Acoustic Trauma from a Gunshot — I’m Scared of the Future

[Merlin L]

I have read all your stories here on Tinnitus Talk over the past 2 months and decided it's time to tell mine. I have encountered such compassion and understanding here, along with wonderful resources, advice, and personal experiences that people have shared over the years. I guess I'm in need of support and understanding myself, as I feel my life has become an unrecognizable mess.

I'm sorry about the incredibly long story I'm about to write, but I need to get it all off my chest, and writing can be sort of therapeutic.

Backstory

I'm a 31-year-old female, living in a Northern European country. In the past, I've been exposed to loud noises quite a bit, which have never hurt or bothered me. I've been blasted with fire alarms going off on multiple occasions. I used to work in bars and nightclubs for 3 years during my undergrad studies. I've been to several concerts, festivals, and events with no problems. My ears were durable.

However, that was all 5+ years ago. In more recent years, I was living a very quiet life. I hardly even used earphones and always preferred to be in quiet environments. I had never had any ear problems. Nothing at all. Except for once 3 years ago, I had a bout of high-pitched pure tone fleeting tinnitus, which went after me yanking my ear (I used one of those silly tinnitus relief methods you can see circulating on the internet) and it was never heard again. At the time, I didn't even know that it could become permanent.

It is now very appalling to me how incredibly and unnecessarily loud some of the alarms are. I was reading @Jason C's story about a burglar alarm going off at 120+ dB (Jason's success story has been giving me so much hope and I'm so glad it got better for him) and @Brian Newman's accident with the airbag deploying at 170+ dB (I also read Brian's whole story about multiple accidents/injuries and can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be). It is insane that's even legal and how little awareness there seems to be around the damage it could cause. I've been thinking and sobbing about all the stories I've read here.

Acoustic trauma incident

Well, anyway. Back to my mess of a story. I was visiting my friend in the USA and as per American tradition, we went shooting with friends, something that is wildly uncommon where I live. Although I had been to the USA before and went shooting there, I wasn't aware of the damage a gunshot could cause or how loud some of the guns were. I forgot to put on my earplugs and took one shot with a .45 handgun that, according to Google is around 157 dB. That's a lot of noise.

After the shot, I initially had a very loud high-pitched ringing in my ears that subsided in less than a minute and seemingly I felt back to normal. I put on my earplugs and continued shooting. There was no muffled hearing, no dizziness, no pain, and no ringing. In fact, I had no sign of any trauma for a week, during which I went to see a hockey game, watched movies, and went to the stockyards, all of which were quite loud events, but even then, it did not feel too loud. A week after the gunshot accident and a week full of loud activities, on one evening I noticed a very faint ringing in my left ear, which I hoped would go away in a couple of days. Deep down, I knew I was in trouble. Perhaps it was all the doom and gloom stories on the internet that I was reading.

I was in Texas at the time, and we were experiencing an ice storm, which meant all the pharmacies and urgent care offices were closed. I finally got a Methylprednisolone taper pack in about a week after the ringing started and 2 weeks after the acoustic trauma. Maybe it was too late, but I thought it could be worth a shot (no pun intended).

Methylprednisolone side effects and withdrawal

I generally tolerate the medication well, but then again, I haven't taken anything this powerful before. I was told I'd probably be experiencing an increased appetite and slight trouble with sleeping. For the first 3 days, I was sleeping like a baby, I had no side effects at all. Nothing. Although, I noticed that the ringing in my ear spiked considerably, from level 2/10 to 7/10 when I was laying down. I'm not saying that correlation is causation, but Methylprednisolone might be the culprit here. As soon as I would stand up, fortunately, tinnitus would go down again. That was weird, but I was determined to stick to the steroids for the potential benefit.

On the 4th day, I could not fall asleep anymore and I started experiencing some anxiety (I also read that it was a common side effect of Methylprednisolone) that escalated into a full-blown dissociative panic attack, during which I could not really understand anymore what was going on with me. I was just walking from one room to another, unable to calm down or sit in one place. Rationally I knew it was the side effects of the steroids, but emotionally I couldn't register it. That lasted for 3 days straight.

I also did not sleep for those 3 days. I had never experienced anything like that before. I was staying at my friend's house, and I was literally losing touch with reality. Every morning at 6 am, after another sleepless anxiety-filled night I was vigorously browsing plane tickets for the same-day flight back home, which would have cost 1500 dollars. I was desperate to get back to Europe and go see a doctor.

Urgent care visit

Rewind. On my 4th day of taking Methylprednisolone and not sleeping for one day, while my anxiety was mild in comparison to what it turned into, I decided to go to urgent care. I had travel insurance, and I was determined to put it to good use. I read through my insurance policy and realized that for my insurance to compensate for the cost of an emergency flight home, I would need a letter from a doctor with a recommendation to return to my country. Always read your insurance policy. With that goal in mind, I ended up at the local urgent care office. I paid 180 American dollars to get to see a doctor for 15 minutes.

The whole ordeal felt ridiculous.

