Looking For Any and All Advice

Hey All!
I first got my tinnitus after going to a rave a few months ago (June 2014). At the time, I was ignorant to just how bad loud noise is for your hearing. Although the show was fun, the ringing after was not. I'd remembered this same ringing after other shows and was told time and time again that it was temporary and nothing to worry about (I wish I had a time machine to go back and smack some sense into myself). After about a week of the tinnitus not subsiding, I went to an ent. He told me to wait another week and educated me on what tinnitus was, earplugs, hair cells, etc. After another week of it not going away, he prescribed me 4mg of Methylprednisolone for 1 week. This helped me hear things more crisply. It also helped bring down my tinnitus slightly but not completely(although the side effects sucked). For a third time, I went back to the ent and he recommended I start taking Arches tinnitus formula. After looking up some reviews online and the price, I decided against taking it. Instead, I tried some herbal remedies and just focusing on staying healthy in general (eating clean, going to the gym, sleeping well, etc.). Since it was summer at the time, I could do all this with low stress pretty easily. This ended up making the tinnitus seem like it was practically gone. Eventually school started up again with a little more stress and a little less sleep. There was even one incident where I was walking with some friends and a group of motorcycles went by that were pretty loud. After that it seemed to go up even a little more. Now, I'm contemplating going back to the ent for this ead audio (not sure the exact abbreviation) thing he said he would do with me if it does not go away. My questions are, Should I go and get this thing? Are there any other remedies you guys recommend? Or should I just learn to live with it at this point? Keep in mind, all of this has happened in a 3 month period. Also, thank you to anyone who reads and responds to this, it means a lot me. I just need some advice/support right now.

 

Probably not the best decision to wait another week. Either steroids are commenced as quickly as possible. Or not at all. Don't wait. But it was the ENTs decision. I realize that...

Earplugs are essential for people with damaged hearing. Follow your ENTs advice.

Given your location (ie. the US), I would give the AM101 trial a bit of thought, if I were you. And quickly. Search this forum for info; not sure how much longer they are recruiting.

It would be better if health officials would have "smacked" some sense into us before we had to learn the hard way; handing out earplugs at festivals should not require the biggest budget. Or the IQ of Einstein...

 

Ca, for now heed Karen & At's advice for now. Go see ENT and have your tests done and let us know what he had to say..

 

Sorry for the late response. But Thank You all!! I got the audiogram thing and there is no apparent hearing loss although they said they weren't sure how my hearing was before the T. Unfortunately, I cannot participate in the AM-101 trial as I am 17. I've gotten this Gingko tea that seems to help a bit. I reccomend it for those of you who hate taking pills. In the mean time, I'm just going to work on staying healthy and avoiding loud noises.

 

How high up did the test go hz wise? Some test stop too low. They check the normal range of hearing but not the higher level stuff. It might be worth asking them next time how high they go on their test.

For what it's worth, in time the T should tapper off a bit. It might take a few months but it should happen. For now if it's bothering you learn to sleep with a fan running or use a white noise cell phone app, turn it up just loud enough to mostly mask the ringing. You want to slightly hear the ringing so your body gets use to the sound and learns to naturally ignore it.

Ear plugs are wonderful. Stick them everywhere. Loud noises can cause it to temporarily spike or worse...

Welcome to the forum, it's always the hardest part when you first get it. Best thing that helps is not paying attention to it and just going about your day. Harder said then done i know but it can happen.