New Tinnitus (Is There Anything Urgent I Should Do Right Now?)

Cat's Claw is generally safe. However, if you are taking any other medications - especially any blood-thinners, probiotics, herbal supplements, or blood pressure meds - you should consult with your GP first, because Cat's Claw interacts with all of those. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so it's generally a good idea to at the very least speak with a pharmacist about any potential interactions with the drugs that you take.

 

Don't over mask.If it is an infection it will go away if treated ,if it is T you will habituate in time.Good advice on this support group.You will be alright.

 

@Kaelon I dont use any other drugs only some Valerian pills if I get too crazy in the head. This is natural and works queit well exactly to get in a chill mode

 

Thank you Kaelon. Well, what triggered my T seem to be earplugs made of wax..and maybe a plane flight 48h earlier, but i doubt cause i took it many times before and there was no negative response from my ears...and then i have this hearing loss at high fréquences..but i hah it long before already and can't really say why. It seemes to have tuned down last days but last night it got worse...3rd night i hardly slept and i don't know but it seems it's worse fter benzo?
also, i have very dried skin inside my years which made my scratch it often with some objects...but i did it fir 20 years. Not since T occured...can any slightest noise in the year tune up the T? Gosh, i'm so tired and desperate I almost feel dead...life stopped a month ago. I cried rivers. Now I'm too exhausted to even fry. I'be got Mri tomorrow. I had general check up at the ENT 3 weeks ago, 2 days after the onset..he just told me to wait and see. I'm losing my mind here, can't imagine living with it even though i understand that some people have it louder than me, but those who have it milder are constantly afraid of it getting worse..and thzt's my case too. Meanwhile i've been taking some benzo pills called lexomil for sleeping, but r3ad it might be even worse with it and worse when i stop it! For now i saw T is milder when I don't take it, but then I cannot sleep...vicious circle after vicious circle. In a mounth i will take some intratympanic injections of steroids..except for a miracle that's my only hope...if atbleast it came back to where it was yesterday...i keep reading the forum but it takes time..and i'm mostly laying in bed trying to get some sleep...

 

@Gosia
Just a tip. If you want someones attention you will increase the chance of getting it by tagging them. You do this by typing @"username", or quoting them

 

ah, ok, thank you. @Kaelon ..

 

Hi @Gosia,

In all of my reading and the discussions we've had here on Tinnitus Talk, the one thing that I've learned is that usually the simplest explanation for why you contracted your Tinnitus is, usually, the one that is closest to the truth. While it is absolutely true that the vast majority of Tinnitus cases will never be diagnosed, those that follow a common progression and that doctors definitively can say are connected are, as a practical matter, well understood. All of that said, here are my thoughts:

1. If you started to develop hearing loss in high frequencies before you acquired your Tinnitus, it is likely that your Tinnitus is connected to your hearing loss in some way. Hearing loss that occurs during or after you acquired your Tinnitus is usually permanent and can only be treated with hearing aids or cochlear implants. Hearing plugs won't cause Tinnitus unless if they result in impacted ear wax, damage to your ear drums, or introduced otitis media. In any case, I'm assuming your appointment with the ENT three weeks ago ruled out any obvious external issues or ear infections. "Wait and see" is a common approach when it's this early.
   
   
2. I assume you were taking anti-anxiety medication to help you sleep. Benzodiazepines actually lower tinnitus; studies show only long-term (many months or years) treatments of anti-anxiety medications can cause a rebounding effect. So, it's extremely improbable that taking properly formulated benzodiazepines, like Lexomil or Ativan, will cause you any noticeable difference in your Tinnitus in the short-term. They will just help you sleep. That said, I would probably look at a formulation other than lexomil, because it -- being Bromazepam -- is about 60+ years old, and there are better alternatives that should be available to you. Lexomil is preferred in France (and Francophone countries) because of how prevalent it is, but you may get better results with something newer like Alprazolam (about 10 years newer) or Lorazepam (which was introduced in 1977).
   
