Just Recovered From a Month Long Tinnitus Spike

Hello all. I will start from the beginning. It all started on 28 August 2009, I was 22 years old. I went to an electronic music concert and stayed too close to the stage for a few hours. The next day I had fullness in my left ear and of course - loud ringing. Everyone here knows how it's like for the first few days-weeks (panic attacks, depression etc.) so I won't get into further details. At first it was loud, it didn't want to go away. It was a nightmare and hell on earth. I stayed at the hospital for 3 weeks, I took meds, had all kinds of tests and examinations, tomographs, audiograms, x-rays - you name it. After about 2 months it got a lot quieter and I stopped taking meds. After about 4 months it was so mild I could only hear/notice it in complete silence. It didn't bother me at all. I could read books and work in silence without noticing it was there. On a scale from 1 to 10 if I had to tell how much it was bothering me I would say 0.5/10, a perfectly normal life. Of course I was very cautious about my ears. Whenever I went to a place with loud music I would ALWAYS wear earplugs. My friends got so used to me wearing them that when they saw me 'plugging' them at the club they would just smile but I could see their eyes saying: "Still got that ear problem huh ". I always had in mind that although my T is very mild it can always get worse if I'm to careless. It stayed that way for 5 years.

I woke up on 11 November 2014. I wasn't at a concert or a club. I wasn't listening to loud music. Nothing that could cause the spike. So I woke up and the T in my left ear was there. Loud. At first I thought to myself: "What the hell ?! My T isn't that loud, what's happening?". At first I thought that I was having that fluctuating tinnitus, you know, the one that suddenly attacks you loud but fades away after 5-10 seconds. But no. I ate breakfast - it was there, I went to work - it was there, it was with me the whole day. It kept on like that for a week. The nightmare returned. I got depressed, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't work, I couldn't do nothing but lay down listening to the new pitch of my T and be depressed about it. I took 3 weeks off work. I went back to my hometown to stay with my mom. I was desperate for someone close to cheer me up or just to be around someone who cares about me. I started lurking Tinnitus Talk forums and I found a few threads where people kept saying that their T got worse with time, that it got louder and stayed like that. I convinced myself that I won't get better, that my T won't go back to 'normal', I'm screwed for life. My mom is a nurse so she got me appointed to an ENT the next day. I was hoping to start some kind of professional treatment right away - TRT, laser therapy, oxygen inhalations - whatever would be available. Instead, she (ENT) said something like: "I will prescribe you meds, take them regularly and if is doesn't go away visit me again in 1 month". I was prescribed basically the same meds as 5 years ago (Piracetamum 1200mg 2 times a day, Vinpocetinum 5mg 3/day, Betahistini dihydrochloridum 24mg 2/day, Opipramol(mild antidepressant) 2/day, Ginko biloba 2/day).

I kept taking meds. I noteced my T was changing it's pitch and loudness. Sometimes it was TV static, sometimes buzzing and sometimes screeching cicadas. Almost everyday was different. I was constantly measuring my T. I downloaded an 8 hour long shower sound for my smartphone and I kept playing it constantly to mask my T. It was the one thing that gave me some kind of relief. I wasn't enjoying anything, I've lost 4 kilograms in one week. I was sure that it will stay like that forever. My mom was the only person that kept me going, she kept saying: "Listen son, it got better 5 years ago and it will get better now, I'm sure of it, just give it time".

I always enjoyed video games, I'm a professional games tester working for a big video game development company and I also very much enjoy playing video games in my free time. Now I would just lie in my bed taking sleeping pills because sleeping was the only time when I couldn't hear my T.

It got better over time. I don't know if it was the meds or time or whatever. My T was gradually going down day by day after after 2 weeks of taking meds. Now a month had passed and I can say it with full fondness that it got down to it's 'normal' state. The spike is gone. It's been OK for a whole week and it stopped changing it's pitch. I'm back to my normal life, I stopped using my T masker, I sleep well at night, I got back to work, I enjoy video games again, my T is mild and stable, I'm still taking meds though. I like the idea of it staying like that at least for the next 5 years . Now, why am I writing this? I just wanted to share my story with those of you fellow T-buddies that if it turned out like this for me - it may turn out like this for you. I did not believe it at first, but now I feel like a newborn. The nightmare is over...again .

Sorry for the wall of text.

-David.

 

@Dante500

Yes but you are full of medication.
So the answer is to take meds that are addictive and take weaning off?
And have a personal nurse.

 

His meds aren't addictive. They are softcore meds.

