Silence Is Gone in Sweden

Hello everybody! I have been lurking around here for the last week so i thought it was time to introduce myself.
I have had this high pitch synthetic ringing noise in my left ear since 3 weeks, it was an accident when fooling around with my loved dog, he barked me right in my left ear. First i just fell a shock and felt some fullness in the ear and did not think to much about it. 24 hours later the hell started.

For the first week i went on with my life as much i could, working out and was not so worried. It really bothered my when trying to sleep thou, i am normally a guy who loves silence and was used to sleep with ear plugs in and i was very easily disturbed by noises. Sleeping with plugs was totally impossible at my new state (had been doing that for 20 years).

During the first week i protected my ears from sounds like i have read was the right thing to do. But one night when struggling to get som rest i just totally panicked and freaked out, i was realising that this evil thing might not go away. Since that night almost two weeks ago i am full of catastrophic thoughts. I had a time at my hospitals ear specialist who examined my and told me there was nothing wrong with my ear as far as he could see. He tested my hearing and there was no problem with that either. He told me to listen to some white noise and gave me some awful pills (Zolpidem)..and then just calm down and get used to it. I can add that i never have taken any kind of drugs or sleeping pills earlier but here i feel that i have no choice

The pills he gave me makes me sleep for the first 3 hours of the night, then the ringing starts and wakes me up every 20 minutes. I haven´t tried white noise for sleeping yet because i don´t want to escape the problem, guess i am thinking wrong here or? I know that my mind play tricks on me, i am not sure if it is the T that awakes me all the time or if it´s the anxiety.

I run my own business but at my current state i cannot do it at all. Another thing that adds to my stress i that me and my wife are going to have our first child in 1,5 months. Should be very happy about this but now it just adds to my anxiety, how am i going to cope with that new situation when i even can´t take care of myself. I am also very sensitive to sounds like plates clashing and so on. A crying baby scares me pretty much at my current state. Before T i was used to lifting weights and take care of my body, but in the last two weeks i can barely get out of bed. I know that working out would be good for me but i just can´t motivate myself.

I have an appointment with another doctor the coming week.

My questions to you who also suffered from a sound chock. Since my hearing still is intact, can i hope for that the sound will reduce a little over time? I have gave up on that it will go away. Should ad that it had been constant and the same sound and volume since it happened.

I eat magnesium and mega stress b caps, i don´t put much faith in them thou.

Have a nice day everybody and sorry for the poor grammar and the messy text.

 

Despite the medical literature stating that tinnitus is not chronic until after six months - it - in reality is "surprisingly permanent" already after a short while (ie. weeks). I therefore recommend doing as much as you can early on (which is also what you have done so far by seeing a doctor). As you appear to have acoustic trauma, a course of steroids (Prednisolone) can be of value early on (first 24/48 hours after onset). Unfortunately, the doctor you went to did not recognize this possibility. The only real possibility of reversing (some of) the damage at this point is to seek out an ENT specialist/surgeon who would be willing to provide you with a steriod injection directly into the middle/inner ear. Certainly not all ENTs will be willing to do this - some will, some won't. So it is a bit of trial and error - and indeed the injections may not work. You need to discuss that with an ENT specialist on a case-by-case basis.

I have been seeing tinnitus specialists all over the world - literally - and in one instance an ENT specialist I met said he had performed steroid injections into the inner ear of a patient who was about to undergo chemotherapy (which is ototoxic). This kind of procedure of giving the steroid injections in advance of damage to the ear is normally not done, but in this case the ENT specialist was willing to experiment for the benefit of the patient - and it saved her hearing. So again, it really depends on the doctor you go to see: some will (almost) laugh at you if you mention steriod injections, others will take it very seriously and do anything to help you.

As for sleeping, Zolpidem is only useful short term. Melatonin (6mg, half hour before bedtime) is better for long term sleep management.

EDIT:

Getting involved with the AM101 trial is also a potential possibility.

Alt det bedste herfra.

 

Thanks for the reply. Steroids are completely out of the question, don´t even think that my doctor knows what that is. I Have a hard time just speaking to him in my native language (he´s not from Sweden, some arabic language would have worked better on him).

