A Test (Maybe Tympanogram?) at the ENT Department Made My Tinnitus Much Worse

It's nearly 4 weeks on since my hearing tests, and I've not had one minute without high pitched ringing and low rumblings, and both together for night times! Life is a joke, someone messing with wrappers in the shops drove me mad, I go out shopping and the fridges in the supermarket ramp it up to 11.

Is that how life is for me now, I can't go anywhere without it being aggravated, end of social life, what there was of it. What the hell? I don't know what to do with myself?

I led a fairly normal life 3 and a bit weeks ago. I now want to end my life. Sounds drastic? Maybe, but I am beside myself. I wasn't exactly having a great time of it before these tests. Will this ever stop. Every morning I'm thinking maybe this will be the day it goes, and it is worse now than it was 3 weeks ago, and just constant. I can't work, I can't function, I can't do anything other than sit and listen to this racket 24/7. I try apps, sounds, I drove today, and all I hear is this noise. Nothing relaxes me because nothing masks it.

If this is my life I don't want any of it. Doctors and Audiologist are next to useless, and can't help, and then lecture me on tinnitus.

I know what tinnitus is, but this has been inflicted on my by an idiot whose name they won't even reveal to me. I had a very mild manageable completely liveable condition with tinnitus before the appalling NHS ruined my life. The frustration is immeasurable.

And what's the deal with ear plugs. Wax, silicone, foam? All pointless?

 

To me it sounds like your problems go deeper than the tinnitus. Have you considered seeing a therapist?

Why would earplugs be pointless? They protect your hearing. You don't want to make your tinnitus even worse.

 

I meant wearing them makes my tinnitus louder. And always read they can also cause it.

Nobody can tell me that this horrendous screech all day all night is a coincidence the same day after that test, still there weeks later? It has to be what they did to me. Several posts on here say the same. When does it ever stop?

Can’t get appointment for another month.

 

Yep, sounds like they screwed you, was it a loudness test, not your standard audiogram.
Here’s some advice.... first you need to calm your nervous system down ASAP... if you can do it naturally great, if not go to a psychiatric and get some kind of benzo fast. You are in shock.
Find out what test was conducted... that’s important.
Go to your local health food shop or pharmacy and get NAC,magnesium, vitamin B and eat really good healthy food like salmon.

With time your condition will hopefully, and often does get better. It’s early days.
You need to calm your nervous system down fast... get help, reach out.
Find out what the tests were and in the mean time dig deep and fight this.
Everybody, or many people who get struck down with this condition think of killing themselves and only see darkness.

You will get through this, it’s early days and there are actually things that can help you.
You need to know what’s causing your tinnitus, and you should protect your ears if they have been damaged and your super sensitive to sounds.

If everyday sounds hurt, you probably have hyperacusis. Many of us including myself have it, and it does often get better with rest, protection and time.

This forum is here to help you...
Use it as a resource towards your recovery.

Daniel

 

Thanks Daniel. In all honesty I can’t see any day where I won’t have this. I dread going to bed at night because it takes so much out of me, I can’t relax. I just feel angry and frustrated about the fact it was done to me, and can’t sleep, and I dread waking up in the morning if I get a couple hours sleep. And the people responsible for doing this to me don’t care, won’t tell me who did it, and can’t even tell me what the tests were. I wouldn’t send a cat to that place. I’m also angry with myself for trying to get help in the first place when it was manageable previously. And 4 weeks on I find living a painful experience .

As far as I know the tympanogram and the test where they put headphones on and play tones in it. That was it.

I’ve not had one day or one night off from it. Nothing I listen to blocks out the whistle and worse at night the banging hum underneath it. Sensitivity to everything yes. My GP is beyond useless. I said the hospital said they didn’t know much about tinnitus or why or what etc. And she said ‘That’s true, We don’t know anything about tinnitus’. So why send me there then, to make my condition 100 times worse and unliveable with it. Idiots.

Anyone know why this happened. Or why it’s now made me so sensitive to every car or lawnmower etc? Is there a reason for this.

 

You have all my sympathies.

Sounds like you have hyperacusis.

The good news, is that over time, with protection to loud noises, rest, you should get better. Many of us have. I know it sucks mate, your audiologist should be flogged. Damage done. Get same magnesium, NAC, fish oil. Don’t eat any junk food, exercise and stay mentally strong. You can fight this. If the shit is really hitting the fan, go to your GP and get a script for some benzos, they will sedate you.

For now, stay healthy, concentrate on breathing, in a hot bath, and let go of the rage.

Easier said than done, I am prone to rage and violence and have spent ages trying to channel the hate into love. I suggest you adopt any advice that appeals to you and when you need to vent or get some advice... check in and let us know where your at.
Hoping you feel better, a little bit everyday.

Take care man.

