Can't Seem to Overcome That Spike

Hey all,

I've had tinnitus for 11 years now, related to noise exposure mostly and had a bad spike in January due to noise exposure again (didn't have my earplugs that day). Tinnitus doubled in volume and I can't seem to get it back to normal now. It's been 6 months since it went louder and I've only had 2 weeks of relief, but it's back again.

This is really really frustrating and I've been super down lately. I used to have "normal" Ts, those you can hear when you go sleep or when you pay attention to them during the day. Now since January, I have "loud" Ts, they are present all day and it's exhausting...

I'm trying Magnesium and Ginkgo... I don't really trust these natural complements will do anything but eh... I fear going back to Rivotril, I don't really want to.

Any form of support from you guys would be much appreciated. You think it can go back to normal at some point, or you believe since it's aggravated it won't calm down ?

Do you think our brain is capable of "habituating" to loud Ts ? It sure can habituate to quiet ones, but to those that are present all day ?

 

What was it that set it off in January? How long were you exposed to noise in January?

 

I went to a musical, and for once in 11 years I forgot my "decibel-reducer earplugs". Sound level wasn't extremely loud, far from what a rock concert exposes you to, and there was a 30 minutes break after 1 hour, but it definitely spiked the day after that
Strangely enough, my ears didn't feel numb after the musical, it really didn't seem that loud. But I'm very sensitive when it comes to noise.
I went to the ENT a few days after, had a Prednisone treatment, but didn't help at all.

 

It sounds like it was just a little louder than normal.

Have you been trying to protect your ears (staying away from vacuums, blenders, etc, watching TV at lower than normal volume, wearing earplugs to subway or to a grocery store (where those carts can make loud noises), etc) between January and the present time?

 

I have done so as much as possible, yes, most of the time, wearing my earplugs whenever I thought it could be dangerous to expose my ears (subway, loud bars, diners with many people speaking lound, etc.). I think I could protect them more, yes, but I don't think I have put my ears in danger since January.

 

Is this something that helped your T the first time around?

 

You can habituate any tinnitus no matter how loud it is, it is just not that easy. I had my first real spike after 20 years of tinnitus and I use headphones a lot to mask it but also slowly getting used to having it. When I got my tinnitus it took me over a year to get used to a very normal life, but after 20 years I was not even hearing a 4-5/10 noise. now it is 7-8/10 but life is fine.

I am sorry for your trouble. Food supplements are imho totally useless, so is Ginko at least for noise inducted stuff. Imho try to mask it, this helps a lot.

Also can highly recommend ACS Custom earplugs, but I prefer to have actually custom in ear headphones in with masking sound then earplugs.

No one knows if it ever calms down but there is surely a chance even after six month, still hope for it but do not expect it, else you get frustrated.

Just learn to live a normal most of all healthy life with what you have at the moment.

Wish you all the best
Wojtek

 

@Elliott.S See my recent post and link below your post on intratympanic injections. I had asked a couple of questions from others with experience. The article has charts that show good results from 3 -6 months.

A couple of questions please:

What types of pre-testing is often required before having intratympanic injections?

Has anyone used intratympanic injections for high pitched or high toned tinnitus?

The article below shows that good results from trauma can be taken from three months from onset, even six months. I'm just over two months from new onset - noise at dentist.

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/arti...rapy-to-inner-ear-for-control-of-tinnitus.pdf

 

1997 pdf

 

What is wrong with that? Could you find any newer papers that had overturned the results?

 

Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it.
Rivotril did help in my first years of T, but it is a very heavy drug I don't really want to get used to again. At least not until I have no hope left in life.

 

I'm wondering wheter these injections are commonly done by specialists. I've probably seen more than 10 different ENTs in 10 years and none of them ever mentionned this type of injection.

 

I read someplace that 99% of ENTs would consider giving a patient oral steroids just after an onset. There are specialists who don't favor intratympanic injection methods against the risk.

Injections to the ear are less effective for older people and there's poor results for those who have high pitch tinnitus.

There's also hearing professional researchers who believe that some practice articles on ear injections state an advantage rate that doesn't make sense.

I been tracking some of the most professional researchers and they often disagree with help methods that have become mainstream. One is for high pitch sufferers not to try to drown out the noise, but to use low frequently white noise from a distance. Also not to use pitch sounds thru headphones. Another is not to have audio hearing testing right after a noise trauma.

I was able to habituate the first time, before my recent spike. I took alprazolam for less than two months and then I stopped researching all this tinnitus stuff. The reason why I stopped the alprazolam after two months was that I knew longer use would make it more difficult to habituate. There were times, late in the day after being in a quiet place, where I realized that I have severe tinnitus.

I recently had a major spike due to noise trauma where my T is very high spiked. Being older is always a problem in attaining balance.

 

Continued from above post because time has run out to edit.

I will try to habituate again with high pitch tinnitus and hyperacusis, but I won't be telling myself that it's high pitched. I will take alprazolam again for two months. I will detox my body, by taking baths.

Often high pitch tinnitus from noise can be complicated from other medical problems. I grind my teeth now, my neck and shoulders hurt. I have a constant headache. I don't think those things are all just from primary stress. I started to grind my teeth over the passing of two love ones. My wife is about all I have now for close family. Once one starts to grind their teeth, it often becomes a normal.

I wish everyone here the best, but it's getting close to the time when I need to move on.

 

Are you saying that an expert is advising against audio hearing testing after a noise trauma? I had a hearing test done 11 days after my noise trauma, and T began on the evening of that day. Did the expert explain what is it about hearing tests that can cause T?!