Played with Fire and I'm Now Paying the Consequences

[Chris_havinghope]

Hi, I am new to this forum but not to tinnitus. I have had tinnitus for some years now. It has been bearable because I only heard it at night or in complete silence. I should have taken my tinnitus a lot more seriously but I did not. I have been using earphones at low volumes and using a headset when gaming. I've had one spike a year ago but it went away. I also have fleeting tinnitus every now and then.

However on the 28th of December of last year I went out with some friends to go clubbing and dancing. Like an idiot, I did not wear any ear protection. That night the ringing was intense. It subsided the following morning a little but was still louder than it was before. Over the last week I have had moments of silence followed by periods of an electrical hiss. It go louder yesterday all of a sudden. I tried to mask it some soft jazz played through my laptop. However, this only seemed to worsen it. I should also mention that the fleeting hissing was mostly in my left ear. However, it got changed only to my right ear yesterday and shot up. I went to the E.R immediately and they said they could do nothing.

I asked for some Prednisone and was given some. My right year improved dramatically over the course of an hour. It went away even this morning until around 11 am. My right ear seems sensitive to sound now. But hard to tell.

I have been looking through the hyperacusis forums for help for early prevention and recovery. But it is hard to disseminate the information. Can anyone direct me in some early steps to take to possibly get me through this. I am really scared for my future. I already cancelled a final that was due today and therefore failed the class. My plans for my future seem to be going out the window. I am just trying to cope and be hopeful.

Anyone have any advice on my possible fleeting tinnitus/spike and possible developing hyperacusis?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[fishbone]

What is done is done. All of us including myself have made some bad choices too. You already took some pred, so time is the only thing left. You should just give it some time and see how you feel. Stress and anxiety will bring on a spike and keep a spike going on as well. Possibly find a reputable audiologist near you and see if they can treat hyperacusis.

You are young and don't think that your future is going to be bad, just because you have tinnitus. You can still live your life, just modify some elements of it. Don't ever give up!

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with fishbone that what is done is done and that you need to keep stress level down to avoid your limbic nervous system from taking over and you will then function in fight or flight mode, making everything so much more intensed and sensitized. Your T is not the 7/24 and loud type and so count that as a blessing and be more positive and relax about it. This will keep your stress level low. H is troublesome but it is usually temporary and will fade over time even if you get it. I have had both ultra high pitch T and severe H back then and I was in a mess initially. But today I live a normal, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. So don't worry about it too much. If you have the time, check out my success story where I also share many helpful strategies. Don't panic and worry too much. Try to protect from loud sounds but don't over-protect from normal ambient sounds to avoid developing sound sensitivity. Things will improve. Take care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/