 

First off, I'm sorry to hear about your struggle.
There are many others on this forum, who also fell victims to their doctors incompetence and lack of knowledge about Tinnitus.
In their defense, your average medical professional had spent about half hour on watching some grainy video on Tinnitus while in med school and he/she has absolutelly no idea about how serious this condition could become and what it does to people.
That is the reality.

As far as the hyperacusis is concerned, the bad news is, that it is perhaps even less understood than Tinnitus, but the good news is that unlike Tinnitus, it tends to solve itself with time (at least that is the impression I get from frequenting Tinnitus forums)

 

Thanks for your replies. Greatly appreciated and of more use than my lousy uncaring GP. What is NAC? I have some Magnesium which is two tablets 375mg. Will get Vitamin B complex tomorrow. Never hated going out the front door more. Everything seems to ramp it up to 11. I just want a few days off from this racket in my head.

The other thing that infuriates is the fact they’ll say tinnitus is in the mind. Now how can a physical medical procedure that’s made this symptom I never had anything close to it before, be in my mind?

 

Into the 5th week since the tests, early days or not, nothing is improving, slowly but surely going out of my mind...

Nobody can tell me what's happened or why it's ruined my life and debilitated me like this. Doctors are useless. There must be a reason that test has done what it has. Like nothing I've known before. Sleep is ridiculous.

 

I am so sorry that this has happened to you.

It is absolutely ridiculous that they perform tests that can do that to a person...

Hopefully you will experience some fading over the next 6 weeks.

 

Thanks Bill. I can’t quite believe this is happening or the fact that in over a month it’s still the same as it was the evening of that test. I’m a completely different person. I can’t even bring myself to do anything.

 

And so the beginning of week 6 begins.
Ignored by the hospitals and doctors. No surprise there but I know they can’t help me anyway. They’re the reason I’m going through this living hell 24/7. I wanted the results of the tests but they’ve refused to send them to me. What are they hiding? If the test was done wrong or malpractice was involved, would anything show up?

Is this actually normal for tinnitus. To have this hum and the ringing constantly. No let up? I don’t know how much more any ‘sane’ person can be expected to take of this. The ignorance from the multitude of organisations related to Tympanograms and so called medical professionals makes this even more depressing.

Not been able to work or sleep for the whole period. Is this ever going to stop??

 

There are few problems here:
The main problem with severe Tinnitus is the fact, that it only affects those who have it, as the horrid, crippling torture of 24/7 sound is completelly invisible.

Most people need to believe in their minds, that the world is inherently a safe place and that a condition so horrible, that one would prefer death over it, cannot possibly exist.

A big part of the problem is all the big mouth habituation idiots such as Julian Cowan Hill, who keep spreading myths and misinformation such as "everyone can habituate" to Tinnitus.
This is of course completelly false.

This only sends out all kinds of mixed messages and it leaves the outside world (which includes the medical community) rather cold and confused at best.

In the perfect world, we would stand united in demanding a cure (or at least a real treatment) and organizations such as ATA and BTA would declare a global emergency on our behalf.

But that will never happen.
We are our worst enemies, unfortunatelly.

 

Well if this is my life now, and it’s been inflicted on me by a so called medical professional, then I don’t think I can carry on for much longer. Far from any alleviation it’s getting worse and worse. I expected some improvement 6 weeks after this totally debilitating practise. Anything. But nope.

I am terrified, and angry more so because it was inflicted on me by an ignorant unprofessional idiot.

 

I hope you will be able to carry on until the new treatments that have been in the pipeline become available...

Personally, I became optimistic about a possible treatment being available soon after reading the post below
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/mutebutton.124/page-81#post-416875
The person above have had tinnitus for decades, as part of a trial, and his tinnitus is pretty much gone now.

 

Hi

Hang in there. You are walking the same painful journey that many of us have done. We've all cried those tears and asked why has this happened to us.

The early weeks are the worst but the good news is your symptoms are likely to ease within 3-4 months. You need help with sleeping though. Ask your doctor about amitriptyline. It has helped me with hyperacusis and sleeping through the night. It's a strong drug so if that doesn't suit you then many people here use Xanax. There are lots of options available. You don't have to struggle with sleep problems alone.

I take it you've stopped using headphones for now and are taking ear plugs and other protection when out and about. Lots of threads here on different options.

It may not be any consolation but if the Timpanometry test hadn't worsened your tinnitus, it probably would have got worse at some other point given your existing low rumble, like a concert or one of the many high volume events we are subjected to in this noisy world. I had the low rumble for 12 years, only getting high tones and hyperacusis after a concert this April. I wasn't careful enough and my "good" ear developed additional tones in June.

Don't lose hope. Many of us have got through this and are able to work and still enjoy life, not the old life we had but things should start to ease off if you follow the advice above and from others. We're all different so there are no guarantees but that's true in life generally. Try and stay positive and do a little of something you enjoy whenever you can. Try not to dwell on feelings of helplessness but be kind to yourself, get some meds to help you sleep and good luck!

