Prednisone Four Days Later...

Hey, just came back from the ENT.

He told me it could be TMJ, because my jaw is not aligned (when I was a kid my jaw was desaligned and I used braces from 2y/o to 10y/o approx), because bruxism, and because I've had several episodes of stress and anxiety in the past month that could've worsen it. He told me ear irrigation had nothing to do with it, but I told him I wanted to take Prednisone because it might help (I think it might me acoustic trauma) and he wrote me a prescription which goes like this (I'm 67kg, 1,68m):
-Prednisone 50mg x 7 days
-37mg on day 8
-25mg on day 9
-12.5mg on day 10

I'm on day 4 since the tinnitus onset, i don't think it's too late and it has chances of working. I'll go see an odontologyst next week, and also have another two appointments with ENTs next week.

The ringing has susbsided and the pitch is not that high anymore. I could sleep fine last night and I'm less stressed right now.

What are your thoughts? Is the tapering of prednisone alright?

Thank you

 

He might be right, but ear syringing (as you wrote in your intro) was deemed unsafe in these draft guidelines by the NHS:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/27/ear-syringing-unsafe-doesnt-work-health-chiefs-warn

It is specifically mentioned that:

1. "The use of a metal syringe risks damaging the tympanic membrane and the oval and round windows of the ear."
2. "It also presents a risk because of the difficulty controlling water pressure, which can increase the damage, and can be challenging to disinfect."

But it is not uncommon for medical professionals to not keep up with the latest research and guidelines (so I am not surprised that he wouldn't know). Specifically, the ENT community has a long history of relying on their backbone knowledge rather than keeping up-to-date with research.

 

Thank you for answering @attheedgeofscience ! I said the same thing... That it was ear syringing but he didn't thought of it so... Do you think prednisone might help? Both of my ears are a bit swollen and apparently had no signs of infection. I'm hoping it goes away soon

 

You seem to have a number of potential causes. So... difficult to say. In the event that corticosteroids are indicated for acoustic trauma, they need to be given very early on - say - within the first 48h. Regardless, protect your ears at all times; don't do anything rash like cutting antidepressants cold turkey after long-term use. Engage in activities that facilitate habituation (i.e. living as normal as possible). Try to do that for the first four weeks and see where you are in a month's time (and re-evaluate, if necessary).

There is a psychiatrist in the Doctor's Corner that you can ask for advice if needed. He is straightforward no-nonsense kind-of-person.

 

The dose is a high dose of steroids and a quick taper.
Steroids come with there own problems and not nice so I hope you go on ok with them and side effects.
Love glynis

 

It's been 72 hours or so since the onset, i think i might have a chance... Let's see how it goes. I'll document it right here @attheedgeofscience.

Normally in Wellbutrin people get tinnitus within the first week/month on it, it's weird three years after first taking it. I'm not sure it caused it, but I'm going with prednisone because I would not forgive myself if I didn't take the shot.

My T is really mild though. Can't hear it normally, only at night. The high pitch has diminished, I believe. I'm really hoping it goes away soon... Or the prednisone makes it even lower. I'll ask the psychiatrist tho, thank you.

Hi @glynis, thank you for answering. The ENT told me that, and I spoke with my psychiatrist and she said that we could manage. As I said, I wouldn't forgive myself if i didn't take the shot. Do you think the period of time is too short?

 

I would do a longer taper but thats up to your doctor.
Love glynis

 

Ok, so I'm updating:
Started prednisone 50mg x 7 days, on the 4th day since the onset.

Day 1 on prednisone: Took the first pill at 11 AM. Haven't read the side effects of prednisone because I don't want to "jinx" it and maybe start looking for things where there are none. Noticed a lower pitch and perhaps silence (!) for an hour or so. After that it went normal again. My pitch was nearly 12000 hz. Fell asleep quickly and didn't wake up during the night, but still masking. Didn't notice a change in my apetite. The day before I was really anxious and suicidal. The prednisone did nothing to change my mood, I was relaxed and a bit happy.

