Worsening Tinnitus... Stress? Benzo Withdrawal? Any Ideas?

Hi, I'm a 27-year-old male and I've had really mild bilateral tinnitus (only could hear it barely at night and with earplugs) without any hearing loss since 2014 or so. I used to listen to music, it's true sometimes it was high volumes with earbuds/speakers/headphones. These last 4 years I would spend months and months studying university with earplugs in complete silence, and as I mentioned I haven't realized any changes in my tinnitus, although I would often listen to music during breaks.

1 month ago, after having a surgery, I started realizing that my tinnitus level was a higher than I usually had. I didn't mind since wasn't really bothering me, the change was only noticeable when I was wearing earplugs.

Slowly then tinnitus was getting worse each day, appearing new tonalities and so on... So I went to an ENT 5 days after the surgery and he took 2 earwaxes out from each ear, with microsuction (I told him I felt it was loud in the right ear, really bothered me), but it took few seconds for each ear. He asked me if I had any recent acoustic trauma and I told him I didn't, I didn't go to any concert or had any memorable high noise exposure. So he related it to stress (it's true these last 2 months were really tough since I had kindey stones and I have been with a double J stent for 7 weeks which ain't fun at all) or to benzo withdrawal (took them under psych prescription for around 3 weeks).

Anyways, the tinnitus just went slightly worse each day, and I told my psych I don't want to worsen it by taking SSRIs. He convinced me to take Fluvoxamine for OCD/anxiety (which has way less odds to give tinnitus, and I also took it for 3 months back in 2016 and I didn't notice any side effects). So, the 1st night I took it, for few hours my tinnitus was almost at baseline I was suprised. Although, I took it for these 2 last weeks and each day the tinnitus would get a bit worse. I have been also on 5 mg Diazepam/day which I deescaleted slowly because I was feeling drowsy/sleepy.

Actually the tinnitus has a lot of different noises, like I have 2-3 tonalities on the right ear (which isn't that bothering) and 4 in the left ear (electric one + cascade + some high pitch around 15 kHz + 6 kHz; not really sure cause its hard to tell). These are tonalities that I have never had, I only had 1 for each ear, they slightly appeared from nowhere? They also tend to change, and sometimes I feel like little breaks some days where for few minutes the annoying tonalities disappear a bit and they are much quieter.

I am quite disperate since I see this getting worse each day, and believe me when I tell you that my THI score is 70 +-, yesterday was the 1st day I couldn't sleep even with masking devices, actually is really hard to find tracks that can cover all my tinnitus.

I am kinda obsessed because I was thinking if I had any noise exposure during these weeks, and 3 weeks ago I was jamming with the electric guitar in a friend's house, but honestly the noise wasn't at all high in my opinion, it was quite late (also, my friend suffers from mild tinnitus and he is really sensitive to noise and he didn't have any issues). I remember that day experiencing like a brief 4-5 second annoying tinnitus that went away... I have done an audiometry last week and the ENT told me I got a really really mild hearing loss at 6 kHz in the left ear, but he said that can be the frequency of my tinnitus hiding in. I also looked up for meds that I took that could be ototoxic: during the surgery I recieved Cefazoline which is really rare to be ototoxic.

Tomorrow I will make another appointment to the ENT to see if there's anything we are missing.

I am kinda obsessed and also feeling guilty/really stupid of messing it up, I honestly never thought this could happen (in case it is noise induced)... I hope it is really stress and these annoying sounds that don't let me do my normal life will fade away.

Any ideas/thoughts of the cause? Do you think I will have to live with this the rest of my life? Hopefully not because sometimes it is unberable. Specially those high frequencies, aren't like really loud but outside on the streets you can hear it mostly. In my room, even daytime with the noise, the high frequencies are the only ones bothering, I hope at least those ones to settle down... What I find really strange is how it is slowly getting worse... And I have been protecting myself with earmuffs everytime I'm on the streets these last 3-4 weeks.

 

It’s likely the damn benzodiazepines. Those are poison for the ears. Ask me how I know?

