Acoustic Trauma — What Experiences Have You Had?

No horror stories in this thread please.

For those who have experienced exposure to sudden unexpected loud noises, what symptoms did you have? Experiences with prednisone?

 

Hi DebinAustralia:
No real horror stories with my Prednisone. Unfortunately, it didn't really help with my Tinnitus. IT didn't make it worse, it just didn't help it. It did have a side effect, feeling like I needed to urinate all time. But once I stopped taking the Prednisone that feeling subsided very quickly.

However, I did have a very interesting effect when I took Zolpidem (Brand name: Ambien). The doctor prescribed me Ambien because I was having trouble sleeping due to my Tinnitus. My Tinnitus was very loud and all I could do was focus intensely on the sound, and of course I couldn't sleep at all. So the first night I took my Ambien, I stayed up and talked to my girlfriend a bit. Well........to my amazement about 30 minutes after I took the Ambien, my Tinnitus faded away and just disappeared completely. I was shocked and kept telling my girlfriend I cant believe it. Well, I didn't want to fall asleep so I stayed up another few hours even though I had taken the Ambien and just enjoyed not being able to hear my Tinnitus at all. Finally I went to sleep, and the next morning I still couldn't hear my Tinnitus at all. But after a few hours, I could slowly hear my Tinnitus coming back and by mid day it was back to it's normal level. The next night I did the same thing. and I got the same results. Now I'm not a doctor, and I really don't know what Zolpidem does to our brain, but for whatever reason it really tuned out my Tinnitus. I really think there might be something in Zolpidem that can cure or if anything temporarily cure Tinnitus. But like I said, I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any idea why this drug had that type of effect on me. All I can say, is this is the result I received when I took Zolpidem. Also, when I took the drug, I didn't just fall asleep like we're supposed to do. I forced myself to stay awake till the Zolpidem began taking effect, and once it began to kick in, my Tinnitus just faded away. So if there are people with Tinnitus who are taking Zolpidem to help them sleep, try taking your Zolpidem, but stay awake for awhile and see if your Tinnitus fades and goes away. Now I know what you're going to ask........Why didn't I just keep taking Zolpidem and not hear my Tinnitus? And the answer is, I just didn't want to get addicted to medication. So after a few weeks of taking Zolpidem, I decided to ween off, because I would rather deal with my Tinnitus, than deal with being addicted to sleeping meds. Of course, once I was completely off the Zolpidem my Tinnitus was still there, but I went all in to try and habituate myself drug free, which I did a few months afterwards. Honestly, now my Tinnitus doesn't bother me at all. Not because of the Zolpidem, but because I habituated.

But my point is, I really think there's something in Zolpidem that makes a chemical reaction in the brain that relaxes it and tunes out Tinnitus. I don't know what it is, but if some pharmacist is reading this, maybe they can figure it out. I cant imagine that I would be the only person who would have this reaction to Zolpidem (Ambien).

 

I have had multiple exposures to sudden unexpected loud noises. Loud pans dropped, kids screaming, a microphone squealing, dogs barking, ambulances, fire trucks, megaphones . . . I have lost track. No symptoms.

I took prednisone for 15 days when I first lost my hearing. It made me anxious, depressed and unable to sleep. It also made me think my tinnitus was louder. But I do not regret taking it. If you truly have suddenly lost hearing, it is worth taking.

 

@DebInAustralia No horror stories? But that is what acoustic trauma is!

My acoustic trauma symptoms:
- middle ear fullness / puffing up with air
- bad head hum or whooshing sensation in affected ear which is as much a physical sensation as it is a sound (kind of like blood rushing or something)
- loss of low end hearing in affected ear causing sense of hearing being unbalanced
- messy and louder T across low, mid and high frequencies (typically usually get mostly high frequency T 8khz and up)
- relapse of H - increased sound sensitivity
- increase reactivity of T to sound
- sense of confusion or brain fog
- terrible sleep
- ultra low pulsating hum that is in time with my heart beat once acoustic symptoms resolve

Prednisone - only had small dosages of prednisolone after an incident late last and subsequent aggravation a few weeks later, but it seemed to reduce inflammation quite quickly. I discovered my hearing loss from the acoustic trauma was conductive (TTTS, middle ear hypersenstivity / whatever probably causing the middle ear muscles and bones to contract or become partially immobilised - not sure). I had yet another aggravation of the trauma last week from sub 70db sounds causing the same symptoms and I did not take anything. The symptoms subsided after 2-3 days maybe only a bit slower than when I took pred.

No really bad side effects, but I did get some minor gastric things. Once had a very sharp pain in my stomach which I started to think was a heart attack, but after drinking some water it went away. However I do feel it's only an absolutely last resort drug - not to be taken lightly.

During the course of pred, my T seemed to mellow out significantly too, way less spike days. This most recent time not taking anything I have found I have been having 1-2 spike days then an ok day, but slowly returning to normal this past 2 weeks, which is typically 2-4 normal days then a spike day.

Since my multiple acoustic incidences (which I must say have been from sub 85db sounds!!), I do have this ultra low hum that is in time with my heart beat and seems to be worsening. When I look up it goes mostly away, but is often present when my head is in a normal position and worsens when I look down. Not sure how this relates to the acoustic incidences, but I do have cervical issues and a low hanging cerebellum)

 

thats interesting.

ill do some research on zolpidem

 

i was at work last night when a meal trolley made a loud bang when i tried to adjust the height of the table.

i do get tmj pain on the left side, so it could be that. my symptoms are a perceived louder t, aching around the ear. no perceivable drop in hearing.

taken a truck load of nac and mg. hoping itll settle down as i was doing so well with it.

 

Thanks for your detailed response.

do you experience pain in your ear or around the ear?

 

Well I suppose from the return of hyperacusis some pain from sounds and ear fullness - like it's full of air and maybe like something is tensed up inside. No matter how much fake yawning I tried, the pressure couldn't be relieved. Pain at the back of my head mostly. Some along the jaw that leads up towards the ear.

Yeah the metal trolleys banging is horrible. Got to keep vigilant when at the supermarket too.