remain discrete. This whole thing has been a traumatic experience for me. Everytime I thought I had finally reached rock bottom and I was coming out of it, something else has come up and made me depressed again. Now it is tinnitus that has caused me to worry nonstop.

I'll give a brief timeline of what has been happening since I got this ringing:

Monday: I experience another SBUTT episode and started researching if this was something that happens to other people (it is). Then I noticed that there was still some ringing remaining. At first it started as a light static noise but then it started to amplify the more I focused on it. I tried to sleep through it and got maybe 3-4 hours.

Tuesday: My family went to go visited my family member. I had to spend a few hours outside in part of my city while an appointment was taking place. I didn't notice the tinnitus at all the whole time and just enjoyed my day. When I got home I started to notice the ringing again so I went out for a walk again as a distraction. I got some ear wax cleaner from the pharmacy and tried using it, but ofc it didn't help with much. I spent my whole night researching and got 1 hour of sleep.

Wednesday: I booked an appointment with a walkin clinic doctor and got my ears checked. He said that my ears were clear and that he would refer me to an ENT doctor. He wasn't very comforting tbh. I decided to go out with friends after this to take my mind of things but I had a horrible time. I eventually ended up leaving early. I was so sleep deprived at this point, but so as night fell I tried to sleep but the ringing was so loud at this point. My dad ended up giving me some lorazepam which localised the ringing back to the right ear. I ended up sleeping 14 hours.

Thursday and Friday: Its kind of a blur. We went and visited my family member again for both days. I ended up researching a lot about tinnitus on this forum and google for both days. Pretty much, all I've been doing the last month was researching about health and certain diseases, so the trend continued. My sleep was again very poor.

Saturday: Again visited my family member. This is when I went to the ER, however I left because of anxiety. Instead my dad and I ended up going to a nice park and again I barely noticed the tinnitus. I decided that I'll rest today and consider what to do next tomorrow.

I am feeling somewhat better atm. Ironically, the tinnitus is barely present right now as I write this. I really don't understand what is going on and how this happened. Maybe its stress induced. I honestly don't know. I've been having a really horrible year this year, after having the best year of my life last year. It's really quite the contrast that I wouldn't wish on anybody. I definitely do think I've been struggling with depression and intense anxiety over these last few months. I know this is not solely a post on tinnitus but all of this has led up to this point. I really feel like I'm struggling to hang on to reality. I spent my birthday 2 weeks ago at a party my friends threw for me and I barely smiled.

All I'm asking in this post is for some words of encouragement and hope that this tinnitus (and other things) will get better. I know I've only been experiencing this for a short time but its been really draining.

Edit on symptoms: Besides the ear fullness every once in a while, I've been feeling pain in mostly my right ear. (Earache). Sometimes I just feel a strange sensation around my right ear. The right side of my jaw (crunching at joint), throat and head have been having some discomfort too. I'm not sure how much of this I'm imagining. I would say that the tinnitus is not noticeable when I'm not focusing on it. This is why I have been taking long walks recently because it gets my mind off of it. However sleeping is very difficult, so if anyone has any tips for sleeping that would be helpful. It just gets louder and louder when I try to sleep and moves to both ears and the middle of my head after a while.

I've been taking a multivitamin, magnesium, vitamin b12, fish oil, anti histamine and melatonin to help with sleep and the lack of food I've been eating this last week (no appetite unfortunately).

 

Hi sorry to find you here. I'm new so I hope others here will give you more advice.

Have you been on any medications recently? Check against this & be careful with taking any meds and ear tests offered. I recommend to search the forum for anything before you take it
list https://www.ata.org/sites/default/files/Drugs Associated with Tinnitus 2013_Updated2017.pdf

Your symptoms sound like a mix of the different causes - stiff neck - ETD i'm not sure

 

I'm not sure where you are, but my experience from the states, the ER doesn't really help much except it can help you get quick CT head scan to rule out any brain abnormality if you're worry about that. You can get your doc, urgent care, or ER doc to prescribe you prednisone to relieve the ear fullness feeling as that's suppose to relax your Eustachian tube (which can cause tinnitus if it doesn't work correctly) but be careful with that especially when you need to taper off it.