 

Although tinnitus can appear for no reason Guest5401, more often than not something is usually responsible for its onset. The information you have given suggests to me your tinnitus was originally noise induced. This is one of the most common forms of the condition and typically, it is headphones used at too high a volume on a regular basis is the cause. This type of tinnitus will usually remain stable for a long time after a person habituates and wont get worse, providing certain steps are taken to prevent the risk of it increasing. The first is not to use any type of headphones even at low volumes and to be careful of further exposure to loud noise. This includes playing loud musical instruments such as drums, electric guitar etc.

Your regular use of earplugs and being in silent surroundings is not a good idea and a matter for concern. May I ask the reason for wearing earplugs so often? If you wear them because you are sensitive to outside sounds, this suggests your tinnitus is noise induced and a strong indication you have hyperacusis (oversensitivity to sound) that hasn't improved with time. If hyperacusis does not improve by itself and treatment is not sought to address it, spikes and oversensitivity to sound will likely become a long term problem.

Stress can also make this type of tinnitus fluctuate and become unstable but usually, after the stress is managed, either with medication or by self help the tinnitus will return to baseline. Please click on the links below and read my posts. Then go to my started threads and read the following posts: Will my Tinnitus Get Worse? The Habituation Process, Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset, How to Habituate to Variable Tinnitus, From Darkness into Light, Hyperacusis, As I See It.

If you are able to print the articles I suggest that you do and refer to them often. This will help to reinforce positive thinking because tinnitus is mostly mental and it's here the healing process starts. Take your time and read the posts without skimming. This way you will absorb and fully understand the way tinnitus, particularly noise induced tinnitus can be managed and steps to help prevent it getting worse.

Try to stop using earplugs and refrain from being in quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using low level sound enrichment. More information about this are in the links below.

I wish you well,
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Tinnitus, A Personal View | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

I used to chat with you back in the day. You are always so supportive to everyone. It’s really nice of you. Good to see people helping out each other. I know how badly this can affect people.

 

Hi thank you all for your answers and your support. With regards to why I use earplugs nowadays, it is because I'm afraid of damaging my hearing. I used to wear earplugs 2 years ago, but mainly at home for sleeping, and studying since the noise would distract me. Sometimes I would wear it everyday.

The hyperacusias (mild), it started really when I suddenly stopped Lorazepam after taking it for 11-12 days, I also had other several withdrawal symptoms. I'm not sure if it was truly hyperacusias because wearing earplugs increases your sound sensitivity after all. I went to a psychiatrist regarding these symptoms and he told me that was more like anxiety rather than withdrawal.

I also told him, something that I forgot to tell here: I've been an on/off user of benzos for 4 years, but never took them for more than 2-3 days straight (usually the day before an exam or some stressful thing that wouldn't let me sleep), so I have never ever experienced any withdrawal symptoms or any adverse effects. And the tinnitus started increasing just 6 days after stopping Lorazepam, just after the day I had the surgery done.

I can't recall any loud event through those days.

I have to mention after the surgery (27th October), I had tachycardia and cold sweats so I was put on Diazepam 5 mg for 1 week (I was really concerned because I had all the withdrawal symptoms, but I was told again by several psychiatrists that, because of the little time/dosage, it couldn't have been the culprit). Curious thing is day by day something new was happening and getting a bit worse, and changing frequencies...

I really hope I'm not doomed for life since I don't know how much I will be able to hold, and also I can't continue the university like this, it's rather impossible. One thing I also realized is sometimes I've got "stapedial" myoclonus on both ears, more on the left ear; not sure if this has any influence...

Thanks.

 

Hi Sean,

Hope you are feeling a little better and thanks for your kind comments.

If memory serves me correctly you are a man that likes cars and was concerned about the sound levels of your dream car, the Audi R8. Okay I cheated and quickly perused your post history. Hope you bought the car and enjoying it.

Take care
Michael

 

Try to work towards using earplugs less as they can cause more harm than good. More information is in my post: Hyperacusis, As I See It.

Take care,
Michael

 

Micro suction can cause tinnitus . There are few post about it . I also got Tinnitus 10 years ago with ear buds .
I am freaking out since I am spike now after using statin drug . I had super mild Tinnitus from last 4-5 years and now this crap is back .

Good memory!

I got a car from your home country now.

What happened to Bill Bauer? I know both of you often disagree but he had made some good points as well.

