I'm New Here and Trying Not to Panic

So as my profile shows I've had intermittent tinnitus for about a couple weeks where it would stay for 5-6 seconds and then go away. It prompted me to go to the ear doctor today and they ran tests. Everything came up pretty normal, but during the pressure and high pitch tests I felt a little pain towards the end of them. I felt great all day. Until tonight.
The sound felt like there's a TV on. It's kind of in the middle of my head and sometimes to the left. Trying to go to sleep but it's now constant. I regret doing the test. I feel like that triggered this and made it worse. Just ironic that it happened later the same day

I've been under a lot of stress and anxiety the past two years. Between my job and personal family issues, I've been incredibly tense and anxious, but I've managed. Unfortunately earlier this year I got a bout of cpps. Chronic pelvic pain syndrome. It's terrible as it is a nervous system reaction to stress. Pain in the groin and pelvic region is terrible. Only way to really get better is being down stress levels and physical therapy. I've been doing this. O was also starting to take Cymbalta at the 20mg dose for now. But now I have this ringing that is sticking around. I'm lucky to have close friends I'll be able to talk to but this is not what I expected to happen after feeling like I was getting better from the chronic pain.

Now I just want to learn to cope. With the chronic pain I signed up for meditation on January. Going to learn mindfulness, so I hope that helps me. I have a white noise machine on "Tinnitus Calmer". Seems to help me down it out at the moment so hoping to get some sleep. Took a muscle relaxer and klonopin to help but I think I'll need a current ssri.
Thanks for letting me share here.
Hugo

 

Sorry about your pain and sorrows. Tinnitus is an odd ordeal and it catches all off guard, when it comes into our lives. Talking things out, with friends, loved ones...a therapist/counselor can really go a long way. Suffering from chronic pain is also a horrible ordeal, I suffer from that as well.

Taking it, day by day is all most of us can really do. Try as much as you can to reduce your stress. Stress/anxiety can ramp up your tinnitus and just further annoy you.

Distraction is key, to adapting and coping with tinnitus. Do stuff and take your mind off the ringing.

Good luck!

 

I can't believe a doctor did a pressure test on someone complaining of tinnitus...

Your T is very new, and there is a high chance that it will go away. Just try to protect your ears even from moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner. You may want to do that for a year to let your body heal.

 

Thank you both for your replies. What is my next option? I need to bring down my anxiety, it is going to cause me to get depressed. I may go with Lexapro or Elavil.
I know I need to take this day by day, but it's hard when new. I know I need to get some sleep. Luckily it is very subtle and not too loud but it's there nonetheless. My personality unfortunately is too get anxious and panic. I catastrophize, and I know that's not good.

Should I immediately go back to the ENT I saw today? Not sure what he can do for me other than a CT.

 

You can get someone to prescribe a course of prednisone for you. Search this site for more information. In theory, it ought to help in cases where the ear got damaged as a result of noise. If your spike is a result of that pressure test, perhaps some damage was done. Of course a healthy ear is not going to be damaged by a pressure test. This forum provides evidence (often daily) that our ears have been compromised and that what is ok for others is not ok for us. So if you think it was the pressure test, you will want to lie to a doctor and say that your spike is a result of you having to turn off a fire alarm.

When I was in that acute stage, amitriptyline helped me sleep. It is non-addictive, and it didn't make me feel drowsy in the morning.

You should also use sound enrichment to give you something else to listen to besides your T.
http://mynoise.net/
https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Koala-Concentration-Relaxation-Sufferers/dp/B01FRW2WBA/
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Oasis-S-5000-Deluxe-Therapy/dp/B018KUVEOM/

 

Perhaps the studies listed in
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...70-recover-3-studies.21441/page-2#post-260357
will give you some much needed hope

 

Pressure tests are not standard procedure but it's to rule out any disfunctioning of the middle ear. Sometimes they let you swallow water and then to tympanometry. Some ENT's do only basic hearing and look with a light in your ear and that's it. The more tests the better in my opinion.

@HCR123 try to find out if it's the hearing. If it's as intermittent as you say it is: consider yourself somewhat okay. I had constant T for years due to TMJ and 2 weeks ago sudden deaf. Just do as much tests as possible and take a 12 day prednisone pack. It won't kill you, but maybe it helps. And if it does not at least you tried.

