Hi Board,

Hope this finds everyone well today. I've been reading up and down the boards a little this afternoon and came upon a few postings on tinnitis.

I am blessed that I don't have tinnitis all the time with my imbalance issues. However, I do get sudden episodes of ear ringing that seem to come on all of a sudden - like I'll be sitting watching TV and realize all of a suddent that, "hey, my ears are ringing".

However, for me, when this starts to happen, I then get accompanying feelings of ear fullness or pressure. Like I need to crack my ears or put a q-tip in there to alleviate the pressure. When my ears ring like this, and I feel ths heav sensation in my ears (which can feel like I am wearing ear-muffs, believe it or not), my wooziness increases.

For me, what works is just time and patience, and antihistimine!

I recently went to a new doctor (my primary doctor was away) during a few days of this feeling, which was driving me NUTS, and he sat down and told me that tinnitis can also occur from having a stuffy nose. The reason he said, was the congestion in the nose, , ear, and/or throat area can cause water to build up inside the ear canal, putting pressure on the inside of the inner ear as well as blocking the air flow that goes from the ear canals to the nose, to the throat. If the air flow is blocked, this water becomes stagnant, and it's this pressure and water that can make ears ring.

During this time of it for me, I was trying to sleep one night, and in the middle of the night my right ear "popped" pretty loudly. As soon as that happened, my ear felt better and the next morning my increased symptoms (ear ringing, pressure and more wooziness) abated.

I always have wooziness on some level as you all know, but I feel that this last harder bout with ear ringing and wooziness was definitely congestion related - maybe due to a cold or allergies (WHO KNOWS).

Now when my ears start to bother me, I will start on the anthistimine right away to dry up any stagnant water that may be causing pressure. I usually stick to Dimetapp or Benedryl. Just an FYi in case it helps out someone else.

There have been some studies done where they say taking an antihistimine prevents ear fluid from drying up quickly - rather the fluid takes longer to leave because it turns heavier. But the antihistimines really help me a lot.

Wishing everyone a nice day.

I was taking Allegra for allergies, stopped cause I thought they may be drying me up too much and may contribute to my dizziness. I took 3 Sudafeds yesterday and my ears wouldn't budge a bit, felt awful, had that sinking anxiety sensation. Today, the inside of ears feels less stuffy and the dizziness is minimal. Weird. Sometimes it feels like a door has been shut and I lose a little bit of hearing in my ear and the low ringing tone begins, and at night I usually hear the ringing, loudly. The last few nights haven't heard a peep, maybe because of the Sudafed?

Does anybody ever get an increase in Tinnitus after exercising? Sometimes after I play basketball I will get an increase in sound in my ears. However, I wouldn't exactly call it ringing. It is more like a roaring sound and less well defined.

Good Morning,

Zeethan, I am not an MD by any means, but maybe you just want to try changing antihistamines to see if that helps? I have gotten very good results with Children’s Liquid Grape Dimetapp. I usually will take that (1-2 teaspoons every four hours) with one or two 500 mg, plain aspirin. I ran this by my doctor first, who dislikes the idea of me taking so much aspirin, but it does seem to help me and it’s what I’m comfortable with. I also have taken Liquid Benedryl in the same manner, but sometimes this antihistamine makes me tired.

I am not familiar with your balance issues, however a few years ago I did try a medication called Amitriptyline, which is an older anti-depressant medication, but currently used to treat other conditions. It also has been known to work well on migraines, and I was given this to try on my wooziness – of which a diagnosis has been leading to Migraine Associated Vertigo. I took a very low dose (12 mg at night). Within 3 days my wooziness symptoms completely disappeared. I stayed on this regime for a few months, but I disliked the side-effects of this med, so discontinued it. Within a few months my disequilibrium symptoms returned. But you may want to look into that. I believe that you CAN’T take other antihistamines with it though.

Coryb: I don’t have ringing/roaring in the ears after exercising, so I can’t comment. Have you asked your doctor about that? My best guess is that you’re hearing the blood as you increase your heart rate. Again, just a guess. :)

Wishing you both a great day!

Wowee,

I did ask my doctor a long time ago. He did have some explanation, but I can't remember what it is. Occasionally, I get the same tinnitus increase with an increase in dizziness without exercising, so I might bring it up again and see what my current doctor says.