 

@dan
which of these are soft meds....(apart from the ginko of course)
I presume that he is taking these.
By the way which of these is the sleeping pill med?
thanks dan, looking forward to the answer

 

Betahistine - inner ear vasodilator (increase circulation to cochlea)
Piracetam - nootropic (otc in some countries)
Vicopentine - vasodilator + nootropic (otc)
Opipramol - milder than SSRI

 

@dan

people have reported problems taking nootropics - in fact it has been said that nootropics have caused T in the first place - however I know someone who took nootropics and it rid him of his T which he had for 2 months prior to taking nootropics
Betahistine - tried that. Keeps you up causing insomnia
the other two I dont know

 

@amandine

Opipramol - this mild antidepressant works kind of like a sleeping pill because it calms you down, but I'm off that right now anyway.

Why the negative attitude by the way ? Whenever I read success stories on this forum I feel happy about those people, it makes me a bit more positive. And about those meds, I think they helped me, yes. Ask anyone suffering from sever tinnitus - everyone will tell you that they would gladly take any meds if that would help bringing down their T. What is wrong with that ? T is a condition, if it can be alleviated by taking meds - you just take the meds and if this treatment worked for me then why is it bad? I'm sure you would do anything to make your T go away.

I shared my story just to say that I'm a happy person right now and that there is a chance for everyone. Everything I have written is true.

 

The point I made that none of these meds are addictive or more toxic than taking an aspirin, and the patient seems to tolerate them quite well, so I see no problem with this, as long as he is monitored by his doctor who will decide how long he will keep prescribing it.
Dante, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

@Dante500

I am not being negative. I just always hated going the route of medication.
However I have now got to the point that I would yes use meds if they will help me get through this and back on track again.
If this list of meds helped then I would be happy to take them.
Trouble is that here in france I cant get any thing prescribed.
No one is listening to me or taking it seriously and my doctor hasnt even bothered to register my T yet. She in fact scowled at me and when I asked her am I a difficult patient cos she cant do anything for me, she said yes and so could I please leave as she has other patients to see. That is how helpful the doctor is here and they are all the same. Meanwhile I got 2 hours sleep last night. She prescribed me sleeping tabs yes - Mogadon which are not good ones. So I have nothing but Xanax....what to do? I am not functioning at all.
I read your post with interest. Would love to be able to get my hands on these meds....

 

@amandine, I heard good things about Piracetam. In fact I tried it myself for 2 weeks but didn't work for me - I felt nothing good or bad...maybe you should give it a shot.

 

@dan

I think that I have given up at this point.
Can i get piracetam over the counter here - I doubt it.
I dont know. I have gotten so tired from going to the pharmacy.
I have bags of stuff none of which i can take - meds that are all dangerous and can induce deafness etc..
Never even took an aspirin before.
All I get here in france is bullshit.
I was told that I had to have a docs prescription to get b12.
Turns out this was untrue.
Have just purchased some b12 from a pharmacy for just over 2 euros...
This is france and the french excel at bullshit.....and sticking to a 35 hour week.

 

Where to Buy Nootropil in France
Nootropil is listed on the French Ordonnance-Liste II classification of drugs meaning that you need a prescription to buy it in the country. However, most people who live in France have no problems when importing the substance from other countries after buying it online.

 

@dan

money dan money
all this stuff costs a fortune relative to income
do u understand this?

 

David, thanks for sharing this.
It definitely helps. Maybe not for the long-term sufferers, but it shows that T can go down again.
Good luck for you.

 

@Dante500 - Thank you for your incredibly inspiring story. I can understand why long-term sufferers of Tinnitus might be skeptical about your rapid recovery, but it gives those of us who have an inexplicable and sudden onset of Tinnitus, like myself (~7 weeks in, right now) great hope that there are medical and/or herbal ways of treating the brain.

You mentioned a variety of medicines that have been discussed in this thread:

I've been researching and in the United States, most of these medicines are sold as herbal supplements or otherwise readily available with minimal fuss from doctors. Yet, some people have spoken about potential side-effects here and how they may actually make Tinnitus worse. Does anyone here have some specific thoughts about how these medicines might best be used for those with sudden T onset?

 

Why is my doctor not prescribing these drugs to me?

I live in Australia, and a month in to the most brutal tinnitus I've ever experienced, all I've been prescribed are 5mg of Valium tablets (for anxiety) and a nasal steroid spray, supposedly to clear my Eustachian tubes. Neither provide any relief from the screaming in my ears.

If there are medications that work, right now, I would very much prefer to be on them.

 

Mike 82, I think xanax works better than Valium or ativan, nasal sprays didn,t work for me, I live in Aus too and my tinnitus is terrible at the moment, could be the flora maybe. I have just been diagnosed with low thyroid and read that this can cause T to get worse, could you get your thyroid checked. I have found hearing aids help me.