The Sleepless Finn

Hi all, I've been lurking here for a few weeks now, but I already feel like I know many of you. That's my way of saying I think this is a great forum

Here's my story.

About two weeks ago I suffered acoustic trauma while recording guitar. My mic picked up the sound from the headphones and suddenly I got a high pitch/db spike to both of my ears. The T started immediately. The next day I went to the ENT who quickly made me go through hearing tests and whatnot. Luckily my hearing was ok (at least the standard range), but later I did discover that my right ear has dropped everything after 15,5khz. It might have been that it was like that before the incident, but who knows. Also, some hyperacusia in the right ear. Aaaanyway, so my hearing was fine and all the docs told me the T would heal too. Nothing else. No how, or when, they just said it's gonna get fine. Right.

That's where this forum comes in. I've now at least understood that my story is very common, and that there are no sure things when it comes to T. Will it heal? I hope so. Do I believe it? I don't want be over optimistic on that.

From what I've read on this forum I would consider my T quite mild. I can't hear it throughout the day, but I hear it alwas at home. Especially when watching TV and going to sleep. At the beginning I had these high pitched cricket noises, which now only come vary seldom and very mild, which leads me to believe that some healing has occurred already. What I'm left with is the "headnoise", a steady "old TV" sound that amplifies especially when sleeping. I think that one has also settled down a bit, but it's clearly still there. As I said, it's been about two weeks, and for those two weeks I've maybe got 2 nights of OK sleep (heavily medicated though). So I'm not really even hoping for a 100% cure. I just hope I would learn to sleep again with it.

Ok, then the treatment. Once again, thanks to this forum I've really found good help:
- First 8 days: prednisone and healthy living, sports, healthy food. Result: no sleep (probably due to Pred) but some reduction of T. I don't believe the prednisone had anything to do with this, but it was worth a try.
- Now: supplements daily. Vitamins (A, E, B komplex, D), NAC, zinc, magnesium
- For sleep: mirtatzapin (have used for years), melatonin 5mg, and zopiclone (for last 2 nights), white noise (actually a fan in the background)

Also, my stress levels are quite high at the moment (due to T and work) so I need to try to relax and get my neck problems sorted to see where my real base level T is. Being a Finn one obvious treatment is sauna. I'm also considering HBO, but really looking at this day-by-day and maybe decide on that next week if I feel like it.

That's about it. I'm the kind of guy who usually overanalyzes and stresses about everything, so obviously having T is one of the worst things I can imagine. Also, being a part time musician and music lover it really bugs me having problems with the ears. It's good to hear though that T is not a showstopper and there really is hope in having everything (almost) back to normal.

 

Hey @KK82 And welcome to the forum then !

You seem very organized and tackling T with the right attitude.. Good on you !!

It took me a few months but eventually I was able to resume a good sleeping pattern.. At the beginning I would never have believed it, but it just happened gradually, so give it time and I am sure you will be back on the road soon

Keep the positivity alive and take care !! Lorenzo

 

Thanks Lorenzo74 for the encouragement Tinnitus seems to be one of those things that everyone knows, but only sufferers really understand. So getting support from this forum really helps the loneliness one goes through with this whole thing.

 

Time is the magic element.At first you think this thing is unacceptable,after a few months it might be almost irrelevant,almost ,but not quite.

 

Depending on your location, you might consider enrolling in the AM-101 trial for the treatment of early tinnitus. More info can be found here:

http://www.tinnitus-study.info/

 

I don't think many people even know what tinnitus is, as to be honest, when I ask people they seem oblivious that it even exists. I didn't even know until I got it.

 

I agree. It is important to remember that when your T is new, you may function in the fight or flight mode as your nerves are heavily controlled by the limbic nervous system. Also your body is dealing with an alien sensation which doesn't go away easily. So the result is fear and stress, a natural defence mechanism of the body. Time plus some effective strategy (whatever works for you) will be able to help the healing process. There is no over night magic for T habituation. It is a gradual process with many ups and downs. So be prepared mentally for that.

 

Everyday so far has been different, so I can truly believe these words. I found that my stress levels & initial shock dropped significantly after locking in on a good "treatment plan" (vitamins, habits, masking etc). My T hasn't reduced, but anxiety has. Well... to a degree At least now I know I'm doing all I can, and the rest is for my head/body to worry about. So yeah, all that's missing from that equation is time.

 

Most important of all. Protect your ears..Avoid all exposure to loud noises, like fireworks, sirens, explosions, and loud music. Each time you expose your ears to loud noise, you do some damage, damage that can't be fixed after the damage is done, like you now are aware.

 

Moi!

Looks like you are off to a right start with T. Here are some of my tips I once wrote down. Hope they help! Feel free to also send me direct messages in Finnish if you want.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-and-stressed-with-tinnitus-—-read-this-first.3978/