Hello, My Name's Angela, Got Tinnitus on My 49th Birthday

My name is Angela, I got Tinnitus on my 49 th birthday which was April 16,,,,,,has not stopped since. I herniated a disc (C5-6) while downhill skiing, had an MRI for my spine and the next day after my MRI my tinnitus started.

I am doing very well with the herniated disc….recovering like new, but the Tinnitus is killing me. Has anyone heard of a connection with MRI's and Tinnitus? I was given ear protection, it did not even seem loud at the time, but I wonder if the electromagnetic field damaged my ears in some way? Was the 3.0 tesla MRI malfunctioning in some way? I had a CT scan of my brain and all looks well, ENT says I have no hearing loss and cannot find a reason for this Tinnitus. Dr. thinks i should go for an MRI of my brain….I want to but am afraid of another MRI since I am blaming my Tinnitus on my first MRI, however they said they would use a 1.5 Tesla instead, not as strong.

I desperately want to find a reason for the Tinnitus as I have been having some very dark days…….had to reduce my work hours, saw a psychiatrist as I was not sleeping due to the Tinnitus. I live in Northern MB Canada where none seems to know how to help me. I am so alone and really struggling, I have two young girls to raise (ages 10 and 12) and a husband whom I do not want to burden my problems with. I am always crying even though the Dr. gave me Antidepressants and Ativan to sleep. I hate this and want my life back.

Can someone suggest if I should go for the MRI or not? Could there be a blood vessel bulging they could fix? Please help me, I am so alone and do not understand why I am suffering from this…..never was on any medication before, no loud noise exposure, non-smoker and rarely drink, active at 5'2" and 110 pounds. This does not seem right!

 

Hi Angela! I'm sorry to read about your suffering with tinnitus at the moment. With ears plugged, MRI is generally not big on the list of causal factors for tinnitus. However, because tinnitus is such a mysterious syndrome, I guess it can't be discounted entirely as a factor. Perhaps others on this site may have more pertinent information about a link to magnetic radiation.

The thing is, often when people present to ENT's with tinnitus, one of the first tests they are referred to is MRI, so as to exclude things such as acoustic neuromas or other physical conditions. If MRI affected tinnitus, people would report heightened aggravation in great numbers.

I'm wondering if you may have struck your head when you had your accident. Also, perhaps you may have had a reaction to some other medication when you were initially treated for you injury. These are events that may bring on a delayed tinnitus reaction.

It's still early days for you however. It's entirely possible that the tinnitus may improve with time. Of course, in the mean time, it's simply misery, I know. Be judicious with the Ativan. It's useful, but addictive. Plenty of advice on this site about medications. My best wishes to you!

 

@Sonic17 how loud is your Tinnitus? Can you mask it with the TV or shower? Do you hear it over everything? Have you tried white noise at night to mask it? I feel that an MRI shouldn't make it worse but you should do what makes you feel comfortable. Also, you need to relax. Stress and anxiety will only make it seem worse. Drink some soothing tea, take a long shower and cry on your husband's shoulder. It's important to seek support from our loved ones and not everyone on this forum has that. I know it's scary and can seem even more daunting when you have kids. My son is only 14 months old, so a soothing shower is accompanied by him throwing things into the shower and pulled the shower curtain open. Hug your babies. Take comfort in their smiles. It sounds like you need to seek out more answers. Maybe speak to another doctor? We're here for you.

 

Welcome to the forum. You have received excellent advice from posters above. I can only encourage you to start masking your T if you haven't done so as you are having sleep issue and are quite emotionally affected by T. If you haven't done any masking, here are some suggestions. Take good care. God bless.

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. You should be able to find these from online source.

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 click play to mix sounds from this simple sound generator: http://asoftmurmur.com/

or this sound library, particularly the self-mix nature sounds: https://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.

You may also want to get something to help with sleep and calming the nerves. If you don't want to use prescribed drugs, try the natural alternatives, such as
Melatonin, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava, etc. You can do google search or check Amazon.com for each of them to know how people review these products, and see if you can take them as a supplement. Check out this site on using natural herbs for helping to sleep or to calm the nerves.

http://www.christopherhobbs.com/lib...ealth/herbs-and-natural-remedies-for-insomnia /

 

Hello @Sonic17 ,
I'm sorry you have had to join the forum but I welcome you! There are many people who suffer from tinnitus from all parts of the world here. You are definitely not alone. I continue to be amazed at the many different ways people on this forum have acquired tinnitus! I think there are some others on the forum who have tinnitus because of disc problems or other neck injuries. It's possible that the noisy MRI caused your tinnitus but it's also possible that your accident is the root cause. Most of us have experienced the intense emotions that you are dealing with right now and I'm glad that you are receiving help from a psychologist. Hang in there.

