Success with Noise-Induced Tinnitus and on the Way with Bruxism/TMJD Related Tinnitus

Dear Tinnitus Talk community,

I read a lot of the success stories, which gave me hope. That's why also want to write down my story. However, I suffer newly from tinnitus again and would appreciate any help!

I apologize for the long story.

1) Noise-Induced Success
12 years ago, when I was 19, I went to a club on our holidays with my friends in Cyprus. There they don't have any maximum loudness levels and I could feel how loud the sound was. Unfortunately, I was too young and just wanted to party and didn't care. I went back to bed and as sometimes, I heard tinnitus, which I thought will be gone the next day. It wasn't... In the beginning I was just confused and as dumb as I was, I still went partying...

After flying back home and with my tinnitus still in my ears, I got scared and went to an ENT. The ENT gave me a hearing test (no hearing loss) and just said that it will go away. I was pissed off that he couldn't help. Then some weeks of anxiety followed. Over time I got used to it and was thinking: "It was my fault and I knew this could happen from loud music." Furthermore, I was happy that it was a high frequency tone and not like a jet or something else.

I lived my life as before, partying, but I tried to stay away from the speakers and listened to music over headphones. After some time it got quiter and quiter. It took 2-4 years to fully recover. I didn't even notice that my tinnitus was gone or at such a low level, because I got used to it and didn't pay any attention to it.

The loudness was mild-moderate.

2) New Tinnitus after taking Zololoft
12 years later and with some psychological problems (not related to tinnitus), my psychiatrist advised to take Zololoft for my anxiety. I read the side effects and tinnitus was mentioned. I was scared taking it, but I did it anyway.

Three days after I started the medication, a loud high pitched ringing started in my right ear. The loudness was definitely moderate. I blamed the medication for my new tinnitus and stopped taking it immediately. The tinnitus stayed and I also had mild hyperacusis.

I went to see an ENT right after and they gave me a hearing test — again no hearing loss... His answer: "just get used to it." In the meantime, I was scared because of my hyperacusis (my luck was, that I didn't know what it is). I was so confused that I heard everything differently, that I went to the train station once a day for 1 hour and my hyperacusis got better and I think it is gone now. Tinnitus was still here though...

I googled then for another ENT and found someone who is "specialized" in tinnitus. I got a hearing test again, no hearing loss... He checked my neck and jaw and said that I have a lot of tension. He told me to go to a physical therapist. I did it and my tension got better over time and my tinnitus reduced a bit.

Now, it has been about 3 months. In the beginning I had such heavy anxiety and panic attacks.I started to take a another anti-depressant (Lexapro/Cipralex/Escitralopram) and my anxiety got a bit better. No impact on tinnitus.

However, over the last three months I really listened carefully what my tinnitus does and found out that it changes pitch and loudness during the day. I tried to figure out why. What I found out:

• I can modulate the tone by moving my jaw
• I have clicking in my jaw
• I still have tension on the right where my tinnitus is worse
• My Temporomandibular Joint on the right is not correctly "connected" but by moving the jaw forward it is better, but I then have a feeling like chewing gum in my ear (tinnitus gets better for some time)
• In the night I wake up with loud tinnitus, but by doing some jaw movements it gets quiter
• In the morning it is very quiet
• After every meal it gets louder and louder

That is why I am 100% sure that my tinnitus is jaw related and I think because of bruxism/TMJD.

What I did so far:

• CBT
• Physical therapy
• Mouth guard all the time but not when eating
• Trying to avoid hard food

My tinnitus didn't reach the loudness of when it started, but it is still here. Sometimes it is a 1 (unfortunately only for a short period of time of some minutes up to 2 hours) and it can go up to a 4, where I can hear it over the TV but mostly not outside.

I am still anxious that it will get louder over time. If it would stay at loudness level 1 I would be so happy. I am still thinking every day of my tinnitus and how I can reduce it more.

But I feel much better than in the beginning and don't need to mask it for sleep anymore. I can enjoy part of my life again.

Still I have some questions:

• Do I need to be scared that time is running out and it will get chronic?
• Any additional ideas and tips to improve my Bruxism and TMJD?
• Is it normal that it can take a long time to heal TMJD?

My advice for you:

• Try the best to figure out what the cause of your tinnitus was, it will take a lot of time.
• Find a good ENT (they are rare).
• Try to avoid to speak about tinnitus with others all the time. They can't understand and it won't help with your tinnitus.
• Try to accept that you have it now, but it doesn't mean that you need to give up hope.
• And very important: Never give up on you!

I am also happy to help and answer questions.

Thank you for your support so far and I hope that this story will help others, as other success stories helped me to come this far. Tinnitus is really annoying but we stick together and help each other!

I will update this post over time.

 

Great post. Did your noise-induced tinnitus completely disappear or just become quieter?

 

It disappeared completely. However, I didn't really notice when it went fully away, because I got used to it. I know that in the first 2 years I had a huge fluctuation in loudness, then over time it become quieter and quieter until it was gone.