Day 2: Took the pill with breakfast. Didn't notice a change in my apetite throughout the day (I don't snack, just eat breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner). Woke up to a buzzing sound, it was noticeable but not that loud actually. It felt like when you open a can of soda. At 6 PM I heard a much louder pitch for 1 second, kind of the sound a Macintosh does when it shuts down suddenly . After that I went out, put on my earplugs and everything seem quieter, I felt silence again but didn't really stopped to think about it because i didn't want to "jinx" it again. When I came back home, the silence -or mild T- changed and did a funny sound for less than a second. It went louder and steady, like the sound old internet connections used to do, haha. After that, the pitch has changed from buzzing to a higher pitch to nothing noticeable, but it can be masked with rain sounds and TV shows. I don't feel different, my mood hasn't changed, I'm not sad or anxious. Nothing weird with my body.

I bought some supplements: vitamin C 500mg, zinc, magnesium chloride 500mg, melatonin 3g. Let's see how it goes.

 

Day 2 - later: After I wrote that post, I felt silence. I sat here, where I write this right now and I couldn't hear a thing. An hour later I went to sleep in silence, without masking. Had a great night. Slept all the way through. Kinda felt I had to enjoy that moment and I did, with all my heart and soul.

Day 3: Woke up with a buzzing sound, but it wasn't loud. I don't think it came from my ears, but I didn't pay that much attention. The high pitched noise I heard on the first days is nowhere to be found. I felt sad during the day... Exactly 8 days ago I was just fine... with an ear clugged with wax but fine. I can't dwell on the past, I just have to live the present, but it's hard. If only.... If only I had stucked with glycerin drops instead of going to the ENT... If only I had let him remove earwax from the right ear only... If only I had done more research on ear syringing... This is not helping at all, haha. I have read little prednisone 'success' stories, and the ones i've read mostly say there is a decrease of the pitch but it doesn't goes away (I was lucky? to find a thread almost the same as mine! updating every day until the last day and giving away the details. Hadn't had that much of a hope, actually, but yeah, it came back and he signed for the AM-101 trials, never heard of him again). I'm sad. I'm only 20. I don't regret the headphone usage or listening to music, I LOVE IT, but there's really nothing I can do from now on: just protect my ears.

A song from Touché Amoré just came to my head "I took inventory of what I took for granted, and I ended up with more than I imagined" and it kind of sums up my life right now. Also, had a great afternoon with my grandma and dad, listening to music on a low volume in the car and I thought "why am I feeling like this? Life isn't over, I can overcome this, it is just a sound and it won't hurt me". Having dealt with suicidal feelings and several attempts in the past, I know I am stronger than this, and I won't let it control my life or future. I've beaten full-on bulimia, self-harm and some other things, a pitch in my head won't do anything to me. I love my mum, my dad, my sister. I am grateful every single day for them, and I can't and won't kill myself over this. Patience is key...

I don't know. Don't have much hope on T fading away completely, even though it's been 7 days since the onset. I'll just have to adjust and adapt, have the sound as a guest inside my ears but not welcome it, not give it the space it is asking for, not giving him the key. I'm in university right now, and my program demands a lot of reading in silence. T will be a friend, someone to talk to, someone who reads with me, but that will be gone whenever I want to. I'm trying to imagine myself in a couple of years, habituated or hopefully recovered (!), living a normal life, doing a master's degree somewhere far away from here.

I'm quite pissed though. My cousins are 25 years old, go out to really loud clubs three times a week for up to 10 hours, get shitfaced and have tried all kinds of drugs, go to techno gigs/concerts almost every month, use earphones and don't protect themselves, and they are just fine. I have envy all over my body. I am pissed. Life is not fair, I know that, but WHY MEEEEEE?

More than an update it was a way of dealing with my thoughts. I'll see my therapist tomorrow, will have done an audiogram and on tuesday will be having an appointment with two different ENTs specialized on T. Now my right ear has a wooshing sound. Funny. My aunt had T from ototoxic medications after treating her face paralysis, she got better and didn't pay that much attention to it. My sister had it too, apparently from fluid trapped inside her ear. I don't know, you guys. I don't want to be all negative, and even when my head and brain expects me to do so, I won't give up. I am strong. I have overcomed every obstacle in my life.

