The Past 3 Weeks...

Hi everybody.

I've learned so much invaluable information from all of you over the past 3 weeks now in reading your many many posts on T & H, and want to THANK YOU ALL for your contributions. Your contributions have allowed me to further my research based on your past experience and match it up with my symptoms. I have 24 windows open on my Mac right now dedicated to researching my condition. And no real answers in sight...

My situation started off rather benign, laying on the couch for 3 days around MLK weekend with absolutely poor posture setting up network equipment in my house. I also started using Bose noise cancellation headphones a couple weeks earlier... Related?? It all started with the crickets and a faint hum, which I've had before many years ago back when I used to be a club dj, but that was intermittent... I didn't think there was any chance I'd get T based off of my current environment, but that seemed to have triggered something over the next couple weeks that would manifest itself so much that, I contemplated if life would be worth if I couldn't figure out how to get the high hertz tone and the crickets out of my head.

As my situation got worse, I started to document everything I was feeling or doing, a few times a day. Basically to keep for historical references and to see if I could use that data in someway to tame my T. For 2 weeks I've cut out dairy, carbs, sugar, salt, coffee, and alcohol. Basically eating the blandest food possible with a ton of veggies...

My story: I had just turned 40, having financial issues, marriage troubles, parent troubles, work troubles... Life was not great and I was (am) seriously stressed. Add the T to that mix, and some of the horrific stories I've read recently, and it's a recipe for a major mind-f. I've become absolutely obsessive about this and nothing else in my life seems to matter. Research, schedule the next appointment with the ENT, Primary, acupuncture, PT, chiropractor, buy these vitamins, steam, nasal wash, prednisone, repeat... Wait! I'm only hearing crickets again! Or just a slight hiss! I must be cured! I cry with joy. It gradually comes back. Defeated again... Time to introduce myself to this new community.

Exercises that I respond positively to: finger drumming on the back of the head, prednisole, muscle relaxers drop the T by 50%, and my new favorite, Lorazepam, and also, neck exercises after taking a muscle relaxer -- had an hour of silence 2 days ago.

Exercises/events that trigger a negative reaction: neck exercises from PT, sound of a fan or vacuum, ear bud listening to t sound therapy made the t go away for 5 minutes but my ear fluttered and the t shot through the roof again. Had to contact my Audiologist to see if I burst my ear drum... Bad.

Things I'm going to try in the future: Neuromuscular dentist, electric acupuncture, upper cervical chiropractor

Any case, that's my story. Thanks to all of you for your posts. It is a tremendous help to us noobs.

 

Hi @housemzk , and welcome. Headphones may be related to your problems. @Michael Leigh wrote the following post on headphone use and tinnitus: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/

He has a number of great posts on tinnitus that provide valuable information. I am sure you have come across many but let me point you to one that is a great place to start.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

I also want to share some research that @Bill Bauer posted here a while back. He found studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

I wish you luck with your journey, please keep us posted on your progress.

 

@Kolisar
It nice to see you back on the forum you have been missed. Hope that you are feeling better if you were not well. Regarding headphones. I cannot impress on people enough, that have Noise induced tinnitus, to be careful using headphones after they have habituated. They risk making their tinnitus worse even when used at low volume. I am referring to people that have got tinnitus by "loud noise " exposure only.

Just a few days ago someone telephoned me in a lot of distress. He habituated to his tinnitus around 5 years ago and it remained at such a low level he completely forgot about it. November last year he retuned to using headphones and kept the volume low he says. His tinnitus has now increased to severe levels and he's finding it very difficult to cope and his thinking putting an end to things. I don't need to explain further.

Please be careful.
Michael

 

@Kolisar and @Michael Leigh - thank you for responding to my post and your words weigh heavy on me. I went ahead and ran the battery out of the headphones and only use them as protection on Metro and at work, along with an earplug. My ear is extremely sensitive to any sort of noise near it, which is also extremely difficult to avoid b/c I live in the middle of city. I do feel I'm making progress in my response to what I perceive as loud sounds.

I went to a neuromuscular dentist last week and she says I have a jaw issue and is making me an orthotic to wear full time for 9 months. Says it should reduce my symptoms by at least half, as she suspects my jaw is impacting my ear. If it works, great, if doesn't, she upsold me a very very expensive device, but I'm at the point where I'll throw money at anything right now to get back to normal life.

