Tinnitus for Three Weeks — Looking for Support

Hey all and thank you to those who open up this thread...



My name's Adrian and for about three weeks I've had tinnitus.

It all started when I was lying in bed one night and I thought I could hear electricity, i noticed intermittent high pitched noises, so I'd checked the plugs and eventually shrugged the noise off after no success. The next day, I heard it again when I woke up. I climbed out of bed and went to shower. Just as I turned my shower off and started to dry myself - I realised I could still hear it...

My first reaction was "Well it can't be electricity in the shower",
... my second was "It's tinnitus."

And since then I've been on the low's and even lower low's of trying to deal with it and wondering if it will ever stop. I have no idea or excuse to what may have started my tinnitus, but it's worth mentioning that about three or four days before, I was reaching a breaking point with work from too much stress, and I also endured a couple days with my ears feeling completely blocked from what I can only imagine was a head cold or impacted ear wax.

Only after my ears unblocked that I realised I had the tinnitus in my right ear. At the same time, I was signed off work for a week from over-stressing myself (I work as a Process Improvement Manager for a large company, so the pressure sometimes amounts up to me). Since then I've been trying desperately to lose this tinnitus but as all you know, it's not something we can control.

My first GP session (two weeks ago) noticed I had impacted earwax, so I went to a special clinic and got microsuction after a few days of using Sodium Bicarbonate to loosen the wax, although the bicarbinate agitated my ears the procedure worked to unblock my ears but the tinnitus persisted.

Ironically I ended up taking antibiotics for a wound on my back (which somehow became infected) and those antibiotics, known as flucloxacillin, also treat ear infections. The prescription lasted seven days but sadly, despite healing my back wound, the flucloxacillin did nothing to change the tinnitus in my right ear.

At this stage, three weeks on... I'm beggining to wonder if the tinnitus I am experiencing will ever stop. I seem to have ruled out wax blockages and ear infections. The GP also said that I have healthy looking ear drums - Do I really have any chance that this could stop? Or am I likely to be stuck with it, forever?

After doing some research here on the Tinnitus Talk forums, it seems I'm also unlucky enough to have the least common type of tinnitus! - (Ref.: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/attachments/screenshot-2019-09-08-at-22-10-54-png.31812/) with an intermittent high-pitch beeping that sounds almost like morse code. I feel that this is one of the worst types to have, as at times I will hold total silence (no tinnitus) for a couple hours, sometimes it's so loud and severe, the on-off-on intermittent beeping can be so fast that it's multiple times a second - it feels like I have a loose wire connection in my ear somewhere.

The support I'm looking for is information - Could my tinnitus just be temporary? Is it likely that it is? What could have caused it? How can I help myself cope? Is there anything I can try to potentially fix?

And does anyone know how to control the spontaneously chaotic intermittence of it all? Because this one is driving me crazy!

I'm sorry for the long post, but I am at my wit's end and feel like this is currently controlling my life. I feel flavourless through all the disruption this is causing, and would love some advice or reassurance.

Other than the stress, head cold and impacted wax I can't really think of any other potential causes... but to be sure I'm sharing all the information I know, I used nose spray for about three weeks as my nose felt constantly blocked, but I'm off of it now.. Could that have been a cause? I don't listen to very loud music and rarely have earphones in.

Thank you if you're still here and thank you to anyone who does respond, you wouldn't believe how nice it would be for me to have someone who understands to talk to about all of this. At the very least, I'm happy to just release this built up mental energy from the current ordeal.

 

If you have no idea what caused the tinnitus, an exam to rule out a brain tumor or something else is in order IMO.

MRIs are super loud...

 

... Is this something I really ought to be worried about?

 

Worried is a useless emotion. Besides you are worried already, so you might as well do some discovery.

I believe you should get an exam, but I caution against the evil MRI.

I had a beginner pilots license when I told my FAA doctor about the tinnitus....they are required to find a source. Mine was obvious pain standing next to a loud drummer.

