Suffered an Acoustic Trauma While on Prednisone, Resulting in Tinnitus in My "Good Ear"

I've always had electrical tinnitus.

But I was recently on Prednisone for 4 days, and, while on it, suffering an acoustic trauma, resulting in a massive tinnitus spike, I'm left with a new slight whistle in my good ear.

It seems to be reactive to the fan speeds. To mask it, driving at high speed also makes my ears jingle more...

Since the acoustic trauma, I have heard a slight buzz muffle in each ear. The buzz muffle can sometimes stop and instead I get fleeting tinnitus that subsides a minute later.

Doctors say nothing can be done about it.

This tinnitus is in the ear I never had it in before along with a very faint eee...

Since I've had tinnitus for many years, I was upset about this for 2 weeks, but now I'm in the phase where I'm more curious if this is cochlear hydrops or hyperacusis?

 

Guess I'm out of luck with this one.

 

@Michael Leigh, do you have any advice to help?

 

It will probably fade post trauma. NAC + benzos is likely your best help post acoustic trauma.

Careful with steroids... I have found it CAN relieve tinnitus OR bring more on. Absolutely ears are more vulnerable on it. It's literally intense stress in a pill.

Be weird if it were hydrops with no hearing loss.

 

@Matchbox, I wasn't able to taper. The doctor made me stop 4 days in. I went crazy with panic and anxiety.

I've taken NAC, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Vitamin E, Vitamin D3, Lipoflavonoid, Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium, Vitamin A and Omega 3.

Today I have head pressure and feel a little jittery. I honestly feel like it's related to the Prednisone, like something swelled up.

 

Yea I agree with the steroids. I felt like I got much worse while on them. That’s when the distortions started for me. I’m thinking the extreme levels of stress/anxiety/insomnia must of altered my GABA/Glutamate profile making my ears much more susceptible to injury. I was also getting hit with a lot of noise during that time too.

 

@ZFire, have you improved at all? My symptoms seem like yours.

I noticed head pressure. Maybe from the withdrawal of the meds?

 

Well my loudness hyperacusis has improved tremendously. My distortions have mostly improved. My tinnitus and the reactivity still fluctuates a lot. Some days not as bad as others. So there’s definitely improvement. Like what many have said here, progress is a very slow and non linear process.

 

That’s definitely where you got it from. Me and @Matchbox have gotten new tones from not tapering really slow. I got tinnitus in my good ear from Prednisone, same thing as you. I was pissed. I’m still dealing with it. It seems for me going over 40 mg is what causes the new tone. If I stay at 40 mg or under, nothing bad happens if I taper slow.

 

@Brian Newman, how long ago did you take the Prednisone? Is there a chance my brain is still adjusting from being off it for 3 weeks?

 

Hi @Hottopic29,

You have had tinnitus a long time and note on your profile, the original cause was Zithromycin. This seems strange because spikes in tinnitus mostly affect people that have noise induced tinnitus. Have you been using headphones, earbuds, headset or working in a noisy environment?

 

@Michael Leigh, my tinnitus was originally caused by Zithromycin, so it wasn't an acoustic trauma.

This new tinnitus started when I used a hearing test app with earbuds, at the time I was on Prednisone. This happened 30 days ago. It left a new ring in my good ear and slight whistle. I didn't have tinnitus in both ears before. It also made my bad ear piercing ring...

I only used the earbuds to do one hearing test. I didn't use them before.

Acoustic trauma induced tinnitus is not as easy to cope with as the tinnitus from Zithromycin. This one buzzes and whistles to certain sounds like I was in a car and had to shut the heat off because it annoys me.

 

You need to give it time for your ears and the tinnitus to settle down.

My advice is not to use any type of headphones again even at low volume. The ear and auditory system are delicate. A person with tinnitus needs to be careful when subjecting their ears to certain sounds, particularly when using any type of headphones which I don't recommend even when a person's tinnitus was not originally noise induced.

In future get your hearing checked by an audiologist, who is a medical professional and trained to carry out this procedure. Use low level sound enrichment whenever possible and especially at night. It is probably a good idea to get a referral to ENT, and then to Audiology to see and audiologist.

Please go to my started threads and read my posts: New to Tinnitus, What to Do? Tinnitus, a Personal View, Hyperacusis, As I See It, Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? The Habituation Process, How to Habituate to Tinnitus, Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset.

Even though you are experienced with tinnitus, you are new to noise induced tinnitus which is an entirely different kettle of fish. Take your time and read my articles and this will give you more understanding of noise induced tinnitus and the best ways to cope with it.

Things will improve but it will take time. My advice is not to use headphones, earbuds or headsets in the future, even at low volume.

Take care,
Michael

 

I've been to an ENT and audiologist. They said nothing can be done. Tinnitus Talk is my last resort. I had a hearing test 2 days after the trauma, and it was actually better than 4 years ago, except for a 2 dB drop at 3 kHz.

Sounds don't really hurt me, it's just whistle, and I feel my tinnitus pulse to fan noise on medium. Doing dishes and stuff is still fine.

 

If you have read the posts that I have mentioned, then you will realize that your ENT doctor and audiologist are wrong, when saying nothing can be done because this isn't the case. Please print my articles and take time to read them rather than reading on a screen. You will absorb and retrain the information better.

The first thing that needs to be done is to lower any stress that you may have. You can talk to your family doctor who may advise medication. In addition to this, try some deep breathing and relaxation techniques. There are plenty videos on YouTube that include narration which will help you through the process. Thirty minutes a day is all you need and you will notice the positive impact on your mental and emotional well-being.

Try to engage in the things you like to do which will help take your mind off the tinnitus. I am not saying this will be easy, for it takes time and discipline but you will be rewarded by being a more positive thinking person, because the tinnitus will no longer be of so much importance.

See how you get on by trying my self-help methods mentioned in my articles, particularly Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset and Acquiring a Positive Mindset. If need be, try and see an audiologist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis management, who can provide counselling and advise on using white noise generators. You may not need to go down this route, since you have previous years experience with tinnitus to draw on. I think you will be fine with time.

See your GP to help with any stress that you're going through. Use low level sound enrichment and take your time to read my articles without skimming. Once you know what you are dealing with you will start to feel a lot better.

Take care,
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh, thank you. As I walk I realize I can't really hear my tinnitus much. I need to stay positive. It's just a newish sound. I'll get used to it.

Hoping for best in a few months.

 

To add more to the story, I didn't taper Prednisone properly either, and while on it, it gave me at least 5 new beautiful tones...

 

Give it time @Hottopic29. Read my articles and this will give you more understanding of what's going on.

Michael

 

So I'm now 38 days into this. It's mostly a static hiss sound. I don't hear it outside.

Really hoping this gets better still.

I'm trying Ginkgo biloba today.

 

Don’t take steroids.

The ENT I went to said they can make tinnitus worse.

 

Prednisone can cause headache but it's also used to treat elevated intracranial pressure. Like the others said, it will probably fade over time. What was the trauma exactly? Some are worse than others.

 

I tested my hearing while on the Prednisone. I didn't hear the frequency but my ears started ringing. Then when getting off the Prednisone I had echoish tones and reactive chirp to TV sounds. And still slightly dizzy.

I've heard it can take up to 12 months for Prednisone symptoms to wear off. Even a 3-day course of 50 mg can have lingering effects