 

Hi everyone,
This morning I woke up and the first thing I did was look at all the replies…..Thank you so much everyone for your support. I feel like I have new friends who understand what I am going through.
I am not sure how to reply to everyone individually, so I will post this for everyone that replied to me.

Fabrikat, thank you for responding to me. I take very little medication, even when injured. I found the best thing for me to do when my neck/back injury hurt the most was to lie on a heating pad and rest….remember when I first got my injury I did not have T, so this was easy to do. I took very little ibuprofen, maybe 100-200 mg per day for a few days, nothing more. Thank you for your support and comments though, Fabrikat. Still not sure what to do about this upcoming MRI…..called my spine doctor for a suggestion but he will not return my call. I know what you mean about the Ativan and I hate having to take it. But after hardly sleeping for a week after trying masking and over the counter meds., I felt I had to resort to it out of desperation. I am not even sure if these are the meds that T sufferers should be on? It seems like all of the professionals in this town have never had to deal with someone who is suffering as much from Tinnitus as I am. Sounds hard to believe.

Zombiechick, you know how challenging parenting and having Tinnitus is. Although your child is at a much more demanding age then mine is……my heart goes out to you. Thank you for your support, I so appreciate it. I also have a 21 year old son who is talking bout getting married next year….I so want to be here to see that happen. To both Zombiechick and Billie48, yes I do mask all of the time (fan, iPod nature sounds, sink running, started wearing maskers this week), it is helpful during the day, but still need the meds for sleep. Hopefully I can switch to
more natural, non-addicting medications.

Billie48 you took the time to provide me with some great information and websites. I am off work for a few weeks and will be reviewing all of them….Thank you so much. It is so not like me to have to take the "head meds" I am currently on and am scared of what they will do to me. The psychiatrist sees me crying and just thinks I need a higher dose of antidepressants, what I really want is for this Tinnitus to go away or at least calm done….then I will stop crying.

Thank you Lorac for your response. I wonder if my neck injury is the cause of all this as well, I am still feel like I cannot believe this has happened to me. I love Michigan by the way, last year our family went to the Dells and had a blast! Lake Michigan was also beautiful. God, I miss my life before T!

I keep telling myself there are people living in much more difficult circumstances, that there are still so many things I can do. God, I pray this goes away or at least becomes manageable for me. Thank you again everyone, love you all for helping me.

 

Is your T in both ears ?

Anyway, I would strongly advise against another MRI for now, given your T started right after the first one. 3.0 Tesla MRI are the loudest if I'm correct. Your T may have other causes but I don't think a brain MRI is an emergency here.

If that was the reason for your T, you don't want to do it again now.

Rest your ears (and your back) a little bit, rest your mind too, you'll be able to investigate further later. Most MRIs come back normal in T patients by the way.

 

As another poster said, some medication's can cause Tinnitus, But I doubt an MRI is loud enough to cause it, and I've never heard of the magnetic field on an MRI causing it. It could be a factor of the accident and stress. I would almost guarantee there is nothing permanent and you will probable start to see improvement relatively quickly.

 

Hi Foncky,

Truthfully the Tinnitus feels like it is in the center of my brain, it changes from time to time, my ears ring a little off and on nothing too unusual, but I have a constant "hush" from the center/back of my head. I kind of wonder if I have a vessel bulging on a nerve? However my CT scan was normal, I did have it in this small town hospital I live in and wonder if it is as powerful as the city CT scans….I guess I could ask the radiologist who works there and find out.

Yes, my other thought if it is not a blood vessel then that MRI screwed me up somehow. I heard the machine they put me in was malfunctioning the day before I used it???? Cannot believe it, I called a lawyer in MB and he said he has never heard of an MRI causing Tinnitus. If I could find a Dr. to back me up, I would pursue with a lawsuit. The couple of dr.'s I mentioned this to look at me a though I am nuts, though. I saw on the forum people concerned about microwaves and wifi giving them Tinnitus…..are you kidding me? What about MRI's? If that little microwave has you concerned about Tinnitus, the MRI is the same idea just soooo much stronger in terms of magnetic fields.

I like your advice on holding off on the MRI…..thank you Foncky.

 

But it can. It is loud (peaks at 130dB+ on 3.0 Tesla). Plus you are right inside the noise and it can last a while.

 

Hi jjflyman,
I sure hope you are right about my T going away….I would be happy even if it would decrease. Thank you for the support, every day is such a struggle.
I notice most of the physicians prescribe amitriptyline to help Tinnitus sufferers sleep, my Dr. will not for me…..he thinks Lexapro during the day and Ativan at night for sleep is best. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

Amitriptyline and a modified version called Nortriptyline, which has fewer of the former's unpleasant side effects. I've tried Nortriptyline, admittedly half-heartedly,with little effect, but a long time contributor to this site, @glynis, speaks of using it very successfully to treat her 'head tinnitus'. It's good for sleep too. If your doctor won't give it to you, find one that will.

