Tinnitus Changed/Worsened After 7 to 8 Years: Currently at Suicide Levels

Hello, my tinnitus is currently at suicide levels. 10/10. It hasn't been this bad since 2013. I genuinely had a period over the summer in 2018 where it was unnoticeable without any background noise too. Now instead of lurking on this forum, I'm actually posting.

I either got it in 2012/13 or it became severely noticeable around that time. I was going through massive stress and I'm pretty sure something changed in my brain the night I didn't sleep at all before a three hour final exam. I was experiencing severe relationship abuse and trying to complete an accounting course at the same time. There were a couple more things, but I'm not going to go into those because the end result is the same. It was the first night I ever experienced insomnia that OTC sleeping tablets didn't even touch (couldn't sleep for days). I went to a private ENT and after telling him my two biggest issues were dizziness and tinnitus, he referred me to vestibular rehabilitation which is a type of targeted physiotherapy really. That was great for my balance and neck pain, but the tinnitus remained. It took me until 2015 to figure out I had impacted earwax (that the ENT didn't mention to me two years prior) and I was finally referred to an NHS ENT (I didn't have insurance anymore and the consultants on the NHS are just as good as the private ones). The wax was removed (manual and microsuction) and I was advised to attend appointments every four months. I did this robotically and it felt like the longer I kept my ears clean, the more the tinnitus appeared to be fading. Most of the time there would only be a couple of tiny bits of wax in both ears that were easily removed manually due to appointment frequency. I moved cities and ended up having to wait five months for appointments at the new hospital, but four weeks didn't make that much of a difference really. Everything was fine, even while doing a stressful university course...

But during the process of being hired for a new job from January/February to March, a new sound appeared in my right ear. It was like intermittent faded morse code that came from my ear as opposed to just my usual high-pitched continuous head sounds. Then all the COVID-19 crap started. I had to leave my job for safety reasons, I was living alone during lockdown in a terrible flat and didn't see a single person for almost two months. The morse code sound became constant and I assumed it was because of how much wax had built up (my last appointment was the first week of November 2019). Later on, I realised that I could modify the pitch of my tinnitus in my left ear by moving the ear canal upwards.

I couldn't tolerate waiting (it's been 9 months so far and "routine" services have still not resumed) so paid for a private ENT consultant to remove my earwax. It was the same doctor as I had in 2013. I am SO angry and suicidal. I'm convinced he didn't remove all of the wax like the NHS ENT consultants and nurses normally do (and show me they have) and he said that the new "morse code" tone is due to stress. I got someone to take a photo of my right ear and there's still a bit of wax on the inside near the front, indicating it wasn't cleaned that well. I have no idea what's further inside or if he even checked my eardrums! The tinnitus hasn't changed AT ALL. I'm actually furious because I paid so much to have this done as I couldn't wait, but I don't think he's done it properly. I can feel sticky stuff in my ears when I move my canals around. I've been left in tears and I don't want to go back to someone who I believe might be incompetent, leaving me on this NHS waiting list.

I'm going to Boots Hearingcare on Wednesday so they can let me know how much wax is in there. If there is still some in there, I'm going to be angry because that means the ENT hasn't done a good job, but if my canals are clear, it means it's coming from my brain and I'll probably be even angrier. I've never had this problem before on the NHS.

Seeing as it's a newer sound and I've had zero loud sound exposure and no illness prior to it starting (I've been using custom ACS Pro 27 earplugs for years anyway), what could this be? Is it really purely stress like the ENT mentioned, or could it be that he's done a crap job? I find it hard to believe that stress on its own can cause such huge changes.

I'm so anxious I feel like I'm going to be sick. I hope someone can help me. I'm going to call BTA tomorrow anyway, as well as the NHS clinic I went to before this world insanity began.

 

Please let us know if they offer useful advice via the helpline. Most people here think BTA is shite.

Sorry your tinnitus is so bad.

 

I will do. In what ways have people said it's shite? Yeah, I'm sorry too, it had no reason to get worse besides wax, so I'm confused as to why it's the exact same after removal.

Edit: It only got worse in one ear. That's what's scaring me. The other scary thing is that I always sort of used private medical care as an, "Oh well, that's the last resort where I can get a second opinion and it's always there," type thing. I've just used my last hope.

