Barely Noticeable Tinnitus Got Really Worse (Ototoxicity Maybe)

Hello Everyone!

I'm 28 years old, tinnitus first started when I was 23...I have had ear infections in the past, but dont know a definite cause of what first triggered it. When I first noticed tinnitus, went through the routine as most of you here have...saw an ENT - hearing tests were OK, the doctors explained his helplessness an said he himself had T and if he know of a cure he would be rich . He advised to just watch out for prescription medications that had a "Tinnitus" side effect and to stay away from those.

When it first started sounds were very faint, I had even forgotten I had it... would only notice when I focused on it in a quite room, so life went on...Later on when i was diagnosed with bipolar - I was prescribed lithium as a mood stabilizer - I did really well on it, been taking that on and off for 3+ years - when I tried to reduce the dosage it worsened my tinnitus...I completely stopped lithium for a couple of months to see if i tinnitus lessened. But it did not...Revisited a different ENT - hearing tests still OK...doctor did not attribute worsened tinnitus to the lithium, he said if it keeps me where I need to be then I need to continue taking it. So I started talking lithium again and it got worse again

I went to a 3rd ENT specialist - audiologist said hearing tests still within normal ( I could not hear the really low sound at this point over the tinnitus - but apparently still within normal)....this specialist too would not attribute it to the lithium. He provided me options of how to live with it thats about it.

I told this to my psychiatrist and he put me on Oxcarbazepine...At this point I started getting headaches too - told the psychiatrist about the headaches and he changed the mood stabilizer again - prescribing Valproic acid/Depakote this time - he said this would help with the headaches too. I have NOT started this yet - at this point i am too scared of the side effects of these meds because of my past experience...

I am yet to visit an Neurologist and get MRI done...thats next on my list...if anyone has any advice for me please do share...or if you have symptoms similar to mine (tinnitus with normal hearing - no hearing loss and headaches)

Peace

 

Welcome to the forum. I am no doctor so I can't comment whether you need what kinds of meds for your mood issue. It is not my place to say stop taking any meds because bipolar is an illness that needs treatment. If you have to take the drugs and T results from it, then the doctors can recommend trying different ones, hopefully you will find one not aggravating T. But you may want to consider other forms of helping you mood issue, such as getting some outdoor life, more relaxing recreation such as gentle exercises or new hobbies etc. You may consider using natural alternatives for mood therapy. But if T bothers you, you can try masking it.

So try masking if you haven’t done so. I used to mask all day just to prevent panic attacks from hearing my ultra high pitch loud dog whistle T. Try these if you haven't yet:

1) Mask at bed time so you can sleep better. Find whatever sounds/music that are soothing to you. You can use a sound machine or sound pillow for this, or a computer with speakers.

2) If you need masking on the go, try load an ipod with nature sounds or music using itune. If you have a smart phone, you can download free APPs for soothing or T-masking sounds.

3) If you have computer and speakers, you can try these excellent masking sounds too:

TT's audio player: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

or this online sound library, particularly the self-mix nature sounds: http://mynoise.net/

or download free sound generator ‘aire freshener’: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

or search youtube with words like 'tinnitus masking sounds', 'white noise', 'rain sound' etc.

 

Hi,

Just wanted to say : be careful with the MRI, get good foam earplugs (like 3M 1100 or Moldex Purafit) + good earmuffs (like Peltor X5A). The ones they give you are generally crap and the MRI is loud.

 

Thanks for the welcome billie48 and the wonderful advice
My pleasure to be part of this forum. I am currently trying meditation and its helped a lot. Fortunately I can still manage to fall asleep without masking sounds

Focky, thanks for the advice - will keep it in mind.

 

Are the Peltor X5As ferrous-free? I have a pair and they seem all plastic, but I've never verified it.