Prednisone Really Helped Me

Just wanted to share this success story in the hopes that it will help some of you.

I got severe Tinnitus suddenly about 14 days ago. It may have begun with a sinus infection but then became something completely strange -- I got an intense high pitched (12,000 Hertz) pure tone with other overtones in my right ear that was so loud and continuous it literally melted my brain. Sound was distorted a bit. I became sensitive to any high frequency sounds. I could not tell which ear the tinnitus was in because it seemed to be in the center of my brain. It was so bad I couldn't sleep, couldn't work, couldn't think. Literally it was overwhelming and I thought I was going to have to drug myself or kill myself because there was no way I was going to be able to live with it. Then I found out it could be a risk of sudden hearing loss and I got scared. I got into an ENT and did a full exam and hearing test.

It turned out I had no hearing loss. My hearing is very good for my age (44). But they did find something unexpected. I had a completely blocked eustachian tube in the right ear. Possibly from allergies or infections or who knows what.

They prescribed a 10 day course of Prednisone, a steroid that reduces inflammation.

24 hours later after beginning the course, the tinnitus is 95% resolved and I feel amazing. What a huge relief.

For some people I think that tinnitus can be caused by a blockage in the plumbing in the ear canal. It's really worth having that checked out. An audiologist can test whether your ear drum is vibrating properly, whether there is fluid in there, whether a tube is blocked etc.

I would even suggest just simply convincing them to let you try a 10 day course of Prednisone as a test because you might find out it really helps.

Another thing of course is that in some cases there is a chronic infection and that may require a culture and antibiotics. If you have an ongoing problem that is not coincident with any actual hearing loss a test that might be worth doing is Prednisone + antibiotics to see if it helps.

A few other interesting things I discovered:

If you can figure out the exact frequency of the sound of your tinnitus -- and you happen to have an audio frequency generator -- it's worth trying this too -- it did give me some relief: tune the frequency generator (or Rife machine, or synthesizer or whatever) to the frequency of your tinnitus tone and play that into your ear. It seems to create destructive interference or at least it stimulates the auditory pathways that are causing the problem and "neutralizes" the tinnitus for a while. This, as well as downloading some tinnitus white noise, rain and wave tracks were all helpful in at least providing some temporary relief.

I also found some supplements for Tinnitus that helped (I have no connection to these companies and your mileage may vary but they helped me):
http://www.tinnitusformula.com/store?gclid=CNitise5zLwCFYqDfgodqTQAuQ
http://www.pureformulas.com/tinnitu...ofessional-formulas.html#sthash.yCa4t9fS.dpbs

But while they were stopgaps, the only thing that TRULY solved the problem was the Prednisone.

After experiencing only 10 days of severe tinnitus I really have sympathy and compassion to all of you here who are struggling with this problem. It is a totally debilitating problem and it MUST be solved -- there MUST be a cure for this. I am hoping and praying that all of you find relief and that my story may be helpful to you. Truly best of luck to you all and don't give up hope.

 

Great! Report back when your T completely disappeared which shall be pretty soon

 

Hi !thanks for the testimony. Could you please answer a few questions ?
1) what dpes of prednidose did you take?
2) did you have any other symptom of stuck Eustachian tube? Such as fulness in the ear?
3) was the noise any different on the left side of your head? the left tube was unstuck or just stuck a little less?
4) what did they do to test your tubes ( funny, just yesterday my ignorant gp said it CANNOT be checked..) even if I read plenty of times on the net it can.

 

1) what dpes of prednidose did you take?

Oral - don't remember the dosage. It was 10 days.

2) did you have any other symptom of stuck Eustachian tube? Such as fulness in the ear?

Yes fullness and tinnitius.

3) was the noise any different on the left side of your head? the left tube was unstuck or just stuck a little less?

one side was stuck or infected or both, the other was normal

4) what did they do to test your tubes ( funny, just yesterday my ignorant gp said it CANNOT be checked..) even if I read plenty of times on the net it can.

they did a pressure test to see if the tubes cleared. You need an ENT for that not a GP.

Please see my other threads with a lot more info. I cured it.

 

@engineerLA I have a problem with eustachian tube it cracking always this problem can cause tinnitus?

 

Thanks a lot @engineerLA . Pity you don't remember the dose. Duration is one thing, dose another. I'm asking cause I'm suspecting problems with my tubes and your case sounds similar to mine, however I don't have the feeling of fulness. I needed this info to compare with myself. I'm in France here gps have much more power and qualifications ( theoretically..) than elsewhere. They only send you to the specialist if you're a heavy case. i didn't necessarily expect him to test my tubes but he should know it's possible to test it except telling me otherwise. He was so sure of himself. Anyway, thanks. I will read your other posts.

 

Shouldn't anyone's first response to developing T always be to see their agP and then ENT? I mean if you had a simple case of blockage or something like that causing your T any ENT should be able to find that and solve it fairly quickly wouldn't they? Or even some GPs might pick this up? I think most people with this kind of T would eventually have it cleared up as it would not be a permanent problem.
So glad you discovered the cause of yours and that it can be solved fairly simply and quickly. Here's to T free days ahead for you and maybe soon for everyone.

 

Can anyone advise me if I should take prednisone as my Tinnitus started just a month ago? I read that, it can work at very early stage. As I have already passed a month, am I already late? Also not sure, how can I get that, as it is impossible to buy any medicine over the counter without doctor's prescription and the doctor won't prescribe anything just because I wanted.