Recent events:

Finished Prednisone taper yesterday.

Today is the Allergist appointment and I plan to get on an immunization program.

I have PT for my neck and jaw tomorrow.

Think I'm done with acupuncture for awhile, as I didn't find much relief. I still go to chiro once a week and that seems to have a longer lasting positive impact.

Thursday night and Friday night were absolutely unbearable. Had to pop Lorezepam to not go to a mentally dark place. Overall, I feel like the ear is ever so slowly getting less loud in tone, more often a lighter variation of a hiss. Pressure is on and sometimes less over course of the day. There are brief moments during the day where the ear stops hissing, as if changing frequency... Such a weird sensation. Mornings are always best - just slightly noticeable. Afternoons and evenings are when it drives my insane. It's like groundhog day, every damn day.

Today is manageable, so far.

 

@housemzk

I wish you the best of luck with your treatment and hope it works.
Let us know how you get on.

Best of luck
Michael

 

Michael noise induced T , would masking from a hearing Aid cause any more damage to your hearing. I noticed you alway warmed about headphones use , even at low volume. The both produced sound directly into your ears? Kind of confused with masking and sound.

 

The fact that your T fluctuates and can get as good as a soft hiss is a wonderful sign. For some people, T is relentlessly at the same loud level. In your case, T Can change, and it is natural for the body to strive to get back to a healthy state.

If you find anything that works, please share it with us.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (27 tips) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past year.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Just a couple of updates that might prove beneficial to others in the future.

Spoke to 2 ENT's this week. One ENT who's the ENT chief of surgery at his hospital and other a neurotologist in my city. I spoke with the chief on the phone for 30 minutes and he provided some valuable insight and reassurance. MRI's rarely find the cause of the tinnitus and he suspects I have a pinched nerve issue, which he's never seen an MRI showing this cause. The 4 different MRI's my Primary Dr wants me to do are a waste of time. He mentioned Cochlear Hydrops as a possibility, but a standard hearing test won't find it without a number of other hearing tests. Hydrops can last for awhile but then fades away, with fluctuating hearing loss, to only reappear again later on. Cutting salt can reduce the pressure in the ear in this situation. Going back to the possible cause being the nerve for me, he mentioned that the recovery can take 6 months or longer because nerves are really slow to heal. He doubted that acoustic trauma based on my history, but there's no way I can rule that - especially after reading this board... Interesting point, mentioned plenty of times here - he mentioned the reason there's no cure is that there's hundreds of possible underlying causes for tinnitus. There's no easy fix or band-aid to make it go away, but at the same time to not give up on finding the underlying cause, as long as it doesn't provide added anxiety. He even has his own struggles with tinnitus, and that requires him to constantly have sound around him to drawn out the tone in his head. He hasn't fully habituated himself. He also acknowledged that once you get your emotions under control, you're better able to cope with tinnitus.

neurotologist - I'll keep this one brief - she prescribed me prednisone (again) but for 20 days. 60mg/day for 14 days then a taper for sensorineural hearing loss. Wants an MRI of the auditory canal with and without contrast.

Had a PT session earlier in the week that focused on the scalene, suboccipital, and masseter muscles, via massage and trigger point therapy. He believes my symptoms are all referral and that there's not one cause for my tinnitus, but a series of causes leading to my tinnitus. After the session my ear was screaming. Hiss turned into an extremely loud tone and had to take a Lorezepam to help calm down, which did initially but the tone came screaming back. Next morning barely heard crickets and that lasted most of the day until the evening. More importantly, the fullness in the ear was not there! Still have pain in the ear though, at times, but I'm noticing the inner ear sort of vibrates or spasms at times as well. Had an email exchange with him on my status the following day and he stated this was a good sign, in that we're aggravating the possible cause(s) and that will help narrow down the treatment. He asked me to research Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome (TTTS). He admitted that he's not dealt with my particular issue before, but he wants to learn and seems eager to do so. He's also not surprised by what's happen in our sessions thus far. I'm doing TMJ and neck stretches per his request. I'm feeling good about our future sessions.

Chiropractor - He's moved on to giving me mouth drops to calm my nerves. Made a slight adjustment without any noticeable impact. Told me to comeback in 2 weeks. Probably not going to see him again!

