3 Month Update — And Some Questions

Mine was caused by a single dose of paromomycin.

What I experience:

It started as some balance disturbance, pressure headaches, and a constant high pitched tinnitus. It seems like the balance issues have been improving. The head pressure, I'm not sure yet what's causing that, if it's related to tinnitus/drug effect or is stress/emotional distress induced. Maybe by anxiety or jaw clenching.

After about two months, I had a fluctuating whistle sound only in my left ear. That seems to come and go. I don't understand that. But, I had noticed the overall volume to decrease a bit, I don't know if it's only habituation.

Three months in, it seems to be on about a 3 day cycle of good vs. bad days. I believe the volume to have lowered, or maybe I'm forgetting what silence sounds like. It still definitely hasn't gone away.

Here's the fun part:

My ringing increases after being exposed to sounds. I used to sleep with an air purifier in my bedroom. I liked the hum and white noise. After this incident, I actually find I sleep better, and my tinnitus improves if sleep in silence, or if I spend time in a quiet environment. I know it's counter-intuitive. What's this about? It's always lowest in the morning as well.

What's helped: NAC. Maybe ibuprofen. Vitamin C, D, E.

ALCAR didn't really make a difference, and ALA made me not feel so well. I think it caused my blood sugar to lower, and I'm still left with some hand tremors, which I don't know what to attribute that to. I took a ton of supplements in the beginning to try to mitigate any damage.

What have I changed in my life:

Nothing, I forced myself to continue life as normal. Wear ear plugs only in loud environments to protect my hearing. I still played with children, went to the movies, etc. I can't stop living.

Any suggestions, tips, advice? Any indication of what I can expect?

 

My guess is that (based on personal experience before my secondary acoustic trauma and on conversations with some members of this forum) because you've seen some improvement means that you will continue to improve. I am not sure it is wise to go to places as loud as the movies. I think it will slow down your recovery, but of course no one knows (then again, I am not sure why anyone would take that chance).

 

Also, every time I think I'm doing better or improving, it feels like I haven't improved at all. I can't tell if I have. There's no good way to measure it.

 

Try to compare it to things like the loudest noise you can make by forcefully drawing air into your nostrils.

 

Today the tinnitus feels non-existent. Which is really odd. It will come back later today or tomorrow.

 

It will probably come back, but eventually it will stop coming back. I am confident that within 3-6 months (provided you won't get a secondary trauma) you will be cured.

 

Cautious optimism here. Though I'm not 100%, this is the longest stretch so far that I've had of very low tinnitus and associated symptoms. About a week so far. Usually I don't get more than a day or so. I'm hoping this trend continues.