My tinnitus was caused by testing a subwoofer, Audiologist found that I have a high-frequency hearing loss (almost 50db).

 

Has anyone else felt this way? I have and suppose some others here. I am still unclear why I am better today....I have the high pitched ringing but not the horrific noise of yesterday. Was it because I used some of engineerLA's methods or just being distracted and busier today IDK? Sometimes in our desperation it's hard to think clearly.

 

How heartening to read this story!

My experience might give people hope as well. I took prednisolone (20 mg a day for 4 days, then tapered) and it seemed to change the sound (lower it) but also it seemed louder.

I thought it did not help, just like every other cure I tried, from antihistamines to basil leaves (the folk remedy in the local Mexican village I live in).

The only thing that seemed to temporarily help was "steaming my ears" in boiling hot showers.

Then I went to Paris, and saw an informed GN.

She told me immediately that my dosage was ridiculously low and of course would do nothing.

And then gave me a series of exams that NO DOCTOR had given me yet: walking eyes closed, to check my balance, touching my nose with my fingers.

My tinnitus was from a bronchial (viral?) infection, combined with flying on a plane AND TMJ, and an ear infection.

She guessed that my eustachian tube might still be inflamed. I knew it had been, becuase exactly like the writer above: one ear seemed jammed, I heard the sound in "my brain" like crickets, and when an audiologist blew air on the congested ear, it "popped" and my hearing got normal.

But this was all TWO MONTHS AGO.

This generalist in Paris ut me immediately on 50 mg of tinnitus as a boost last-chance.

If I had believed all the websites I read that prednisolone cna only help in the first weeks (if not hours) of tinnitus then I would not have taken it.

Yet, I found that "time limit" illogical. If the cause is inflammation, then the inflammation obviously can be "cured" anytime.

I took the 40 mg to start.

The next morning my tinnitus was 100% gone.

Now was it the prednisolone?

Or was it the fact that the very day before I took the prednsilone I had an "awakening" about the tinnitus?

For the last two months, I had been fighting it, feeling doomed, and feeling depressingly mortal, now struck with a life-long disease--condemned to hell, while normal people around me went around enjoying life, without even fathoming how DAMNED some of us are.


When it suddenly occurred to me: we are ALL mortal and 'damned" by something or other--

This is the life condition.

The revelaton was that the reason I was miserable was not just the tinnitus and lack of sleep---but the desperation to get THIS DAMNED TINNITUS OUT OF MY SYSTEM and feeling damaged and sub-human with it.

It had dropped me out of the human race. My former life seemed like paradise--a paradise I could never again access. Instead for the rest of my life there was chalk scratching on a blackboard--my brain---at a high screeching frequency.

I could hear it when I spoke to other people. I could not concentrate on movies, hearing this sound, and I am a movie critic. It was blocking EVERY ASPECT OF MY LIFE.

Or was it?

What if I just decided it did not block anything at all, but was my own personal soundtrack?

The revelation was not to FIGHT my own body. To decide that my life was a good as I decided it to be, with or without the tinnitus.

The hardest part : to accept that I sleep badly and wake up exhausted.

So I am a person who sleeps badly, I told myself. That is a fact. Just like it is a fact that some people lose their leg in war. I decided to accept that as well. Just as a fact.

There went my panic attack!

The next day I cheerfully--without desperation or expectation--took the 50 mg prednisolone that night--why not try?

It was the first time I had this "why not" attitude, rather than panic and despair, jamming anything I could into those ears (and understanding why VIncent Von Gogh--who had Menieres Disease--cut his ear off).

I took it, forgot about it--and went to sleep.

And slept.

It is completely gone, today.

Now: the question is, will it come back?

I have decided to be calm whether it does or not. The fact that I learned how to live with myself as "handicapped" is a huge achievement---and already I am thankful for this life-changing experience.

I was helped enormously by this forum: seeing and admiring how strong and valiant all these "silent" sufferers are about their tinntius.

Ironically: it is a "silent" handicap. Nobody can see it. You are not on crutches.

But it is as excruciaing.

To realize that people live with excruciating suffering--and STILL go forward--and I did not even know these millions of people were out there...

is a very humbling experience.

Since my tinnitus, which I complained about loud and clear, in hundreds of emails to friends and acquaintances

I was humbled to find out that while I was screaming like JOB about my unfair fate---

almost 1 out of 4 of my friends wrote back that they had the same, if not worse,.

They had been suffering in silence all these years..

And I had never known.

A lesson in accepting the human condition--and not think "why me"

BUT to never stop fighting with everything one has to find the trick that heals!

I

 

How insightful is your post!

 

Best thing I've read all day. Thanks so much and I pray it's STILL gone 100%.

 

@goodmorning Thank you for sharing your story.
If you are still around these parts would you be willing to tell your experience after the prednisolone? I have had high pitched unilateral Tinnitus for approximately 3 months that coincided with a job change... possibly anxiety induced. Also, I ride bike a lot and think it could be from the wind sound across my outer ears but I have been cycling for years and the sudden onset doesn't make sense.

 

I'm assuming you mean a tympanometry? It turns out, you don't need an ENT to recommend that, just a low life on a tinnitus forum.

Anyways, I'm happy that something worked for you. I would put out a hint of caution about recommending antibiotics, as some are ototoxic.

Best of luck in the future.

EDIT: I just realized how old this is. The OP is so far into the future that they are probably on Mars by now.