There is some research data posted somewhere on this site or which you'll find with a wider search, that points to it helping certain tinnitus sufferers. Armed with some medical proof, perhaps your doctor will be more forthcoming. Worth a shot!

 

Have you observed Any improvement compared to how your T sounded back in May?

I had a good experience with using amitriptyline as a sleep aid. It is non-addictive, and I would not feel drowsy the next day after a 10 mg pill (or 0.75 of a pill). You can get addicted to Ativan. You would then need to take a larger dosage of Ativan to achieve the same effect.

Are you using any sound enrichment (to give you something else to listen to besides T, and to possibly somewhat mask the sound of T) when trying to fall asleep? You could also have sound enrichment in rooms where you spend your time when you are awake...

T gets eventually gets better or even goes away for many people, but it can take months... Consider protecting your ears from moderately noisy sounds like the sound of a vacuum cleaner or a blender (assuming those sounds feel uncomfortably loud to you).

 

Take a look at this page
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/
even the authors of this website state Tinnitus is *usually* temporary and will improve over time. Most Tinnitus takes 6-18 months to resolve itself.
I know it's a struggle, it will just take time, but you will see improvement, very possible it will go completely away

 

Thank you for the helpful responses.

Fabrikat, living in a small town we have a limited number of Doctors, and it is tough to be choosy. They will simply stop treating you if you kick up too much of a fuss!! However I like your advice and information about the meds. really helpful. I will see what I can do to get my Doctor to come around, I have mentioned Amtriptyline before to him and he just stated it is an old antidepressant with too many side effects. I really was not depressed when I saw him…..just so sleep deprived I felt I was losing my mind. Thank you Fabrikat, you sound very knowledgeable and experienced.

jjflyman, thinking that this will one day go away gives me hope…..I really need it. My days are so up and down, one minute I think I can handle this and the next minute I am feeling really uncertain about wanting to live a life like this. Thank you for the hope and the article.

Bill Bauer I have not noticed any improvement whatsoever being on Lexapro. It is only helping me cope with having this………the Ativan just puts me to sleep at night. Yes, I do use sound enrichment and masking all of the time. I also protect my ears a lot (wear potation when vacuuming, using the blender, etc.) Thank you for sharing your experience with Amitriptyline. This seems to be a popular drug among us Tinnitus sufferers. I just need to convince my Dr.
Do not believe all the fantasies about the Canadian Medical system….it is not all it is cracked up to be! Especially for those of us that live in the Northern parts of Canada.

Thank you everyone….love you all even though i have never met you!

 

@Sonic17 Hi Angela
Well, sorry about the crappy birthday present!! Welcome to the forum, and I'm learning a lot reading the responses. Everyone here is so amazing. If you want to respond to someone specifically, just put an @ in front of their name. I've had T most of my adult life but it got way louder in early May, and I feel like my life changed in a minute. So, this is my new normal, at least for now.

I find that I can handle almost anything but when I can't sleep, it is really challenging. The other night I got maybe 3 hours and it was the first time I was tempted to call off work. But in my zombie state, I took a shower, washed my hair, putting ear plugs in when I blew it dry, and took the subway into town. It was a really busy day but I got through it and crashed last night. As far as the Ativan, that is pretty strong stuff. Currently, I take a .25 Xanax when needed to sleep. Or even half of one but my therapist told me yesterday that a half of a .25 mg is basically the placebo effect. Which he said he doesn't have a problem with - the placebo effect that is - so I can take the half or not, up to me. I'm a tad pill phobic!

My doctor, my ENT, and even my husband want me to go on an AD. I was on Paxil - really low dose for low grade GAD - about a year ago for one year but tapered off due to the side affects. Don't really want to go back on. Instead, I'm cleaning up my diet, trying to exercise/yoga, meditate and watch my stress level. I have a yoga teacher that comes to my house every week or two and she's really like a yoga therapist. She's amazing and calms me down. She asked me yesterday if I ever considered medical marijuana to help sleep - something I never thought about. I don't even know if I can get it in the US. I also see a CBT therapist about once a month. We're here for you! Much love, Rosemary

 

@Rosemerry Sorry to here about your Tinnitus…..I have always been an exercise fanatic, was running half marathons in 11/2 hours until my hip started getting sore a couple of years ago. Now I just do light jogging, swimming, walking, skiing….just have always loved to move.
Thank you for the information regarding your meds. and treatment that is helpful. I am going to try to taper down the Ativan, I really hate having to take it but hopefully this is temporary.
Thank you for the advice on how to reply to people. Did I do it right? How do you get the quotes on there?