Prior to this I was under a lot of stress and anxiety. Had anxiety and panic attacks since december 16, first from a pregnancy scare, after that it was HPV, and after that it was HIV... After two days of easyness, HIV came back with gonorrhea and chlamydia... Got tested; nothing. After a week it was skin cancer and the arm in which I have the mole started to spasm and hurt and I thought "shit. it has metastasized"... went to the dermatologist, it was nothing. After skin cancer it was acne and insulin resistance, until 8 days ago when T came into my life after an ear wax cleaning procedure. I guess it was the way of life telling me to get my shit together and start worrying about something REAL.

I have a really close relationship with my mom, and she hurts when she sees me like this. I have to get a grip on life, start living, doing productive things and growing as a person. Can't let this stop me. Make her proud, happy.

That's it. I'll update through this next 7 days of Prednisone and that'll be it.

 

I swear I feel like I'm reading myself when you write sometimes, even the health scares, of which there have been dozens I can list... Over the years I've completely convinced myself I had carpal tunnel, brain damage from a drug OD, HIV, retinal detachment, the works; and the real stuff being diagnosed with severe OCD, PTSD, and psychosis, and that's just the main stuff...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if this even gives comfort at all, you're not alone in this garbage. It may sound dumb and empty and so cliche but from one sufferer to another I really hope things work out for you some way, whether without T (I sincerely hope) or with. You seem like a real survivor, and though I know all too well of the limits a person can go through, I believe you can do it...

I'm sorry again if this isn't very helpful...

 

Day 3 - later: Went to sleep after taking melatonin. The buzz wasn't annoying, it's actually the sound I hear when I get shitfaced drunk. Didn't mask the sound. Woke up at 3:50 AM or so, but it's normal in me. Went back to sleep and woke up again at 5 AM because my cousin alarm rang. Went back to sleep without problems and finally got out of bed at 7 AM or so.

Day 4: I've been plugging my ears when I go out to university because the streets I walk through are really loud, and public transportation can be a really loud place too. I'm a bit worried as it might be doing too much but i think it feels right. Haven't developed hearing sensitivity.

I'm not hungry, nothing aches, been sleeping well, not anxious, my eyes don't hurt. I haven't read prednisone side effects but so far, nothing new. Perhaps not going to the bathroom as often but it's normal in me so... yeah.

My T was quiet for the most part today. It spiked four times or so: the first one lasted for less than a second and I followed @I who love music BTS technique and repeated "Lo oigo y no me importa". The second time was sitting in the Audiogram room and it went a bit loud and steady for less than a second time. I shrugged it off and continued with the procedure (it wasn't painful! i even did tympannometry and it was gentle, not loud and great overall, sad because the results didn't show a middle ear infection or fluid in my ears, which could've been one of the best prognosis, in my eyes...) The third time was after I arrived home and lied down in bed. I was very conscious of this and started breathing and repeating "Lo oigo y no me importa, porque me voy a mejorar/lo oigo y no siento miedo/lo oigo y estoy tranquila/lo oigo y no me importa porque se va a ir" and it went away. It was really cool to see how the pitch went down every time I said that BTS technique works . And last but not least, and it was something that surprised me was the high pitch that came on when I yawned and how it went away when I yawned a second time. It's funny how the changes in my T leave me surprised and atonished but in a cool way haha. My reaction is like "b*tch..... are you really capable of doing this? lmao, keep pushing on!". Oh yeah, I had ear "fullness" today on my left and right ear (does anyone knows why it happens?)... I tried not to move my jaw to make it pop because I read the inflammation builds up and it's no good. At the dentist they told me they had to remove my lower wisdom teeth to make the neuromiorelaxing plaque (dunno how to say it in english, sorry), but I'm not sure I wan't to go under that operation, as they must break a bit of my tooth and jaw to get it out. Might make my T worse and I don't want to risk it.

I went to the appointment with my psychiatrist and I came to the conclusion that there's nothing I can do but let time pass and let it be. As I said yesterday, I can live with this. I'm not anxious anymore, and it's quite impressive for me, I'm really proud! I can hear it and not hyperventilate or worry, although i'm working on the forgive phase. Dunno if it's too early to begin habituation, but at least I have gotten to the "acceptance" part. My normal baseline now with prednisone sounds like cicadas in the summer, and it reminds me so much of home <3, even though sometimes the pitch gets higher but I can stand it. Tomorrow is my appointment with a new ENT, so I'll tell her about the prednisone and if she's able to make it a little longer for me, as it might increase the chances of getting better. Also ask her about acoustic trauma. My mum is here with me, so it gives me some support because I have her by my side.