My ER doc prescribed me prednisone and it didn't really help me but a lot of people here says that's the first defense against hearing loss and for some it's helped them. If you don't like your previous doctor, switch to a new one! So while you wait for the ENT appointment (which unfortunately is a waiting game), ask your regular doctor about prednisone.

While you're at it, make an appointment with your dentist to check out your jaw to see if you have TMJ disorder, which is known to cause tinnitus.

And since there's really not much you can do besides wait for the ENT for an official diagnosis, try to relax with some sound masker. I find the cricket background noise that simulate summer works most naturally for me. Try to get as much sleep as possible to reduce stress and anxiety. Use your phone to play the sound masker, or if you have an ipad use that too. Turning a fan on in your room helps mask the sound for some. I understand it's hard to relax, but try as best as you can.

 

I've taken Lorazepam a few times, but the dosages were small.

However, since a month ago when I first told my GP about ear fullness in my left ear, she told me to use the nasal steroid spray I was prescribed before. The spray I have been using is Beclomethasone disproportionate, which is on the list (I didn't know). I ramped up usage the last few days to see if it helps, but I guess I'll be stopping usage and getting a new prescription for Nasonex (mometasone).

Furthermore, yeah it seems like I've been having ETD but I don't want to self diagnose. However, I was surprised when the walk-in clinic said my ear is clear, but I guess you can't really tell ETD from that. I also do have a history of stiff neck and I was seeing a chiropractor and massage therapist a few weeks prior but had to stop going due to the circumstances. I'll try booking an appointment with the massage therapist to see if I can get some relief. I don't know if it will help though.

It definitely seems like this tinnitus is connected with my neck somehow, considering I was doing neck stretches before the SBUTT episode. I don't know the correlation though.

 

Hi asey

I’m not the best at giving advice but You will get lots of good advice from the lovely people in this forum so you have come to the right place! From what I’ve read I think you will be just fine in time!

First of all the tinnitus is a new experience for you so your going to be feeling scared stressed etc the good news is that your not noticing your tinnitus in large parts of the day like when your out and about and keeping busy etc. That’s the most important thing to do in the early stages is however hard it might seem you need to carry on doing activities that take your mind off the tinnitus. Going to the park with your dad is a good example of this that you did

Avoid silence as much as you can if your at home (put the radio on or tv at a low level).

you have been through a lot of stress and anxiety and this can make the tinnitus worse. I would suggest doing some relaxation exercises meditation. It doesn’t have to be long. You can start off 5-10 mins a day.

now with the sleep- again it looks like you have been doing pretty well. When I was struggling at my worst I was getting 2-3 hours a night if I was lucky. This was going on for at least a couple of months. Have you tried using a fan or downloading an app that helps to mask the sound of your tinnitus when you try and sleep?

if you have done some form of exercise during the day (go for a run pick up some weights play sports with friends anything that keeps the body active) you should find that your body will be really tired and ready for sleep by the night.


Make sure you avoid doing research in bed!
Good luck asey. Like I said you will get some more great advice soon.

 

Don't expose your ears to noises for a couple of years, and you ought to be ok.

 

After 32 years of living with tinnitus, I can tell you that it comes down to coping and management of the tinnitus.
There are many ways to cope with the tinnitus. It, all depends on the person and what can possibly work for them.

Stress and anxiety can be possible triggers for tinnitus and we should try to keep them as low as possible. Scanning/listening for the tinnitus, is something that pretty much all tinnitus sufferers have dealt with.

Distraction from the noise, can be quite helpful for folks that have tinnitus. You can possibly have a low tranquil sound playing in the background and possibly meditate to that noise.

Living with tinnitus takes effort and we need to have a game plan. Early on in my journey, I was open about my ears ringing and let people know that they ring. I made sure to do what was needed to protect my ears and stuck with it.

Early on, I was gaining support. I had no access to such a site and had to talk with family and friends that cared. I still at times seek support. It can be an asset, when someone possibly understands our situation.

