Tinnitus Survival Guide to Recovery at Acute Stage & Warding Off Suicidal Thoughts

Hey guys, I’m only 4.5–5.5 months in. I want to keep this post short because I still have intrusive tinnitus that I can hear over the television, but it has been improving some in the morning.

My tips are as follows:

1. Overprotect if you have to during this critical period. The first two months it seemed like every possible fucking secondary acoustic trauma that could’ve happened was occurring (ultra-frequent unnecessarily loud door slams, people screaming, my physical therapist putting some electro therapy device near my ear in efforts to fix my issue, etc.) It is my utmost worry that all the damage I sustained in the initial onset of tinnitus is going to be what does me in, in the long-term. I had terrible terrible hyperacusis immediately upon airbag deploy. While this has reduced from a 10 to about a 6, my tinnitus has reduced from an 8 to a 5–6. I now hear it over the television, but can listen to some genres of music over a speaker at a low volume.

2. Use Magnesium Threonate every night not just for help sleeping (didn’t do a damn thing for me in that regard), but for its actions as an NMDA receptor antagonist. Drug companies are investigating novel applications of NMDA receptor antagonists (Ketamine, Gacyclidine) to play a role in diminishing tinnitus during the acute phase (see OTO-313).

3. Use N-Acetylcysteine for defense against secondary acoustic traumas up to 1800 mg/day.

4. If you cannot sleep, GET YOUR DOCTOR TO PRESCRIBE YOU APPROPRIATE, NON-BENZODIAZEPINE BASED SLEEP MEDICATION. Benzos rob you of REM sleep and tinnitus robs you of stage 4 sleep, so you’re basically left laying there feeling the hours pass in this transient sleep-wake stage 1-2 cycle. IMO, the best drugs for this are: Tiagabine (look up its effects on stage 4 sleep; not sure the dose), 7.5–15 mg Mirtazapine (SSRI not implicated in exacerbating tinnitus that increases REM sleep), and 100–300 mg Quetiapine (also not implicated in exacerbating tinnitus). After I was put in the psych ward for my debilitating insomnia, I was put on 300 mg Quetiapine and 15 mg Mirtazapine. Since having returned to resistance training, I have managed to drop to 250 mg Quetiapine along with 15 mg Mirtazapine. I used to wake up to the tinnitus at the 8 hour mark, still feeling pretty exhausted but the tinnitus has at least been diminishing in the mornings only, allowing me to now sleep 10 relatively refreshing hours; the reason I allow myself this extra time is because (a) my body clearly needs it; and, (b) I’d rather not be conscious through this hell as long as possible.

5. Stay busy, preferably on physical tasks rather than mental tasks. Activities that require narrow, internal awareness are the worst for allowing tinnitus to intrude into your thoughts. Conversely, activities that require broad, external focus—such as socializing, playing games (like D&D, virtual reality, or shooter video games), and exercise, draw your attention away from the tinnitus.

6. Stop smoking marijuana. Marijuana increases sensory perception, and thus enhances the tinnitus signal. This one sucks for me because I have bloody, ulcerative colitis. My UC medication and momentary escape from hell has been taken from me with this horrible affliction.

I’d say I wanted to die every minute of every day at the 30 day—100 day mark of this terrible affliction. Lately I feel like, although the tinnitus has only gone down in the mornings and no longer wakes me up to a 90-100 bpm fight or flight response, I don’t feel like dying as much. Perhaps because there is therapeutic hope coming down the pipeline in the next year and a half to two years, perhaps because I read success stories here on a daily basis to help me cope. But the longing to be struck dead has more or less passed, and I only cry about it once a week or so, and they’re not as prolonged or soul-crushing.

I’ve tried many different supplements. Save your money. I do not believe in CBT or TRT. I, like many people on this forum, am a bit too smart to fall for the psychobabble “it’s all in your mentality” bullshit. It’s a physical condition that can be ameliorated by various biological agents. However, I may spring for some Widex hearing aids to help me cope during the winter months and hope that it’s suppression/support through these white knuckle months will help me get the tinnitus down to a pitch/volume that does not intrude into my thoughts whenever I am doing something as leisurely as watching television.

Small steps is all we have.

 

What real cures are coming out in the next 2 years?

I really need to know there is a fix for this on the way.

 

I’m investing faith between FX-322 and OTO-413 in the short-run. I’ll likely try Shore’s device as well, which may come out in the next year. Mid 2020’s should see a reformulated Trobalt from Thanos Tzounopoulos and the Hough Ear Institute pill.

Hough Ear Institute will be on the Tinnitus Talk Podcast on the 13th, I believe.

 

These are all years off.

 

A year and a half minimum probably, yes. It does suck to white-knuckle it through life.

I’m only 28 and it’s hard to cope with the fact that this might be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future. There is uncertainty in job placement after I complete my master’s program, as I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle people dropping weights all day during a job as a strength coach for colleges. There is uncertainty as to the settlement I’ll receive from the 72-year old driver who caused my head on collision and ruined the physical prime of my life, and possibly the rest of it as well.

I believed God was in silence before this all happened. It’s hard not to feel like he has forsaken me, or that he is punishing me for something.

We all have something unique to offer the world and it is an absolute tragedy that some of these beautiful minds at tinnitus talk will languish away from the pollutants of unending misery and pain.

HOWEVER—I do firmly believe that we will have a combination of therapies by 2025 that will diminish our condition enough to get on with what’s left.

 

I've tried Magnesium threonate before bed and it seems to give me insomnia which is already bad enough. How much do you take?

 

I would avoid it then. You can always try your hand at glycinate, or in formulations provided by products like Natural Calm. In all honesty, this is just a preventive measure to mitigate further damage down the road. There are multiple studies to support its role in hearing loss prevention. However, I believe quality sleep is the most important facet of the tinnitus puzzle to address, and suggest any product of the contrary to be eschewed.

If an acute tinnitus episode could be treated by stronger NMDA interventions currently in the works, with timely, effective intratympanic administration, we all could have dodged hell. Unfortunately, we are currently left with few natural solutions to cling to what we’ve got left.

 

I can’t get off this train - I want to scream!