 

Thanks for your replies... It's just one bad day after the other, tinnitus before this was copeable, I now realise... Although I probably didn't feel that at the time, but was never a constant in my life like it is now. It was a night time thing, not a day and night thing. And it certainly didn't keep me up more than a couple of times over the last few years.

The refusal of the hospital to give me the results of the Tympanogram makes me highly suspicious that it may show something that they did that would clearly indicate malpractice. They say they don't have them now. Clearly a lie.

Is this something that should make me wonder why they say they don't have any of the results for it, but they only have the results for the audiogram test? Or am I clutching at straws thinking it would show something up that THEY did wrong. Could it show negligence?

 

Even if you knew for a fact that they did this to you, it would be hard to prove to a court that it is in fact causing you any monetary damages. This condition is beyond fucked up. I went and got my hearing tested several months ago. They wanted to do a tympanogram on me and I told them not to and they looked at me like I was stupid.

 

That's very common. It is shocking that tests to evaluate hearing have to be so loud, most tests are loud or really annoying. And ENTs will never recognise that the tests they perform can do a lot of damage.

 

Their attitude to me after the tests has been an utter disgrace, because they probably think I will take action. I'm not even about that, I just want to rectify it, or to be how I was before. Don't ever feel stupid for refusing that test, It's made my life a misery. You did good!

It's not even the volume, it's the pressure used. I had no idea what they were doing because they don't even tell you about it.

I just expected 'some' relief after 6 weeks, but as has been pointed out to me by the lovely people on here, it can take months to notice any change... It's actually a living hell, and I've had plenty of upset in last few years, losing my other half, and then my father, so I know misery, and this is misery.

 

Midway through week SEVEN! And no improvement whatsoever. Seems wherever and whatever I do/go, it ramps it up tenfold.

Is this usual after the Tympanogram to still be climbing the walls because this high pitch tone is still hammering away at me, night and day?!!!

I can barely go out and when I do to go food shopping it makes it so much worse. Is this life forever now because of an imbecilic audiologist??

Can’t believe this is happening. Anyone know what it’s done to me?? Can’t get answer from anyone other than denials that it can do this. Seems like one hell of a coincidence to me if it’s not responsible. NHS full of liars covering up for each other. Vile bunch I’ve had to deal with.

 

Can you write to them under the freedom of information act UK and ask them to disclose all information they have on you? This is taken very seriously usually.
Send a letter with registered delivery

 

Literally no point in having anything more to do with them. I eventually got put through to the head of the department who was going to ask the audiologist who did the hatchet job on me, and the fact she said she'd call me back, and that was two weeks ago, and never did, tells me all I need to know about them. Bear in mind I've made dozens of calls to them and have aggravated myself even more by doing so. I want nothing more to do with them. It's a brick wall and a pointless exercise, but they'll all deny that they are responsible for it. The biggest problem I have is that they can always say that I had it because I have tinnitus prior. But as we all know, this is rubbish. I'd never had this 24/7 ringing I have now until that test. I've never had a high pitched tinnitus prior to that test. I just want to know what caused this and why, so I can try and help myself elsewhere, but they are saying nobody has the results of it. I could get a solicitor in on it, and may still do that, but as pointed out on here, because it's not something you can see, it's a very difficult thing to prove. While I cry myself to sleep for 7 weeks thinking my life is now over, they can wash their hands of it and not give me a second thought.

The fact I've been out twice in the last month to food shop and both times made this infinitely worse than it ever was tells me I can't go anywhere ever again without this constant misery being made worse. How can that test done on thousands of people have literally ended me like this

 

Set backs with neighbours thumping loud bass driven music and overly loud fireworks of which I've not heard the likes of ever, next door to me. Does make my night trying to sleep horrendous. How can you protect against that. I put in ear plugs and the low thump doesn't disappear, if anything it makes it worse. It's driving me crazy.

Start of week EIGHT after the tests responsible and nothing is any better.
I'm right back to where I started with, this noise in my head ramped up as it was. What can I do! 2 months of this torture.

 

Medicine has advanced but it's not harmless. Healthy people think that doctors know everything, but we know that it is not.

I have hormonal damage from a pill prescribed by the dermatologist. Of course his opinion will always have more value for people. He is a doctor and I only read "crap on the Internet".

The medicine has hurt you but now you must wait for the medicine to move forward to fix it. It's paradoxical.

 

Sorry Don. Not understanding what you’re saying. Medicine as in? I’ve been given tests that have ruined me. What are you saying. I’ve no medicine or anything to take. Are you saying I need to wait longer for this to go away or?

Cannot believe this was possible to be in my head so loud 24/7 every day.

 

is your last name really tinny? because if so, that's ironic

 

Well....we are just waiting for a cure or at least a partial relief. There is some advances but we have to wait more.

 

Haha. No, friend.

 

I think the fact that this was inflicted on me by people now ignoring me is making this a hell of a lot harder to deal with every day and night. It’s literally unbearable and no let up whatsoever.