URGENT: Exposed to a Fire Alarm

Title says it all - I already ordered a quieter Nest smoke alarm so this never happens again.

I immediately took 1800mg NAC, Chelated Magnesium, Vitamin C, Melatonin, and Astaxanthin, trying to protect against oxidative damage ASAP.

Is there anything else I should do in the short term? I already have moderate to severe tinnitus - no steroids on hand.

Thank you!

 

Go get Prednisone.

80 mg starting dose. Taper over 14 days.

 

Try not to stress (easier said than done).

Antioxidants are great especially acutely but if you notice hearing loss or a spike, especially, the earlier you can get on Prednisone the more likely it is to help (within 48-72 hours is the best if possible).

 

Go to ER and explain your concern with more hearing loss due to the exposure and ask for a tapering dose of Prednisone. Also talk about knowing that you need to get the Prednisone within 48 hours for it to have the best chance at it being effective and that you’ll make an ENT appointment as soon as possible. If they deny you you can go to your primary care physician and try them.

You could also try taking vitamin A supplement or eating a lot of sweet potato or canned pumpkin.

 

Sorry to hear that happened to you, and I hope you're feeling better. I've never heard of taking supplements/drugs as a response to a loud noise. What is the background on that, if you don't mind my asking, and do you feel like it helped you?

 

I'm not a doctor but my understanding is that the damage to the ear caused by loud noise is largely oxidative, so anti-oxidants are theorized to mitigate that damage.

Below is an article that helps explain the concepts at work:
https://clinical-nutrition.imedpub....of-antioxidants-in-noise-stress.php?aid=20530

 

Take a look here as well:

Free radical scavengers, vitamins A, C, and E, plus magnesium reduces noise trauma

 

Are you experiencing a spike?

 

I'd go to the nearest urgent care clinic and get prednisone. You can also try mass dosing NAC, some here have found that helpful.

 

It doesn't seem like it this morning, but when my tinnitus went from "cured" to the moderate/severe it is now, it took a couple of days after the sound exposure to manifest, so will have to monitor closely.

 

Dude, go get steroids ASAP. For real, like get to the doctor right now. Off the forum and to the urgent care.

 

Thanks - it does seem to be spiking now so I will go in the morning.

 

The average smoke alarm is 85 decibels, which, realistically, isn't loud enough to damage one's ears. Will it cause a spike? Perhaps, but this knee-jerk reaction on here to run to the ER for prednisone after being exposed to only moderately loud noises is a very slippery slope. I'm firmly convinced that, in some cases, anxiety over a particular accidental noise exposure can affect one's tinnitus more than the actual sound does.

 

I respect what you are saying, but I was pretty chill until the tinnitus suddenly started getting a lot louder today. Note, my tinnitus was originally caused by 1-2 seconds of 120 decibel sound - every ENT I've seen has looked me dead in the eye and told me I shouldn't have gotten tinnitus from it, but there is no question I have it.

I think once people's ears are beaten up, they can easily get spikes. Now, is what I'm experiencing a spike or long term damage? I have no clue. But if we operate according to the axiom that damage is cumulative, hard to say a significant volume increase following noise exposure is definitely not a longer term issue.

Ultimately this condition is frustrating because we have no good decision-making information - I'm not even sure that prednisone wouldn't make me worse - certainly people on here have said it was harmful to them. So at the end of the day, all I can say is my tinnitus is now much louder and more intrusive after exposure to a fire alarm, and I was already so fragile that showering spiked me, so basically I have to make a decision based on some shitty probabilities and lack of good info.

 

If you had hyperacusis you wouldn’t say such ignorant things.

 

You have no idea what my situation is. My words are based on research and personal experience, and I stand by my post. Also, for the record, the OP said nothing about hyperacusis, and, on another thread, he said that he was only exposed to one pulse of the alarm before covering his ears.

 

So interesting - valuable info! Thank you.

Snippet: "...[antioxidant agents] and [magnesium] ...in combination...were highly effective in reducing both hearing loss and cell death even with treatment initiated just one hour prior to noise exposure. This study supports roles for both free radical formation and noise-induced vasoconstriction in the onset and progression of NIHL. Identification of this safe and effective antioxidant intervention that attenuates NIHL provides a compelling rationale for human trials in which free radical scavengers are used to eliminate this single major cause of acquired hearing loss."

 

For the record I did end up getting Prednisone at 60mg. I am now sitting in bed with 2/10 tinnitus whereas before it was 8/10. I expect it to ramp up a bit when I come off, maybe even go right back to where it was, but wow it made a real difference. This makes me suspect I have chronic inflammation, owing to extreme sound sensitivity.

 

When you say before, do you mean the spike? Or did Prednisone lessened your baseline tinnitus to a 2/10 level? Is this your first course of steroids since tinnitus onset?

 

It took the spike down, and actually what I'm experiencing now seems quieter on average than my pre-spike weeks as well. My tinnitus is only 3 months old, so it wouldn't shock me if I've had chronic inflammation the entire time that this is now providing temporary relief for.

The new tone that came from exposure to the fire alarm has abated by about 80% on the first day of 60 mg Prednisone. I'm going to continue this dose for 7 days and then stop. I don't expect to maintain the level of improvement I'm currently experiencing, but hopefully I can come out better than I went in. This current level is almost peaceful.

 

I'm glad you experienced some relief, but the point I was trying to make is that, once someone starts taking prednisone and it appears to help, the more likely they'll be to seek it out in the future, whether or not it's actually needed. I did 3 rounds of steroids (dexsamethasone, prednisone, and methylprednisolone) in a 2-month period, which is excessive, and none of them helped in the long run. Since these are strong medications, I think it's dangerous for someone to get emotionally attached to them, feeling like they're the only thing that will help, and running to get them every time they hear a loud noise. That's the "slippery slope" I mentioned.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, but, as someone who's gone through it, I think my input is relevant.

 

That's fair - to be honest I didn't expect any relief so I just thought it was worth mentioning that I was conveniently surprised.

For me, anytime I take something, and then shortly after a tone literally melts away, it will forever be enshrined in my special list of things. Tinnitus is a dangerous condition, but having *some* recourse is key to my psychological health.

 

There's a fire alarm test at my workplace every Monday morning. Can't say it's ever affected my tinnitus, maybe if I put my ear right up to it would.

 

Mine is definitely affected by noise - showering makes it ring louder. Hoping this sensitivity goes down over time.

 

Oh right, does it go down quickly after a shower?

 

Ya it takes about 30 min, but you can imagine if a shower does that, how a fire alarm might affect things.

 

your T is only 3 months old, you are right to be very cautious with it, if we believe all the info your improvement if u mind it occurs within a year. Mine came mostly within the first 3 months but i did notice an improvement up to a yr, but smaller as time went by, after that, well spikes become spikes, some worse than other, ive been spiked by alarms many times, my spikes all eventually go down, worst was just over 3 months!

 

Yea absolutely. So weird how tinnitus is different for everyone.

 

I had mild tinnitus before my last sound exposure which never reacted to sound or anything for that matter. I think in some sense reactivity is a facet of injury, as I am one individual yet I have had both types.

 

@GBB Where did you get the 60 mg Prednisone from? Is that one tablet or multiple... I was not aware of this dosage. What did you tell the doctor that they agreed to prescribe?

Ken