Guess i am doomed then and have to rely on the vitamins and the awful white noise that makes me puke. Zolpidem is an awful drug in my opinion, have horrible dreams on them and nausea before they pass me out. Guess some light Antidep. would do it better for me. Not sure how to explain that to my doctor thou

 

Try Imovane for sleeping. Much better. I also hate white noise, but I love the sound of rain. I would probably sleep with SimplyRain iOS app sound now even without the T!

Hang in there. The first weeks are the hardest for everyone. There are several useful threads about it here. I for example wrote one last just week. I think it's great that you will soon get your first child. The reason is simple - you simply won't have time to think about your T then -> the best coping mechanism!

 

As with anything in life, what you invest in a "project", is equal to what you get out of it. So I wouldn't rely on your public GP helping you in this case. Gone are the days where doctors know best - and they hate it. You need to take matters into your own hands and do whatever is necessary. Make some calls to various specialist clinics, search the Internet, travel abroad for treatment, spend some cash, do whatever it takes...!

 

A lot of fellow scandis here. I hope you are right Sound, saw you thread earlier and all looks very easy but when just in the middle of it it´s hard to have the right mindset. I am just in survive mode atm, struggle eating and sleeping. Tried the rain sound for some evening when i wanted to relax and watch a hockey game. The problem i having with white sounds is that they are so strong connected with anxiety for me, i get a feeling of wanting to throw up when listening to them

 

Yes there are. I know what you mean with survive mode. I was there as well not so long ago. In January to be exact. The hardest weeks of my life easily. I even lost 5kg of weight and I quite a slim guy already.

The reason why I wrote my post about forcing your body to relax is that I wish I had seen that kind of an advice in the beginning when I was in that surive mode. The reason is two fold. 1) When your body is in high stress state, EVERYTHING is bad. Your T included. 2) When you are intially stressed and in panic about your T, you 'teach your brain' in a VERY negative way, which trust me, you don't want to do. The worst scenario is that your brain 're-wires' into a chronic T mode and the habituation process becomes harder.

P.S. Here's one Swedish T doctor who specializes in somatic T - http://www.yts.se/english/tinnitus.htm

 

Thank you for the link Sound..

Time for a little update.

On the downside...

The sound is still there, higher than ever

On the upside...

My sleep has been better lately, got at total of 17 hours during the two last nights. First night without an anxiety attack the last night. They will sure come back but one without was a blessing. I am on Imovane (7,5mg) for sleep. I take one pill pre bed. The last doctor i went so gave me Atarax as well. Only tried one 25mg once and iam not sure if i felt any difference. Probably i have jinxed the following night by writing this and the United forces of T are planning to mount a cavalry charge upon my pillow tonight

I have been watching some hockey games, on tv of course and i can relax ok while doing this.

Planning to take on exercising again, lifting weight and som long distance running. A little bit to weak still yet, but since i have had better sleep i feel somewhat stronger, at least today...

Since i know my T is very much reactive to sounds it´s a little bit easier to handle and is not causing me the same anxiety anymore, i know it will be heard in the car while driving so i does not scare me as much like it did a week ago.

I question to you others how suffered from an acoustic trauma and had T for a while, have you noticed any changes when it comes to T that reacts to other sounds over time?

Another question, how does your T react to heavy exercise? I understand that it will spike big time just afterwards.


And thank you all for the support!

If i sounds strong i can assure you i am not

 

Hi @Nick the Swede, fellow Swede here! First of all, judging by your description I believe the chances that your tinnitus will get considerably better are really good. I find exercising really helpful, for my mental health. Yoga is the best, but maybe that's not for you? My T doesn't spike after exercising, rather the opposite, but my T is not due to acoustic trauma.
What I find interesting on international forums like this is the difference in "treatment" options in different countries. For instance, many people here take melatonin for sleeping since it's available over the counter in some countries. Here in Sweden it's only available on prescription, as a short term sleeping aid for people over 55. Also I doubt very much whether any ENT here would do steroid injections in the ear for tinnitus. And surgical procedures like snipping off muscles in the ear I think are a No No here. Since most "treatments" seem to be done on a trial and error basis, it may be just as well.
Keep looking forward to your baby, once you are a parent I'm sure you will find that we are a lot stronger than we think! You will be fine!

