Regulars to This Forum or Those With a Tinnitus Success Story, Please Advise

Hello there.

I come and go, as you know, depending on the status of my ears. When I am well, I try to get on with my life, without coming to forums. When I am unwell, I come here looking for support. And this is why I am here to day .. I need your help.

Just a brief summary (you can skip this and go to the question below - in italics - to save time) : I have had tinnitus for a long time (since I was 11). From the age of 12 until I was 36, I had no problems with my ears or my tinnitus - I learnt to live with it without it disturbing me. Then an unnecessary and uncomfortable exam in 2011 - the Acoustic Reflext Threshold Test - made my tinnitus much much worse and difficult to handle and I developed hyperacusis. Just like this, in those few minutes of the test, my ears have once again became a problem. Only this time, a really upsetting one.

I tried Gingko and I went through 14 sessions of HBOT with limited success. This time, habituation was more difficult - never really achieved - and hyperacusis is a nuisance which has significantly altered how I live my life. It is limiting me.

That said, I have 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 - so when happy, my tinnitus calmed down.

Now, in September this year, 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. I guess the sounds of MRI provoked an acoustic trauma to my ears. I am struggling again.

I have had a treatment with a local specialist - 5 weeks of Gingko in high doses and Cavinton (which opens up veins). I have definitely experienced some improvement - the fulness in my ears has gone away and the roaring tinnitus has gone down. But it is still worse than before, I cannot sleep and I struggle during the day on account of tiredness. Unsurprisingly, anxiety and depression are part of the package.

My question is, which treatments are known to have helped people with noise induced tinnitus? Which treatment should I go for first? I know that some treatments - like that with corticosteroids and HBOT - are time sensitive (ie they have to be done within a small frame of time after the exposure to noise to have any effect) . Others (like laser) can help even those with years long tinnitus. I have plans - many exciting plans - which I want to follow (but which exclude the possibility to engage in expensive and time consuming clinic bound treatments), but my ears are a nuisance and I want to give them every opportunity I can to get better. Starting with the time sensitive ones (I will save the others for later, when I have time for them .. ) Those of you who follow this forum closely and know its members' stories and those of you who have resolved your tinnitus problem, can you please reply and help me out? I would much appreciate it. It's hard to find what I am looking for without spending days reading through this and other forums. Help me out please! (P.S. standard audiometry shows no hearing loss)

Thank you in advance.

Yours,

K.

 

Katrina, hope you get better soon. Sorry I cant help as I am probably as confused as you are. My T started 3 years ago and after 1 1/2 years I was ok with it....I got used to it. Then I had an episode: Either it was a bad case of allergies or noise induced I will never know.... but it left me with ringing in both ears and a terrible hum that can only be mask when I am near anything with a running motor on it. If I could only get rid of the hum I think it would make my life bearable. Hope you get better...I had 2 MRI's done and it was difficult. I had double ear protections and I went to an "open MRI" ... less noise and they even had a little music in there to mask the banging of the magnets. Still was hard as I was going through H. at the time. Sigh. Saying a prayer for you.