Relapsing Hard...

Hey everyone, I'm new to the board. Tell me if I should turn back now.

Last Wednesday I went to the gun range with a buddy, doubled up on ear protection and shot about 40 rounds of .223 and 40 rounds of .22LR over the course of an hour and a half. Had a blast, didn't feel any pain, and my old T seemed on the mark. Took out the plugs at the end of the day and everything sounded normal.

The next day (Thanksgiving, yay) I felt a pain in my left ear, and a little bit of pressure. I start freaking out and hoping that it's nothing and will clear up tomorrow. Maybe I didn't wear my hearing protection correctly? Maybe the guy next to us was too close? No change the next day so I went to the walk-in and it was found that my eardrum was retracted (no percussive injury) and I had Eustachian tube dysfunction. Bought some Mucinex, then made an appointment with an ENT.

During this whole time my T was doing all sorts of wacky things, changing pitches and getting roaringly loud. I started to get scared and Tuesday couldn't come soon enough. I was waking up in cold sweats, no masking could hide this new surge of energy, it was like I got T all over again.

Saw the ENT and took an audiogram - Left ear is -10db lower than my right at 4k and 6k, indicative of acoustic trauma. When she looked in my nose, however, she was immediately convinced that I had a sinus infection and put me on Prednisone and Antibiotics. My T is still doing weird things... sometimes it will calm all the way down to normal levels, sometimes I get this new computer beeping going on in my right ear (not affected by NIHL at all) that goes "bweeoweeoooweeeoobwee" seemingly randomly.

I tried bargaining with the ENT for a longer stint on the steroids (taking 40mg for two days, then taper) but no dice. I had done so much work on habituating and it all seems to be out the window this week and I can't get out of my own head.

Anyways, having a bit of a trip right now and just wanted to reach out for some support. Last night was the first night I didn't wake up in a sweat. I can be thankful my hearing is still "normal" and my heart goes out to all of you on this board.

Stem cells can't advance fast enough,

 

How did you get your original T??

Hopefully this increase is due to sinus issues rather than the gun range.

 

I'm pretty sure from being young and dumb... Throwing firecrackers, going to loud shows. It was one of those "oh, I can hear this now" thing that I heard a long while back and it's kinda just been stuck with me.

I hope so too, Jason, thank you for your hopes!!