   
3. You're in the early stages of Tinnitus, which means that you're suffering from some acute neurological side effects - specifically, your mind is exercising its reaction to tinnitus in fight-or-flight mode through the limbic (sympathetic) system. Your body is subconsciously reacting to Tinnitus as a threat, and this is what is keeping you up at night, causing you to panic that something is dreadfully wrong. The sympathetic nervous system is very important, and it's what allows us to survive threatening situations - like a heart-attack (the "sense of dread" someone experiences when a heart skips a beat, for instance, is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system), or being trapped. But it's absolutely not useful here for Tinnitus because, barring a few very remotely serious situations that usually play out in the first days of a sudden onset of severely incapacitating Tinnitus, Tinnitus by and large is a harmless, chronic nuisance - not an actual threat to your physical well-being. And so, the body will eventually learn this and the mind will begin to react to Tinnitus through the parasympathetic nervous system, which is able to recognize the stimulus but not be instinctively threatened by it in the same way that we recognize typical stimulus, like a rumbly belly. This is usually the first stage to habituation, and happens by the end of the third month of chronic Tinnitus. I know this isn't so much a solution as it is reassurance that you should, in fact, "just give it time," but this tends to be the biggest problem in the early stages. All of us have been through this, and for the most part, most of us have overcome the fight-or-flight panic in the early stages.

So my recommendation, after all is said and done, is to get a second opinion from another ENT -- preferably someone who is able to compare your testing done to-date with a new round of tests, especially audiological analysis since hearing loss is a factor; you should expect both sensorineural and conductive hearing tests to narrow down the ranges and impact, as well as a thorough physical examination to rule out an obvious physical pathology.

 

@Kaelon; I take probiotics and started taking cat's claw extract. What kind of interaction is it, do you know?

And besides a mouth guard for the jaw, what else are you doing for the TMJ and or the neck? Chiro, trigger point, ? Thanks.

 

@Kaelon , I couldn't thank you more for the time you spent to answer me. I've been searching info for a month but it's still not enough, and what is worse, I'm right before my exam session at the university so there 's a lot of work to be done and I'm obviously not doing even a half of it because of my T..I'm fighting though, telling myself that if T is gone in a few months I will reproach myself for not having succeeded.. even though my parents say that if I cannot bear it, I don't have to..well..it's something nobody here expected to come and that suddenly turned the world upside down.
You see, not even for a moment was I afraid that it's a symptom of a serious disease. It's enough to read any article on the internet to know that it's very scarce. Worrying about brain tumors or that something serious is going on is not my case. My GP gave me a prescription for MRI ''to calm me down'' but he said it's completely useless. I'm going to do it only because my parents and my boyfriend ask me to..I'm mostly worried about it ruining my life, my relationship, my future cause mentally I can't stand not having silence and not being able to sleep ..well, enough of depressive thoughts, I've been really down. The only thing that could save me is seeing this problem resolving.

So you say 3 weeks of Benzo couldn't have any influence? It's true that I took as little as possible but last week, when I didn't take it for the night , I managed to fall asleep at 9 pm , woke up at1 and the T was really barely noticeable . I was even wondering if I still had it. I fell asleep again. In the morning it was still there, but very calm. I was hopeful. Then it tuned up for one day a few days later and went down for a few last days cause I stayed at home ( I noticed that when I don't go into the subway and limit the noises, the T is much milder) , so I stuck to the idea that I have it sound-sensitive. The car and shopping didn't seem to tune it up though.

Only from last night it's louder again and this even though I had taken benzo for the night after a break. :/ So in my case it seems not to calm it down..whether it is a coincidence or not , I definitely don't want to continue on benzo, but there 's no way I can see any doctor before in two weeks time in this town .. and T is not sth they accept at ER : ( I hope the last tuning up is also due to very scarce sleep during last 3 nights...

I have booked a visit for the intratympanic steroid injections though, in a month..

When it comes to earplugs, you know..my ENT said it can happen that they trigger T, he didn't exclude it as an option. My ears were completely stuck with them for ten hours 4 nights in a row. I 've come across testimonies of people who developed T beause of earplugs or at least hyperacusis.. I guess earplugs are not made to sleep with every night, the whole night..as long as my ears tolerated being stuck with foam plugs, they reacted terribly to the wax. I created my theory..that because of them my brain realised that I had some hearing loss, suddenly NOTICED it as there was no sound coming through. but as you say, I will probably never know..

I just cannot bare the fact that hearing loss necesarily means T, cause I know many people with hearing loss bigger than mine and they have no T. There must be sth more to it. A few factors maybe..like the fact that I suffered from insomnia far before T..now it's just even WORSE, but nothing new. I've been walking dead tired for months beacause of my school and neighbours waking me up too early ( that's why I plugged my ears with wax . )

Still, all that gives me hope is the belief that T can resolve itself NO MATTER the underlying cause.

I even wrote it with huge letters in my notebook and repeat it to myslef like a mantra.

