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I have always had minor ringing episodes usually after heavy drinking I would have a headache in the morning and ringing in the ears. This would go away during the day and go away faster with any regular pain reliever. I had itchy ears with dryer wax throughout the summer and finally ended up in the fall with minor ringing in the ear. I figured it was a wax buildup and used a ear cleaning product that came with a water jet bulb to help blast out the wax. I had used the system before and not encountered any problems. I tried this on two consecutive nights the first one improving the condition the second ended up with a painful ear in the middle of the night and ringing that was right off the chart. I saw my family doctor the next day and he said it was a very minor infection and prescribed an anti biotic to use for 1 week. The pain went away in a day of two but the ringing in the ear was relentless. I have been to a ear nose a throat specialist and he says all is good, just live with it. Prescribed some sleeping pill reluctantly. Both of my doctors are refusing to give my an antidepressant till after an EKG. He says the dry itchy ears I experienced over the summer have nothing to do with it. They have done a complete physical and have ordered an EKG of my head. I am a person with very good hearing and have always been very careful with my ears and protective against injury. This really just came on suddenly with no real cause.
In the last week or so I have had a few days that were a little bit better, but there is no constant improvement. The intensity usually does not change rapidly but over a couple of hour. Very occasionally it is closer to a soft whirring, other times it is so loud I have trouble actually hearing what someone is saying. The regular back ground noise most people talk about does not drown it out. I can hear it on a highway with the radio on. I fell like it's going to drill through the top of my head. I have purchased a olive oil based ear oil product made with therapeutic herbs and so forth that does take away the itchiness and I assume maintains good flow of wax and so on.
I normally only have one cup of coffee per day but I do enjoy wine. Usually about 500 ml per day at dinner. After reading the forum I have cut that in half with some minimal result over the last week. Today I am drinking decaf coffee and am going to try and not drink any alcohol at all and see how things go. So far the ringing is very loud today. I have tried taking Tylenol in the past and it seems to make it worse. I have now taken Endocet 5/325 mg left over from a surgery and it seems to have taken the edge off a bit so I not about to jump out a window at the moment.
I did buy an App from iTunes store. It has 5 different sounds on it and costs $1.99 It is called "Tini to go". I does mask the sound and seems to dull things for a few minutes after using it for a while. I used this with an ear bud though and I'm not so hot on that from reading other members posts.
The thing of it is if I have to go the rest of my life like this I don't think I can take it. How long does the average person go before things get better and hopefully end this. I could use more info on this and there are several post that touch on it. I am very frustrated and need some substantial relief.
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Hi Jimp,
Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry to hear about your misfortune, but you shouldn't despair. Even though it may be a nuisance, tinnitus is in most cases a rather harmless nervous condition and not a symptom of a serious illness. The examination of your head (I presume you mean a CT scan rather than an EKG) is unlikely to reveal anything, but still you should be doing it if you can, just to rule out the remote possibility of a more serious issue like a tumor.
For the time being, I would suggest you cut out any caffeine and alcohol completely, as even one cup of coffee or one glass of wine a day could worsen the condition significantly. I would suggest you go at least one week without any of those nervous stimulants to see what impact it has.
In any case, don't worry about the long term future too much. It is only a question of time before your nervous system adapts and the problems diminish at least. It is difficult to set a time frame for this, but for most people it takes between 2-6 months for a significant improvement. Try to keep your life style as steady as possible and avoid anything that could stress or agitate your nerves. Avoid very loud environments (use earplugs if necessary) as these can aggravate the condition as well. Apart from drinks, you might also want to adapt your food, as spicy and salty food can worsen the condition (especially the flavor enhancer Monosodium-Glutamate, which is often added to snack foods (e.g. pizzas), instant soups and sauces, and generally in the Chinese cuisine).
Thomas
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hi welcome to the forum,i am new here too,and so cant give you much help at the moment,but it can be worrying,but the more you worry the worse it gets...mine is in the form of high pitched frequency which changes ,i too drink de caff,no alcohol,and take the odd asprin,and it has helped...some people it goes after days,others months some years and it's more common than i thought,but frustrating that there is not a cure for it.....
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Thanks for your advise and input. Yes I did mean a CT Scan. My head was pounding at the time . The Endocet 5/325 mg I took yesterday did take the edge off things yesterday and by evening I was more comfortable and today is a better day as the high pitched ringing is at the tolerable range. I have switched to decaf coffee and yesterday went to 1/2 glass of wine after having a horrible day. I will stop all alcohol for the week. I did pickup some Ginkgo Biloba as some have suggested and will see if they is any effect. I did take this product 15 years ago and ended up with a very red flushed face. It seems to really push blood to the brain. I would imagine I would have to stop this several days before a CT Scan.
Thanks the ideas on the time line. I will continue to post so others can see how I progress and see if my journey helps others to cope.
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jimp, are you doing better?
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Thanks for asking.
I am past the horrific part of it, but do have constant ringing. I am at the point where if there is sufficient back ground noise and I am absorbed in something, I may go 1/2 hour or so and not notice it. The other way I might be able to express it is; I may be going through the habitualization process and that the ringing sounds are a little more easily blending into the background. The pain level has subsided dramatically. I now mostly have a very low level, never ending headache. One that would be similar to having had just one too many glasses of wine or beer. Not like a full blown hang over. Just a little off that would normally clear up in 3 to 5 hours. I have tried pain killers like Tylenol and and others, multiple multiple times. They have never helped me sometimes making it worse. The only thing that did make a difference was a narcotic pain killer which is bad for you and I have used sparingly. My main weapon is a sleeping pill Ratio-Zopiclone 7.5 mg I was taking a full pill for 3 months and have myself down to 1/2 pill most nights but cannot sleep without it. I sleep soundly within 30 minutes and for 6 hours in duration.
The other thing I have done is seen a chiropractor, who uses an activator to do the adjustments. I have posted on this before. From what I can tell this has been the main source of my improvement. The Chiro claims I have a twisted neck and flow through my neck has been reduced. The neck thickness has changed considerable and people comment on it. In shirt size I am down 3/4 of an inch at minimum. So if you wanted to really point at a physical result that's one I can say is real. I can never be sure if the rest is from just naturally rebalancing or what.
I have considered going for retraining therapy. There is a clinic about 1 1/2 hours away from where I live. I could use advise on this from others on what they think.
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