Other observations - My sensitivity to certain sounds is every slowly moving in the right direction. I believe that living in the middle of city is forcing me to deal with the emotional side of it, rather forcefully. Spikes are rather short-lived and mostly during the evenings while at home after cooking. Mornings are still the best with only crickets and a slight power line sound, that evolves into high hertz tone during the day.

Random thought - I'm truly scared (scarred?) to take my wife out to dinner due to fear of noise... And I'm scared to travel to Europe in 6 months for my wife's birthday. I need to get grip on my emotions.

Diet - added coffee with only positive effects!

Supplements I've been on for 2.5 weeks now- Arches Tinnitus formula, Ginkgo Biloba extract, Turmeric Gold liquid, Lauriciden, Pure Resveratrol, Magnesium Glycinate, Melatonin, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Vinpocetine, B12 gummy, Omega 3, Tyrosine, and ashwagandha. Sad thing is I won't know if any of these are helping or not.

Massive thank you to @Bill Bauer and @Michael Leigh for your contributions to this community.

Happy Chinese New Year everybody.

 

HI @Rajin

I only saw your post by chance. If you want to page me please write @Michael Leigh

Tinnitus shouldn't be masked. By this I mean the tinnitus should not be totally covered up with another sound so it can't be heard. A hearing aid will not usually cause any damage. Although the volume control should be set at a comfortable level. Hearing aids are different from headphones which play music. Music played through a headphone even at low volume, is not natural sound from the environment. It has syncopation within it - so it is Bass; it is also constantly changing in rhythm, pitch and timbre which can irritate the ear. This is supplied to the ear by an amplifier. A hearing aid does not supply music to the ear so syncopation doesn't occur, only natural sound from the environment. Set at a comfortable level it shouldn't cause any problems.

White noise generators adjusted correctly will not usually irritate the ear either. The white noise is set at a constant level and doesn't fluctuate and has no syncopation.

Michael

 

@housemzk - Sorry to hear about your many stresses in life. And head noise to top it off is not good. I'm looking at some similar things as you to quiet my noise. Maybe dead ends and just HF hearing loss caused? (dead ends was no pun intended of course) I wonder if your stressors could be contributing to your noise possibly?

Here is a couple links to TMJ disorder:

https://managebackpain.com/tmj-pain/tmj-tinnitus

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/seems-a-miracle-cure-tmj-splint.11835/


I've seen this Dr. on TMJD:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/possible-tmj.26586/#post-307927

 

@just1morething - much appreciated. I've been following your comments since I joined here for research purposes and I think we have a lot in common, and also have gained a lot of knowledge from your posts. Somehow I missed your recent comments on the last link you offered. Going to watch tonight, thanks. My orthotics should arrive next week. Either way, I don't expect a miracle overnight. And trying not to get pissed at how much it costed me.

 

Thank you Michael.That was explained well. Got it.

 

This is the real and full prednisone treatment. Some doctors give their patients 10mg/day for 5 days - they must do it mostly to get their patients to stop asking them for a prednisone prescription. I am glad that your doctor is serious about trying to treat you.

In my experience regular planes are ok (as long as you sit as close to the front of the plane as you can, don't have a window seat, and wear hearing protection like Peltor muffs or noise cancelling headphones). Turboprop planes (that have propellers) are unreasonably loud. So I wouldn't be Too concerned about getting to Europe. Once in Europe, I am sure you will be able to find quiet places for you to enjoy (although things like doors slamming at museums, etc. do happen all of the time, so you might want to wear good earplugs when you are out and about in Europe).

You are most welcome. Thank you so much for your kind words.

 

@housemzk, I found this video last night. I don't know if you have seen it before?

Tinnitus (Ringing in the Ears)-Dr Michael...

 

Mine started after a concert (it was really loud) and I had always used noise cancelling headphones while I was working. The first three months of tinnitus almost got crazy.. well I got crazy I, had to go to a psi clinic for two weeks. Since the begining of my tinnutus I have not used headphones anymore. Right now I only hear my tinnitus in a silent room and if I think on it. It is not habituation as I am a very obsessive and nervous person so the habituation would be very difficult to me. I am never going to use headphones never never again.

