Where Do I Pick Up My Membership Card at?

Hello all,

Figured it was about time for me to make a post. Now that I've done enough research over the last 9 days to be able to sit for the ENT boards (lol) I figured I'd make some friends here. My story on my recent tinnitus acquisition.

I'm 28 year old male that has done a pretty good job of taking care of my hearing relative to my peers. I always wear hearing protection when using power tools, mowing the lawn, etc. I even keep earplugs on my keychain and pop them in if I ever go into a loud club or bar so it really surprised me when this popped up.

2 weeks ago I had upper jaw surgery (actually my 2nd one so I've been through this routine before) so I do not suspect it has anything to do with the surgery itself. Surgeon confirmed that it is EXTREMELY rare to hear any reports of tinnitus after this surgery.

Came home from surgery and was good for the first couple of days hearing wise. Was taking a combination of ibuprofen, acetaminophen/hydrocodone and cyclobenzaprine. Started using my blender (which I normally use hearing protection with but stupid me, didn't see my ear muffs in there usual place so I figured "Meh") I was all drugged up so I didn't feel like going on a scavenger hunt for them. After about 3 days I started to notice the ringing, pry used the blender 6 times or so, 20 secs exposure to 93-100 db max each time. Granted, this was about the same time that my blood levels of cyclobenzaprine hit steady state and tinnitus is a 1-2% side effect of cyclo. I started to experience ear fullness as well. Been off the cyclo for 6 days now and maybe the tinnitus has improved, I'm not quite sure. Had crazy anxiety/depression about if for a day or 2 there which made is seem like an alarm bell in my head. Reports indicate that when tinnitus is caused by cyclobenzaprine (which is extremely similiar to amitriptiline), takes a few weeks for the ringing to stop.

Went to the audiologist yesterday, ran all the tests. Only thing that came back as suspicious was my DPAOE. Had no response in the 6500-8000hz in right ear, 6500-10000hz no response in the left so this indicates dysfunction/possible damage of outer hair cells. My hope is that the muscle relaxer is suppressing this (found studies that showed aspirin induced tinnitus was caused by the same means, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21361438) but realistically, its probably damage done by using the blender and having ibuprofen/acetaphinomen in my system. UGHHHHHHHHH. What time of the month are membership fees due? lol

 

Hey Chad,

28 year old guy here too, welcome to the club nobody wants to be a member of, wish we couldn't accept anymore members but unfortunately I'm not responsible for the guest list ...

Anyway nice to meet you!

 

If you suspect that drug is the cause of your T, you might want to stop taking it right away.

 

Thanks Chris, I try to have a light hearted attitude about it because even in the short time I've had it, I've noticed the HUGE effect that negative vs positive emotions can have on T. I hit a really dark and depressive spot there for a couple of days and it sounded like a fire alarm in my head but now as I type this, it sounds like just a minor annoyance because I've tried to keep a positive attitude about it.

Hey Bill, yes, I stopped taking it as soon as I read that tinnitus was a side effect. I've been off it for 6 days now. I read that those who had tinnitus from it typically saw symptoms resolve in 2-3 weeks, only time will tell. I'm hoping it's from the muscle relaxer but deep down I think it's from the blender/NSAID exposure over multiple days.

 

I should probably know this already, but what are "outer hair cells"?

 

Outer hair cells of the cochlea

 

HI Chad,

Sorry to hear of your sound problems. Alignments can be off, nerves can be startled, rearranged, whatever.

Is it possible that the jaw surgery could also be a culprit? Is your jaw ok now?

My H got worse after getting my teeth cleaned once by a barbarian! It did go away (almost) but took like, a month. I already have H but it's mostly pain in one ear and I could tell this was in the other ear (new). I'm back to my "old" H now.

You are early on. I think it's possible that if it's the jaw surgery, things might settle down. Re the DPAOE, I have lopsided readings, too, but I have heard that there is not always a 1:1 correlation to H and T issues. Sort of like, when every one of a certain age has a hinky MRI but not everyone feels pain.

Also some drug reactions can take up to a month or longer to leave your system. At least that is what i have found. H is so strange and no well understood.

Best of luck wishing for you.