 

@Ghost
Why don't you just buy a ear cleaning device yourself ? I have one, and once a year I put some olive oil in my ears, separately (the first night one, the second night the other) with some cotton wool to prevent the oil from getting out again. The next morning the wax has softened and with that device, which is basically a large syringe filled with luke warm water, you can gently spray the water in your ear and the wax will just come out with the water. It's really easy, I don't go to a doctor for that.

 

Sounds harmless enough...

Except...

Quite a few are on this forum as a consequence of the syringing...

Olive oil sounds harmless enough though...

 

Personal opinion: given your lack of known cause, I think if stress was the main issue, it would be bilateral. Are you sure that the earwax removal itself didn't cause it? To favor one ear after he procedure seems curious.

And yeah, stress can make it more noticeable.

 

@Ghost Hello

Your tinnitus is a 10/10 now, but can you place numbers on severity between 2013 and 2018 - before the summer where it became temporary unnoticeable?

Can you also talk a little about that summer?

If your tinnitus was severely noticeable from 2013 to 2018, but during the summer of 2018 it was unnoticeable, then there's a reason why. It's very uncommon for severe tinnitus to disappear quickly and completely and be temporary for a couple of months or so without a reason. It may be hard for any of us to determine why your tinnitus disappeared for that summer, but whatever the correction was, may likely reflect to cause and why you presently have tinnitus.

Were you on any medications during that summer? Were you relaxed and more care free during that summer?

If any of this has validity, then there's a list of things to consider, besides ear wax which may not seem like your problem. Such as: blood pressure changes from hypertension, - high pressure, but with prior dizziness, you may have had a low blood pressure episode. Only a blood pressure study has a chance to catch quick and brief blood pressure changes. With this or with non association, a chemical or hormone imbalance, a slight non serious auto immune disorder or mild Lyme disease. There's about 20 other things that could completely stop severe tinnitus temporary for a couple of months and none of them are serious issues.

Have you had a CBC blood test? What is your blood pressure history? Have you experienced whiplash.

 

The person on the helpline was really helpful. She said the usual stuff we probably all know, but it confirmed a few things nonetheless. A private ENT told me yesterday that 80 to 90% of people have tinnitus but just aren't aware of it 24/7/pay attention to it/their brain doesn't prioritise the sounds and therefore doesn't process them in our consciousness. He talked about the studies where people with no tinnitus were placed inside an anechoic chamber and then started to experience sounds due to the fact that our brains make noise. They're constantly processing information and working. It's not actually a silent thing. The issue is when the brain decides to make you aware of its processes. The BTA advisor talked about this too. Stress can actually be the reason for onset (I have gone through severe trauma and have PTSD) and not just exasperation of the condition. He said he had many patients who had it occur just prior to, during or after a period of major stress (when you know a stressful event is going to happen, you might start to get anxious before it).

Stress->tinnitus->stress->tinnitus is the cycle that needs to be broken and the same applies no matter what the cause is. If you take away the stress, there is no longer a focus on the sounds. The brain, over a period of time, can learn to put those sounds back where they belong (inaudible to our consciousness). I've been told the same thing by two other ENTs and numerous ENT nurses.

My partner has tinnitus and potentially hearing loss (he's not had a hearing test, but keeps asking me to repeat myself). He's a construction worker who has attended concerts for years without any ear protection (you can see where this is going). He tells me he can only hear it when I ask him repeatedly what his is like (he looks for it when I ask how he copes), but his brain filters it out as soon as we stop talking about it. He seems to have control over what his brain listens to and I don't. He handles stress very, very well and has amazing mental health. He takes Ibuprofen for headaches a couple times per month and drinks coffee, but he says they have no effect on it. My mother has some age-related hearing loss but describes no tinnitus despite using hairdryers, hoovers, blenders, going to concerts, etc. with no ear protection. She has great mental health. My father is the same (describes having no tinnitus) and was a scuba diver, used earphones, had invasive neck surgery, went on survival courses, smoked all his life up until recently, had all his teeth pulled out and replaced with implants, drinks a lot of coffee, etc. His mental health is better than mine (he has anger issues, but I don't recall major anxiety).