If you can find no cause, you should look into it.

 

Ears take a long time to heal. They don't snap back to being normal and healthy. It is likely that eventually your tinnitus will begin fading and 3-12 months from now you will finally be cured.

There is a small chance that it won't, but most likely it will stop. If you notice any fading over the next month or two, it will be reasonable to conclude that it will eventually go away.

Are you talking about your tinnitus becoming louder for 5-30 seconds? How often does this happen to you?

This seems to be a really good sign.

The Worst sign is when it is stuck relentlessly at the same level.

Is it listed on
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

MRIs can cause permanent tinnitus spikes. In Adrian's case there are plenty of things that might have caused his tinnitus. So it would seem to me that it isn't wise to get an MRI, unless Adrian gets more symptoms.

Adrian, check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
for more info about how to avoid making your tinnitus worse.

 

Hi @Adrianfox -- My answer to that would be an emphatic "no". Plenty of other things to look into first, IMHO.

I'd say there's a very good possibility this could be connected to your tinnitus. It just seems too coincidental to me. So, here's a suggestion, which is based on some of my own experiences. I've had some persistent neck and back problems for years, and have gotten into the habit of doing various kinds of self-massage to help with that. I've noticed when I massage up and down my back along the spine, my sinuses clear up.

Essentially, I lay on one side, and as best I can, use my free arm to massage up and down my spine with my thumb and fingers. I do that for a couple minutes or so, and then switch over to the other side. -- I once asked my ND why I get such consistent sinus clearing results from this technique. He said it was likely because there are major lymphatic drainage areas located along the spine. -- Search "Spinal Flush" on YouTube, and you'll find lots of videos.

I recently started doing some thoracic extension techniques, and discovered the same phenomenon. In fact, one morning, my sinuses were uncharacteristically stuffy, and I placed a foam pad beneath my thoracic spine area. Within 5-10 minutes, I was breathing incredibly clearly. And I felt way more relaxed as well, as this technique is VERY relaxing. -- This :37 second video shows two ways a rolled up towel or foam piece can be used for the upper thoracic area.

Thoracic Towel Stretch

For a really good complimentary exercise to this one, I feel the pelvis stabilization techniques described in this 5-Min. video (link below) really helped my lower back a LOT, and most likely helped my neck area as much as the towel exercise (I use foam instead of a towel). I think these two techniques work really well together.

Natural Pelvis Reset

Below is a link to a 5-min. video which goes into more detail on how to use a towel or foam piece to loosen up the upper back:

The Simplest and Most Effective Exercise For Thoracic Extension

I also fairly recently started doing some self-acupuncture for my neck, focusing on inserting a couple of needles in the brainstem area. I was astounded by how much more flexibility I had in my neck only a few days later. I could describe more on how I do this if you're interested. And BTW, it's really simple.

Adrian, as you can see, my own orientation(s) are toward natural self-care. Most doctors and/or ENTs know next to nothing about the best way to try to treat tinnitus, and often end up making things far worse. Regarding anything (like a drug or antibiotic) that a doctor might prescribe, I'd suggest putting the name of that drug in the search section of this forum, and see what others' experiences have been with it. I believe everybody with tinnitus needs to use a great deal of discernment when considering doctor recommendations.

All the Best... and BTW, I think your prognosis is good!

 

I didn’t mean to promote EVIL MRIs, I have been through a hell week so far....I’d rather get some radiation then another MRI. Never again.

 

Hey Bill. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me with all these answers, it’s reassured me somewhat. To answer your question - No, the tinnitus doesn’t become louder for 5-30 seconds. I’d describe it as high pitch beeping/chirping which varies in lengths of time between each beep. It’s almost as if two mice are having a conversation inside my ear (I recognise this makes me sounds crazy...), there’s no pattern or consistency to the frequency of the beeps. Sometimes it’s as fast as three or four beeps in a second, sometimes I hear it once in 60 seconds. Does that make sense?

