Acoustic Shock-Induced (Car Alarm in a Store) Tinnitus for Over a Month Now

[twa]

Hi everyone! I came across this forum from googling about tinnitus because it's been bothering me for over a month now (1 month and 2 weeks). I've been reading some success stories for while and a few not so successful stories which I try to avoid so I don't go down a negative spiral. I just want some positive insight from people who have come out of this successfully and how the process of fading went.

This might turn out to be a long post... so I will put it in paragraphs if you want to pick and choose what to read.

How it started
How I assume I got tinnitus, is from a loud car alarm that played IN a store so it was pretty fricken loud. It was on for about maybe 5-10 seconds. If I had known this would cause tinnitus I would have stepped outside. The next day I noticed a very high pitched EEEEEEE tone... which I normally hear when I'm in a very very very quiet enclosed area, which I learned recently to be tinnitus, but thought nothing of it back then because it didn't affect me until now. NOW I hear it over my tv, fan, and daily noises. The only time I don't hear is when I'm cooking or showering or out running errands. I can hear it faintly while I'm driving because I don't usually blast my radio. It's quite annoying and I can hear it at the market or store if I look for it.

How I felt/feel
In the beginning of the month I was really depressed because I couldn't focus on anything. I thought this would be the end of me... I couldn't enjoy my shows, or concentrate on homework... I was not feeling like myself and being a very negative person. Currently due to COVID-19 everything has been on hold. I used to love going out to the clubs and bars but after reading stories... it seems like everyone is saying to stay away from loud noises... I also work at a bar but it's not too loud and I may have to start working again once everything opens up. After maybe 3 weeks? I started to tell my self to just live with it... I've felt less depressed but I still feel very annoyed and down not knowing if I can go back to my normal life. I'm 29 and still living the party and social life so I don't know how I'm going to cope with not being able to go out to the clubs with friends.

What I have tried (doctors, treatments)
I called my GP and he prescribed me Prednisone because he thought my eardrums could be inflamed due to the acoustic trauma and referred me to an ENT. So I took a 8 day course starting with 40 mg reducing it down to 10 mg before stopping. I don't think it helped. I saw the ENT and he said my hearing is fine, nothing blocked, just basically my ears looked good... so he told me to buy Lipoflavonoid to see if it works... I took that for a month, I don't know if it was working... but I'm no longer taking it and it seems to not have gotten worse... I just started taking one a day vitamins since people have been saying to take supplements.

How my ears feel and how things have changed over the month
So I am 1 month and 2 weeks into this irritating noise. I don't think I have hyperacusis because noises don't hurt my ears... loud dishes or quick spurts of loud sounds don't seem to spike my tinnitus or if it does, very minimally? I do feel fullness in one ear or the other but it's random and doesn't last the whole day and appears maybe once or twice a week. In the beginning I had this weird pain in my ear, felt like a sharp pain that comes and goes, but now I rarely feel it. The ringing was unbearable in when I first developed it maybe like a 4/10 and this is weird but when I lie down it gets louder like 6/10 and it was a constant high pitched ring (eeeeeeee). So I decided to sit up majority of the time but all I wanted to do was lie down and relax... but I couldn't because the ringing would become louder. Then it started fluctuating... I would notice the pitch going higher but kinda twitching? I don't know how to explain... like it was broken or something... but when I lie down, it goes back to the steady EEEEEEE tone... at the end of the month I hear all sorts of tones... the annoying EEEE which is the loudest and the worst, the high pitched fluctuating tone, sometimes a tone that sounds like a high pitched vacuum, a high pitched buzzing sound and a high pitched hissing sound... and this is where I'm stuck at because I feel like it's going down but then the annoying EEEEEE comes back and I'm like... ughh noo not this again... but now it's occurring less than in the beginning of the month. The best it gets is to a hissing sound that sounds like air is coming out of something... but when I lie down it gets to louder hissing/buzzing sound? So I really can't tell if am improving or not due to all these fluctuations. I'm currently at a buzzing/hissing noise on a good day... which I have been having. The buzzing is still annoying but better than the high pitched EEEEE but I really just want silence... the occasional annoying high pitched EEEE likes to pop up here and there and it gets me depressed again because it's like a step back... now I say it's at a 3/10 unless I lie down it will go up to a 5/10. I don't know if I'm improving or just staying the same because I'm getting used to it (I can still hear it over stuff) but I really want to be one of those success stories where it just goes away (not habituation)... I want to be happy again

Questions I have
For those of you who have recovered from your tinnitus, how long did it take? When did you see improvements? And how was the fading process? Like did it suddenly go away? Or did it just decrease until it was gone?