I was unaware of mine in 2018, so it either settled over the years or I habituated. I was less stressed then. I had good things happening in my life and even attended a festival (with custom ear plugs) with no worsening of it. I was getting my ears cleaned manually and with a bit of microsuction regularly so nothing was stopping sounds from getting into the ear (I've been told that people with hearing loss see improvements after getting the most appropriate hearing aids for themselves).

Because it's not recommended for people who have existing tinnitus and my ENTs normally clear it manually with a bit of microsuction (the latter was only needed when I hadn't been in over 5 or 6 months).

That's the same thought I had. I brought it up with the private ENT doctor yesterday (not my usual one, I'm normally on the NHS) and he said that stress can cause fluctuations and it's not always the same on both sides, even if the sole cause is stress. I'm 100% sure the earwax removal didn't cause it at any point. Things were totally fine after my appointment in the summer of last year and the same was the case in November last year. Both times it was done manually by the same ENT consultant. As for yesterdays removal, he needed to use suction and used the smallest tubes that were possible. My usual tinnitus feels better overall, massive improvement in my left ear, but the morse code/tinny type thing that existed since around the beginning of the year in my right ear hasn't changed. The BTA advisor said something about the brain needing time to adjust to not working with blocked ears and that things don't always settle immediately after the procedure. I can't really prove that right now.

2013: 10/10. I'd even go way above that. Had braces put on and just graduated with an accounting diploma and didn't sleep all night before my final three hour exam. Forced myself to get an A. Became severely mentally ill after the exam, still entered third year of university while in an abusive relationship/living with an abuser. Quit two months after starting the course. I used weed. I thought I was helping myself at the time.
2014: 10/10. Felt like I was in permanent hell. Couldn't function at all. Wasn't eating or showering. Wasn't sleeping and was having panic attacks every few minutes, and was on the phone to the Samaritans all day and all night. I would have a panic attack right after coming off of the phone to them. Started third year of university again and ended up quitting my job to concentrate on my studies. I quick two months into the course, the same as the year before. I stopped talking to everyone apart from my abuser.
2015: 10/10. Had braces removed. I was still in the abusive relationship but not living with the person anymore. I was living alone in my mother's empty house because I lost everything. I was having panic attacks back-to-back, 24/7. At the end of 2015 I left him after he abused me. I got my ears cleaned in around October or November and got custom earplugs made.
2016: 9/10 and then 10/10. My mother came back from where she was living to help me. I started a different part-time accounting course at some point and quit in March due to PTSD symptoms (flashbacks started happening alongside my panic, insomnia and nightmares when I fell asleep for a little while). I decided I was going to drop everything and re-start my life because I had been through that much trauma (there was other stuff prior to 2013). I realised I couldn't continue anything in the same way and actually stay alive. I stripped my life back to the basics and started talking to a few new people online. I got mental health support. I applied to another university to start another course from scratch. When I started my course and had to live alone again, I was hospitalised over New Year due to what I now know as PTSD. Started Mirtazapine from October to November, but stopped after hospitalisation. Only took Diazepam (this was unavoidable at this point) under supervision.
2017: 7 to 8/10. I was no longer living alone in a city where I didn't know that many people. I was travelling to university from my hometown, living with my mother and passed the first year of my course. I talked to lots of people and made friends. There was a spike over the summer when she left. It calmed down when I went back to university.
2018: 1 to 5/10. It was there but it settled into something predictable. The second I got stressed it went up, but went down promptly afterwards. Over the summer I managed to say to myself at certain times, "It's gone," especially while being far away from where the traumas happened. I was in a car accident near the end of the year and it didn't even affect it.

Summer 2018:

• Had blood test. Everything normal. No anaemia, but ferritin level was low. Prescribed high strength iron tablets.
• No medications besides the iron tablets.
• Went to a festival and stayed with a person who I thought I was going to be in a relationship with for a long time (he lived miles away from where my traumas happened and everything was new for me). I then went back to his flat again and stayed with him even longer. My tinnitus became noticeable when we had an argument in August.