Have a very good day in the US, here in France I'm going to hit another night, successfully this time I hope..

 

Hi @SleeplessSoul,

I've been wearing an orthotic (night guard) for the past 3 weeks, and also am taking 1,000 mg of Magnesium and 1,000 mg of Cat's Claw daily. I am noticing considerable improvement, and I'm down to 1/10 generally. If I miss magnesium or cat's claw, OR sleep poorly / have poor posture at night, I will spike up to 4/10 the following day. My Tinnitus is definitely progressing and improving, but it remains highly reactive to behaviors that aggravate my head, neck, and shoulder muscles.

I haven't yet escalated my TMJ scenario to the next level, which is to see a TMJ specialist for physioneural therapy, following my night guard work. I will probably escalate in about 1-2 weeks, after I cross the 1-month mark with this new treatment.

I'd recommend magnesium supplements to see if they provide you with any help; there is a positive interaction between magnesium and cat's claw that has been discussed in various anti-inflammatory circles, and I think they are onto something.

 

@Kaelon - thank you so much for the reply. I am on the magnesium also. My t doesn't really have good and bad days per Se. It's relatively the same. Except after a shower it's a lot quieter. Can that just be residual inhibition or neuro muscular?
Last note; like @Gosia above, I have worn earplugs for twenty years without issues until this started. I am afraid of permanent damage from those now that she said her ENT said it can cause t and h. both of mine said it wouldn't harm me and so did the audiologist.
Now I am super super bummed out. If it really is from my jaw and bad neck, that is extremely messed up on the humming ear, why isn't my other ear reacting the same?

 

@SleeplessSoul - If you aren't having good or bad days, that means that the orthotic device and/or your sleep are not producing healing in your jaw muscles. What was explained to me over at MGH was that if muscles can be given time to rest and reset to a natural position, they will start to heal and the strain and inflammation / infection can be cleansed. Sleep, apparently, is the primary mechanism for this healing to happen.

Re: earplugs, I have never seen or read anything online from any credible source that indicates that earplugs cause Tinnitus or Hyperacusis. Think about it: if this were true, then pilots and race car drivers all throughout the world would share Tinnitus or Hyperacusis, since they almost all wear plugs or in-ear-inserts. Instead, the primary profession that generally suffers from Tinnitus is that of the musician: artists regularly are damaging their hearing because they are listening to volumes at dangerously high levels for prolonged periods of time (usually at concerts, sometimes in production) and over time, this causes both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Your tinnitus and mine are very similar, SleeplessSoul. My Tinnitus is absolutely caused by neuromuscular inflammation -- this was confirmed by various physical tests and scans -- but it has uneven and has slightly different pitches: the sound in my right ear is constant and steady, and only changes volume based upon healing during sleep or hot showers; my left ear tinnitus is oscillating (growing louder and softer with each heartbeat -- a sign of inflammation, like a throbbing headache) and often becomes almost entirely silent with healing and/or hot showers. The two have totally different sound patterns and pitches, but both are absolutely caused by the same phenomenon -- head, neck, jaw, and shoulder/back muscles are moving tissues out of alignment, causing bilateral tinnitus through uneven distribution of pressure and, ultimately, even causing hyperacousis when the eardrum is moved slightly out of alignment. This phenomenon is very well understood, and was the very first diagnosis I got over at the Mass Eye & Ear Infirmary -- even though I could hardly believe it at the time. It's a simple diagnosis, with a very difficult cure, because you need to undergo significant physical therapy to heal the underlying strain and often times, that strain has been caused by years of chronic misbehavior: poor sleep, high stress, poor posture, in my case.

I would not lose hope here. I would use Occam's Razor as the guide to what is happening: the simplest explanation is the one that usually is right. Which of these two scenarios seems more likely for you?

1. That you contracted TMJ, with severe myofacial and aural pain, and that this TMJ is causing your Tinnitus as one of the side effects; OR,
   
   
2. That you have contracted TMJ, with severe myofacial and aural pain, but that wearing earplugs over many years also happened to cause Tinnitus and Hyperacousis, coincidentally (and by only pure coincidence) occurring at the same time your jaw, neck, and back muscles started spasming?

The two are related. It's a well-understood phenomenon, without a well-understood cure. I am positive you are doing all that you can to address your conditions, and I have faith you will continue to improve with time.