 

@Fabrikat
Hey Fabrikat, I just found out how to respond to people, not sure if you saw my earlier posts?

 

Yes, you did it right! For the quotes when you reply, click on the "quote" link in the bottom right hand corner of the window. Then it will put the text of the post you want to reply to between the "QUOTE" notations.

 

Okay, got it! Thank you Rosemerry.

 

@Rosemerry Okay, forgot this part, but will remember next time.

 

For what it's worth, there are a lot of us here that feel that way, you are not alone in your struggle with T.
I'm about 10 month in now, and am just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as my T fades and I get more back to normal. I feel like it has faded about 75%,and I hope it continues to fade. I have had up days and down days, it's been a roller coaster of emotions that only fellow Tinnitus sufferers can understand. Some posters say after 1 year it is permanent, but I have lived it before and know that there is nothing magical about 1 year, as it took almost 2 years for my first T to fade away. It will get better.

 

@jjflyman Hey, thank you, I really needed to hear this. You give me a lot of inspiration which I need. I am trying to live as normal a life as possible, but a couple of times a day I just break down and cry and think to myself "why me?"
Your posts give me hope which is what I really need right now. Knowing others are in a similar place and coping well is helpful

 

Before T, the only time I cried as an adult (I was 15) was when I found out my dad had brain cancer. During the first two months after I got T, I would be weeping uncontrollably almost every day. But eventually it got a lot better (although I lost a lot of that progress after a secondary acoustic trauma).

 

Hey Abakos, do not get another MRI is not going to show nothing I've gotten them I don't know if it's made it worse or what save yourself don't get sick with more MRI s, I've been so much for 2 years losing weight people say don't eat this or that finally find out doesn't make much of a difference, I just went to a chiropractor about 10 days ago my neck was hurting so bad I don't know if it was a headache due to the tinnitus well now I'm getting dizzy spells and everything I don't know what he did to me and I don't know what to do I'm afraid to go get adjusted somewhere else now as far as the Ativan, be aware of this terrible drug, they left me on your 22 months I've been off now going on 3 weeks very hard they give me another medication Zoloft which I do not want to take and I haven't yet no I'm just fighting and I don't know what to do about what this chiropractor did to me starting to get pains down my arm and my legs I do have a problem in my neck or some disc in that but I think now he pinched a nerve by trying to do what he try to do it's really hurting me bad now I'm legs and all it's not the guy usually go to but he was close to my house stop at a total stranger and really miss me up, does anybody have any idea now what I can do about this Miss adjustment or misalignment is look like I'm getting a little bit of vertigo

 

@Bill Bauer Sorry to hear about your dad, my mother died of brain cancer when I was 21, just three months after diagnosis. It was a long time ago for me.
Yes, T has me crying a lot………I have always cried easily though.

 

@Ron Robles Hey Ron, thank you for the advice about the MRI and Ativan. I am going to try to move to more natural herbals to induce sleep. I always mask with nature sounds (rainfall or wind), but that is a given.

I asked a neurosurgeon early on about seeing a chiropractor, in Canada it seems like the medical community is very much against using chiropractors….the neurosurgeon advised me not to go, but chiropractors sure does look tempting. I am not sure how things are in the states, but if I was in your shoes I would go to an ER department. In Canada when you show up in the ER dept they will order some tests right away as opposed to having to wait months. If you live in a city you could get a CT scan….that is how my herniated disc was found. But I imagine things are a lot different in the states? Physiotherapy works well for herniated discs…..but most importantly time and resting works best. I used to lay on a heating pad and rest, that was before T when rest came easy to me. Now I have to be drugged to rest…..lol.

Some days I want to just go to the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to see what they could do, has anyone ever tried that?

 

Hi Angela
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear what you are experiencing. I had tinnitus many years ago resulting from a dental procedure. I did basically everything you did. I was living and working in Alberta at the time. Saw an ENT all was normal. Had a CT scan and then MRI and all was fine. It took about 2 years and then it disappeared! Yes,I took meds to help me sleep and cope with this loud noise. I came upon this site and it is very informative. Some say that I always had the T and I habituated. This past March 2017 I had a Spike. Unreal!! Trying to stay calm and positive. My nights are difficult but trying to keep busy. I am learning how to navigate this site and have not really posted. You are doing better than I am @ posting. I am thinking about you and hope you are doing ok. Just take one day at a time. That is what I am doing now..Also saying a lot of prayers!!

 

Have you had any dental procedures since that time?

I have to have a dental procedure done in August. It will be the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire life...