Kids Screamed — Now Hearing Damaged? — Can't Seem to Live a Normal Life, Can't Take It Anymore

So, I went on a trip with family to a large city. I had to deal with noises constantly and just wore ear plugs most all the time there.

I felt great because I did everything I could and didn’t have issues.

THEN I get to a hotel at night where it is supposed to be quiet.

I get to elevator and some kid get off and of course three kids behind me scream their heads off for a second to scare the other. They were in high school and were loud.

Now I think my ears are damaged after protecting them the best I could in the large city.

I’m scared I hear a new tone in one of my ears.

I already took prednisone for another event that happened a month ago and just recovered from that. I also already have measurable hearing loss on an audio gram and have loud tinnitus, so I probably have it worse than most in hear (not downplaying those who have it bad. I am meaning to say this isn’t one of those things where I can only hear it if it is dead silent outside).

I couldn’t 100% protect my ears on trip so had small issues there too (cars honking nearby and forgot earplugs or other things).

Now what? Am I screwed?

I’m tired of this world. Everyone is just selfish and not considerate of others anymore.

I don’t know if I need to take prednisone or not now as well. I’m so stressed out. I just took prednisone a month ago. This is INSANE.

Help me please. What do I do beyond just never leave my house and quit my job because I guess I can’t live a normal life anymore?

How do I know if this incident warrants prednisone as well? Someone, please help me I’m so stressed out. No family member or friends knows or understands why I’m stressed out either.

This board seems to be the only thing I can get help from at this point. Please help me someone.

 

You need to wait at least a month before you will know whether this spike is permanent. Most spikes are temporary. If there is no fading for a month, that would be a bad sign, but even at that point there is still a chance that it will eventually fade.

 

Thanks for your response. I am aware of this, but the problem is that prednisone means I need to get on it ASAP. Like by tomorrow. However, I don’t know if I need to get on it or not. I don’t know if this scream did damage OR the cumulative noise plus this did anything.

I don’t have a month to decide that. Plus doctors don’t want to help in situations like this and are super reluctant to give prednisone. I have to fight with them to ever get it.

 

Those incidents are inevitable. All you can do is try to minimize the number of times this happens. But most people who Had recovered have had experiences like that.

If I were in your place and I were to get a HUGE spike (or new tones) on the day of the incident of the next day, then I would consider taking Prednisone. If the spike were to go away the next day, I would probably take Prednisone for one more day and then stop taking it. Prednisone can have very serious side effects...

 

I guess that is my problem though. I’m not sure if I hear a new tone or if it is really louder. It’s always loud and not sure if I hear a new tone yet to be honest. Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Hard to put a measure on it as it is already loud before this.

 

I think that when one's T IS spiking one KNOWS. So it sounds like you got lucky!

 

It is louder though and it is hard for me to tell if that means it’s a new tone or a current tone is louder, or if that means an issue or not that should be addressed by prednisone.

I’m a Day our from incident in a few hours. Still not certain on my best move at this point.

I know one of my ears feels “different”. Almost like a shift in my hearing has happened or something. It is hard to tell really.

What should I do now?

 

I Would take Prednisone.

Keep in mind that I don't have any medical background.

 

The only problem is that I took prednisone about a month ago for another incident. So I don’t know if doctors will give the treatment to me or not at this point.

Before that it was over a year and a half.

 

I would not recommend a treatment of prednisone for that situation @jdjd09.

Time and taking things slowly and quietly are the best for that. I have years of experience and in the beginning the same feelings you have now.

 

I got generic prednisone with 3 refills. I would keep going to urgent care, ER, or you primary care Dr. until they give you what you want so you ain't hindsighting. Mine is a tapered dose pack 4mg (methylprednisolone) I believe 4mg is the lowest dose. I'm current taking it because of an annoying static hiss and possible TMJ inflammation.

 

@Starthrower , thanks for reply as well. I’m not new to this either and had loud tinnitus and measurable hearing loss on ahdiogram for a few years as well.

I take care of my hearing but had a recent incident a month ago (see last post) that requires prednisone. Now this one I’m not sure on. I don’t want to push my luck because doctor who I go to for help on this who IS willing to give prednisone for extreme situations (before these recent ones, I had not asked for prednisone on over a year and had some noisy situations sometimes) may not be willing to do it. Seems doctors are more scared to give it out anymore.

When would you feel it is appropriate to take prednisone and why do you feel that my situation doesn’t warrant it? Again, I realize few on here are doctors, so not holding people to everything. However, many people on here know more about treatment options than many doctors (some doctors I have spoken to in past know nothing about prednisone and aucoustic trams).