I'm not familiar with the procedures in the United States, but before you get to see a doctor, you have to talk to a nurse (I'm assuming it was a nurse) who gathers your family's medical background and listens to what you're complaining about. The one I saw was absolutely unhinged.

When I said I had suffered an acoustic trauma from a gunshot, and, mind you, I'm a pretty sensitive person and I was literally on the verge of tears, the nurse (?) YELLS "Pew, pew, pew, you're such a badass." Okay, I get maybe she was trying to make me feel better or lift the mood, but it came off as if she was making light of the whole situation, which felt inappropriate.

I told her that I'm experiencing some side effects of Methylprednisolone. At this point I had been awake more than 24 hours, unable to sleep at all. She seemed blissfully unaware of what Methylprednisolone/Prednisolone was and kept referring to it as an antibiotic. She wanted to write down Methylprednisolone, but struggled to spell it and asked me 3 times "What was the antibiotic you were taking?" after me telling her a million times it was a steroid medication called Methylprednisolone. It was baffling. At this point, I started questioning whether she was even a nurse.

Anyway, I finally got to see the doctor, who was perfectly nice and pleasant, but obviously being in family medicine, he didn't seem to know much of the implications of acoustic trauma. I told him that I had suffered an acoustic trauma and was experiencing tinnitus, to which he suggested that I should get an MRI because I might have a tumor. It just felt unnecessary and completely off base.

Then he said I have Meniere's disease because I mentioned that bout of fleeting tinnitus I had 3 years ago, and said that the side effects of Methylprednisolone were making me dizzy. According to him, that was enough to conclude I probably have Meniere's. Although, I was still pretty sure that the tinnitus was caused by that damn acoustic trauma incident. Plus, me being dumb and forgetful. Oh, how many times I wished I could just go back in time and put those earplugs on.

At least I got a prescription for Klonopin for the insane anxiety that Methylprednisolone was causing me, and a letter for my insurance stating that I should return home immediately.

Back to the side effect story

Well, when I left the urgent care, I think I had been awake well beyond 24 hours. I kept taking the Methylprednisolone since it's a taper pack and you're not supposed to quit it abruptly. I got my 10-dollar Klonopin and decided that I would use it only when absolutely necessary. I do not need to become dependent on benzos and would prefer to steer clear of it if possible. So, I had another anxiety-filled sleepless night.

I was calling my mom and crying on the phone for hours. I had not eaten anything but 6 carrots in 2 days. Fast forward to day 3 without sleeping, eating, and anxiety the size of an American bison, I took the Klonopin, but it did not put me to sleep. At this point, I had stopped taking Methylprednisolone for one day and I had acquired some fun muscle twitches and body shakes too. I finally went to ER.

ER visit (USA)

Got a bunch of unnecessary and excessively expensive tests done. It was so weird that they did not even ask for my ID. Literally said, no US phone number, no address, no nothing. Got a 6000-dollar bill for the ordeal that with an uninsured discount came out to around 4500 dollars total. I honestly don't know how people without insurance or poor insurance cope with the cost of healthcare in the US.

I got an IV that seemed to clear up Methylprednisolone side effects/withdrawal symptoms, and when I returned to my friend's house, I was able to finally eat and fall asleep after being awake for 3 days. I also got myself a ticket back home and left the country after 5 painfully long days.

First ENT visit at home

This was almost a month after the acoustic trauma. That visit was relatively useless. ENT did a hearing test that showed no hearing loss, and I refused the loudness discomfort level test since I was so freaked out (at this point I had moderate tinnitus and mild hyperacusis with TTTS symptoms). The ENT prescribed me Gabapentin, which I haven't taken yet. I purchased the medication just in case though. She said she had never seen anyone with acoustic trauma and did not seem to know anything about it, or at least she did not talk to me about it at all. Pointless visit, which unfortunately reflects the experiences of most people here.

Second ENT (audiologist) visit at home

She was much nicer and more knowledgeable and had seen patients with acoustic trauma (with both tinnitus and hyperacusis symptoms). I got another audiogram, still no hearing loss (I didn't get an extended audiogram, but at least up to 8 kHz I have normal hearing, which is good). Tympanogram came back normal, but LDL (loudness discomfort level) test showed a decreased threshold for sound, capping around 50-70 dB, which felt very loud and uncomfortable for me. It used to be an average range for my headphone usage that I could listen to comfortably.

Anyway, she pretty much said that it's a good sign that I don't have any hearing loss (maybe I have in high frequencies though) and that my symptoms (tinnitus; hyperacusis; TTTS) just might go away on their own. Time will tell. Since there isn't much of a treatment, she referred me to a non-clinical audiologist (a person trained in audiology but is not a doctor) to figure out what the course of treatment should be or how to get habituated to it.

Ear symptoms

Bilateral tinnitus, with my left ear/side being worse and generating more brain noise. That was my only symptom for the first month after the acoustic trauma. I experienced various sounds, tones, and intensities. Some days were better, some were worse. My tinnitus was really all over the place, ranging from a loud flat E to beeping to loud hissing that felt like a whole head buzz, which made thinking and concentrating very difficult without masking the tinnitus.