Are you back to your old life doing things you normally do?

No negativity please

I really don't want to wear ear plugs... I tried and my own voice is really loud when I talk... if I have to I will wear them to loud bars and clubs but not out to the store or normal activities.

THANK YOU ALL WHO TOOK THE TIME TO READ THIS.
POSITIVE REPLIES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

From what I've read a hissing noise is a good sign, especially this soon. Keep the faith, you will be ok! I'm praying for all of us!

 

[aimlesshiker]

Hi @n_li808, replying since it sounds like we're in similar situations.

How's your tinnitus been? I've read it can take 3-6 months to see any changes (hopefully improvements, but can go either way), as well as it being the threshold for calling it "chronic" or not.

It does suck to be young and possibly have permanent ear damage. I mean, I'm glad I know better now, but why did we have to find out this way? Once COVID-19 is over and concerts and bars become a thing again, do I just never go, or do I just carry around earplugs everywhere I go?

Wishing all the best to you. Feel free to reach out if you need to chat, this is hard to suddenly be dealing with!

 

[n_li808]

@twa I heard that too but it's inconsistent... it goes back to ringing or a pure tone. It fluctuates so much and I get spikes from noises. I'm praying too!

 

[starrynights]

@twa I heard that too but it's inconsistent... it goes back to ringing or a pure tone. It fluctuates so much and I get spikes from noises. I'm praying too!

I still have that pure tone that also fluctuates a lot in loudness, although I suspect it can also be due to ETD and TMJ. It goes from a pure tone than a loud hiss, and pure tone again. Does yours tend to be louder in the evenings? Mine definitely is. I also find that depending on my sleep position the tone tends to be softer/not as consistent in its ringing. If the pure tone didn't have those fading episodes I'd be a lot more worried to be honest, I really hope it subsides for the both of us!

Taking some melatonin and magnesium biglycinate before bed really helps me in the morning cause I'll wake up to every quiet tinnitus. Have you tried it?

 

[n_li808]

@starrynights yes it's definitely louder in the afternoon-night. I wake up with it a little softer and it progresses during the day. Past couple of days it's like a buzzy/hissy sound.

I wonder if mine is caused by clenching as well... I catch myself doing it but I fell no pain in the jaws.

Do you leave the house a lot? I get spikes when I go out and come back home and usually louder the next few days. But if I don't go out for a few days it's on the quiet side.

I haven't that that one I took another Magnesium but unsure if it had any effect.
Currently taking B12 and Ginkgo biloba.

 

[Alfred87]

Was yours noise induced as well?

Yes. Mine is noise induced. It would get better over time. My tinnitus now is more constant and manageable compared to the first 3 weeks (unknown reason spikes 8-9 out of 10 in the midnight). It will still spike to 5-6 out of 10 from exposure to external noise, when taking a train, walking in shopping mall, or dining in restaurant. At least now it won't sudden give me shock spikes anytime. I wake up with 3-4 every morning. I now seldom wear earplugs unless I feel the sound is unbearable/uncomfortable.

 

[n_li808]

@Alfred87 that's good to hear. Mine still spikes to external noises, also it's louder at night and soft in the morning. It fluctuates in tone as well... I just want this to go away.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Mine still spikes to external noises, also it's louder at night and soft in the morning. It fluctuates in tone as well... I just want this to go away.

@n_li808

I know how difficult and frustrating oversensitivity so sound can make a person feel. You are in the early stages of noise induced tinnitus but it will get better as time goes on. Continue using low level sound enrichment at night and whenever possible during the day. It will get better but takes time.

Michael

 

[n_li808]

Thank you @Michael Leigh, always nice to hear positive reassurance. I'm clinging on to all these positive stories that I read.

 

[Alfred87]

It fluctuates in tone as well... I just want this to go away.

@n_li808
Have you tried to eat light for your dinner? No heavy food 3-4 hours before sleep. You can also elevate your pillow a bit to reduce blood pressure in your head. Take one banana 1-2 hours before sleep. It helps me a bit to calm my tinnitus down at night.