Understand before this I was bombarded by some loud noises that didn’t set stuff off. I worry it may have taken stuff over the edge.

 

Okay..let's see that medication in my opinion is for unwarranted very loud noise which could cause SHL in some cases. But a scream not so much even though I know it is loud. But I would reserve that medication for something likened to extreme jack hammering next to your ear. Or perhaps next to a loud speaker at a concert. That sort of noise that could be damaging.

Big to you. I understand.

 

@Starthrower , it was three people screaming, not one.

I will never most likely be in a situation where I will be next to a concert speaker as I avoid concerts.

Also, not sure when I would ever be next to a jackhammer. So it just feels like I would never use it then?

I just feel like there needs to be a clearer cut off when to use it and when not to use it. This is what bothers me. Doctors and ENTs don’t know, so if someone tells me to ask them, I can tell you they won’t help. I have to educate them on studies about prednisone. I also am hesitant to ask because if I do it too much then they may stop me from taking it when I really need it. Beyond the fact that I don’t really want to take it a bunch of times anyways.

Is there another way to look at this as to when to take it or not?

 

Can someone with hearing loss and loud tinnitus please give there input on the above? I have one more day to decide if I should get prednisone or not.

I really feel lost. Previous to this scream I was in noisy large city as well and drove for hours to get there.

Overall, I’m stressed and can’t seem to make the right decision right now with this. I see some saying take it and others not. Please know I already took it a month ago too.

 

Try NAC and magnesium and eat healthy foods. I hope you get better :/

 

I have already taken both of those. I need to determine by end of day today if I need prednisone or not.

Can someone please provide some evidence based statements or something close to it to help me determine this? I have little time to decide and need to do it by today.

 

Can someone else please help me with this? I have some saying yes and some saying no, but it is not clear why some are saying yes or no.

I am at a loss what to do and could use some help. I have just today to decide if I need to see doctor and don’t have unlimited time to decide this due to work.

 

You will have to decide for yourself as it's your own body. I don't think it will hurt you to take a 4mg tapered dose pack if you can get one. That's the smallest dose I believe. Taking a higher dose that is not tapered could be a different matter. Many people with autoimmune disorders have to take steroids almost every day... e.g. Lupus or RA.

 

People on this forum pop prednisone like Tic Tacs. It's not a drug you play silly buggers with.

 

@erik , thanks for your response. Would you say this is also true if someone had driven in car for 7 hours one way and 7 hours back on highway in car right before and after incident? Also was in city too around large crowds and ambulance sirens and a few times people honking horn for two days straight? I had ear plugs in most times, but the times they held down horn for 5 seconds straight happened twice right near me and I forgot earplugs and just sort of didn’t have time to think or react to cover ears. Was able to cover ears for ambulance siren though.

I am concerned that all that previous noise added on with that single incident pushed me over the edge. I was fine before the group screamed though.

 

I'm no doctor, but my impression is that prednisone is not given to combat tinnitus, but rather is "tried" for those who have experienced a sudden hearing loss with the thought that there is some inner ear inflammation going on that the prednisone might help with. I myself recently completed a regiment of prednisone (orally and injections into the middle ear) with no positive results. It does sound as if you are very stressed out right now about this which can greatly agitate your symptoms. If you can find some treatment/counseling for your stress, that may help.

 

You are getting yes and no answers because it is probably 50/50 that it would help. I read on this site and others and concluded it's about 50% either way. But, how do you know it was the pred or naturally healing? Still, if you can get it, then at least you have the option. I tried from at least three different doctors and all declined including my gp. I even tried to get it in the ER.

 

Hi @JohnFox -- That's been my impression as well. If that's the case, then it would seem to me that other anti-inflammatory compounds (such as curcumin, gingko biloba, etc.) could be equally--or even more effective. And with much less risk than taking prenisolone. Some people do react badly to it. A friend of mine recently took a single dose, and it took him (or his nervous system) several months to recover.

 

His stress is normal, though. I acted EXACTLY the same after first getting t and wanted to try prednisone. He just wants reassurance that it's worth trying but the reality is it often reported that 'it didn't do anything' half the time and the other half, people claim it helped.

It's very 'lethal' and many doctors won't prescribe it for an acoustic trauma but some will. I think it is worth trying if only because there are not a lot of treatments to try to 'minimize' what happened. But, I am not a physician either so...

 

It's a good point and I guess that is why many physicians won't prescribe it for this.

 

Some people use it daily.

I used it for few weeks. Only thing I got was mood swings (quite bad actually) and water started to taste sweet. Also some bloating...

But I feel it helped reduce my T so I took them. I has dose of 80mg daily.

Still, I wouldn't take prednisolon without doctors orders.