After a month, I developed loudness hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms. Regular low-level sounds like crinkling plastic wrapping, turning the light switch on/off, dropping the plastic bottle on the floor, cutlery noises, sometimes MY OWN FUCKING VOICE, and many other things trigger ear spasms and feel incredibly loud to me, although something like a car driving by somewhat feels normal. Any sudden noise at a certain frequency seems to trigger it. This is way more annoying than tinnitus. I have read that it is mostly thought to be an anxiety-based condition and, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I developed it due to the mental distress I was in because of my tinnitus.

I also have some sort of odd pain here and there (I don't think it's pain hyperacusis though, as it doesn't seem a direct, sharp response to sounds, but rather a dull next-day pain when I have over-exhausted my ears by exposing myself to sounds a little too much), a burning/heat sensation, tightness or a tense feeling in the ears, "fluttering" ears and muscle spasms in response to sound (TTTS).

I also have ETD-like symptoms. I think my Eustachian tube keeps "popping" and crackling randomly, plus it started making a very loud sound when I swallow (which I know can be normal, but I feel like I did not have it before and developed it along with TTTS and hyperacusis symptoms a month after my acoustic trauma). It feels like the E tubes are "sticky."

At the beginning of month 2, I started also having attacks of fleeting tinnitus multiple times a day, which, as ridiculous as it sounds, were quite enjoyable in the sense that they would always go away and it was something new for a second that overpowered the old annoying hiss and/or ring. Bouts of fleeing tinnitus have mostly died down for now. I get them when I expose my ears to sound a little too much. I liked to think of them, as @Jason C said, brain/ears recalibrating or healing itself.

I've always been a heavy sleeper, so at least my sleep has been unaffected by tinnitus. I feel for everyone who is unable to fall or stay asleep due to this mental noise torture.

On a good note, in the last few weeks, I have had some moments of almost silence, where I can barely hear my tinnitus in a quiet room (knock on the wood).

I wish I could go back to only having tinnitus. At this point (a little over 2 months in), I'm mostly habituated to my tinnitus and it does not cause me that much mental pain anymore (knock on the wood again). Hyperacusis and TTTS are entirely different ball games.

Emotional state

I know rationally, by any means my situation is not objectively catastrophic, but my emotional reaction to it has been catastrophic. I've been grieving the loss of a carefree life I used to have, the loss of silence. Probably like many of you here. Although, feelings of depression and despair seem to be a "suitable" emotional response.

I know many recover (I have read all the success stories) and for most people symptoms improve. I was looking at posts from 2013 on here and lurking on people's comment history and saw many experiencing improvements in symptoms over the course of 1-2 years. This gives me hope too. It just seems to be a long and tedious process, with setbacks waiting for you at every corner.

I guess most people write here when they are experiencing a setback or feel their lowest. I am here after 2 somewhat noisy days and ENT tests that made my ears feel more sensitive and fragile again. I've been crying a lot, feeling sorry for myself, and mad at myself. I'm scared of the future, I'm scared of making my ears worse, and developing pain hyperacusis (knock on the goddamn wood again). I don't know how to function in a society that is so wildly loud. I guess I'm really struggling to accept what has happened in my life. It's just depressing in general. I don't want to die, but I don't want to live like this either.

I don't really know how to help myself at this point. I'm sorry it's been a depressing day.

 

[Jupiterman]

Simple advice for the next 6 months:

1) Protect your ears at all costs.

2) Take no risks in following (1).

 

[Merlin L]

Simple advice for the next 6 months:

1) Protect your ears at all costs.

2) Take no risks in following (1).

Thank you. I'm really trying to. I can work/study from home right now, so I don't have to be around noise a lot.

Has your situation improved over time?

 

[DimLeb]

After a month, I developed loudness hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms. Regular low-level sounds like crinkling plastic wrapping, turning the light switch on/off, dropping the plastic bottle on the floor, cutlery noises, sometimes MY OWN FUCKING VOICE, and many other things trigger ear spasms and feel incredibly loud to me, although something like a car driving by somewhat feels normal. Any sudden noise at a certain frequency seems to trigger it. This is way more annoying than tinnitus. I have read that it is mostly thought to be an anxiety-based condition and, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I developed it due to the mental distress I was in because of my tinnitus.

I got TTTS too, within a month after my (mild-moderate) tinnitus onset, which is way more annoying than the tinnitus itself. All the same for me, and even scratching my face triggers a quick right ear spasm, while left ear is triggered to spasm continuously when I'm listening to a person talking in its direction in a quiet setting, like deep in my head vibrating. Thankfully, outside or at places with more sound around me, the spasms don't happen.

Unfortunately, my TTTS has stayed the same (or even worse sometimes) since 2 years ago that I developed all this. However, mine was idiopathic that appeared out of the blue without anything specific triggering my condition.

Still, your story is very similar to what I experience. Since the onset, I also get many fleeting tinnitus episodes. Normally a few times per week. Sometimes, twice a day - drop of hearing in one ear, appearance of a loud tone, back to normal within 10-20 seconds. Sometimes every day of a week, other times less frequently, like a few times a month. Those are really over the place. I also got no hearing loss till about 15 kHz (29-year-old male).