 

Thank You very much Catarina! Downloaded some Minfulness apps on the Iphone but it gives me the creeps, guess it takes som training to use them in the right way. Any tips there? I am willing to give it a try again.

Read my post again and there are some horrible english in it, sry for that.

 

I've also downloaded a couple of things like that, self-hypnosis, meditations etc. They usually make me fall asleep, which I suppose is not bad. If they give you the creeps, perhaps you should skip them for the moment at least. It may be too early for you. How about seeing a therapist? My automatic response to that suggestion was: "I don't need a therapist. I need my ear to get better". But just sitting down with somebody who will let you rant on is actually quite helpful. I got my ENT to refer me to an audiologist at Hörsel- och dövenheten in Malmö and through them I can also get access to a therapist, courses in mindfulness etc. And they deal with people with tinnitus on a daily basis. I don't know where you are in Sweden, but I expect there will be something like that near you too.

 

Stockholm, so there is plenty of options when it comes to a therapist. I have thought about it and for sure i am willing to try that. As you said maybe there is a little bit to early for me.

 

Great to hear that you can sleep Nick. It makes a world of difference as you say! Imovane helped me also a lot. I have now gradually lowered that same 7,5 mg dosage to 1/4 and I could probably stop using that as well now and get to sleep without any meds.

You mentioned watching hockey as a way to relax. I downloaded ALL seasons of Sopranos and watched 2-3 episodes per evening. What a show! One of the all time bests. Those were the only hours of the day when I could relax as well in the first weeks.

Trust me, your anxiety will start to go down soon if you keep on sleeping better, relaxing even a few hours during the day and keep living your life as normal as possible. Most likely the T will follow and improve as well. Hang in there!

 

Thanks Sound!

Sleeping is more important than i first thought, put things in another perspective when you have some hours under your belt. Had my appetite back last night and was eating all night long.

Sopranos is one of the best shows ever. I am in the middle of Breaking bad atm, another great one.

 

Nick the swede hello mate,your white noise thing.I allways find it a bit harsh, Have you ever thought of pink noise ?

Think you will find some on you tube.A lot "softer"


EDITED there you go buddy

Sweeping Pink Noise - Ten Hours - Ambient Sound

 

You can always try anxiety meds they calm you and help with your panic and worries in the beginning of T..

 

Thanks Car. I have tried that but i cant say it works for me.

Still early days for me but i am not as afraid of the sounds like i was in the first weeks, anxiety is under control. Still Iam very focused on the sound thou. Read different advices about how to handle it in the beginning. One is try to ignore it and the other is listen to it and get to know it. I have been doing the later one. What do you people recommend? Guess My fixation is to big atm.

 

Hi Nick the Swede. Sorry to hear about your affliction. There is some really good advice here. I personally could not listen to white noise as I found it almost as worse as t itself. The first 6 weeks of t I could not even watch TV. It was too irritating on my ears and nerves. I believe you will habituate much faster if you don't use white noise, at least that was my experience. I took about 3 months to habituate. Having said that I had to take 3 weeks off work, and during that time I focused on inner well being and relaxation. That was a big help not having the stress of work. If you cannot do that try to find time just for you when you can focus on your mental Heath and mind set. You sound like a gym guy like myself, you may have somatic t as I believe I do as well as sound induced. Tight muscles in your neck can cause t, have a really good massage and see if that helps. I was on

 

Thank you Linds. Mine is a pure sound induced one. I have exactly the same feeling about white noise, i don´t want life to be a masking session. If i have been using it for maybe 2 hours i get the feeling that i hear T much more when turning the white noise off than i did before i listened to it.

I love working out, have bulit a gym down in the basement of our house, haven´t touched anything of in nearly a month now. On the upside i got a little bit more tuned body (lost 6 pounds in weight). Still the clashing of the weights scares my a little bit when thinking of starting over again

 

Breaking Bad and Sopranos - VERY hard to say which one is better. Both are all time bests. You have a good choice sir. Maybe try Six feet under next?

