Did I Just Mess Up My Hearing Further...? Ate at a Semi Loud Restaurant

Also my experience with prednisolone: first couple of days I got an insane spike in my tinnitus, then a massive reduction of tinntius and other symptoms like hyperacusis pain, my hearing was definitely different while I was taking it (high freq suppression in my experience) and the only side effects I had were insane hunger and increased energy - which I actually quite enjoyed. The effects of the prednisolone last a couple of weeks after the course in my case.

 

Can I ask how much you were prescribed? I don't feel mine has really changed my hearing that much. I felt energy and hungry the first few days, but that subsided as the dose went down.

That is why I'm concerned I didn't get enough. But, maybe it was enough?

Also, the new tone that showed up in my right ear is still there.

 

I was prescribed 50mg to start with a quicker taper. But I remember my doctor telling me I messed up my taper because I didn't follow it properly. Roughly the same time frame as yourself though. I'm from Australia so I messed the weight conversion up, I probably would have been closed to 220-ish lbs (100kg) at the time. Honestly think you've received the right dose for your weight and the taper seems appropriate.

Again, at that level of exposure also I don't think there's too much to worry about. I know it's rough right now and you're probably anxious af but I'm sure this will pass soon and your symptoms will subside.

 

@Bobby B, I thought a prescription was required to get prednisone, or is that just in the US? How are you able to get some to keep at home?

 

Get a prescription Before the acoustic trauma
If the ent says you need a hearing test to show loss for steroids then press the button a bit late on the test and that is it

 

Thanks for your reply. One other concern happened just now. It appears they didn't test the frequencies in the right ear (where I was having issues) fully. They only did the left ear fully. There were about 2-3 frequencies that don't show tests. I just looked at my audiogram again today.

So, looks like audiologist didn't even bother doing their job. The left ear matches near perfectly too with test year ago.

The whole things raises red flags for me. Not sure what I should do about that. Also, ringing is still there. Do you have an idea @yonkapin maybe when this should die down, if it is going too? I am on the last 2 days of prednisone, which is 10mg now. I guess I never experienced something last this long because of a loud event. I guess I protected my ears in most cases though, but still I guess concerning. Also, doctor said they would give me an MRI, but then never bothered calling me to set one up.

Overall, just a lot of red flags for me :/.

Anyways, I appreciate your help. You seem to be helping me a lot and I appreciate the advice. I am making sure I exercise now as well.

 

That's what I did.

You can go to the emergency and tell them how you had to be the one to turn off a fire alarm that was going off. You will get a 5-day supply. Turn around and go to another the emergency at another hospital to get another 5-day supply...

 

So not much has improved after the near end of my prednisone trial. So is that it at this point? Also I got an incomplete hearing test I just found out. Completely lost :/.

 

Seriously, what do i do at this point? Make a new appointment to a new ent and ask for more steroids? What?

I'm out of steriods taper tomorrow. What now? Nothing has really improved.

 

It hasn't settled down. What do I do? Someone please help me. What do I do? I'm only 1 1/2 weeks out from when this started. What do I do now?

Please, someone, for the love of God, help me because doctors will not treat me properly and or help me. My prednisone taper is done tomorrow (40mgx3 days, 30mgx 3 days, 20mg x 3days, 10mgx3days). What now if anything? Please, dear god, someone help me with meaningful medical stuff I can do. I want to make sure i get the proper treatment in the coming week.

 

What do I do? Please someone help me and don't ignore this. In need help. I wish it was simple as going to the doctor, but they won't treat me properly.

 

More predisone is not going to cure your anxiety. I have severe hearing loss. Not a small possible reading mistake within a normal margin of error, a drop from normal to 75 decibels. Predisone did not improve my hearing. After the initial predisone and intratympanic injections did not work, giving me even more predisone would not have changed anything. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What reduced the volume of my tinnitus was reducing my anxiety. What are you taking for anxiety? Do you have a CBT therapist?

 

You're in a highly panicked state. Get some immediate help for your anxiety. You won't feel better until you've calmed down some. You could persue further steroid treatment, talk to an ENT, but I think it's important to stabilise your mood and break this anxiety cycle your in.

 

It's done. That ship has sailed. Keep living your life.

 

You could try HBOT treatments...

 

Don't panic, there is a chance that things will improve in a month or two...

 

Mine goes from normal down to 40-45db in right ear and left ear stays above 20db, but does goes down at different frequencies between 10db and 20 db. I can't tell if I got a normal hearing test because it appears they didn't do a proper one last time, as frequencies are missing from the right ear but not the left ear.

I am taking xanax from a previous prescription for a few days. However, I will wane off it how I normally do. Overall, I want to take action now so that I can be at peace that I did everything I should do. Should I go to doctor and ask for steriod injections? Or 60mg prednisone for a week to see if it will help?

I understand after the first 2 weeks nothing will help. But I want to know what else I can do realistically at this point.

 

I will try calling ENT tomorrow, but I am trying to take a previous prescription of xanax for a few days to calm me down. However, that is not helping me at all with the possibility of more damage to my hearing over a minor visit to a noisy restaurant for 40 minutes. I want to know I exhausted all my options to treat this so I can move on.