My regular tinnitus is also similar with it being more to the mild side, but it has its good and bad days - when a hiss sound I have becomes more intense in the left ear (my worse ear) and kind of spreads. My other sounds thankfully are very low volume that sometimes even in silence I cannot detect them.

I have no advice to tell you other than protect your ears at loud environments and hopefully some real treatments will come though (Susan Shore's device and potassium channel openers like XEN-1101).

 

[Ziekfelt2]

This seems crazy but my story is very similar to yours. My one very loud single shotgun event was 5 months ago. I don't even shoot guns or anything like that. I think the tinnitus, which is only in my left ear, is getting better. It's worse in the morning when I wake up. Like an open window. I'm being very careful not to get exposed to loud noise. I hope a I can live with it. The book "A Roaring Silence" helped me. I recommend you read it. Don't be upset at yourself for what happened anymore. It's not worth it. Everyone makes mistakes. It's called life. You'll get better. Just be patient and gentle to yourself.

 

[Merlin L]

I got TTTS too, within a month after my (mild-moderate) tinnitus onset, which is way more annoying than the tinnitus itself. All the same for me, and even scratching my face triggers a quick right ear spasm, while left ear is triggered to spasm continuously when I'm listening to a person talking in its direction in a quiet setting, like deep in my head vibrating. Thankfully, outside or at places with more sound around me, the spasms don't happen.

I have it the same way, even stupidly low-level sound like ripping toilet paper seems to trigger muscle spasms sometimes. Also, people talking somewhat loudly and fast (especially in videos or online meetings) triggers continuous ear flutters for me. Usually lowering the sound helps.

Unfortunately, my TTTS has stayed the same (or even worse sometimes) since 2 years ago that I developed all this. However, mine was idiopathic that appeared out of the blue without anything specific triggering my condition.

Medical community seems to think that TTTS is anxiety and stress-induced condition, but they say it about everything they can't properly explain. Before my acoustic trauma I had experienced the fluttering 2 times in the middle of stressful and loud online meetings, but it was some years ago and seemed pretty isolated incident at a time. I'm so one of those people who can control my ear muscles at will and make my ears flutter or rumble at command.

Still, your story is very similar to what I experience. Since the onset, I also get many fleeting tinnitus episodes. Normally a few times per week. Sometimes, twice a day - drop of hearing in one ear, appearance of a loud tone, back to normal within 10-20 seconds. Sometimes every day of a week, other times less frequently, like a few times a month. Those are really over the place. I also got no hearing loss till about 15 kHz (29-year-old male).

My fleeting tinnitus has calmed down for now at least. Hopefully it's a good sign!

I have no advice to tell you other than protect your ears at loud environments and hopefully some real treatments will come though (Susan Shore's device and potassium channel openers like XEN-1101).

How would you describe you TTTS?

Does low-level sounds like crinkling a plastic bag or dropping an empty plastic bottle on the ground seem unreasonably loud to you, which thus triggers the muscle spasms?

Have you tried to avoid triggering you TTTS symptoms for a period of time to see if it goes away?

 

[Merlin L]

This seems crazy but my story is very similar to yours. My one very loud single shotgun event was 5 months ago. I don't even shoot guns or anything like that. I think the tinnitus, which is only in my left ear, is getting better. It's worse in the morning when I wake up. Like an open window. I'm being very careful not to get exposed to loud noise. I hope a I can live with it. The book "A Roaring Silence" helped me. I recommend you read it. Don't be upset at yourself for what happened anymore. It's not worth it. Everyone makes mistakes. It's called life. You'll get better. Just be patient and gentle to yourself.

I know you're right and thank you for your kind words. It's important to try to accept it, while remaining hopeful that it will improve in time. I read that studies on rats show that cochlea inflammation and neuroinflammation in the auditory cortex can take 6 to 9 months to come down. I guess patience is needed on this healing journey. I'll check out the book. Thank you

Was tinnitus the only symptom you are/were experiencing or did you have any noise sensitivity or anything else too?

 

[billie48]

I've always been a heavy sleeper, so at least my sleep has been unaffected by tinnitus. I feel for everyone who is unable to fall or stay asleep due to this mental noise torture.

On a good note, in the last few weeks, I have had some moments of almost silence, where I can barely hear my tinnitus in a quiet room

Welcome to the forum Merlin. Sorry that you have suffered much with your tinnitus and hyperacusis. Your symptoms are obviously caused by acoustic trauma which is probably the most common cause of tinnitus. Hyperacusis often follows the tinnitus in many cases of acoustic trauma. So your symptoms are quite normal. Usually the suffering is most intense at the onset because of the limbic nerves being activated and the brain is using the Amygdala to process the response to both tinnitus and hyperacusis. Amygdala is causing you to function on fight and flight mode, which intensifies the ringing sensation as it treats it as mortal threat to your survival, and it causes you to zoom on tinnitus nonstop.