I'm known to have low blood pressure. I don't know why. I figured it was because I had the flu in January 2019, because that's when they were measuring it. The rest of the time it's been normal, but really unsure about that when I'm standing up/sitting down. I have hormone issues - severely painful menstruation, vomiting and headaches that go with it. I don't know how to sort that. About the other ones - I've never been tested for them.

I had whiplash and slight concussion with a back injury in September 2018. It didn't cause an increase. It was the exact same as before. I've been hit in the face in 2010. I didn't get tinnitus after it happened.

I don't know anymore. Either way, I've contacted a GP today who has referred me to an NHS ENT consultant (kind of urgently) in my area, I'm still on the waiting list for a manual cleaning/microsuction ENT nurse appointment in the area I used to live in (they let me stay on the waiting list because my appointment was cancelled due to coronavirus) which I can go to in around October or November and I'll be referred to psychology as soon as I provide them with some documents.

 

Well, my opinion is that the actual stress would cause a similar reaction on both sides. The tinnitus may be unequal because the inner ears are unequal. But I doubt you have equally healed ears and your brain is just firing weirdly on one side (unless you have something else going on like an acoustic neuroma). I would be skeptical of that opinion. Everyone gets told that stress = tinnitus. It's really just a cop out for a lack of understanding of the inner ear.

 

I did have the exact same reaction on both sides from 2012/13 to the end of last year/beginning of this year. The new sound appeared in my right ear recently. I didn't actually do anything besides get super stressed in that time. I've been using earplugs well before 2012 and had custom ones made in 2015. I am skeptical, which is why I've been referred to another ENT today who should investigate further (probably scans, etc.). I'm going to an audiologist tomorrow just to check if there's any wax left in there (some ENTs leave a bit of wax in there for various reasons unless you tell them you're getting impressions done) or if they can see irritation. Stress might actually be the cause for many people, you never know. I didn't have it prior to being in an abusive relationship. It's almost like my brain didn't know how to unlearn it.

 

I can't cope anymore. I saw a private ENT on Monday who said my tinnitus was due to stress and he didn't refer me for any testing. He cleaned my ears and said to go to tinnitus counselling (I can't afford it). I was hoping that the ear cleaning would make a difference, but it made none. I've had my GP refer me to an ENT on the NHS in the hope that they'll do some tests.

I had manageable, stable tinnitus since 2012/13 (high-pitched equal hiss in both ears) and now there's an additional sound in my right ear that's been there since the end of last year/beginning of this year. It's a tinny/metallic, fluttering, slightly distant sounding morse code type thing with a slight airiness to it, accompanied by a stronger tone than my usual hiss. I've noticed that certain sounds outside of my head sound a bit metallic too.

I don't know what the hell to do. I experience frequent headaches on that side, dull eye pain, very rarely that ear will feel like the hearing became muffled and then reappeared again, a bit of throat pain and general neck pain with two weird lumps on the back of it. I also have bruxism and it's worst on that side, and spent my entire life sleeping on my stomach with my right ear against the pillow. I even have a tic where my head will jolt from left to right when I'm severely tense. All of this was dismissed by the private ENT. My GP is new and listened to me, hence the new referral.

There's literally nothing wrong on my left side besides "normal" consistent tinnitus (a constant hiss).

I've got a GP appointment again on Tuesday, but she's done the referral, and right now I don't know what to do. It took me enough time to get used to my usual tinnitus but I'm in disbelief at this shit now.

Can stress and serious muscle tension cause this? Or not? This is the first time I've been so desperate and I've had tinnitus for around 8 years or so. The fact that it's not the same on both sides is worrying me. Someone please help.

Edit: My ear also feels hot/irritated, but I had it checked on Wednesday by an audiologist and the eardrum and canal look fine. I also have very slight dull pain there, the same as in my head on that side. I had dizziness issues since 2012/13, but never, "The room is spinning violently," type thing. I had vestibular rehabilitation and it just went away and I never thought about it again. I have slight dizziness on that side now but not severe.

 

@Ghost Hang on in there. Stress makes everything worse I can tell you, when I had my 1st onset stress was causing lot of weird things with my senses, including face numbness, vision distortions, random ear fullness.

