My Noise Induced Tinnitus

Hello and sorry for the wall of text,

New here, new year. December 11, 2015 - I went to the firing range with some friends. About 8 hours later, when I removed my ear protection (those foam ones) I didn't notice any difference with it on or off in my left ear. My left ear was muffled with a slight ringing. My right ear was fine. Days later, it was still ringing and as I work at the library - I more and more noticed the ringing. There is slight hearing loss in my left ear, which I can come to terms with but the ringing is much harder for me to accept. Visits to multiple doctors essentially told me they could not do anything and for me to wait it out for at least a month. Since the ringing seems to be getting louder and now there is like a layer of white noise/cricket sounds. It is hard to describe the sound only it wakes me up multiple times at night.

I exercise and try to be positive. I am the healthiest I've ever been-- though when I was 21 I was diagnosed with a bone tumor(benign) and the doctors had to remove my left wrist and fuse/allograft a metal plate on my left hand (essentially limiting movement). I guess I've "habituated" with that missing wrist but not really. I still sometimes use my left hand to lift things without thinking only to realize I can't bend that angle. Anyways, back to the tinnitus. I've come to terms with the bone tumor/wrist and it doesn't impact me making a living (I'm a librarian), but tinnitus is different. The ringing is so distracting that sometimes a patron would be standing on my left side and I would not even notice they are there. I've been going through times of denial and reluctant acceptance of the fact that this is permanent. At times my tinnitus, it is loud enough that I still notice it when showering or outside.

I've tried all kinds of supplements mentioned on here and while the effects require time - odds are it is just me habituating to the T. It is really tough for me to be patient with tinnitus.

In my desperation, I've enrolled and recently got accepted into the AM-101 study in San Diego. I am going in for a screening at the end of the week. I fall within the 3 month/acute tinnitus requirements. Hope I don't get the placebo but even if it is a placebo and my brain somehow convinces itself that the tinnitus is lower - I consider it a win. My personal doctors tell me to hold off injecting stuff into my ear this early on and while I agree, I also really want this to remedy some of the T. The AM-101 doctors say there hasn't been any negative side effects in the patients they worked on --But reading all these forums show me concern.

Anyways, I can keep everyone updated on my experiences with the AM-101 study.

Thanks for reading

 

Hey @spime, sorry to hear about this unfortunate event. I also have moderate hearing loss in my left ear and mild in my right ear with screaming T from going to an indoor gun range for about 20 mins. I know exactly how you feel right now, anxious to say the least, anxiety is your worst enemy. Best thing you can do is mask it for the moment and try and exercise and do relaxing thing such as getting a massage or painting or any other hobbies you have.
I am from San Diego and almost enrolled in AM-101 but cancelled because the study didn't really seem to have great benefits to me, more of a risk, make sure you think it thoroughly. It will take a while to accept but it will get better if you accept your T and hearing loss so you adapt to this new lifestyle.

 

@spime

Hi spime. Sorry to hear about your tinnitus. Good luck with the study. I hope you get the real experiment and not the placebo.

Have you gotten any counseling and/or medication to help you cope with this malady? It could maybe help with the sleep issues.

 

Thanks for the support @Enrique Adapting to this is new situation is definitely a test in patience and acceptance.

@Zorro! Doctors considered Prednisone but decided against it because my tinnitus is still recent. I tried melatonin but while it helps me get into sleep --it causes me to get out of sleep like 3 hours into the night. Sleep has been erratic, and I try real hard to be positive but this whole situation is stressing. I'm continuing my exercise routine and it feels like whenever I try to mask the tinnitus, the second I turn off the music/masking noise -My tinnitus is worse.

As for counseling nothing professional other than forums such as this. Yes i know reading stuff online can be depressing, scary, and stressful. - But it makes me feel better knowing that there are forums like this to support/share with people.

 

@spime

From what I understand Prednisone should be used as soon as possible in regards to this condition. That seems to be the prevailing theory.

Personally I can't take Prednisone as I'm highly allergic to the stuff. But if you can handle steroids without any problem then I don't see a reason to put off getting an RX sooner rather than later.

 

hope you don't mind me asking... but are you able to manipulate your noise-induced T by moving your jaw or neck?

i'm having a very hard time finding out the answer to this T question... can noise induced T also be manipulated by neck/jaw movement... or does being able to manipulate T mean with jaw/neck movement mean that it isn't caused by loud noise?