 

Microsuction can cause tinnitus and also make it worse for someone that already has it. However, due to the fact that I correspond with a lot of people that have tinnitus, problems usually arise with microsuction when the proper procedure hasn't been carried out before having the wax removed. That is to apply eardrops/olive oil 3x a day to each ear for 10 days to thoroughly soften the wax. In addition to this, the person operating the microsuction must be skilled when removing the wax and do it with care and consideration to the patient.

I have had microsuction 3 times. Twice by my ENT consultant and the third time was done by a Registrar. I experienced no discomfort on all three occasions and my tinnitus was not adversely affected. According to my consultant, I have one of the most severe forms of tinnitus. Therefore, I rest my case. It not the microsuction that is the problem. It is not advising patients of the proper procedure before having the wax removed by using ear oil and people operating the microsuction machine, are not removing the wax with due care and attention.

Bill Bauer and I used to cross swords frequently back in the day but I never felt any animosity towards him. I admired his character. When we did have words he never used expletives and that is always a sign of a gentleman. Bill still visits the forum but I don't see him post as much these days.

If your tinnitus is noise induced then the usual reason for it getting worse is further exposure to loud noise, or using any type of headphones even at low volume.

Take care,
Michael

 

Hello, thank you again all 3 for your replies.

I asked my ENT if microsuction could cause tinnitus and he said no. He microsuctioned it without any use of oil to soften the wax, but It took him very little time. Anyways, I wasn't really feeling any tinnitus or anything after the procedure, the tinnitus just got worse just slightly a bit each day. This was happening even before the procedure.

I'm not exposed to any noisy environments (I wear earmuffs) and I only used "Aftershokz" bone conduction headphones (used it once or twice for 1-2 minutes at extremely low levels to see if it works and could mask my tinnitus in case I want to do some mountain biking)...

But as I say it's really strange, I told this ENT that my tinnitus never ever spiked, not even listening to music, and it has been really a while since I last listened to music, and if I did, it was definitely not loud IMHO.

The only new thing that happened to me is: a ton of stress for months (like unimaginable amounts + benzo withdrawal...

I hope and pray it is not noise induced, and it will fade away or at least not get worse... This thing is scary and at the moment has destroyed my life (I stopped going to uni/studying since I cannot concentrate...).

I literally can't enjoy anything, like not even a movie since I hear some of the tones 24/7 even if it isn't incredibly loud.

I would've never imagined I would be here.

If you guys don't mind me asking, did your tinnitus get better over time?

 

He doesn't know what's he's talking about. As has been demonstrated time and again with testimonial posts on this forum, microsuction can and does cause/exacerbate tinnitus.

 

Your ENT doctor may be an excellent physician and knows all about the anatomy of the ear, nose and throat including medical conditions that affect them. Some that affect the auditory system can cause tinnitus. In many cases he will probably be able to offer treatment, which will hopefully reduce the severity of the tinnitus. This is his area of expertise, treating underlying medical conditions that cause tinnitus.

However, he does not treat tinnitus nor is he a specialist in it.

He might have tinnitus because it is a very common condition. Unless he has experience of it being severe over a long period of time and preferably at some point, been under the care of an audiologist or hearing therapist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis management, his opinion of tinnitus might not be too dissimilar from people that have it mild and say, you will get used to it.

I have already explained to you about microsuction. If you have this in future my advice is to apply olive oil/eardrops in the way I have described, otherwise it could make your tinnitus worse. Furthermore, I would only let an ENT doctor remove wax from my ears using microsuction,

My advice is not to use bone conduction headphones even at low volume and this goes for all other types of headphones including earbuds, as there's the risk of making the tinnitus worse. Although stress can make tinnitus worse, once this is managed it will usually reduce along with the tinnitus. There are various ways this can be achieved, either with self help or seeing your doctor who may prescribe medication. If there is no underlying medical reason for your tinnitus to increase, the usual causes are exposure to loud noise and using headphones even at low volume.

Michael

 

Hello again. These last days I have been doing really bad, I've had worsenings day after day, being isolated + double protection in my room. Yesterday evening I had a good moment of 2 hours with less tinnitus sounds/volume.

But today, I woke up and my tinnitus is slowly cranking up on volume, and I can't relate the spike to any sound exposure. At the moment, the tinnitus in my right ear is so bad. With earplugs+earmuffs it is so freaking loud, like I can't hear the cars passing down my street (obviously with the windows closed).