And this is a vicious circle, stress aggravates tinnitus, tinnitus aggravates stress. Only way to escape it is to stay calm. I know it's easier said than done. But seek medical help, get some shrink look after you, get some good pills. The worst thing is to get into rabbit hole and let the stress and the fear go wild. Try to find some way to get your self relaxed at least for couple of minutes a day, get lot of sleep.

And you are no alone, I am also fighting to recover and get back on tracks, as this year was full of nasty surprises for me. And looking at what others write here, they neither have it easier. So it is hard, but there is no other option, as the "other" option is not an option.

 

Hey Ghost,

From what I can tell, the more you notice it, the worse it gets. From my personal experience, from unnoticeable levels to "impossible to cope" in just a week - was easy for me. Especially during the Lockdown -- many people became mentally ill, anxious, etc. That's very serious stuff, anxiety needs to be treated because its' symptoms are worse than anxiety itself.

I don't exactly know how you feel, but read about GAD symptoms, once of which is worsening / onset tinnitus.

The best you can do besides treating underlying condition(s) is not to think and ignore it, like it doesn't exist. That's difficult when you tinnitus gets worse but that's the only non-meds way (thus safe and also the best). I heard stories from people with tinnitus of dB level like standing next to working tractor who just ignore and not notice it with very promising results, like they can work and live enjoyable life again.

 

Yeah, sounds like stress could have definitely caused or worsened yours. You're right. I got a prescription for diazepam again (I had been using it on and off since 2015) so I'm trying that short-term (very short term). I've been trying to only have it a couple of days in a row and then go a few days without it before going back to it again. Hadn't actually used it for over a year and a half at this point, so this is disappointing. My doctor approved it for more longer-term use only because I'm a bit resistant to medication (I never want to take any and have had the same issue forever) and she's not concerned that I'd become dependent.

You will recover. I've been sticking to the recovery thread on here or not going on here at all.

True, it's the same here. I think it was the COVID-19 lockdown for me too that worsened everything. The physical symptoms are so bad, I didn't know anxiety could do all this on its own. Yep! The British Tinnitus Association even said to me stress can cause onset and it says so on anxietycentre.com too. That's what I hope to be able to do. I know a few people who are in that position too.

 

Update:

I'm not creating another thread because there's no point, but I found some stuff out that I want to share with others who might find it helpful. I'm not coming back on this forum again because it never fails to trigger my anxiety, though. I won't be replying to anyone's posts, so apologies for that.

• Private ENT said on 03/08/2020 that he thinks the tinnitus is stress related when I went in for ear wax removal, or the stress is at least worsening it, and didn't order any tests due to my history (he already did some in 2013, so figured it was pointless putting me through the process as my situation didn't change that much). I can have tests at a later date, but I don't feel it's that urgent so I'm on the NHS waiting list and happy there. I can't afford scans privately anyway, so there's that.
• Went to a new physiotherapist for neck pain who was very well reviewed, but left her session feeling horrible. Weird vibe, she didn't take my temperature as part of COVID-19 stuff, took my bra off without asking while I was lying on my front to get to my back muscles, etc. She was pretty rough in general and wasn't really explaining what was going on with me. I left in pain and then had a horrific headache the next day. Thought it was normal, but decided things weren't right before my next appointment so cancelled it. Decided to book an assessment appointment with the same physiotherapist I was referred to by the private ENT for dizziness back in 2013. He's a vestibular/neuro physio with years upon years of experience, so I figured he'd know more about headaches. Had said appointment on Monday and he found out that all of my neck muscles are very weak and not functioning correctly. He confirmed that this kind of thing frequently causes or worsens tinnitus, and that he's worked with many tinnitus patients. The reason for me he figured was that I developed central nervous system sensitivity due to muscular issues (muscles send too many electrical signals to the brain and everything becomes disrupted and overwhelmed which results in brain noise). It's heavily anxiety and posture-related. He said he's going to work on my jaw at the next appointment, as he identified issues there too, but we didn't get to speak about those yet.
• Switched dentists and had an assessment appointment on Tuesday (my regular one didn't call me back after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, so I assumed he's not ready yet). Decided I wasn't going to mention much to him besides the fact I've had orthodontic work in the past and I have sensitivity in a couple of places (old fillings needing to be replaced probably). New dentist straight off the bat identified a bunch of fillings needing done (that was no surprise), an issue with my right TM joint, restricted jaw movement, uneven jaw opening, misaligned teeth with only the wisdom teeth touching/incorrect bite, upper right wisdom tooth part grinded off (significant bruxism), very tight and painful jaw muscles overall and "very unusual" tightness in the neck muscles right under my ears. He didn't know much about tinnitus but explained the logic behind why jaw issues and misalignment can cause tinnitus. He told me that chronic pain from muscle tension, etc. can cause the brain to do strange things, so it's not out of the question that something like that could happen. He then went on to talk about the fact that pain can evolve into different sensations when it becomes chronic, and that chronic pain is a very complex subject that isn't fully understood. I didn't even know I was in that much pain. He said I need a splint and to manage my anxiety better, as well as possible wisdom tooth extractions, followed by further orthodontic work later on.

