My Story... Here Goes Nothing...

I am a life long T sufferer. I have habituated several times throughout my life. I grew up on a farm where I was exposed to loud noises since a very early age (read tractors, stock car races, machinery, power tools etc). I have no noticeable hearing loss. My T is around 15 khz and about 15 db at the moment. It could be high frequency hearing loss.

I had repeated tubes put into my ears since birth due to a Eustachian Tube defect. This was found at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. This has caused scarring on both ear drums. I was told that my Eustachian tube was narrower than normal, and I would have to live with it. So I did.

I have had many life experiences which could have caused or contributed to the T. I went to many concerts. I had an accident where I was without blood flow and oxygen to my brain for 7 minutes when I was 16. After I was resuscitated my T was quite profound. This has caused me some emotional and mental difficulties. I also developed a learning disability from this.

I have learned to overcome these barriers. I am 31 years old. I have a PhD in Cancer Economics and run a cancer prevention program in the USA. I feel I have a lot to offer this community when it comes to experiencing ETD, Tinnitus, PTSD, and Stress. Also understanding research, and research articles. You can PM me if you want to learn about my near death experience. I will also gladly answer any cancer questions. But I am not an oncologist or an MD. But I can tell you the cheapest way to reduce cancers across a large population

Oh my story...Well 8 weeks ago I finished a valium taper (down from 20mg) and lunesta (3 mg). I had to be clean for a new job opportunity (I wanted to move into an area of research that required TSCI) I woke up with severe neck pain, aural fullness, and screaming T and H. I was suicidal. Doctor ignored the drop in medications, gave me flexaril for my neck and told me to come back in a few weeks. I was not satisfied so I scheduled an appointment the very next day to meet with someone else. The second GP said I had visible fluid in both ears. She prescribed me anti-biotics (cefdenir) and told me to see an ENT. I saw an ENT a week later (insurance is good for me, I have 30 dollar co-pay and max out of pocket of 250) I had a hearing test (up to 8khz) which was normal. The ENT looked at my results and said "I bet you have fluid in your middle ear". Apparently there was an air-bone gap of around 10db. Bone being better. She was able to visibly see fluid behind the ear drum yet my tympanometry was normal.

This is very important. I had a normal tympanometry, but an air-bone gap. A less astute ENT could have missed the ETD diagnosis because I had a normal tympanometry. I did have very obvious effusion of fluid in both ears. She promptly prescribed a 12 day taper of prednisone (starting at 60 mg). I have been using flonase, allegra, pseduoephedrine, and mucinex daily. I am currently 5 weeks out from this most recent spike and have stepped back from the ledge. The H is gone. My god, I thought T was bad (and it is) but H did me in... I have an appointment on 3/30, a follow up with the ENT to look again at my ears. I have habituated many times, and I will habituate again. If you are curious about ETD or dealing with a life of T I can happily or unhappily depending on my T help.

Sorry for the rant. The CDC is a mess and my T is screaming.

If something doesn't change in the next year, I am moving to T research

I was afraid to join because I thought that would make the T more real. But I am done playing tricks with my head...or am I...

 

I had this idea, too.

 

Do you think that the medication you had to stop using could have been the culprit for later your awful T & H flare up, plus the other problems (fluid in ears,neck) or were you exposed during that time to something else as well (stress e.g.)?

Also, how did you get rid of H.? Do you have a trick? Thanks.

 

I think that decreasing drugs might have contributed. I decreased drugs too in the last year and half and now I have T too. Hopefully you get better.

 

Jiri, I do believe the medication played a role in so much as it attributed to my TMJ and stress levels. My hyperacusis was what I would call severe. Initially it was torture since the H prevented me from being able to mask my T. To get over my H I would do "exercises" in safe sound volume. A shower is safe. If it hurts, the pain isn't damage, it is emotional reaction processing. I would slowly increase my shower length each day by about 1 minute. After a month or so my H was down and I had decided 30 minutes was too long for a shower lol.

 

I was just telling a friend of mine about you today. You're our age, not that it'd matter but... in your post you mention that you're a life-long t. sufferer and even after 3 decades your T. can still get so debilitating that you become suicidal. That is absolutely terrible. No one should suffer like that. No one. To make matters worse, after all this time you can still develop severe H on top of things that even the sound of a shower can feel painful One would think, that you're already level master and that with so much experience slash habituation t. and h. simply couldn't return with such a vengeance.

I seriously hope that with that U o Minnesota study things will change for the better for you forever. Serenity.

 

Thanks @Jiri ! I am doing everything I can to make the most of my one shot. I always remind myself, no matter what, some people have it worse.

 

Ave kelpiemsp, welcome to the fold.

You've lived this long with Tinnitus, You must have strength, it may seem like You are losing but think of this; You were born with this not because of it, now calculate Your age - Tinnitus = (Your age now) You've lasted against Tinnitus for this long.

Happy Friggin' birthday My good man!