Just Saying Hi to Y'all and Tinnitus

Hi everyone,

Well, I always knew that loud music would make me deaf, didn't know about this tinnitus though.

Kind of sucks, since it was really making me scared knowing it could become permanent (only heard that a few months ago), and then me being a dumb ass, go to a concert, and boom.

I knew it was bad news right from the start since I just couldn't take the music anymore, that was never the case before. So I left earlier than my fellow concert goers, whom also didn't use ear protection for the record. Regardless, they purely suffered from dampened sounds, I did not.

My tinnitus is a mid-range/high-range one. I can't say it's loud, and so far, being in day 3 I can say that it seems as if it's louder in the morning than later during my day. I am curious about that though, is there a reason for that?

But... I've already come to terms with it, all of it. I can't see this as life threatening, at most, it's going to be annoying during sleep or study. I've had some other wake-up calls for life threatening things, so I can see the difference, eg. skin cancer, diminishing eye sight, a scoliosis and bad posture, arthritis (knuckle cracking), smoking, apnea and I'm sure there's more, but can't think of them right now.

But even during sleep or study, I'm thinking with white noise playing through earbuds, or my phone, I'll pull through

So I just wanted to say "hi", hope I'll get some "hi's" back, and let everyone know that yes, I too suffer, I'm certain this is permanent by now, but I'l never give up.

Oh, and please, if at all possible, reassure me in my positive thought process regarding white noise, I think it'll help, but maybe somebody with experience can tell me if I'm delusional, or on the right track.

Well, signing off for now.

Have a nice day everyone!

 

Hi @Michael Barton . Welcome.

So a few things I would like to help clear up for you.

First, since you are only in day 3, I highly highly HIGHLY suggest you see an ENT like now and ask for Prednisone steroids. You still have a chance in totally reversing this right now. But it's a very limited window. 24-48 hours is ideal but some have gone tried within the first week. so every second literally counts for you. With each passing day, the hair cells are dying off and steroids can stop that by reducing the inflammation and allow the hairs to recover. Think of it like blades of grass. thing of the inflammation caused by sound trauma as your foot. you step on the grass, the longer you keep stepping on them, the lesser of a chance the blades of grass will stand back up.

Two, there is still a high degree of chance it will still fade on its own. But it takes effort on your part. First, avoid noisy places. no more concerts for now. And also, for the love of god, do not use headphones or ear buds anymore. They encapsulate sound pressure and can cause further damage easier than speakers.

Three, it can get worse if you are not careful. Once you've damaged your hearing, you will be more susceptible to further damage more than the average person who's never had hearing damage. Things like MRI machines, antibiotics, headphone use, going to concerts. All can make it worse than it is now and you don't want that.

So get on some steroids asap and see if you get lucky as this could all be over for your in a week. Otherwise take care of your hearing and hopefully it will fade within the next 3,6, or 12 months. Some have had it fade even past that but its rare.

 

If T doesn't both you now I've got good news. No matter whether it goes away or not,, it will at least fade within a year

 

Hi,

So, uhm, first off, wow thank you! I had no idea, doctor has been called, getting the drugs tonight.... Thank you...

As for the headphone thing, thanks for that too, I'll stay far far away from that stuff!!

Will keep you posted.

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

 

So,

As it turns out, I will NOT be granted the drugs, this is apparently 'not used for these situations'... Is there any particular backed proof I can point a doctor in the direction of to emphasize your claims to this being a potential remedy as I was, quite honestly, hoping for a different response from the doctor and and willing to call back.

Thanks Sean.

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

 

Was your doctor an ENT or just a GP. This is standard protocol for ENT's. If so, he may have wanted to examin you first and make sure it wasn't just simple wax build up in your ears. Otherwise, find a another ENT. Go on Yelp and find a highly rated one nearby.

Here are some articles I found for you.

this maybe be the best one as it's specifically discussing steroids helping acoustic trauma and mentions the sooner the better.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28534733

Here is another . they split the patients into 3 groups and it shows the percentage of improvement based on how long they waited since onset to finally take steroids essentially proving the sooner, the better.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18463885

Here are other, but they talk about steroids heping unexplained hearing loss
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15632902

on this one look at tip 4
https://www.soundrelief.com/tips-from-tinnitus-experts/

 

Hi,

So turns out, they don't do this kind of stuff in Holland (where I live).