 

Is your audiogram two separate charts (one for right and one for left) or does it combine both ears? Is it possible that both ears are on the same decibel for the frequencies you're not seeing? It seems very odd that they would completely miss frequencies.

Not every ENT does intratympanic injections and of those who do, mine told me that they will not do it for every case of sudden hearing loss.

You just finished an oral steroid, yes? I was told to wait two weeks and recheck my hearing at that point, that my hearing could still repair during those two weeks.

 

Yes, I finish them tomorrow. No, they weren't combined. They literally skipped over them. In the ear I was worried about...like it is totally missed. There is zero line that goes to that frequency.

I feel so lost on next steps. Do I make an appointment with another ENT this week and try another hearing test? I am considering it, because that one seems to be done incorrectly.

How much steriods were you given? How much should I have been given? A non-ent gave mine to me and the ENT I saw didn't comment about the doses and seemed to care less and just wanted me out of the office.

 

Realistically, it is highly unlikely that a doctor will prescribe more prednisone for exposure to a noisy restaurant. You can go to a different doc and tell him your ears are ringing and you have problems hearing after a metal concert the previous night.

Acoustic trauma causes damage via a few mechanisms. A primary one is the production of free radicals. These are highly damaging molecules that set off a chain reaction. They continue to be produced in the ears for a couple of weeks after exposure to loud sound. Antioxidants can quench them. Mitochondrial ones like lipoic acid, acetyl-carnitine, and COQ10 are particularly effective.

 

It seems so odd that they would skip frequencies. I have had five hearing tests and everyone does the chart design a bit different. Was it handwritten or printed out?

Here's what I would do in your shoes: call the audiologist who did the test and ask for another copy of your audiogram. Also ask specifically about those frequencies you're not seeing on the chart. Maybe they tested but failed to record them on the diagram.

If they did the test incorrectly, I would complain and request a second test.

I know it's frustrating, but you should give the predisone some time to work. In the meantime, consider looking for an ENT who specializes in ear conditions and hearing loss. Make an appointment with them for a couple weeks from now. You will still be within the window to pursue intratympanic injections if truly necessary or get their opinion.

 

I can't believe my ENT couldn't tell the above to me. I am taking all of these now, but I learned about them on this forum, about a month after my acoustic trauma, when it was probably too late...

 

Aminoglycoside antibiotics destroy hair cells via free-radical related stuff, too. A ton of studies show that antioxidants prevent this damage, without interfering with the effectiveness of the antibiotic. This is why they are routinely prescribed togeth.. oh, wait - they're not.

 

The fire alarm went off today. I was on fifth floor and was stuck around fire alarms for five minutes because people wouldn't go down. Too crowded.

I put my earplugs in right after the fire alarms went off. They are rated at 32db earplugs, but not sure if they are still that. They are reusable.

WTF now? I can't take this anymore. I asked my work to warn me ahead of time about fire alarms and they didn't bother. This is endless.

I have ear appointment tomorrow coincidentally. Do I ask for more prednisone given this new noise issue that just happened? I'm tired of it. I'm tired of having to wait for doctors to give me presdnisone a day later. I'm tire of them not giving me prescriptions ahead of time for stuff like this.

What am I supposed to do now?

 

"One mistake" can change your life forever. Unfortunate but true. The simple truth is most of us here probably made that "one mistake" and ended up here. Nobody chose to live with this disease, for lack of a better term. Life throws you a curve and you have to deal with it the best you can. Does it suck? Absolutely. Some days are worse than others. The pain of tinnitus is real, even if no one can see it. There have been days on end, where I have often wondered why I go on. I think most of us here have grappled with that question. It would be easy to end it all, and end our own misery. There's just one problem with that. In doing so, you would be creating the misery that your loved ones would have to endure forever. I'm not willing to do that to them, and if that means I have to suffer, well so be it. Life is not fair. Decisions you make have consequences. They are not always good ones. Nobody asks for the hand they are dealt. Sometimes it just happens that way. I can't say that I'm thankful for my tinnitus, but I am thankful that I still have all my limbs. I'm thankful that I can still get out of bed in the morning. I'm thankful that I can still sit here and type this. My point is, there are so many things for us to be thankful for, it almost seems selfish for us to focus on the one issue that we have. Life is more than just being able to listen to music (which I really can't anymore. Well I can, but then I pay a high price, with louder tinnitus.), or being able to enjoy a quiet morning. (I miss those too.) No life is about enjoying the things you can, and realizing that you have limited time, and you should make the most of it. You owe it to your family to go on, but most importantly, you owe it to yourself. You have so much to live for, to let "one mistake" determine the outcome of your life.

 

It would ? How? What is this easy way out? You think it's easy to end yourself ? You are seriously delusional if you think that's the case, I'm sure it takes more balls than you have ever had there big time

 

Easier than living with a lifetime of tinnitus. Comparatively, yes, ending it all takes just a second. Did I mean to imply that it was not without requiring a lot of fortitude , absolutely not. The decision to end it all is a relatively easy one if you are disposed to that, and it only takes a second. Now, in no way am I advocating that. Personally I've always considered it the coward's way out, long before I got tinnitus. Nothing has changed my mind on that, except now I understand how a person might get in that frame of mind. Tinnitus is an awful monster and it can put you in a dangerous frame of mind, if you're not careful, and that makes even the hardest things easier.