And the chronic pain is a problem, but try to work on that via a therapist. Good luck.

 

Not if the test itself can lead to a lifetime (or even a year) of tinnitus.

The author of this thread is not the first person I read about on this forum who got a spike after a pressure test.

I had my acoustic trauma on January 22. I began experience a full ear sensation. I saw an audiologist to do a hearing test on February 2. My tinnitus began on the evening of February 2(!) I haven't had a pressure test done. The sounds I heard during those tests were not loud, and yet it is a hell of a coincidence...

 

Yes Bill. That's exactly what I feel happened with me. I feel like that one high pitch noise I heard in the test is now what I hear. I thought I was just hearing things or going crazy. Just noticed I hear the noise a bit more pronounced in the left sometimes.
Just like dealing with the chronic pain, I'll need to attack tinnitus the same way. Ramp down the sympathetic nervous system and try to stop the rumination and anxiety. Distraction techniques do help with the pain.
I really appreciate all of the quick responses. It helps me feel I'm not alone. Thank you.
Hugo

 

I read on this forum people describing being exposed to unusual sounds and then beginning hearing those sounds as their T...

One thing you might want to keep in mind is that even in the worst case scenario of your T not going away, T tends to change volume and pitch and become easier to ignore. So the sound you are hearing now is likely Not the sound you will be stuck with.

 

It is actually very difficult to get a doctor to prescribe prednisone. They will try to give you a dose that is much lower than the recommended dose. It is my understanding that the recommended dose is X mg per day, where X is your weight in kilograms. If you weigh about 60 kg, then you need to be taking 60 mg per day. Ideally, you would take it for 14 days + tapering period.

If you go to the emergency and lie about being exposed to a fire alarm, they might give you a 5-day supply if you are lucky. You could then go to the emergency at another hospital, or go to a walk-in clinic, etc., and get more prednisone. It is good to have several pills at home, in case you get exposed to noise. With prednisone, the sooner after the noise exposure you take it, the more effective it is.

 

Thanks Bill. That's positive.

You know another irony is that one of my uncle's sufferes from vertigo and degenerative hearing loss. He just got a cochlear implant. And it's changed his life. He lives with tinnitus. Said to him it sounds like ocean waves crashing and it helps him sleep. He's learned to ignore it. I'm not genetically linked to him, so I doubt I'll have something similar. But I have someone else I can lean on for strength and advice.

I'll do more searching Bill. Thanks. Just don't want to go down rabbit holes if miracle cures with diets and devices that don't work.

 

Did he get T after he got that implant?

 

No he had T for many years before that. He had vertigo as well. He had a much more serious case where he lost all his hearing on his right side and had about 20-30% in his left. He's a man of faith and very optimistic. I'm not surprised at his resilient he's been thru it all.
I have a couple friends who are doctors who could prob prescribe the prednisone to me. I'll ask what the dosage should be and ask for a 12-14 day course. Usually it's 6 days it I'm not mistaken.

 

Look into HBOT treatments. This is another procedure that is most effective if done soon after the onset of your T. Search this forum for more information about it.

 

I've also got the klonopin to help take a bit of the edge off for now. I'm going to try to get the amitriptyline or nortriptyline.
I lost 30 lbs this year and eaten healthy. I kept the weight off. You would think that me finally being healthy would be amazing this year, but instead I've had constant set backs and worry. Unbelievable how life works. Lol

 

Ok this sounds good. Thank you.

 

Exactly. I went to the ER room after I got side effects. And they advanced my appointment by 2 months to a couple of days. Side effects were due to poor B brand prednisone. Make sure you get Pfizer Medrol and not some knock off.

Prednisone should be the standard procedure in the first weeks. I'm not sure about the right length and taper scheme. But it saved my life twice already.

 

It's quite weird that you had acoustic trauma and days later T starts. Its usually instant after clubbing.

 

My weight of 160lbs = 70kg.
I assume 60mg dose with tapering for a 10-12 day course would work?
Going to ask my ent first, then I'll ask my doc buddy for a script.