Don't worry though. You should get better given time. Acoustic trauma usually requires time to get better. Why? Because after the initial turmoil, as your brain gets more used to the ringing, and as you begin to slowly live your life as before, and as you learn to relax by doing leisurely activities, such as walking, meditating, deep abdominal breathing, or pursuing hobbies old and new, the brain will be distracted, and will stop treating your tinnitus as a mortal threat.

When that happens, the normal parasympathetic nerves will return to replace the limbic nerves. The prefrontal cortex of your brain will now take over from the Amygdala in processing the tinnitus response. This prefrontal cortex organ has the much welcome function to extinguish the fear response, quite different from the Amygdala. When this happens, you will find people will slowly calm down and with that the intensity of the tinnitus will fade or that your brain can begin to ignore the ringing, even loud ringing.

How is that possible? Well, remember during a flight, most people may not be aware of the loud, all encompassing jet noise, especially if they are deep into watching a movie or enjoying the meal. The brain can habituate and ignore loud noise if it considers the noise as a harmless sound. That is how people can live near train tracks or airports. But this will take time, and that by being positive you can speed up the habituation.

The above positives of periods of silence and that you can sleep should point to gradual improvement, much like those authors of the success stories. Give it time for your body to heal. Have a bright hope for the future. Don't project a catastrophic future at the worst time of suffering. If my success story can help you, go read it up as I share some helpful strategies. Take good care. God bless.

From Darkness to Light, How I Recovered from Tinnitus & Hyperacusis

 

[Blackbird1016]

I have read all your stories here on Tinnitus Talk over the past 2 months and decided it's time to tell mine. I have encountered such compassion and understanding here, along with wonderful resources, advice, and personal experiences that people have shared over the years. I guess I'm in need of support and understanding myself, as I feel my life has become an unrecognizable mess.

I'm sorry about the incredibly long story I'm about to write, but I need to get it all off my chest, and writing can be sort of therapeutic.

Backstory

I'm a 31-year-old female, living in a Northern European country. In the past, I've been exposed to loud noises quite a bit, which have never hurt or bothered me. I've been blasted with fire alarms going off on multiple occasions. I used to work in bars and nightclubs for 3 years during my undergrad studies. I've been to several concerts, festivals, and events with no problems. My ears were durable.

However, that was all 5+ years ago. In more recent years, I was living a very quiet life. I hardly even used earphones and always preferred to be in quiet environments. I had never had any ear problems. Nothing at all. Except for once 3 years ago, I had a bout of high-pitched pure tone fleeting tinnitus, which went after me yanking my ear (I used one of those silly tinnitus relief methods you can see circulating on the internet) and it was never heard again. At the time, I didn't even know that it could become permanent.

It is now very appalling to me how incredibly and unnecessarily loud some of the alarms are. I was reading @Jason C's story about a burglar alarm going off at 120+ dB (Jason's success story has been giving me so much hope and I'm so glad it got better for him) and @Brian Newman's accident with the airbag deploying at 170+ dB (I also read Brian's whole story about multiple accidents/injuries and can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be). It is insane that's even legal and how little awareness there seems to be around the damage it could cause. I've been thinking and sobbing about all the stories I've read here.

Acoustic trauma incident

Well, anyway. Back to my mess of a story. I was visiting my friend in the USA and as per American tradition, we went shooting with friends, something that is wildly uncommon where I live. Although I had been to the USA before and went shooting there, I wasn't aware of the damage a gunshot could cause or how loud some of the guns were. I forgot to put on my earplugs and took one shot with a .45 handgun that, according to Google is around 157 dB. That's a lot of noise.

After the shot, I initially had a very loud high-pitched ringing in my ears that subsided in less than a minute and seemingly I felt back to normal. I put on my earplugs and continued shooting. There was no muffled hearing, no dizziness, no pain, and no ringing. In fact, I had no sign of any trauma for a week, during which I went to see a hockey game, watched movies, and went to the stockyards, all of which were quite loud events, but even then, it did not feel too loud. A week after the gunshot accident and a week full of loud activities, on one evening I noticed a very faint ringing in my left ear, which I hoped would go away in a couple of days. Deep down, I knew I was in trouble. Perhaps it was all the doom and gloom stories on the internet that I was reading.

I was in Texas at the time, and we were experiencing an ice storm, which meant all the pharmacies and urgent care offices were closed. I finally got a Methylprednisolone taper pack in about a week after the ringing started and 2 weeks after the acoustic trauma. Maybe it was too late, but I thought it could be worth a shot (no pun intended).

Methylprednisolone side effects and withdrawal

I generally tolerate the medication well, but then again, I haven't taken anything this powerful before. I was told I'd probably be experiencing an increased appetite and slight trouble with sleeping. For the first 3 days, I was sleeping like a baby, I had no side effects at all. Nothing. Although, I noticed that the ringing in my ear spiked considerably, from level 2/10 to 7/10 when I was laying down. I'm not saying that correlation is causation, but Methylprednisolone might be the culprit here. As soon as I would stand up, fortunately, tinnitus would go down again. That was weird, but I was determined to stick to the steroids for the potential benefit.