Have you guys got any idea how is It even possible to worsen soooo fast? If before I'd say it is a 10/10, now it is a 30/10 and keeps worsening as I talk to you.

The only thing I've done this last week IS taking Prednisone + fast taper.

Thank you. Not sure what I can do to stop it and reverse it to where it was. It is just unbelievable.

 

Have you checked your hearing?

 

[QUOTE = "Brian P, publicación: 630022, miembro: 44574"] ¿Ha revisado su audiencia? [/ QUOTE]
No, no lo he hecho, ¿debería?

No estaba seguro de por qué la prednisona me empeoraba cada día, y tuve que hacer una reducción más rápida, porque la prednisona me estaba empeorando, me estaba volviendo loco. Entonces mi otorrinolaringólogo me dijo que redujera más rápido, así que terminé con 60 mg * 5 día 45 mg * 2 días, luego 30 mg y 15 mg.

La última pastilla que tomé fue el domingo.
But you have made a good point, I didn' t think about SNSHL...

 

Might be worth a shot to see if you lost hearing suddenly.

 

The only thing is that it would be rare to lose hearing bilaterally...

Thank you for the reply. I might get it checked.

 

There is no question at all that microsuction caused my hearing loss which brought on tinnitus.

 

I'm heading to ENT emergency, as this sudden gradual nonstop increase isn't normal.

It might be SSNHL @Brian P, thanks.

 

Let us know! Hope you get an answer.

 

I still did not go. I fear of getting COVID-19 and making things worse... I'm still within the 24-48 hourwindow...

 

Go have it checked out immediately! Just follow the recommendations for distancing and hand hygiene and you'll likely avoid the risk of catching COVID-19. This must take a higher priority. If this really could be a case of SSNHL, then time is of the essence.

 

Hi, thank you for your reply. It would be strange to be SSNHL since I was thinking I don't have the muffled hearing feeling...

Still don't know what to do, as the incidence of COVID-19 here in Spain is pretty high nowadays.

 

Hearing test, reference yourself to be sure something dropped.

For increased tinnitus they might just offer you more steroids.

Fast taper is fucking stupid. Never fast taper steroids. It's dangerous to your ears, whatever anyone tells you.

So maybe get back on steroids.

If you have a drop (more than 10 dB) and nothing has changed over 2 days, time for emergency and asking for injections. Say you already took steroids and this happened coming off and you don't want to mess around.

 

I did not end up going, since I had a good moment of 2 hours from 22:00 to 00:00.

I went to sleep at 2 a.m. and now, at 3:43 a.m., I woke up with massive bilateral tinnitus, the noise woke me up, like it's the loudest thing I have ever heard with double hearing protection, I am scared af...

 

As you should be. Stop with this and go to the hospital!

 

I am sure others have mentioned this already, but this may be just the pattern a bad spike follows for you. If I experience an event that worsens my tinnitus (very loud noise nearby, etc.), my spike is gradual and can take anywhere between 3 and 12 weeks, during which time it is gradually getting worse and worse until it reaches the peak and then ebbs down. I am currently going through a bad, bad spike that started out of nowhere (I suspect sinus issues and some inflammation) and then the Pfizer booster + (maybe) a new prescription toothpaste added to it. It's been about 25 days since it spiked and may very well take another couple of months before it settles down.

 

Today I did okay in the morning. I had a talk with my ENT and told her about my worsening... She gave me Alprazolam...

@Chris S., did you also worsen every day? Since that's what's happening to me.

 

In the beginning, it seemed like the tinnitus was worsening almost every day. That being said, Xanax (alprazolam) is listed as an ototoxic medication, although there are others posting here, who, I believe, have taken it without worsening of their tinnitus.

 

So, I will update you guys because things couldn't got worse, I think. This post is mega long, I hope you do not get bored...

I screwed up my life and all my future, that is how I feel, I have also been unlucky and punished in this life, like really hard. Sadly I didn't follow @Brian P's advice, and I didn't go to the ER, although I was worsening. I called the ENT Thursday, told her about my worsenings of tinnitus, and she didn't even tell me anything about doing an audiogram, as @Matchbox suggested. I trusted her. First big mistake.