There’s also a second layer of constant high-pitch tinnitus which is quieter but still persistent/bothersome.

 

Hi there Lane, thankyou to you too for responding to my message. I’ll certainly give this a go! And thanks for the reassurance too.

 

Update;

I visited an ear specialist today on private appointment. She found both ears to be clear with no wax blocking the ear drum. My right ear which has the tinnitus showed a dull coloured ear drum, but it was healthy looking. She then tested my ears and found a drop in hearing higher frequencies with my right ear, which makes sense considering the high pitch tinnitus i am hearing. She found no pressure abnormalities. When doing hearing tests through conductive bone hearing, I could hear the higher frequencies perfectly fine.

For anyone that likes analysis/graphs, the decline in the circular node line (red arrow) shows a drop of being able to hear high frequencies through the right ear drum, probably due to tinnitus also being that high pitch frequency, but when playing hearing through bone conduction (blue arrow) its much better. So I guess it rules out a damaged cochlea, but does not necessarily rule a damaged auditor nerve.

(Image attached)

She told me to sit back and see what happens over the next week or two. Saying that I still have my tinnitus and I’m stressed out over it. I’m curious to understand why my ear drum is dull, and what it could mean? Could it potentially have fluid on the other side which is causing the tinnitus? I’m unsure what other conclusions I can make from the tests for now, sadly I feel like all my proactive options have now been spent and I can only see what happens over time.

As I’m lying here in bed I’m also noticing that when I yawn or if I have my jaw at its widest open, the tinnitus stops. In resting position though I can hear my tinnitus pretty loud and consistently... can anyone make any assumptions from this or anything above?

 

Why is that? And when you say heal what exactly do you mean in relation to tinnitus?

 

I am not sure why. Many parts of our body take years to heal (e.g., shoulders, knees, etc).

It fades. Many people eventually (after 3-24 months) end up in the "can hear it only in silent rooms and when trying to sleep" stage. Some even get to experience silence again.

 

Yeah tinnitus does suck. Not too many people in the world know what we are going through but this website is full of people that do.

 

@Adrianfox

I had an MRI 2 months into my t to rule out an acoustic neuroma ( benign tumour of th the ear). While it is loud I used earplugs and also headphones and it did not affect my t in the slightest

Keep positive, try not to stress as everyone says cause it only exacerbates the situation

Good luck x

 

I've never heard anyone else say that ears heal. How do you know this? I've heard acoustic damage can be cumulative is all. I thought only the hair cells of birds regenerate.


To date, research shows that mammalian cochlear hair cells do not regenerate, either spontaneously or after damage. However, lower vertebrates (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds) can spontaneously regrow hair cells, under normal conditions and/or after damage. Hair cell regeneration allows birds to hear again.

@Bill Bauer, are you in fact a reptile or bird?

 

Interesting. When I yawn it makes my tinnitus worse not better.

What about deep breathing - does that make your tinnitus better or worse? It calms my intermittent tones.

Are you subjected to loud noise through your work or socially. or have you been using headphones a lot?

 

Speaking from your own experience or other people's reportings? How did yours evolve since onset?

 

Mine has faded. Then I got a secondary acoustic trauma and it reversed a lot of my progress. I would prefer to not talk about what happened next, as I don't want to jinx it.

 

Pleased for you Bill, fingers crossed for you.
I've been mainly pessimistic as 2 months after my ENT tests it is at an all time high. I'm not a patient person, did yours get worse before it got better? Get actual pain from it now as well as the 3 constant tones. All down to those tests.

 

Thanks for replying. I was just wondering if you had in fact experienced fading yourself of were basing your opinion on other people's stories. You strike me as a rational person, so I didn't think you would be afraid of jinxing it, but I obviously respect your wish not to talk about it. I hope it can fade again for you. As for everyone else.

