Tapping/Popping — GONE!

I have had consistent tinnitus noise since 2014 from a medication. But prior to that, back in 2009 I started having tapping/popping noise in my right ear. It came and went until 2016.

My story is all hindsight. But I thought maybe it would be useful to someone else.

Basically, I am pretty sure I was allergic to my angel kitty, Sunshine. You decide.

October 2009 I adopted 6 month old Sunshine

Within 6 months I started hearing tapping/popping in right ear. ENT told me I’ll have to live with it.

Went to health food store and bought “Ring Stop.” It worked.

Note: the way I used it was to put drops in my ear and then put a small piece of cotton ball in, to keep them from running out. Which in essence, if I plug the ear I could not hear it, unlike normal T. Found out later it was not the Ring Stop, it was the plugging of the cotton. So I stopped the Ring Stop and used foam ear plugs (cylindular type).

Tap/pop happened about every 5-6 months so I thought it was seasonal. It would last on/off few days, controlling it with a plug. Ironically, I would also lay my head on Sunshine and her purring would mask the sound.

December 2013, at the age of 57, I remarried and moved to another house.

Summer 2014 tap/pop happening more often and lasting longer. Still I used the plugs to control it. I chalked it up to having more trees around than my other house.

In June 2016 my angel kitty Sunshine died of cancer at 11 years old. And I have not had the tap/pop at all. I still miss her so much.

My reason to believe the tap/pop was an allergy:

Sunshine and I love, love, loved each other! She was my, “Soul kitty.” Those of you who have/had a, “Soul pet,” you will understand this love. Those of you who have not, please don’t judge.

We were always together. We would sit together; if I was standing she was around my shoulders. We played a lot and we would sleep together. So she was near my face most of the time.

Before getting married, Sunshine and I were alone together for 8 years. She liked my husband, but after we got married, she became jealous of him. So she stayed primarily in my bedroom. But we still spent a lot of time together and she was still near my face a lot. So, spending time mostly in one location, more dander accumulated. Even though I vacuumed and changed bed clothes often.

A month after Sunshine died we adopted 6 year old Izzy (cat). Within 4 months she died of liver disease. I never heard the tap/pop.

Another month later we adopted 6 month old Mittens and Josie.

About a week after getting Mittens and Josie I got a really bad cold. We thought it might be an allergy. I went to an allergist and I showed positive for allergy to cats. But he said this was just a cold. It cleared up in 5 weeks.

I told the allergist about the tap/pop and Sunshine. He told me animals all have different dander; which is what causes allergies. He suggested I not put my face near them nor sleep with them, get an air purifier and vacuum more often. I have followed these rules but I do let them sleep with me but not near my face. I never let them near my face. We now have them 15 months and I have not had any tap/pop. (Knock on wood.)

It breaks my heart to even think I was probably allergic to the love of my life.

I had cats all my life, never had any trouble. But Sunshine is the only cat I ever let near my face.

I hope this may be of help to someone out there.

I purposely waited to add this story because I wanted to wait to see if the tap/pop came back after a year of getting Mittens and Josie and after Sunshine died at least one year.

Thanks for listening,

Lucy

 

Is it just the tapping that's gone or has the original T improved too? What medication set it off in the first place?

 

My ex girlfriends mum had a cat that made my eyes itch like crazy. Some sort of magic dust on its coat or something never had a problem with any other cat in my life. I literally just couldn't go near it. It probably didnt want me near it either lol

 

@Agrajag364 , you can see the cause in the person's bio. The medication that set it off was Plaquenil (Hydroxychloroquine) according to Lucy's bio.

 

That's correct, Plaquenil caused it. I have lupus and back in the 1980's it worked well to control the lupus. After a few years I had to go off it becaused it created a panic disorder. In 2014, after years of fighting my doctors, I agreed to take it again. But I could stop if there where any side effects. Well, it created the T on an extremely low dose. I stopped it immediately but it was too late.

The T still remains.

My bio reads I got T in 2007, but it was extremely minor. 2014 is when it went full blown.

Thanks for your inquiry.
Lucy