I'll be taking things day by day. Not everything can be good always!

And to finish today's update, I'll leave you with a quote of one of my favourite movies: Gummo.
"Life is beautiful. Really, it is. Full of beauty and illusions. Life is great. Without it, you'd be dead".

 

Hey Paganismos,
Great to hear you are doing better. Good idea to give your hearing a rest for a bit. One ENT I talked to said it is important to give your hearing more rest after noise trauma (which could be what started it for you). A couple days ago I was at the dentist for a regular check and it just dawned on me that all the appliences sounded a bit louder then usual, I didn't think of that while going there. Anyway, stay positive, do stuff you enjoy doing.

 

Hey everyone, me again. Today it's my last day on prednisone, already tapering off since day 8.
Didn't really had any side effects besides some muscle pain for a few seconds on day 6 and was really hungry one or two days. Didn't notice any changes on my T besides the changes in the pitch to a lower one on the first days but they went down so... Didn't had stomach ache or anything noticeable. Slept just fine (I'm on quetiapin for sleeping and anxiety). Ehhh, my psychiatrist told me to stay away from the internet so that's what I've been doing.

Over the last week I have had acupuncture and neural therapy. My left ear felt full and apparently was due to tension in my jaw, and the acupuncture helped me fix it, so I've been ear fullness-free for a week or so. I don't hear a high pitched noise anymore, T went away on left ear and my right ear has a tone around the 3590 hZ frequency (and it varies a lot, it goes up to a higher tone, to a lower one, like the alarm on a car or something), non intrusive, low volume, can't hear it if I'm not in a quiet room, so it's improving, I guess. I have a buzzing sounds sometimes, mostly if i'm lying down but I'd rather have that than a tone in my ear haha. I'm really looking forward to these days without prednisone, see if it changes.

My ENT told me to took 50mg of prednisone for 14 days but I rather not, so took 50mg x 8 days, then on the 9th day took 3/4 of a pill, then on the 10th and 11th day 1/2 a pill and today was my last dose with 1/4 of a pill.

I'm more relaxed, yesterday and today were good days. My anxiety is leaving me slowly and been trying to relax and do some other things to keep focused. Yesterday night I could barely notice my T.

Changes are good, right?

 

Thank you! I've been using earplugs outside, mostly in public transport. My hearing has improved and for the first few days I thought I might be developing hyperacusia but ALAS nothing happened so i kind of relaxed. I really really hope it goes away, been taking things slowly and living day by day. Some guy on reddit said he had T for a bit after acoustic trauma (gun shot) and it stopped on the three weeks mark. I'm not sure because it seems so little time, but I see things improving and me living my life the same, it gives me a little hope. Also, I know another two people whose T went away! My aunt had face paralysis and due to medication got T. She doesn't recall how long it took to go away but after more than 6 months it did, eventually. And the father of a friend had T after three syringing procedures and it went away after three months or so. I'm young and healthy (don't do drugs, or smoke, and been alcohol free for quite a while, exercise and eat good), so I have my hopes up for remission. Thinks look brighter sometimes. My mind is a powerful thing, so I'm training it to make this stop LOL.

Anyways, that's it. I'll be back in a couple of days or weeks to keep up this thread.

 

Hello again, new update and positive news!

It's been three weeks since onset. So far my T has gotten much much better. After a 12 day course of prednisone since day 4 since onset the high pitched noise in my left ear has gone and my right ear has a much much much lower and intermittent tone that I can only hear if I look for it, plug my ears with complete silence. I'm really hopeful on remission right now, and looking back, my mind is a lot calmer and quiet. Been sleeping without sound enrichment these past two days since I can't really hear it anymore.

Sugar, salt, coffee and alcohol did nothing to my T. It didn't spike after hearing loud noise either.
I'm still left with a soft buzz in my head but it's nothing I can't manage, I hope it goes away soon.

That's it!

 

I really appreciate you coming back to write these updates. Thank you.