On the 4th day, I could not fall asleep anymore and I started experiencing some anxiety (I also read that it was a common side effect of Methylprednisolone) that escalated into a full-blown dissociative panic attack, during which I could not really understand anymore what was going on with me. I was just walking from one room to another, unable to calm down or sit in one place. Rationally I knew it was the side effects of the steroids, but emotionally I couldn't register it. That lasted for 3 days straight.

I also did not sleep for those 3 days. I had never experienced anything like that before. I was staying at my friend's house, and I was literally losing touch with reality. Every morning at 6 am, after another sleepless anxiety-filled night I was vigorously browsing plane tickets for the same-day flight back home, which would have cost 1500 dollars. I was desperate to get back to Europe and go see a doctor.

Urgent care visit

Rewind. On my 4th day of taking Methylprednisolone and not sleeping for one day, while my anxiety was mild in comparison to what it turned into, I decided to go to urgent care. I had travel insurance, and I was determined to put it to good use. I read through my insurance policy and realized that for my insurance to compensate for the cost of an emergency flight home, I would need a letter from a doctor with a recommendation to return to my country. Always read your insurance policy. With that goal in mind, I ended up at the local urgent care office. I paid 180 American dollars to get to see a doctor for 15 minutes.

The whole ordeal felt ridiculous.

I'm not familiar with the procedures in the United States, but before you get to see a doctor, you have to talk to a nurse (I'm assuming it was a nurse) who gathers your family's medical background and listens to what you're complaining about. The one I saw was absolutely unhinged.

When I said I had suffered an acoustic trauma from a gunshot, and, mind you, I'm a pretty sensitive person and I was literally on the verge of tears, the nurse (?) YELLS "Pew, pew, pew, you're such a badass." Okay, I get maybe she was trying to make me feel better or lift the mood, but it came off as if she was making light of the whole situation, which felt inappropriate.

I told her that I'm experiencing some side effects of Methylprednisolone. At this point I had been awake more than 24 hours, unable to sleep at all. She seemed blissfully unaware of what Methylprednisolone/Prednisolone was and kept referring to it as an antibiotic. She wanted to write down Methylprednisolone, but struggled to spell it and asked me 3 times "What was the antibiotic you were taking?" after me telling her a million times it was a steroid medication called Methylprednisolone. It was baffling. At this point, I started questioning whether she was even a nurse.

Anyway, I finally got to see the doctor, who was perfectly nice and pleasant, but obviously being in family medicine, he didn't seem to know much of the implications of acoustic trauma. I told him that I had suffered an acoustic trauma and was experiencing tinnitus, to which he suggested that I should get an MRI because I might have a tumor. It just felt unnecessary and completely off base.

Then he said I have Meniere's disease because I mentioned that bout of fleeting tinnitus I had 3 years ago, and said that the side effects of Methylprednisolone were making me dizzy. According to him, that was enough to conclude I probably have Meniere's. Although, I was still pretty sure that the tinnitus was caused by that damn acoustic trauma incident. Plus, me being dumb and forgetful. Oh, how many times I wished I could just go back in time and put those earplugs on.

At least I got a prescription for Klonopin for the insane anxiety that Methylprednisolone was causing me, and a letter for my insurance stating that I should return home immediately.

Back to the side effect story

Well, when I left the urgent care, I think I had been awake well beyond 24 hours. I kept taking the Methylprednisolone since it's a taper pack and you're not supposed to quit it abruptly. I got my 10-dollar Klonopin and decided that I would use it only when absolutely necessary. I do not need to become dependent on benzos and would prefer to steer clear of it if possible. So, I had another anxiety-filled sleepless night.

I was calling my mom and crying on the phone for hours. I had not eaten anything but 6 carrots in 2 days. Fast forward to day 3 without sleeping, eating, and anxiety the size of an American bison, I took the Klonopin, but it did not put me to sleep. At this point, I had stopped taking Methylprednisolone for one day and I had acquired some fun muscle twitches and body shakes too. I finally went to ER.

ER visit (USA)

Got a bunch of unnecessary and excessively expensive tests done. It was so weird that they did not even ask for my ID. Literally said, no US phone number, no address, no nothing. Got a 6000-dollar bill for the ordeal that with an uninsured discount came out to around 4500 dollars total. I honestly don't know how people without insurance or poor insurance cope with the cost of healthcare in the US.

I got an IV that seemed to clear up Methylprednisolone side effects/withdrawal symptoms, and when I returned to my friend's house, I was able to finally eat and fall asleep after being awake for 3 days. I also got myself a ticket back home and left the country after 5 painfully long days.

First ENT visit at home

This was almost a month after the acoustic trauma. That visit was relatively useless. ENT did a hearing test that showed no hearing loss, and I refused the loudness discomfort level test since I was so freaked out (at this point I had moderate tinnitus and mild hyperacusis with TTTS symptoms). The ENT prescribed me Gabapentin, which I haven't taken yet. I purchased the medication just in case though. She said she had never seen anyone with acoustic trauma and did not seem to know anything about it, or at least she did not talk to me about it at all. Pointless visit, which unfortunately reflects the experiences of most people here.