 

You'll be fine if you change your style. Just don't drop anything, slow down so you're more controlled and don't hit them together. I manage fine doing that - apart from other people in the gym who insist on dropping the weights. To be honest I feel better for it too, throwing the weights around ended up training in injuries for me.

 

my advice is to find a free prayer service to attend to regularly to seek healing. some people receive a miracle and tinnitus dissaperes totally. other than that, contact the swedish tinnitus assosiation they probaby have someone with t. in ur area that can offer you some hope. if you have money there is allot o f promising alternative treatments out there, this one seems like the best to me: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/do-not-despair-a-cure-is-comming.4115/
buy a sound meter that u can check whether sounds go into dangerous levels. take with you earplugs always just in case quies wax and http://earplugsonline.com/ are the best. foam earplugs and other material often falls slightly out of the ear leaving a small gap which sound can travel trough, test it yourself. the sheeple usually runs after the illusion, thats why these are most popular earplugs

 

Well, ty Fire but i am not the praying kind of guy. Maybe i should be.

A litte update.. Things went on pretty well during the end of last week. No workout yet thou. Picked up a book again and read for an hour or so, not the easiest thing to do . The sound is there but i am not longer get anxiety attacks all over. I am on no meds expect Imovane for sleep. Things went well until the weekend, we had some friends over for lunch on the saturday, they have a 3 year old. It went out ok, i heard my sound over our conversations but i could handle it. But i woke up on sunday morning with a pretty high T, i guess my brain had to work hard during our firends was at the house and i had to pay for it on the following day.

Sunday started pretty ok despite of the T, we went to see my fiances parents. A ride in the car for 20mins. After we got home i got a terrible spike on mt T. Almost untakeable, seems like the cardriving was the trigger (using no plugs). Settled a little bit this monday and i will not drive the car without the plugs for some time.

Any advices here? Using plugs for a while when driving or not? I try not to overprotect my ears from normal sounds but that spike made me a little bit affraid.

I will start seeing a CBT-therapist soon.

 

Don't over-protect your ears would be my recommendation. When T spikes, how about simply listening to music you like to mask it and calm you down? Spring is coming to Nordics so lets be happy about that!

 

Springtime in Scandi is a lovely time. The spike yesterday was pretty unmaskable iam afraid. A little bit better today but far from the level that i had before the weekend.

 

How about hypnosis and/or self-suggestion? Here's one research article about it. The trick is to find a good practioner that also understands T.

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/detalhe_artigo.asp?id=29

 

Hypnosis. I guess i just have to give it time, just been a month in it so far. Ty for the link anyway Sound. I will start out with a CBT. I think it will help me when i am a natural born worrier

 

Time for at little update.
6 weeks have passed since the accident.

The high pitch sound have changed a little, more of a hissing sound now, even thou the high pitch tone breaks through at times.
The last two weeks have been almost the same, the first 4-5 hours of the day i am not so troubled by the noise, i notice it but it´s not a big problem. Like clockwise it always gets louder and more buzzy during the afternoon and evening. Feels like my ear have runned a Marathon or something like that, exhausted and less tolerable to noise during the other half of the day, a feeling of cotton in the ear as well. Even thou i have not exposed myself to any other noises than tv, soft music and traffic during walks. Is this common at my stage of T?

I have been started to work out with weights again, feels good but it was a mountain to climb

 

Hello Nick,

here you can find a very informative blog of a swedish guy - perhapes it helps to have a contact there:

http://www.progressrec.com/curing-tinnitus.html

 

Just wanted to say that i am feeling tons better than the early days. The birth of our baby boy that caused me so much anxiety when thought about it with T and slight H. How will i cope with all the sounds and so on? There was no problem at all, didnt use plugs for a second during our 4 days stay at the hospital when he was born. Not a pill popped. Dont need to use plugs when around him at all. Measured his crying to 90decibels.

Anxiety was a big factor for me. Almost all of it is gone now. Remeron was the turning point for me, 15mg for sleep changed the game completly, gave me good sleep, this made it possible to pick up my long distance running again. Doing 40-45 kilometers/ week now. This is the best antidep ever. I sleep like a child again.

I will leave you for a while as life goes on. Thank you everbody for the support.