 

Hi all, just wanted to give you an update on my circumstances as I am now in week 5 of my story with Tinnitus and appreciate that conclusions on people's stories helps us all.

Week three continued to worsen. My lowest point was on the Friday where I had to leave my friends at my own house party to walk out in the quiet for an hour. I felt very low and detached... The following morning I actually noticed that applying pressure to the back of my skull in line with my ears stopped the "Beeping tinnitus" I was experiencing while I was pushing. I then found that certain neck stretches and/or compressions either stopped or worsened my T. Reading online lead to me frequently massaging my neck muscles and stretching my neck, trying to loosen my jaw and keep myself calm....

Week four became very encouraging for me. For over a week my symptoms improved from what I'd describe as an average 8/10 on the Tinnitus scale down to 3/10. At times it would come back but then I'd stretch and the Tinnitus would either stop or significantly quiten down.

I'm now in week five. Friday both my ears became infected (Psoriasis and my fear of cleaning my ears caused them to flare up) but the infection is now mostly over. I had one night of a "Tinnitus attack" for two hours past 2am but the ext morning and since then, it's been back down between 0/10 and 2/10. Very encouraging!

I have an ENT appointment tomorrow to check for anything potentially serious (the GP does not like that it's unilateral rather than bilateral). - I have ear plugs ready for it! I'm hoping this comes down to tension in my jaw/neck and that I will eventually see a full recovery. This is hopeful thinking! But being hopeful reduces my stress levels which will help influence my Tinnitus for the better.

I'll keep you all updated.

 

My 2 cents:

I have the exact same tinnitus: focusing on it and stressing about it probably made it permanent.

You need to hear it as little as possible, and to focus on it as little as possible. I know, it's hard to unhear something you just hear, but you can try to mask it with music or sounds, and focus on something else. And you might forget it like that, forget it so much your brain will actually make it go away.

 

It was all over the place. It hasn't gradually faded, it resembled a volatile stock price chart.

 

Update 3;

Went to the ENT today... what a total waste of time. The specialist checked my ears, no comment. He said he believes it's "Probably just a viral infection" but wanted to make sure it's not an accoustic neuroma (benign tumour) just in case though he's '99.9% sure its not'.

I tried to explain my story (No real thing initiating the tinnitus, seems to be muscular related as massaging neck stops my tinnitus, applying pressure to the back of my head stops its immediately but only during the pressure, moving neck to certain positions stops or worsens the tinnitus, etc.) but they did not care to listen. Rather "MRI will be in roughly four weeks, watch letterbox, enjoy life" ....

I'm really mad at the NHS for being so dismissive. I was hoping they could help me search and resolve, but this felt nothing more than a waste of my time.

 

@Adrianfox

I understand how you feel but believe me
when I say it was not a waste of time for you to go to the appointment. With respect, you do not fully understand what is going on here. The ear and auditory system are very delicate as I have previously told you. You have just acquired tinnitus and therefore, the last thing an ENT doctor wants to do is to start running tests and begin treatment unless they know what they are dealing with. The doctor that you saw is a professional and you should give him the respect that he deserves.

I have previously told you that most ENT doctors prefer to see a tinnitus patient at around 4 months after they first got the condition, six months would be better. Unless there are other symptoms such as: Dizziness, deafness, balance problems and acute pain in the ears then, the appointment would be fast tracked.

You are being treated correctly. Treating tinnitus can sometimes be a long drawn out process. The worst thing is to go in guns blazing and make your tinnitus worse. Be patient and wait for your MRI. Be grateful that you are being seen and can get treatment. There are people that I correspond with treatment for tinnitus is not available in their part of the world.

Treating tinnitus is process that takes time be patient.

