Noise Induced Tinnitus

Hi, im new here. Nearly 7 years ago I had given myself noise induced tinnitus from a firearm while not wearing hearing protection. The ringing began that day when I was 21 and now I am 27 and it has never stopped.

I went to multiple audiologists throughout the years just to get fed the same story of there is not much I can do about it. For the most part through these several years I have been able to ignore it, but recently (and I'm guessing this is because I have been under a great deal of stress lately) it has been bothering me to no end.

I went to an audiologist today and they recommended one of two things, a sound based therapy or a masker. I have scheduled an appointment with the therapy doctor in two weeks. According to the audiologist my tinnitus is quite loud and at a very high pitch.

I have been severely depressed as a result of this for the past few weeks and reading articles is a ping pong game of hope and despair... The fact that I am so young with this problem is even more frightening and to think I'll have to live with this into my old age is quite depressing.

My question is has anyone with noise induced tinnitus been able to find some kind of relief whether its decreasing the volume or getting rid of it all together through drugs or therapy etc?

I have been taking small amounts of xanex which does seem to help me a bit but only in quelling my anxiety about the noise.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

The only thing I can suggest is masking.. I'm 19 btw, my whole life has changed

I put my faith into the research that is being done, especially AM101 (a gel injected to the ear that MIGHT help chronic T sufferers, will be available in 2 or 3 years)

I think this will help me a lot, i put all my eggs in that basket if that is an expression in english lol

 

Ramblingman86: as you know there are no drugs which will cure Tinnitus. I also have noise induced T and it has caused torture in my life.
Noise caused it and for like lot of people Noise is the solution for me- White noise. Have you tried it masking it with white noise? I just turned on my white noise App and T is gone!. Its just a bitch to carry white noise with you all the time.
Were you exposed to loud noise lately? movies, concert loud music? or you think stress caused it to spike? The reason i ask because for me stress doesnt cause the spike, but if i get exposed to loud noise its almost gauranted that T will spike.
Be very very careful with xanax. I am sure you know its very addicting..i have seen too many good people hooked on it.

 

I have always been against taking pills and I am well aware what Xanax can do to people, seen some friends get addicted. I do not like to take pills and am only taking a small dose. I have t been exposed to any loud noises lately except for the regular day to day noise at work. I'm almost certain it's stress that has spiked it as this is the most stressed I have felt in years. I'm hoping once my stress eases so will the noise. It does seem louder but I'm not sure if I'm just focusing on it more as a result of what's been going on in my life.

I've been dealing with it fine up until recently, I've been able to ignore it for the most part of these last 6 years with it. I was wondering if the longer you have it the harder it becomes to treat?

 

Ramblingman - I don't know but I know for most people it does get better ..you might have spike like I did and it might settle down soon .
I also have been spike here and there after i went to very loud movies 3-4 months ago.

 

My Tinnitus is most likely noise induced although I cannot point to any specific time nor event that started it. I have had Tinnitus for years and tried most everything on the market.

What helps for one does not work for another so I can only relate to what I do.

I have found no drugs that reduce the tinnitus. I started taking Xanex as you do and this was of great help at the beginning. I no longer take xanex or knopolin as I am very drug tolerant and ending up taking too massive a dose to get the required results. Xanex is of great help to some people and I see nothing wrong with it as long as the dosage remains low. I was taking as high as 6 mg daily which is much too high for extended periods.

I now take REMERON an antidepressant which helps with sleep. Just started taking BUSPAR an anxiety drug but too early yet to tell if this helps.

I also have a pair of hearing aid style maskers. They play nothing but white noise and I have found them to be of great help on the bad days. They are made by GENERAL HEARING. I also sleep with a fan running and have a noise machine with pillow speakers.

Stress plays an important part in I believe the volume of tinnitus and also how we react to it. I believe it is of up most importance to keep stress at a low level. Easier said than done I know in this crazy world.

 

Hello Rambling Man,

I'm at 2.5 years after doing something stupid at a loud concert.

I found that limited salt and sugar along with exercise helps a lot. -- The masking helped me a lot in the beginning and I have a great app on my phone that has crickets and cicadas.

If you are like me, you go back to that dreadful day and kick yourself and say "WTF was I thinking?". -- I still do that at least once a week but then I force myself to going back to keeping busy with work, volunteering, my family, etc and remind myself that there are people out there with bigger challenges than T. -- I realize that can be all talk but it does help me.

Hang in there buddy..