Feel So DUMB — Big Mistake

Hi all,

I have had tinnitus for about 6 weeks now following a concert at the beginning of June. Surpisingly, after this first incident I took a lot of vitamins and ran a lot and my T went to an almost unnoticeable level over 2-3 weeks.

Unfortunately, I was not proactive enough with my protection. After avoiding all loud things (even my vacuum cleaner) for 5 weeks, I was invited out to a “lounge” for a going away party. Everything started off at a normal volume ~80db on my phone. However, they must have cranked the volume over time. After 1.5 hours the volume was at ~95db and I forced my friends to move outside. Sadly, this was not fast enough, and this week my T is worse than ever.

After looking at this forum I feel like such an idiot for having been given a second chance, and then completely blowing it with a second noise incident. I would’ve never gone if I knew it would’ve been that loud ahead of time, but in the moment I failed to act. I now know I need to bring earplugs absolutely everywhere, but am very worried that this is now permanent and that I only have myself to blame.

Would love any advice or to know if anyone else has made a similar idiotic mistake after their first habituation. I feel like a moron for messing up so quickly.

 

Try not to blame yourself, it was just an accident. Tinnitus doesn't make much sense to the average persons mind so its really a learning process for everyone. Yes the best thing you can do is carry earplugs everywhere you go. You can get little carry chambers for your keyring so when ever your out the house you have them with you. Try not to worry too much either, time should bring it down again but it may take several months. Im at 7 months approximately and its still getting better, all be it very slowly.

 

P.S. would also love some advice on how to sleep. My first time must have not been that bad, but this past week I have barely been able to sleep or focus at work. It’s hard to envision how to carry on a normal life like this. Masking it is very difficult because it is so high-pitch.

 

The day I had my headphone incident and gave myself T, the situation hadn't really hit me yet. I figured it would go away the next day. That night I knocked over my water cup, completely full. I was already ticked off because of the ringing and this pushed me over the edge. I screamed in anger in my small bedroom for like a minute straight. I will never know how much worse I made it by screaming so much, so loud right after an acoustic trauma.

 

Your probably going through the worst of it at the moment. I did similar in that i had a loud event which started things off and then just going about normal daily life made it so much worse in the first 3 weeks. The only real way to deal with it is masking it and/or trying mind techniques to get to sleep. The pitch will come down as time goes on so masking gets easier. Youtube has some good masking videos, crickets i find are the best for high pitched.

 

I'd say this is one of the deceptive things about tinnitus and hearing damage. Your ringing may completely disappear but you're not quite out of the woods yet. As Bill likes to say "your ears have been compromised". So even if you no longer hear or feel the ringing, you still need to be really cautious. For how long? I have no idea, probably months at least. It's a frustratingly slow healer.

 

Cochlear hair cell death and death of synapses is permanent

 

Hi @Bob345,

Sorry to hear about your relapse. Unfortunately, there's a learning curve involved in what we're all dealing with, and it takes time to figure things out. When I first got my t, and came to this forum, I clicked on the "panic guide" and read how things would likely get better. However, nothing was said about the importance of protecting our fragile ears--especially in the first few months post-onset

I wish now that letter had been more realistic so I could have gotten a better understanding of what I was dealing with. I did fairly well in not panicing, but I failed in protecting my ears at the time from noises like vacuuming and mowing lawn with only foam earplugs--because I didn't know that I should. And I believe it has cost me (who's to say for sure)

I would encourage you to be kind to yourself, and realize we're thrust into a whole new situation in our lives when we start dealing with t and/or h, and it takes time to figure it all out. I would guess your you will likely recover from this, and will be far wiser for your recent set back. -- Don't give up hope! -- All the Best!​

 

Don't beat yourself up, because...life happens. And yes the ears will be sensitive for awhile, think 6+ months not weeks. Likely you will always want to be careful with them. Carrying ear plugs for concerts or loud situations is a good idea.

Good luck.

 

I'm not disputing that, but the fact that there are people who claim their tinnitus disappeared is evidence that the effects of the cellular damage isn't necessarily permanent in everybody.

 

I read an article somewhere that synapses repair to an extent, especially in ototoxic cases and that bent hair cells do recover.

So yes there is a natural healing process but it's mediocre, that explains why my hearing got moderately better.

 

My theory is there is a difference between "damaging" you ears and "injuring" you ears.
Injuring means there is a good chance they will recover, while damaging would be more permanent.
A lot depends on length of exposure, and how loud it was.
Just my theory

 

This is actually what I’m most scared of. Seems like I got a little bit better and then blew it. Not sure if I will get a second chance...

 

I think it’s obvious that the concert that got this started did some real damage. What is your opinion on the second exposure? 1.5 hours, average between 85-95db?

Interested in my trajectory of recover. First time it settled down in 3 weeks.

 

[/QUOTE]

Lane,

Thank you for your kind words. It feel so unlucky right now. Honestly, I had turned down going out to a place I knew was too loud the day before. I guess I just had no strong protection plan in place for a more iffy situation. Should’ve listened to my gut.

Bob

 

The second time would just be an aggravator most probably. It wont have damaged your ears that much more its just given an already wounded hearing system a knock out blow. 1.5 hours is quite long but stay positive your chances of recovery are good as long as you take extreme care from now on. There is no silver bullet with tinnitus though the only thing that really helps is sleep, time and masking it. Some people take supplements of magnesium and B12 which cant hurt especially in the early days.

 

Lane,

Thank you for your kind words. It feel so unlucky right now. Honestly, I had turned down going out to a place I knew was too loud the day before. I guess I just had no strong protection plan in place for a more iffy situation. Should’ve listened to my gut.

Bob[/QUOTE]

I nearly went to ANOTHER gig 3 weeks after my onset of tinnitus because i had no clue how much trouble i was in. Thank the stars that it was cancelled or i would have most likely completely ruined my life. Dont beat yourself up about it, be glad that your now much safer now that your wiser. Tell your friends about why they need to take care as well. They obviously wont listen but if you just explain it in a way that makes them understand about Tinnitus they might figure out that they really dont want this condition at any cost. Hearing is like a bank balance, once you recklessly spend it thats it.

 

An ENT once told me 1-2 years was a reasonable recovery time from acoustic trauma
Give it time

 

There is still a good chance that your T will fade again. Many people's T takes 6-24 months to fade. I hope that you will learn from this mistake.

 

Wow finally a good ENT. My ent told the reason I have tinnitus could be due to a tumor in the brain, thyroid cancer, blood cancer, meniere, cochlear hydrops, etc

 

Lane,

Thank you for your kind words. It feel so unlucky right now. Honestly, I had turned down going out to a place I knew was too loud the day before. I guess I just had no strong protection plan in place for a more iffy situation. Should’ve listened to my gut.

Bob[/QUOTE]

Well I had Mild T/Very Mild back in October-Dec then I did the Caloric/VEMP test back in January acquired moderate hearing loss and severe tinnitus/hyperacusis which remained since. I also developed dark eye floaters and visual snow as a result of my tinnitus sky rocketing after these tests. So you could be given another chance or you might not...I will pray for you.

 

Yes, it is important to keep in mind that we are given only a limited number of second chances...

 

I gambled mine.