It's a day by day situation. We need to take small steps. We need to see what can possibly help us.

 

I'm one week in since I noticed tinnitus in my right ear after an SBUTT (sudden tinnitus that lasted 10 seconds in one ear) and I have already given up. I'm exhausted and have been through so much in the last month and a half. I really wish that this SBUTT never happened or that I didn't notice anything afterwards.

I've been doing so much research and checking my ears and I believe its just making the situation worse. I noticed that in some frequencies (500hz, 6000hz, 8000hz) my right ear hears them quieter than my left ear, but I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the tinnitus I hear when I have my headphones on. It's really frustrating because my house has been more quiet lately due to my family member being in the hospital.

I'm pretty sure this tinnitus incident is recent though since I always have slept in silence before and I wouldn't notice these things. The only time I remember being exposed to a very loud noise was 1.5 years ago when some assholes exhaust popped right next (2m/6ft) to my right ear, which started ringing but then disappeared after a few hours. Besides that I haven't been to any concerts or clubs in a really long time. So I really don't know where this is coming from.

I was seeing a chiropractor for a few weeks which was helping my neck, but I had to stop going for the last while due to family circumstances. I was doing neck exercises before the SBUTT that brought on the tinnitus and noticed my neck and jaw were cracking and crunching. I don't know if any of this is related though since I've been getting these SBUTTs in my right ear occasionally for over a month and have also been experiencing ear fullness in my opposite ear, but sometimes switching to the right.

Ironically I had another SBUTT yesterday but in the left ear and then I noticed that one started ringing too when I plug my ears but otherwise its barely noticeable. Honestly, if I go looking for the tinnitus then it gets way worse. Sometimes it goes all over the place and gets extremely loud.

However, yesterday after calming down a lot, I was actually able to sleep properly for the first time since this started (without any drugs like lorazepam) and the noise wasn't so bad when I was laying down. When I woke up this morning the T was only a slight static sound but then I started looking for it again, so then I went for a walk for 3-4 hours and it was barely noticeable/gone. I did notice a lot of crackling when swallowing though.

I'm just really exhausted. Unfortunately my family doctor is away for 2 weeks. I do have an ENT referral from a walk-in clinic doctor I saw 4 days ago but who knows when that appointment will happen. I was contemplating going to the ER today to get it checked out and maybe see if I get prescribe Prednisone, but I was too anxious once again to wait there hours (I had already tried going to the ER 2 days ago but ended up leaving). I guess I'll try and wait and see. Maybe I should get a second opinion from another doctor and see if they prescribe me anything.

In the meanwhile, I'm just trying Flonase and a bunch of supplements to see if it helps, but I'm feeling pretty hopeless. I guess the best course of action is to stop worrying and wait and see. I really think my brain is over reactive right now because I'm starting to notice background noise more and hearing important sounds less (like conversations). I just feel like I'm in a constant state of stress. What do you guys think?

 

I hope you can do your best to stay calm and keep your mind off of it. Find some soft noise that masks it if you can. You’re only 1 week in. Your tinnitus is basically a newborn. It could very well improve.

 

Yesterday I experienced another SBUTT episode but it was in the left ear. Then I noticed that I also had ringing in the left ear as well. Today I woke up and my tinnitus was significantly reduced with only a hissing in the right ear but I starting searching for the T and then it started getting louder. The good news is that last night was more manageable and I was able to get more sleep. I also noticed that the ringing now switches to the left sometimes and then I can barely hear it in the right anymore. I honestly don't know whats going on or what this means. I feel like this is almost all in my head. I really don't know anymore.

 

I hope so. I tried relaxing more right now and just doing the usual things I would do on the computer and I actually noticed that the T is barely noticeable anymore. I feel much more how I felt before I noticed this, I don't know how long it will last but I guess I should stay hopeful.

 

Update: My tinnitus was doing very well the last 2 days. I woke up both days and noticed that there was only a slight static hissing in the right ear. Hopefully these are signs that it won't be permanent. I noticed that the static hissing got louder with yawning and that my right ear hurts when I yawn (or just hurts randomly sometimes). Unfortunately, I got worked up again and started checking my hearing by listening to some frequency tones and now it seems that it has spiked a bit. I am starting to feel distressed again.