 

You don't get any higher than 60 for hearing issues. Even if you are 120 kg. At least no doc gives that as far as I know. Medrol does come in 100mg boxes. People with back pain sometimes get much higher doses than 60 so it's not super heavy. If you take it for months in a row then problems occur but not a short boost pack of 60. And remember, it's only a couple of days on 60. 3 to 5. And then you go down already again. It's not like you take anti biotics for 4 weeks. Make sure you drink enough water as prednisone is quite heavy on your kidneys. I had Orange pee because of it draining. Drink enough and it's okay.

 

Thanks for the info. As you can see I haven't slept all night even with the muscle relaxer and klonopin. I did get sleepy but was tough the first night.
Noticed two sounds. One is the "TV type" noise that feels like it's centrally located. Then when sleeping on my right side the lower pitch noise can be heard in my left ear. That's the side the audiologist said was a bit weaker but nothing significant.
I'm really hoping this is all stress related and will fade away after a few weeks or months. I'm going to get off the Cymbalta too. I read that in a small % it can cause tinnitus. Who knows if it's made it a bit worse.

 

@Bill Bauer I got the prescription for the prednisone to take over 5 days. Is it possible for chelated magnesium to produce tinnitus? I started taking it more regularly a couple weeks ago when I started noticing the occasional ringing.

 

I remember reading about multiple cases on this forum when T began after a multiple day delay...

Ideally it would be 70 mg for 14 days + tapering. I was initially prescribed 50mg pills. My family doctor told me about that rule of thumb (the number of mg in a dose is the same as patient's weight in kg), and prescribed an additional 10 mg pill.

@HCR123 - do double check with your doctor, as my doctor gave me information that is different from the information above.

By the way, check out
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/prednisone/tinnitus/
Just like every other drug that has the potential to help with one's T, prednisone can make T worse. The risk is low (the link above says the risk is 0.29%, but recall this is the fraction of everyone who reported having side effects when taking this drug; to computer the true risk we would take into account everyone who took the drug).

I believe that sound enrichment will help you.

Sounds good. You may want to go to another doctor and get a second one like that so that it ends up being 10 days.

https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/magnesium/tinnitus/
Magnesium is one of the things that is supposed to help, and just like all of them, it can make T worse, although judging by the information at the link above the risk of that is low. The most interesting piece of information on that web page is that nobody had ever gotten T after taking magnesium for less than a month.

 

Interesting @Bill Bauer I did take magnesium while I had some acid reflux and took Zantac but not Nexium or Prilosec.

Today I felt the symptoms masked at work and on the rise home. Now that I'm home a little pain in left ear or feels clogged. And the hissing noise is there a bit. I'm gonna try to sleep 8 hours. Let's see if i can take Valerian root and chamomile tea and use some sound enrichment. Any apps you recommend?

 

Is it the case that your T sound changed from a high pitch tone to a hiss?

http://mynoise.net/
provides a variety of sounds...

 

So I had intermittent T where once per day I'd get a high pitch for like 5-6 seconds and then it would fade away. I had this for like a week or 10 days. Then I got the test yesterday. Last night I heard the hiss like when a lamp or TV is on. But towards the morning I heard the high pitch for awhile but then during the day it went away. Seemed to go away when I stood up. I was able to concentrate at work because the heating vent was on and masking the hiss.

Right now I'm outside at a fair in my town for al the locals. I just want to feel normal. My ears and temples do ache a bit, but that has to be from not sleeping last night. I was tired driving home from work, now not as much. Sigh

 

You are actually in a much better shape than the vast majority of people on this forum. As people recover, their T often changes from a high pitch tone to a hiss that is easier to ignore. Sometimes they have to wait for months before this happens. Yours changed to a hiss less than 48 hours after the onset. I think it means that you haven't injured your ears as much as many of us here. There is a good chance that you will hear silence again within a month or two.

Just make sure to protect your ears from now on. Many people recover, relax, get exposed to noise, and then end up with T again.

 

Thank you for this.

I talked to my uncle tonight and he's such a great person to lean on. His T started like a blender sound then turned into ocean waves. He still has it even though he got the cochlear implant. He has Meniere disease and lost his hearing on one side and had nasty bouts of vertigo. He just told me to look at the bigger picture in life and that this could be much worse for me. And they could be but don't worry about what you can't control or the future. Told me to try and sleep 8 hours.
Bill thanks for your friendship on here. It means a lot.

 

You are most welcome. It seems like yesterday when I was in the same boat as you are in now.