 

@Kaelon ;
Thank you so very much for responding so quickly. You are so informative and logical. I do have the oscillating tones with the loudness sometimes pounding with the heartbeat also, just like the throbbing headache!
I have had jaw and neck pain chronically and thought I injured/ tweaked my neck and jaw during pt last November for a hip issue. That's when I noticed the pain got much worse and my ear started to bother me. I also noticed that one morning when I woke up and took my earplug out, my ear was sore and had the distorted h. I went straight to two docs that day and neither saw any fluid or infection that day.
I was told it was my neck that day. But subsequently my jaw became more strained from chronic clenching at night.
I am not sleeping well at all amd the bite guard I have is on the front teeth so my back teeth can't clench. But I am never really rested.
I see your point with the Occam's Razor theory. I just don't know what sort of manual therapy I could now pursue since touching around the jaw and in the little triangle under the ear and between the mandible is excruciating tender. I am ready for another cortisone injection.
Thank you ever so much Kaelon. I am really happy that yours is on its way to healing. That is so inspiring. And to think you have now donated your time and sincere efforts to TT is just so wonderful of you. Thanks again.

 

@kaleon, earplugs will not causet in majority of cases, but it happens. Maybe it's al1st trigger, who nows, the last stras. Since we admit we don't know much about T, this can also be possible.
now i have another issue...i need to stop benzos..i took an equivalent of 0,25 alprazolam per night for 1bout a month. Some nights i didn't , when i was so tired i collapsed with melatonine only. I'm sure the effect of it started wearing off some time 1go already. You said it couldn't increase my t, but can the withdrawal worsen it? After one month only.? No'doctor here is available in less than 2 weeks time. And anyway sth tells me they re not familiar with th relatioj between T AND benzos.

 

If that's the case my T might have been caused by foam earplugs as well. I used to wear them prior to T for months! Same here, I've been walking dead tired for months because of crazy neighbors waking me up all the time with their noise.

About Benzos, I took Oxazepam a few times but it helped just a lil. And T is just too unpredictable. Have a peek here,
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-is-whimsical-cruel-and-unpredictable.8761/

By that definition mine is permanent.

 

Sorry, that was a typo. If you acquired your hearing loss in high frequencies before you acquired your Tinnitus, it's (the hearing loss) usually permanent. If you acquired your hearing loss in high frequencies during or after you acquired your Tinnitus, this (the hearing loss) may or may not be permanent.

 

I got both at the very same time. Hearing loss in high frequencies + T.

 

Maybe steroids?

 

Glad to hear cats claw works.

 

@Kaelon .. Hi.. How are you... Very interesting thread... The 180 days statistic for T resolving in most cases gives me a lot of hope and almost assurance that mine might go soon then. My T started on February 18 2015 after 3 days of suffering face numbness (right side) and head pressure... Doctors sent me on the way saying I have to see an ent and a neurologist. The neurologist after MRI and other test said I have occipital neuralgia ... Last week I had a third episode ( they were all almost a month apart since T onset) of face numbness head pressure and louder T on right ear.. I mean I was increasing by the minute... And I developed H at the time on that same ear..episode lasted 3 hours and the ER doctor told me I had Bells palsy and started antiviral treatment.. However, my T was becoming more bearable week by week... And after that last episode I. The ER it decreased a little more .. Not sure if the acyclovir is doing the trick or T is just getting better... I stopped masking after 2 months since I was able to fall asleep quite fast with T not bothering me... I had my moments of dispair but I managed to ensure this beast without benzos or ad meds... ( I could have used some ) . I do have some hearing loss in the right ear which I've had since 2012... And experience T that year for a couple of hours then it was gone. When T hit me this year I had a hearing test done and to my surprised my ear has improved and 1 decibel went to normal range. I don't believe my T is cause by the hearing loss but all that is going on with the Bell's palsy and the neuralgia.. I do have tmd and I need to get a custom splint ( don't have the money for it yet, but I will get it soon).on the 18th of this month I will hit the 4 months with T and I'm doing much better than before, my question is, am I habituating to it or indeed T is resolving slowly but surely. My T was not maskable at the beginning , today most daily noises will mask T and everyday it bothers me less and there are longer hours that I don't even notice my T. Sometime I find myself checking for it (can't breake the habit) I'm sleeping better and finding my life getting back to normal... I'm an anxiety freak.. I get anxious faily easy and panicky a lot.. So I do believe T is getting better otherwise I will still be a mess... do you think I still have a chance to have this T resolve since is gradually getting lower and after A period of time treating the neuralgia and the Bell's palsy? Thanks!