I'm thinking maybe I should go see another doc for a second opinion or go to the ER. However, I'm not sure if prednisone would be right for me if I'm already seeing some improvements. I honestly don't know what to do besides not focus on it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I guess the title doesn't make sense anymore since it appears I have tinnitus in both ears now. The right ear is the major problem for the most part but tonight the left ear has been acting up and my head feels very noisy.

Today was such a good hopefully day too. I met up with my family doctor who performed a comprehensive check-up, checked everything and even did some neurological tests, and reassured me not to worry because it's only been 11 days and she said there's a good chance it's not permanent. She also expedited a referral to the same ENT my dad has saw before so that I can hopefully see them earlier.

I then had a great 8km walk home from the doctor's office and couldn't even notice my tinnitus anymore. Everything around me sounded great. I was starting to get worried because I thought that I was having difficulty hearing people, but it turns out I was just tuning in to every little sound in the background looking for my tinnitus.

I ended up going to lunch with my family and we had a picnic in a quiet area due to COVID-19. I couldn't hear my tinnitus at all and I was so happy and relieved. I felt like I could just relax in a moment of silence. I even plugged my ears and I could only hear the faintest of tinnitus. It was amazing.

Unfortunately, once again anxiety got the better of me and I spent the night searching for info online. Sigh. Then the tinnitus really started to get loud and worse in the left ear. It got so loud I could feel it in my head. Maybe I should've asked my doctor for something to help with sleeping. I definitely think I need therapy with everything that has happened in my life in the last few months.

Anyways, I'll keep updating this periodically. I believe this is helpful and my loud head tinnitus has calmed down since writing this. Any words of encouragement is always helpful.

 

Everything ,that you have mentioned is pretty much at the beginning phase of the tinnitus(mostly, possibly not for all). It can possibly start out very soft and barely noticeable. You can possibly have days, that you will not hear it and then days that you can hear it. It's a good idea to just try and I mean "TRY" to let it be(it's not always easy to do this, even I was scanning for the ringing back in the days). Don't keep checking for the sound. This can possibly add more stress and stress can possibly trigger louder tinnitus.

Keeping yourself busy and trying to distract the mind... from the noise, is what I have been doing from the beginning. Seeking out support from a professional, can possibly have it's benefits as well. All in all, I remember when I was at your stage over 32 years ago. The foundations that I set back then, with getting support and just trying to keep busy and trying not to focus on the noise, did help me out.

Tinnitus is horrible, I would love to see it go away. If it is not going away, then I have TRIED ways to learn how to live with it. It's not an easy thing to do, but each day I have tried to take a step forward.

 

Thank you for your responses. I am glad to have support.

 

Update: Where I am right now is that I hear a slight ringing in my left ear and static hissing/white noise in my left ear. I actually cannot notice these sounds mostly throughout the day so that is good and I don't find that my tinnitus really spikes from any sounds. It mostly just spikes when I focus hard on it and start panicking. Hopefully I will be able to recover more to a point where it doesn't bother me at home. It's been real quiet at home late so I've been afraid to be at home. I'm still hoping this goes away for the most part. I'm still in a bad place right now. Not just because of this but because of my whole family situation. I hope things get better. I want to be happy again.

Edit: It's gotten louder again. Losing hope.

 

Tinnitus is an odd thing. Some want a quiet setting, some want a setting with some background noise. My tinnitus these days, is extremely loud/non-maskable at all. It can be heard over highway noise, so I prefer no noise at all. I will say this much, if you do not like to be home because it is quiet, then possibly add some very low/tranquil background sounds. maybe some gentle ocean waves playing and try to focus on the gentle/tranquil sounds. maybe possibly meditate on it.

 

@fishbone

Well said fishbone and nice to see you on the forum. Hope the tinnitus calms down for you soon.
All the best

Michael

 

I had some success today. My tinnitus didn't distress me that much today. I woke up after a nice 9 hour sleep and was hoping for it to be gone. Of course it was still there but quiet. In fact its most right sided head tinnitus that I'm experiencing right now and it's sort of an electric buzzing sound. I genuinely starting to think that this is stress induced. My head feels strange.