I was thinking maybe I was spiking to a firework that was thrown close to my house or the ambulance sirens, that I had the previous days, I didn't want to put headphones to worsen my tinnitus even more and also I didn't really experience a muffle like hearing, and the tinnitus increase was bilateral, so I've never expected to be something serious. Second big mistake.

Sunday night woke up with even worse spike, and I freaked out so I did the audiogram online with the proper calibration and guess what I found out? Some hearing loss, mild, in low frequencies and some others (I had no hearing loss in the audiograms I had 3-4 weeks ago, I was around 5 dB-10 dB I think).

I will not blame anyone, but I got also convinced that it might be psychological, so I did not rush to the ER, till Saturday night.

Things do not end here, I rush into the ER, I'm really nervous, and I tell the nurse from the ER that I think I lost hearing suddenly that's why my tinnitus worsened and I need an emergency audiogram and treatment. She said there are no emergency audiograms.

So they put me in a psychiatric box, I realized it because the bed had some containments, I was just freaking out. Guess who is the first doctor to visit me? A psychiatrist, asking me if I hear voices... Like seriously man? I might have an history of OCD/anxiety but this has NOTHING to do with that. I explained him my situation, he understood it and called the ENT. For a moment I plugged out my protection, when there was no noise, to listen how bad my tinnitus was, and just in that moment two strong beeps sounded, it scared me, it was loud, not sure how loud but surely around 85 dB I think it was the smoke detector. Third big mistake. So I think I did an acoustic trauma there. I was just in denial, how no earth it is possible, just in the moment I plugged out my earmuffs for few seconds, I wanted to die.

The ENT came and I told her about the strong sound, she didn't like really cared, and I told her about my worsening of tinnitus after taking Prednisone and coming off from it... So she just asked if I am 100% sure I have lost hearing, I told her I am not sure, but the audiogram I did online said so. She dismissed that, she said that's 0% reliable... So didn't prescribe me Prednisone. Also I was scared of Prednisone since it just made things much worse while on it and after...

Monday, I had a bit muffled hearing and worse tinnitus. This was just feeling surreal, so to sum up: I went to an ENT to have nothing done and to get and acoustic trauma. I was thinking really about committing suicide.

Monday, I told to my ENT about the audiogram and the possible acoustic trauma, she was just blaming me why I do not take the treatment she gave me (Alprazolam) I told her okay I will take it (I will not, tbh), she really didn't want to do an audiogram to me.

I talked to an other ENT Wednesday and told me to take Prednisone 30 mg*5 days till Monday, which I did not because again, I am scared to worsen things even more, but maybe I need to take it, not sure what to do.

So Thursday went to a 3rd ENT to ask for an audiogram and to see what we can do, and she didn't want to test me, either she didn't recommend me any Prednisone.

So here I am, trapped, lost hearing, don't know why or if I will recover it, will make an appointment tomorrow since the window is max. 2 weeks to treat SSHL... Even then there is no guarantee...

I feel miserable really, I'm a Christian so suicide isn't an option, but how will I endure these worsenings and all the things that are happening to me? I just cannot believe the situation I am. I was a med student, dropped out of 5th year since the tinnitus (I cancelled this year just 2 days ago). To help people was my biggest goal in life, I wanted to be a clinician and researcher. I studied really hard, I sacrificed EVERYTHING for med school. Studying 18 hours each day for 2 months while having exams, and when you didn't have exams you had a lot of hours spending in practices at the hospital and a lot of homework...

So it was 4 years of pure sacrifice, to see nothing now... and here I am now, not even being to enjoy music at low levels, watching a movie or even going out. When I see all my family, friends and college mates being able to carry a normal life, and me, being tortured 24/7 I can't keep asking myself why? Like I have done mistakes for sure, but these 4 weeks I was really protecting my ears, and didn't have any major incidents since I was at home protected always with at least earmuffs.

Thank you 10 tones tinnitus. I just wish this worsening to stop, to recover my hearing and to go back where I was before taking the damn Prednisone. With that tinnitus level being stable, I could cope and do a "normal life". If that happens, and I'm praying each day, I will tell you guys here you will have an ENT that will do everything to find, at least, a treatment for the damn tinnitus. I do not want to sound cocky, I just want to speak out how motivated I would be to end with this sh.it. As I'm writing this I am in tears how desperate I feel to get good enough to carry on and to be able to study and finally help you all guys.

Thank you for reading me.