 

If you think stress is causing this then try all kinds of relaxation. Massage, deep breathing etc and go out and do things you enjoy like bike riding. I have a feeling your tinnitus may go away in time because it was brought on by a cold. I hope that it does. But many people who have the kind of T you describe find after some time it doesn't bother them at all. I have a loud T that blocks out people's speech so I can't hear what they're saying. But it's not there constantly. It comes in bursts for no known reason. But if that T is not there (it's a super loud cicada or static noise) and I think about it, there is always a quieter squealing tone in my ear that never stops. But I don't notice it unless I listen for it. Your T could become like that also so that in time you ignore it.

 

Hello all, I'm new here. My tinnitus started two weeks ago after a feeling of something shifting in my ear. It's in my right ear only. It's very high pitched and has not stopped at all since it started. I saw an ENT today and he ruled out ear wax impaction and fluid in the ear. My hearing test showed slight hearing loss in the tinnitus ear. His theory at the moment is that it's due to a virus. He offered steroids, but I resisted them because I have a bad history with steroids (the last time I took steroids, I developed celiac disease immediately after--I'm sure the celiac was coming anyway, but it's an autoimmune and perhaps I could have held it off for a few years). I also resisted because I am nursing a ten month old and planned to do so for a while longer. Now that I've read several threads, it seems that my type of tinnitus could react well to steroids. I'm within the time window. Would love some input, particularly from @Kaelon, who is so knowledgeable! Thanks in advance for any help! This is a wonderful community. I realize no one can make my decision for me, but I don't want to lose the chance that steroids might give me if it really seems like a good option. I just feel like I don't have enough info.

 

Oh, and I also have TMJ, but it's not so intense, and I don't think I've ground my teeth in years (although I'm not sure). I don't wake up with a sore jaw/neck. And I don't get headaches. Thanks!

 

Don't beat yourself up too much. We all make mistakes (that's how many of us got here, myself included), and it's not guaranteed that steroids would have worked.

 

@geg1992 which antibiotics?

 

If tinnitus is caused by muscular / jaw problems how long does it take to settle down. I have had problems and sometimes severe pain in my left ear for many years. Not all the time..........it goes away for months at a time but always comes back. For the past eighteen months or so I have also had very loud tinnitus, but only in the one ear.
I have been diagnosed by the hospital for years as having fungal infections which I have treated with prescribed anti fungal ointment and drops.
However, no doctor has ever been able to grow any thing from swabs, and many times I have been told that the doctor concerned could not see any reason for the pain I was in.
A few months back I saw an ENT consultant who sent me for a CT scan. Everything came back completely normal, and he said there was no sign of infection.
I then consulted my dentist who said there was no evidence of teeth grinding, but possibly I was clenching my jaw, so he made me a bite guard. This has actually helped a lot, and the pain is much less, and even when I get it I can seem to "relax" it away. However, the tinnitus is still very loud, although sometimes I have better days with it.
Will it get better if I can relax my jaw more? Do I need some physiotherapy?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I know this is an old thread, but is this true? Are there any studies that reflect this? From what I've heard (albeit anecdotally from doctors). Temporary tinnitus followed by acoustic trauma usually resolves in a matter of days as hearing returns, but when it starts lasting weeks with no change its much more likely it will become chronic?

For me since it started almost 2 weeks ago it has been constant, no change at all.

 

I waited 2 weeks before seeing a specialist. Went through the same, steroids, shots, meds, etc .... nothing worked except my dizzyness and vertigo got better but ear constant ringing and noise... I started with natural remedies and they help. I have written these out and will for you. Please at least try some. They can not hurt unless you have allergies to them.
Apple cider vinegar mixed with honey and water, drink 1 glass 3 times a day for ringing ... noise. organic of course. Try smashing one clove of fresh garlic and mix with castor or sesame seed oil, drain and use 2 or 3 drops in ear at bedtime, Fresh basil and fresh oregano leaves, mash and warm, use juice and drop 2 or 3 into ear during the day, at least 3 times a day. Drink plenty of water and eat or drink pineapple juice, organic. Just some of the things that are very handy around the house and are cost effective, better than prescribed meds that make you worse at times. Hope this helps.

 

Some interesting recipes for T healing. Where can people read up on the reason(s) why such recipes work? T can be from so many causes. So I am curious if these can help the T sufferers with different causes and whether other people have used such recipes with success besides your own experience. Never hurt to learn what natural remedies out there are helping some new T sufferers.