So thanks anyway, but like I said before I've come to terms with it. Now it's unfortunately an even bigger.pill to swallow, but luckily the one thing I'm worried about most (sleep), went ok-ish last night.

I can only hope that gets better.

Thanks Sean for your help and thanks coffee_girl for your kind words, hoping you are right

In the meantime anybody have other good remedies for sleep?

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

 

That's too bad. You could always travel to a neighboring country. Just a thought.

A lot of member use sound machines to help them sleep. Like white noise or pink noise machines. I personally do not. I use Passion Flower drops instead.

And keep in mind that eventually you should habituate. What that means is that your brain will change on its own, in good way, and the tinnitus will not bother you and cause a stressful response. Its like the wind blowing on your skin. You can feel it and you know it's there, but it doest bother you. It can take a few months to happen.

 

@Michael Barton you are getting some great advice from @another sean - please heed it.

As to the Predisone, I agree is it important. My ENT prescribed it after sending me to an audiologist and seeing a slight hearing loss at 6k, I got the drug at 9 days and it was very helpful. Then ENT said taking it even at 30 days can help, so perhaps try these other ways to see a Dr. who agrees. Good luck.

 

Melatonin is probably the best thing to start out with to help with sleep--anywhere from 3-10 mg. There's other things as well.

Hi @Michael Barton,

Re: Prednisone: -- It's a drug that's about 4 times more potent than the cortisol that's naturally made in our bodies. Our bodies produce about 40 mg/day, so if you take say 60 mg of Prednisone, that's equivalent to 240 mg of cortisol. In other words, WAY more than your body would produce in a single day.

One alternative is to take some bio-identical cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone. I've taken low doses of it for years (approx. 20 mg/day), and so have a lot of experience with it, including taking more when my body needs or even requires it. Like Prednisone, it too can reduce inflammation, which is what you're after at this point.

I have a prescription for my own bio-identical cortisol, but I've seen it sold on online pharmacies without a prescription. So perhaps you can get access to it that way. You can take more than 40 mg/day for a while, but longer term use eventually leads to your adrenal glands stopping production (they sense the body doesn't need even more than you're supplementing with).

I actually think hydrocortisone may be a better option than Prednisone, as a person can experience some pretty severe side effects from Prednisone, including anxiety, sleeplessness, etc. I believe that even with relatively low doses of hydrocortisone for a few days would likely have a significant impact on inflammation in your inner ears. -- Remember, even if your tinnitus goes away soon, your ears will likely be vulnerable to acoustic shocks for the rest of your life--ESPECIALLY the next two years. -- Take care!

 

Does anybody know what's causing te bad sleep? Stress out the sound? I feel that I can just fall asleep easily when tired, but I'm waking up every evening after about 4 hours after which I just don't get a deep one anymore. Thanks.

 

Did they test you for hearing loss?

 

In what sense? The GP checked my ears, using a metal sound inducing prod by holding it next to my ears; said that that was all fine.

Can't stay asleep, please help...

 

Hi @Lane

Was curious what that meant. Does that mean I'm more easily rpone to more tinnitus with less noise? Or just that my hearing is more sensitive in general? Thanks

 

Hi back!

Now, like other people had said, you should see an ENT (I look really fast at the other reply tho). I've seen you have bad time to fall asleep? Had you try generator sounds? For some people, it works. My audiologist had recommend to put TV on a really low level or a fan in the room.

 

Hi @Michael Barton,

That seems to be the case for most people who've ever developed tinnitus. Many on this forum often write about "spikes" they experience after being exposed to sound that is normally not a problem for people with healthy ears. This seems to occur often even for those whose tinnitus/hyperacusis has improved significantly, or even went away completely. It this regard, it would seem that ear and associated brain traumas that result in tinnitus are very similar to concussions.

 

It means that just because your T went away doesn't mean your ears are normal again. It just means the sound of T has faded so low that you can't hear it anymore. If you keep abusing your hearing your T will come back and be louder than before