Katarina

I have had tinnitus for a long time (since I was 11). It came out of nowhere and was a problem only for about a year. It took that long to get used to it. From the age of 12 until 36, I had no problems with my ears - my tinnitus had become part of me. I'd sleep with ear plugs and use my tinnitus almost like a lullaby.

Then, in Sept 2011, an unnecessary and uncomfortable exam - the Acoustic Reflext Threshold Test (performed with sounds over 125 Db) - changed the sounds in my head (shifted them from my head to my ears and diversified the tones in each ear). I also developed hyperacusis. Just like this, in those few minutes of the test, my ears have once again became a problem. A problem which I still struggle to manage to this day (I am writing this in 2015).

I tried Gingko and I went through 14 sessions of HBOT with limited success.

That said, I had had periods, sometimes whole months, in which my tinnitus was not bothering me at nights or during the day. Stress definitely makes my tinnitus worse as does exposure to loud sounds.

In September 2014, I had an MRI done (on my neck), and this exam, loud and uncomfortable, threw me back to those dark times following the 2011 exam.

Following the trauma, I had a treatment with a local specialist - 5 weeks of Gingko in high doses and Cavinton (which opens up veins). I definitely experienced some improvement - the fullness in my ears went away and the roaring tinnitus went down.

Still, as of today, May 2015, I am still struggling with my new acoustic reality: negatively reacting to loud sounds, unable to sleep well at night because of tinnitus, limiting my social life because of my ears, etc ..

Unsurprisingly, anxiety and depression are part of the package.






=====================

advice to newbies:

If I could do it all over again, I would have:

1. protected my ears more at concerts and in clubs
2. never accepted the barbaric Acoustic Reflex Threshold Test
3. never had the neck MRI done
4. never tried laser therapy

These are my regrets.

My advice to sound-induced Tinnitus newbies is to:

1. protect your ears in loud places
2. give your ears some quiet healing time
3. use supplements that are supposed to help ears heal (Nac, Zinc, Vitamin E)
4. practice relaxation and moderate drastically the time you spend dwelling on your tinnitus (this includes avoiding this forum)
5. try HBOT in the early stage - it can help and it cannot harm you
6. practice distraction ...
7. ABOVE ALL: don't let doctors fuck you up even more!!! protect yourself, don't take unnecessary risks, accept that doctors don't know how to cure tinnitus and know even less about hyperacusis. Let nature (and positive psychology) help you where doctors can't.