 

Hopefully this is the last stage before hearing silence again. Having said this, for all we know most of those people who had reported recovering from T might have been at the "hear it only in silent rooms" stage.

 

@just1morething - I had not seen this before, thank you. Even though it's an older video, this should be a must see video before an ENT visit for tinnitus so patients are prepared for these types of questions. Somehow in my research I missed Lidocaine injections...

@Core2Duo - Glad to hear your symptoms are getting better. Can you describe your onset symptoms? I'm curious what sounds you heard and at what level, did it fluctuate, worse at certain times of the day, was there pain or fullness, etc... And at what point did it start to get better for you?

I seem to hit a wall around mid-afternoon just about everyday. I don't know if it's stress related, ear gets tired, or something else, but the hiss turns into a constant tone usually until I fall asleep after 430pm. Recently I started measuring the db levels of background noise with a phone app to measure against my tinnitus to drawn it out. I range from low to mid 40's db in the AM, then pick up to the mid-50's db by evening time. Lorezepam has helped for this.

 

@housemzk - It does sound dated as he doesn't even mention earbuds, iPods, etc. He is located near Orlando, FL currently. I may see him or at least call and talk to his nurse.

 

@housemzk - A bit concerning that Dr. Seidman has a minor stake in Arches Formula. Maybe that is why I never looked at him more closely in the past. Regardless we need relief of some kind. Abraham Shulman is retired, so who do you look to for relief?

Formulas

After diet modifications, which are sometimes effective, he recommends the Arches Tinnitus Combo Pack. Along with Arches Tinnitus Formula, the Combo Pack includes the Stress Formula (B-Complex vitamins) and a B-12 subliminal tablet, for a 3-month supply. If possible he prefers that patients take the Combo Pack for 4 months or more. He discloses that he is a minor shareholder in the company and if this doesn’t work, he is truly sorry. He believes there is not a better Ginkgo biloba product on the market than that found in Arches Tinnitus Formula. (The German Commission E continues to recommend 240 mg of Ginkgo biloba, twice daily for both tinnitus and balance issues.)

 

Damn good question. 2 weeks ago I was miserable because there wasn't a single source/expert I could go to for this condition. Absolutely nobody gets it, and once you mention it a number of times people say live with it and move on. How do you move on when your t fluctuates so wildly and you're sensitive to most sounds everyday? Living in the city? Riding subway to/from work?? My Dr friends are dumbfounded and say they've never heard of these symptoms before.... So I look for relief by researching and talking with you guys. I'm also depending on Lorezepam at this point, as it brings out the once happy side of me for a few hours.

Arches - I just ran out of my 1 month supply of Arches and do not intend on buying that again. Through research on this site I've been able to find the ingredients for cheaper and a larger supply. Bought some Gingko extract, B12, and zinc on Amazon a couple of days ago.

I'm reaching out to a couple local hospitals today for HBOT. My insurance doesn't cover it for tinnitus unfortunately, but I'll do whatever I have to get my rear in there while I'm on Prednisone for the next 2 weeks. Noticed a couple of posts saying that this combo could help at the same time. Maybe I should try 6 treatments and see how I respond?

Allergy test was finished yesterday - allergic to most environmental allergies. Nurse says it could be causing the issues in my ear. Dr says not so much since it's one ear only. I should start immunizations in a few weeks.

Getting fitted for custom earplugs this afternoon. The Peltor X4A muffs came in late last week and do an amazing job on the subway.

I have to keep moving.

 

It might be hard to pinpoint the source by trying so many treatments at the same time? I know you want relief as soon as possible though. I talked to my TMJ Dr. assistants yesterday. Dr. Hakala is out till March sometime. They said one of the common complaints with TMD is tinnitus. I'm seeing if my new insurance pays for a new appliance, even though my current one fits reasonable. I would like to have a spare and I had some dental work done since that one was made. The assistant I talked to mentioned putting a ice cube on your jaw and taking (1)Tylenol and (1)Ibuprofen for the inflammation.

Dr. Michael Seidman may still be okay despite the "red flag" of his minor stake in Arches. I'm not sure why Arches mentioned this whether it's good or bad? Maybe Seidman is laughing all the way to the bank?

 

Dr. Seidman states here that he has a less than 5% stake in Arches:
http://www.hearingloss.org/sites/default/files/11-12-2008_Michael_Seidman.pdf