Second ENT (audiologist) visit at home

She was much nicer and more knowledgeable and had seen patients with acoustic trauma (with both tinnitus and hyperacusis symptoms). I got another audiogram, still no hearing loss (I didn't get an extended audiogram, but at least up to 8 kHz I have normal hearing, which is good). Tympanogram came back normal, but LDL (loudness discomfort level) test showed a decreased threshold for sound, capping around 50-70 dB, which felt very loud and uncomfortable for me. It used to be an average range for my headphone usage that I could listen to comfortably.

Anyway, she pretty much said that it's a good sign that I don't have any hearing loss (maybe I have in high frequencies though) and that my symptoms (tinnitus; hyperacusis; TTTS) just might go away on their own. Time will tell. Since there isn't much of a treatment, she referred me to a non-clinical audiologist (a person trained in audiology but is not a doctor) to figure out what the course of treatment should be or how to get habituated to it.

Ear symptoms

Bilateral tinnitus, with my left ear/side being worse and generating more brain noise. That was my only symptom for the first month after the acoustic trauma. I experienced various sounds, tones, and intensities. Some days were better, some were worse. My tinnitus was really all over the place, ranging from a loud flat E to beeping to loud hissing that felt like a whole head buzz, which made thinking and concentrating very difficult without masking the tinnitus.

After a month, I developed loudness hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms. Regular low-level sounds like crinkling plastic wrapping, turning the light switch on/off, dropping the plastic bottle on the floor, cutlery noises, sometimes MY OWN FUCKING VOICE, and many other things trigger ear spasms and feel incredibly loud to me, although something like a car driving by somewhat feels normal. Any sudden noise at a certain frequency seems to trigger it. This is way more annoying than tinnitus. I have read that it is mostly thought to be an anxiety-based condition and, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I developed it due to the mental distress I was in because of my tinnitus.

I also have some sort of odd pain here and there (I don't think it's pain hyperacusis though, as it doesn't seem a direct, sharp response to sounds, but rather a dull next-day pain when I have over-exhausted my ears by exposing myself to sounds a little too much), a burning/heat sensation, tightness or a tense feeling in the ears, "fluttering" ears and muscle spasms in response to sound (TTTS).

I also have ETD-like symptoms. I think my Eustachian tube keeps "popping" and crackling randomly, plus it started making a very loud sound when I swallow (which I know can be normal, but I feel like I did not have it before and developed it along with TTTS and hyperacusis symptoms a month after my acoustic trauma). It feels like the E tubes are "sticky."

At the beginning of month 2, I started also having attacks of fleeting tinnitus multiple times a day, which, as ridiculous as it sounds, were quite enjoyable in the sense that they would always go away and it was something new for a second that overpowered the old annoying hiss and/or ring. Bouts of fleeing tinnitus have mostly died down for now. I get them when I expose my ears to sound a little too much. I liked to think of them, as @Jason C said, brain/ears recalibrating or healing itself.

I've always been a heavy sleeper, so at least my sleep has been unaffected by tinnitus. I feel for everyone who is unable to fall or stay asleep due to this mental noise torture.

On a good note, in the last few weeks, I have had some moments of almost silence, where I can barely hear my tinnitus in a quiet room (knock on the wood).

I wish I could go back to only having tinnitus. At this point (a little over 2 months in), I'm mostly habituated to my tinnitus and it does not cause me that much mental pain anymore (knock on the wood again). Hyperacusis and TTTS are entirely different ball games.

Emotional state

I know rationally, by any means my situation is not objectively catastrophic, but my emotional reaction to it has been catastrophic. I've been grieving the loss of a carefree life I used to have, the loss of silence. Probably like many of you here. Although, feelings of depression and despair seem to be a "suitable" emotional response.

I know many recover (I have read all the success stories) and for most people symptoms improve. I was looking at posts from 2013 on here and lurking on people's comment history and saw many experiencing improvements in symptoms over the course of 1-2 years. This gives me hope too. It just seems to be a long and tedious process, with setbacks waiting for you at every corner.

I guess most people write here when they are experiencing a setback or feel their lowest. I am here after 2 somewhat noisy days and ENT tests that made my ears feel more sensitive and fragile again. I've been crying a lot, feeling sorry for myself, and mad at myself. I'm scared of the future, I'm scared of making my ears worse, and developing pain hyperacusis (knock on the goddamn wood again). I don't know how to function in a society that is so wildly loud. I guess I'm really struggling to accept what has happened in my life. It's just depressing in general. I don't want to die, but I don't want to live like this either.

I don't really know how to help myself at this point. I'm sorry it's been a depressing day.

American here. Just wanted to chime in - I wholeheartedly agree our medical practioners are knudknicks. That's with everything, not just tinnitus. They have no idea how to treat anything and have lackluster non-investigative minds. All they do is prescribe drugs that get them kickbacks... Believe it or not, that nurse is the standard American nurse.