After waking up I took a nice walk. Hot as hell today and I came back sweating but I did not notice it at all during my walk. I took a nice shower when I got back.

Afterwards I went with my dad to visit my mom and I couldn't hear it again the whole time I was out. It was very relaxing just being outside in the relative quiet with birds chirping and some mild wind.

I honestly believe that this will go away or reduce to a level I barely notice anymore. I'm still taking supplements. I plan on sleeping enough each night. I will still go to the chiropractor for my neck and I will still go to the ENT. Hopefully everything turns out alright. I really need to turn myself around. I need to be strong for my family and I want to be happy again.

Thanks for all the support.

 

I really thought that my tinnitus was not going to be a nuisance anymore. It was really low the whole day today, but I just got back from a walk and it is wailing. I really don't understand what is going on. I don't know what I did to deserve this. I just hope it goes away. Hopefully the fact that its very low and sometimes barely noticeable means its on its way to going away. I really don't know. I scheduled another doctor appointment for tomorrow. It's been 15 days so far. Sighhhhh.

 

Important update
I spoke with the doctor today. She listened to my whole story on what has happened the last few months. She believes I have a chronic anxiety and stress problem and I agree.

I've always struggled with anxiety in the past since the end of high school but I've always been able to be strong and manage. However I know that I can't this time. I can see it has spiralled out of control and I need help this time.

The doctor is getting me in touch with my doctor next week who is coming back from vacation. I also have an appointment with the social worker next weekend. I believe if I can manage this anxiety then I can become healthier and happier.

I took half a lorazepam an hour ago and my chest doesn't feel heavy. I can focus better on other things. My appetite is back right. Most importantly even though I don't think the tinnitus has really changed this time from taking it, I can barely notice it.

I'm wondering if I had this before but never noticed it and my health anxiety caused me to search for why I was suddenly getting these temporary tinnituses and then it just stuck with me now. If that's the case, then I don't need silence. I just need to get back to the place where I felt there was silence.

It's funny because I am the type of guy who likes to sleep in the dark and quiet and a month and a half ago I remember being able to do that easily. However since its the summer, we have started using the air con which is noisey. I used to hate it but right now it's sort of my saving grace.

Anyways, I hope I can sort myself out and hopefully this tinnitus will lessen over time. I don't care if it never truly goes away, I just want what I found was peaceful before all this happened. I may have had some tinnitus if I plugged my ears but I never really did that. However, one thing is for sure is that I could lay down in the silence.

Description of my tinnitus
I honestly think my tinnitus is very weird. It was only a high pitch sound for 10 seconds in the right ear and then I noticed it was still there but much quieter. However it got so loud when it first happened that I freaked out. After sleeping properly a few days later I would wake up with a hissing/static sound in my right ear, kinda like a broken speaker and this has pretty much persisted since then. The sound is not annoying but the aura around my right side is. If I plug my right ear then the sound actually doesn't change much.

A few days later, after the tinnitus happened in my right ear, I had another tinnitus attack in but in my left ear. My left ear is not as bad as my right ear. I can only slightly hear a slight tone in complete silence. However like the right ear, when I'm trying to sleep it all just starts to get louder. When I plug in my left ear in the morning it is very soft, but towards the night if I plug it in it gets very loud after a few seconds (another aura like feeling).

I hope that these are good signs for recovery. At the best I can rate the tinnitus at a 0.5/10 but at its worse it feels like a 8/10. Overall I believe its about a 5/10 and hopefully improving. Please let me know your thoughts.

Conclusion
I am trying to keep this updated because I want to help people in the future who are dealing with this. It would be nice if there is more success stories on here so if I ever succeed then I won't forget to post here.

It is clear I need help and I'm not afraid to admit it at this point. I feel so much better without anxiety right now. I just know that it will come back after this wears off so I'm writing this in good spirit right now.

Thanks for all the support.

-David