I Felt Like Joining a Tinnitus Forum Was Admitting Defeat — Tinnitus After MRI

Hi all. I have had tinnitus since an MRI on 18th January. For the first four weeks it was mild, I would wake up and for the first 7 or 8 hours there was no ringing at all. By the time I'd get into the afternoon it would start and keep getting louder before quieting down for the last couple of hours before I went to bed. I soon realized that it was quietening down before I went to bed as I would spend the last couple of hours reading in quiet. My tinnitus seemed very reactive to noise. I also had quite bad hyperacusis which is still there but thankfully improving.

As it was during lockdown in the UK I was able to experiment and spent a day in complete silence reading and there was no tinnitus all day. As February progressed I noticed that the quiet time I would have at the beginning of the day would get shorter and shorter, until I woke up one morning at the beginning of March with my ears ringing which freaked me out. Unfortunately the tinnitus is now 24/7, if I get a good night's sleep it is a bit quieter in the morning before cranking up in the afternoon. A bad night's sleep and my day is absolute hell.

I am very bitter that I went into a hospital for an MRI and came out with tinnitus. I am someone who has always be careful about my hearing so am devastated to have tinnitus through no fault of my own. I have been really struggling since late February when my tinnitus seemed to worsen despite me being careful around sound and being expose to no loud noises. Luckily I've been able to work from home and had all my shopping delivered due to COVID-19, but with lockdown easing I'm scared of going back out in to the real world and all the noise that comes with it. Tinnitus & hyperacusis do not seem to combine well with the modern world.

I have been lurking on these forums since January and have made a few posts since registering in late February. I was reluctant to make an account as I viewed it as admitting defeat and accepting I had long-term tinnitus. I'm glad that I did join the forum as everyone seems very welcoming and knowledgeable. I have learnt far more from this forum than from my useless GP and the ENT I had to pay to see privately.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read and I only wish we could get to know each other under better circumstances.

 

Did you wear ear protection for your MRI? If you suffered acoustic trauma from it, this type of hyperacusis will likely fade over time. So protect your ears and let the body heal hyperacusis over time. Patience and prudence will pay off. If the ringing bothers you, try masking it. If you still have sleep issue which spikes your tinnitus, perhaps try take Melatonin to help you sleep better. It is a natural stuff better than prescription sleeping pills.

There is no need to feel defeated. You are most welcome around here among people who understand your challenge. Best wishes. God bless your recovery.

 

Thanks for the reply. I wore the ear muffs they provided, but evidently that wasn't enough. I had four different types of scans. The first three weren't that loud, but the fourth was crazily loud. It didn't go on that long, but the noise level even with the ear muffs was insane.

The hyperacusis has faded quite a bit, initially I was struggling to even have conversations without it feeling too loud. Unfortunately whenever I try to mask to sleep regardless of if it's white noise, pink noise, nature sounds, rainfall, beach sounds, podcasts, mediation recordings - I'll fall asleep and wake up a couple of hours later with my tinnitus absolutely raging. Noise whilst sleeping seems to provoke my tinnitus.

 

@Robster im having the same problem, loud tinnitus waking me up 1-2 hours later

 

This may not be related to the soothing masking sounds. This waking to a loud tinnitus may be due to phenomenon called by Dr. Nagler "Awakening Response". Upon waking, our brain tries to test the vital signs and mistakenly treat tinnitus as a vital sign.

Here is a much more detail explanation of 'Awakening Response' by Dr. Nagler posted a few years back:

“I have always felt it to be due to the role of the reticular formation in tinnitus perception. The reticular formation is a primitive structure in the brain stem. It's a "vital sign monitor." When you wake up, the RF checks to see whether or not you are alive! It looks for heartbeat, respirations, blood pressure, temperature - basic bodily signs. It does not care whether or not these signs are good or bad - just that they are present. And as far as the RF is concerned, tinnitus is part of "expected" body function in an individual suffering from severe intrusive tinnitus. So when you wake, your RF checks to see whether or not tinnitus is present. And if it doesn't immediately find the tinnitus, the RF seeks it with a vengeance - - especially in the post-nap state, when there has been inadequate REM sleep and when, therefore, the RF is on already "high alert" that something might not be quite right. Theoretically - very theoretically - this RF hyperactivity in seeking tinnitus, which in a person with severe intrusive tinnitus it equates with life, results in temporarily markedly augmented tinnitus perception.”

 

I know we I’ve had a few exchanges regarding this. I just want to say how sorry I am. It totally sucks that you go in for a medical test and come out with tinnitus. As you know, I’m in the same boat with you and my tinnitus has worsened. My left ear has some good days and then some not so good days. The right ear has been firing away with a vengeance and I’m now wondering if the worsening of it is attributed to the MRI. And of course as we’ve also discussed, my otologist and ENT told me that it wasn’t loud enough or long enough to cause damage to my hearing. I’m getting a hearing test on Monday just to see. And I had three levels of protection. I had foam earplugs, then these plastic moldable ones I put over the ear canal where the foam plugs were and headphones.

have you had a hearing test? I didn’t have any hyperacusis.

 

Do you have a link to buy these modable ones? I have booked an MRI for my SSHL by my ENT to rule out acoustic tumor. So I may need these too. Thanks.

 

Currently going through the process of trying to get a head MRI in the UK and trying to avoid exactly this.

Which hospital was your MRI at and do you remember the make of the MRI unit? Was it in a mobile unit or inside the hospital?

Hope it’s gotten easier for you.