I had orthodontic work completed in 2015 which allowed my wisdom teeth to come through as an alternative to having surgery and was never happy with my bite after it. I feel like I traded proper function for a good cosmetic appearance. I actually mentioned this a number of times during treatment and afterwards. When I told the orthodontist that the pain from treatment never did subside (even a year later), and that I was chewing through retainers, he would just keep replacing them for me and sending me home. He said "I can't do anything about the anxiety you experience." He even said that I don't have that much bruxism and that I don't have TMJ disorder. The orthodontist told me I could get retainers from my dentist instead if I wanted to after the year of aftercare with him ended, so I did. The one I got was a softer material, was ill-fitting and broke quickly. I brought this up with him, but much like the orthodontist, he kept brushing it off as "Everyone does a bit of teeth grinding!" and would trim the affected parts of the retainers off so they were no longer protecting or holding my back teeth in place. He told me that the bad fit was due to my teeth settling in different places over time (bullshit, the whole point of wearing a retainer is to retain the teeth in the exact same places and it wasn't the same as my original one). I even asked my orthodontist if he could attach the braces to the wisdom teeth and align them too (he said that they don't normally do that and he didn't see the point), so I asked him if I could have a retainer that covers them too once everything was finished. He said there was no need. As a result of this shit, my wisdom teeth moved the rest of my teeth despite wearing a retainer (it just kept feeling tight every time I put it on, even though I was wearing it for 12 to 14 hours per day (night mostly) and years had passed since my braces were taken off). The ill-fitting retainer completely ruined everything further. I went back to the orthodontist to get one of his retainers at the end of last year which was a very rigid material, making it harder to chew through, but I still chewed the backs of them right off (at night when unconscious). They fit well, but obviously my teeth had already moved. In that same month, or a couple later, I ended up getting a new tinnitus sound in my right ear. It's intermittent and only appears towards the end of the day (evening/night). Not really a coincidence since that was the only thing that changed. Went around thinking I had an acoustic neuroma for months.

It took me seven years to actually get an answer as to why I have strange neurological symptoms. In my opinion, the orthodontist did a shit job and only gave a crap about how my teeth looked cosmetically, because I don't even have a comfortable position where I can fit my teeth together and never did since I had it done. I came across the dentist who noticed all of this by accident and only planned to get some fillings. The two other dentists (both in the same practice) who I saw prior to this (last time was in March) didn't mention it and the orthodontist didn't listen to me when I told him I was in pain. He convinced me I wasn't in pain. I actually thought I was going crazy because it wasn't until this Tuesday that the new dentist told me I seem like I'm in pain.

I'm about 99% sure that my tinnitus is from neck and jaw problems, with anxiety making everything even worse. Seeing as my physiotherapist has said it's possible, and the dentist has also stated it could be, I'm pretty convinced now. I also talked to the British Tinnitus Association who said these things seem like the causes. Anyway, hope this helps someone to maybe look around a bit more, as again, it took seven years for someone to notice. If you can actually feel that your jaw or even just neck/head is sore at all, get help quickly, because when you leave it too long it starts to get confusing. You can start asking yourself whether you're really in pain or just imagining it because you get so used to it.

I'm gonna go and treat all of these things and get on with my life. Peace.

 

I've also just been diagnosed with central sensitisation. In case this helps anyone else.