Now I'm Really Terrified! Please Help Me!

Dr, I'm desperate. I don't know if you've seen this before but I need to find someone who has! I just saw an ENT and there's nothing wrong, but my tinnitus keeps getting louder by the week! He couldn't tell me why and now I'm scared it will get unmaskible and painful and who knows what else! Its quiet enough to mask now but everything makes it worse! Even doing nothing makes it worse! And every time I take any medicine ototoxic or not, it spikes it for hours! Can you please help me find out what the heck is happening and why!? Do you know ANYONE who's seen this before!?

 

Shadgirl, what you describe is not all that uncommon. Moreover, it is readily explainable if you understand a bit about how the limbic system (emotion) and the autonomic nervous system (self-protection and preservation) interact with the auditory cortex (where you actually "hear").

I understand that you live not far from Cleveland. My suggestion would be for you to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Sharon Sandridge for tinnitus evaluation. It would be far better to be working from a firm base of knowledge about you and your tinnitus than merely from educated guessing, which is what I'd be doing at this point. Dr. Sandridge is excellent. I know her well and hold her in high regard.

All the best with it -

stephen nagler