My Name is Benjamin, and I Am About to Go Insane!

Well its kind of a long story, I have has some T since I was little don't know if it was from constant ear infections or what but it was always manageable a fan or any background noise would mask it and for that it never really bothered me.

Well now I am 38 and just since the end of April the T has got much worse and anything that I used to do to mask it just makes it worse. I have been to 3 different ENT's and they all asked if I was exposed to any loud noise recently. The only thing I could think of was I bought a motorcycle in April to ride with my father which I very much enjoyed, the bike itself is quite and I was always wearing a full helmet, but I have been told since that the wind noise even with a helmet can be dangerous levels and that I should wear ear plugs too ( I wish I new that before). I rode it twice for about a 50 min ride on the highway and back once on April 9th and then again on April 23rd (which was the last time I rode the stupid thing), I had no issues or increased T until that Saturday which was the 26th then it started to get worse around lunch time that day, I don't get it I wasn't doing anything that day it just flared up and I have miserable ever since.

I keep wondering if the motorcycle ride had anything to do with it since the problem started three days after I rode it... the ENT's all said they don't think so but I still am not convinced, it makes me want to pull the thing out and burn it,that would at least make me feel better. Well anyway they did a hearing test and found a small dip in the right ear at 8K but all within normal hearing, which is also weird because when they hit the 8K in my right ear it sounded distorted to me as compared to my left ear. Then they did a CT scan and found nothing but a deviated septum (now I know where my headaches are coming from) now they want to do a MRI.

I just don't know what to do, all the stuff I like to do I don't want to do anymore because it makes the T worse. For the last 5+ years I would be out on the jet-ski on the lakes around here for hours having a great time, but not now I tried it once since then and the T got worse, that's the other thing I have been told recently that the jet-ski is too loud to ride without earplugs however I never had even a slight problem with it until now, I would ride it all day with no increased T or any other symptoms. I tried going to the movies like I always used to but I couldn't wait for it to be over as it made the T worse. I used to love music now I cant stand it as again it makes the T worse. I am at a loss, I wish it would all just end, I don't know how much more of this I can take...

 

hi!!

do the sounds hurt your ear?? I may be wrong but this sounds a lot like hyperacusis...

 

I don't think it sounds like hyperacusis but more like reactive tinnitus. Check out the thread about Retigabine and see if that is something you want to try. Altough you need to read up a bit on it and be sure that you really want to try it because it got some nasty possible side effects.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/retigabine-trobalt-potiga.5074/

 

Its hard to describe, it just seems like anything that used to mask the T makes it worse now. It seems like when this started certain sounds did drive me up a wall like at work there is an elevator that has a high pitched squeak when the door closes, it was so bad to me that I would plug my ears after I hit the button to close the door, but that has seemed to kinda go away.

 

I agree with your ENTs. Modern day living is noisy - it's all those daily things that we do year in, and year out, such as nightclubbing, cinemas, concerts, shopping malls, car shows, gyms, and - as you mention: jet ski...

The motorbike ride didn't do it per se. Perhaps it was the "final straw", but not really the cause ie. if it hadn't been the motorbike ride, something else would have gotten to you eventually. That's my guess.

Hearing loss is something that develops very slowly over time. So slowly that we don't notice the damage we do. But if you were able to go back ten years in time with the snap of a finger, you would notice how your hearing has become sluggish over time. Even if the hearing curve looks normal.

During the initial stages of tinnitus - and possibly for quite a long time to follow, your tinnitus will be influenced by noisy events (also known as a spike). It's pretty important to protect your ears from now on, so that a spike does not turn into a new baseline level of increased tinnitus.

 

If your tinnitus becomes worse while experiencing the noise, it is reactive tinnitus. If you get increased tinnitus after the noise exposure, it is a spike. "Pain" from everyday non-loud noise = hyperacusis.

 

The other strange thing, is that if I press slightly just in front and slightly above my ear on either side of my head the T increases 10X I found this out when I was trying to sleep one night and had my hand in between my head and the pillow.

The whole thing just stinks, like right now I would normally be out doing stuff but because of the T I don't want to do anything anymore.

 

That's a common "side-effect" of tinnitus. Tinnitus has many direct and indirect consequences on a person's life. Which is a shame - given that it is so preventable. But if health officials do not prioritize this as a focus area, then things will stay as they were (or even get worse as the iPod generation is now 10 years old...).

Depending on where you are based, you could investigate clinicals trials. The choice is a bit limited given you are already about four months in. Steriods could potentially have been a possibility worth exploring in the very few first days after onset. But it is way too late to consider it now. There are two main on-going clinical trials at the moment: AM101 and AUT00063 (each in different phases). And the choice - as I say - is limited. But given you went to see three ENTs, it seems you are someone willing to put forward an effort and explore every avenue.

You can find further info on this site.

 

Hope all is well. Could a mod maybe move this to the support forum?