Michael

 

I hear ya Bill..... I can't begin to describe these past 2 months since that test. Nothing feels like it is going to change. It's just horrendous! Scared to ask how long I can reasonably expect to change, The negative side of me says it can't imagine this going away. The low hum is much worse, that was all I had prior, it could sometimes go for a fair bit, now its louder and constant, and the high pitched villain is constantly there. I now know the high pitch tinnitus is far worse, having never had it before. Two months of this is literally driving me insane. Have been taking Magnesium, but would actually say it's doing nothing.

 

I'm really suffering with tinnitus and still at no conclusion to what it is or how I can stop it. I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience or advice or input.

My tinnitus has been here for seven weeks. It's unilateral (only ever in my right ear) and believe somatic - It's only here sometimes. I had no sudden audio trauma when this started. I have days like yesterday where it's almost non-existent and some days like today where it is ruthlessly non-stop attacking me. It's a very high frequency tone (12 kHz) that sounds like it's shimmering, sometimes it only shimmers once, sometimes its non stop.

I can always stop it by (quite firmly) pressing the back space of my head which is in-line with my ear. As soon as I let go, it comes back. I can also stop it by moving my neck into certain positions though this usually stops it for only a couple seconds. There are even days where I can stop it simply by popping my ears.

It all started from a very stressful day at work (it's always stressful but Sept. 30th was much more difficult than usual) and the next day my ears suddenly felt totally muffled, I couldn't hear properly. Deafness alleviated and then the ringing started. First very gradual, until it got worse and worse over the first few days.

Since then it has been very sporadic, being next to non existent a few days and unbearable a few days too. I also had a huge drop in my hearing this Tuesday which my left ear has recovered but my right ear (with the tinnitus) is now also maybe 25% deaf. On Wednesday I've started taking antibiotics to get rid of a diagnosed (Pseudomonas) infection which the GP today says looks to have cleared. He also says no signs of problems behind the ear drum, all looks healthy.

I've had an MRI today to diagnose what it could be but I've been told it will take between one to two weeks to find the results and I'm struggling just to deal with myself this evening. I feel I've completely exhausted my girlfriend and close friends on the topic, and I've exhausted myself. I just can't relax with this loud noise constantly at me.

With these symptoms what could my tinnitus be? What is likely? Is there a chance I can get rid of this? What does my outcome look like?

Any advice is appreciated, I'm really struggling.

 

If you can stop your tinnitus by those physical movements, there's something weird going on.

You should see more doctors and have more MRIs. Maybe it's vein related for you? Maybe you have some kind of pulsatile tinnitus?

I think your prognosis is excellent if you can make your tinnitus stop.

 

Hi. I have been reading your thread and cannot believe how similar your experience with tinnitus is to mine!!
I have the background buzz plus the high-pitched squeal/morse code too.
Have had mine since 18th October. Woke up one day with the background buzz in my left ear, quite soft to begin with then within 24 hours the morse code kicked in.
I left it 4 weeks before visiting GP. She gave me Beconase nasal spray to use for 2 weeks. If it hasn't got any better after that I need to go back for ENT referral. (9 days to go, no change so far). She has told me spontaneous tinnitus in one ear can be caused by a benign tumour so it will need to be checked.
My tinnitus is worse some days ie louder. Very noticeable when trying to get to sleep or if it is quiet, like now as tv is muted whilst I am typing this.
Waking up to my ear beeping and screeching jangles me a bit but other than that it can be blocked by the radio, talking and the tv.
Week 3 was probably the worst so far as I was desperate for it to just stop, but now I have become more resigned to it - trying deep breathing and relaxation. A little wax in ears but after a bad infection last year I had them vacuumed and use Earol drops each week to prevent build-up.
I am sorry you are having to live with screech morse code too - but it was a huge relief knowing there is someone else who knows how I am feeling right now!!
Will be interested to hear how you get on over the coming weeks.

 

Hang in there Bill. Mine is all over the place as well. I had a bad night a few days ago, and my tinnitus was back to a 5, and then calmed down again. Damn frustrating as was on a roll for some days before that.