 

[n_li808]

@Alfred87 No I haven't... I feel like if I do that I'll end up eating right before bed... but I'll try it! Thank you.

 

[Zud]

That was a long post to read. Here's some of my ideas that keep myself going.

Number 1: Tinnitus is harmless. It may be irritating, depressing, and infuriating, but it can't bring any harm to you. Reacting negatively is more destructive to your body and yourself than the condition could ever be. It doesn't actually really DO anything, if you think about it.

Number 2: Make decisive practical adjustments. Sometimes you'll have good days, sometimes you'll have bad, so leave something you like to eat in the refrigerator when you get home from life, a film nearby you like to watch, something to keep your emotional tank protected. Likewise, there are days where it's going to be easier, and you can commit yourself better. Be serious about this, because some days you'll be fine, some days you won't.

Number 3: Life is pretty much about disappointments. It's your job as a human being to deal with that efficiently. You almost definitely know that already, but because sometimes we get stuck and think there's some big answer out there. Being strong isn't something you can just google on the internet and get an answer for.

I also experience acoustic tinnitus, it's been a year, it has definitely got better, though the reality is there's no cure and it'll never go away. Staying hurting and pining for it to do so isn't much of a future, the best choice is to adapt. Chasing magic cures or quack remedies only leads to more pain than it's worth. Over time you get emotionally jaded and figure things out.

At 29, you're still relatively young, so you have some youth on your side. The first time I experienced chronic tinnitus was 28 and it went away by itself, or I forgot about it, it's hard to tell. Tinnitus is the loudest condition with the quietest survivors.

 

[n_li808]

@Zud it was long, thanks for reading! And thanks for the advice...

It's hard to enjoy watching films because I hear the tinnitus along with whatever I'm watching.

So how long did it take for it to disappear the first time?? And how did it come back? Do you go out with ear protection?? Sorry, lots of questions.

 

[hans799]

What antibiotic eye drops did you end up using after your surgery? Any side effects?

I decided to cancel laser eye surgery.

• It would have rendered me ineligible to use contact lens later in life. Because eyes deteriorate naturally, surgery would have given me maybe a decade of perfect vision, but then doomed me to eye glasses later in life.
• My #1 reason to do the surgery would have been to reduce the hassle of managing contact lens. Turns out that eye dryness is an incredibly common and often long-lasting complaint, requiring hourly eye drops. Hassle levels would actually have increased.
• And I couldn't find an ear-safe alternative for the antibiotics. I don't need eye surgery, it would just have been a convenience. Risking an antibiotic-induced permanent tinnitus spike for a convenience procedure seemed utterly foolish.

So yeah. No surgery, no eye drops, no side effects.

 

[jpr992]

Dear all,

I have hyperacusis and a car alarm went off for 2 seconds before I fingered my ears just in front of my house when I was inside without earplugs. I didn't feel pain.

There were 2 protections between me and the alarm: the windows of the house (not double glass, just single glass), which were closed, and the door of my room, closed too. There was another door in between but not fully closed.

Even so, the alarm seemed pretty loud for me, and I think I'm more sensitive to noise now.

Should I take Prednisone? Or is this just anxiety?

The car alarms are around 110 dB right?

 

[HZO]

How are you doing these days @n_li808?

 

[Damocles]

I decided to cancel laser eye surgery.

It would have rendered me ineligible to use contact lens later in life. Because eyes deteriorate naturally, surgery would have given me maybe a decade of perfect vision, but then doomed me to eye glasses later in life.

The effects of LES only last a decade?

Is this best case scenario? Or would that only have been if you opted for 20/20 vision?

My #1 reason to do the surgery would have been to reduce the hassle of managing contact lens. Turns out that eye dryness is an incredibly common and often long-lasting complaint, requiring hourly eye drops. Hassle levels would actually have increased.

This still hasn't been resolved?

Most of the human population suffer with dry eye now anyway, due to insane amounts of screen time. How much drier can one's eyes get?

If this is common, most LES recipients must have their eyelids sealed shut 24/7(?)

And I couldn't find an ear-safe alternative for the antibiotics. I don't need eye surgery, it would just have been a convenience. Risking an antibiotic-induced permanent tinnitus spike for a convenience procedure seemed utterly foolish.

I wasn't aware you had to use anti-biotics after the treatment.

Was penicillin not one of those approved post-op?