I'm on 6 months with tinnitus. It's absolute hell but it does improve and maybe even will go away.

Sorry you're dealing with this as well.

 

[DimLeb]

I have it the same way, even stupidly low-level sound like ripping toilet paper seems to trigger muscle spasms sometimes. Also, people talking somewhat loudly and fast (especially in videos or online meetings) triggers continuous ear flutters for me. Usually lowering the sound helps.

I think it's BS that it's an "anxiety-based" condition. 2 years now that I have it, it more or less stayed the same (sometimes a bit worse, spasms happening to more noises), even though I'm very calm and almost "normal" especially the last 6-12 months, even on the "bad" (moderate) tinnitus days. I almost habituated, if it wasn't for some frightening fleeting tinnitus episodes or so.

I believe TTTS is a degree of hyperacusis as a result of faulty nerve activity. Something clearly goes wrong in there (proof of it being the tinnitus) and anxiety has nothing to do with it.

My spasms don't happen in reaction to loud sounds, but more to short sounds or voices that "break" the quietness and maybe (?) startle the ear? I also find crackling plastic or paper bags very annoying, probably because they trigger some kind of low level, continuous spasm, not so much that they appear louder than usual. But I'm not sure. Maybe it's a combination of both - spasm and increased loudness. It's the ear muscles? It's the nervous system itself? I really can't tell for sure lol.

As for what I did to deal with these, the last 2 years since onset, I've lived a very quiet life. I work from home and I'm rarely exposed to a lot of noise. I also make music in my home studio, so I get some "controlled" sound all the time, but I didn't see any improvement in tinnitus, TTTS or anything. They do whatever they want, no matter what I do. *shrugs*

I tried some supplements at various periods, especially Magnesium which is supposed to be good for TTTS and muscle activity in general, but with no results.

 

[Merlin L]

Welcome to the forum Merlin. Sorry that you have suffered much with your tinnitus and hyperacusis. Your symptoms are obviously caused by acoustic trauma which is probably the most common cause of tinnitus. Hyperacusis often follows the tinnitus in many cases of acoustic trauma. So your symptoms are quite normal. Usually the suffering is most intense at the onset because of the limbic nerves being activated and the brain is using the Amygdala to process the response to both tinnitus and hyperacusis. Amygdala is causing you to function on fight and flight mode, which intensifies the ringing sensation as it treats it as mortal threat to your survival, and it causes you to zoom on tinnitus nonstop.

Don't worry though. You should get better given time. Acoustic trauma usually requires time to get better. Why? Because after the initial turmoil, as your brain gets more used to the ringing, and as you begin to slowly live your life as before, and as you learn to relax by doing leisurely activities, such as walking, meditating, deep abdominal breathing, or pursuing hobbies old and new, the brain will be distracted, and will stop treating your tinnitus as a mortal threat.

When that happens, the normal parasympathetic nerves will return to replace the limbic nerves. The prefrontal cortex of your brain will now take over from the Amygdala in processing the tinnitus response. This prefrontal cortex organ has the much welcome function to extinguish the fear response, quite different from the Amygdala. When this happens, you will find people will slowly calm down and with that the intensity of the tinnitus will fade or that your brain can begin to ignore the ringing, even loud ringing.

How is that possible? Well, remember during a flight, most people may not be aware of the loud, all encompassing jet noise, especially if they are deep into watching a movie or enjoying the meal. The brain can habituate and ignore loud noise if it considers the noise as a harmless sound. That is how people can live near train tracks or airports. But this will take time, and that by being positive you can speed up the habituation.

The above positives of periods of silence and that you can sleep should point to gradual improvement, much like those authors of the success stories. Give it time for your body to heal. Have a bright hope for the future. Don't project a catastrophic future at the worst time of suffering. If my success story can help you, go read it up as I share some helpful strategies. Take good care. God bless.

From Darkness to Light, How I Recovered from Tinnitus & Hyperacusis

Hi @billie48 and thank you for your kind words and encouragement. It is most definitely much needed right now. I have read your recovery story and all the comments and discussion too. You recovered from hyperacusis twice. That's absolutely amazing! Hopefully, my hyperacusis leaves me as yours did.

As you said, the first months are the hardest. With having developed sound sensitivity and hyperacusis. I think mine is mostly loudness, I'm not sure though... I do get some sound-related odd ear pain, mostly stabbing and burning, throughout the day, but it's not a direct response to sound... if that even makes sense. My tinnitus seems so unimportant in comparison. I do believe almost everybody can habituate to tinnitus, so I would be happy to just get rid of hyperacusis. What a cruel thing it can be

In fact, I've been reading all the success stories, and trying to implement positive thinking, mindfulness, and meditation. Also, just trying to be patient, because time truly seems to be the best healer

Thank you again for replying. This community is truly amazing and makes you feel less alone

 

[Jupiterman]

I am confused with your story @DimLeb.

Today you wrote:

the last 2 years since onset,...I didn't see any improvement in tinnitus, TTTS or anything. They do whatever they want, no matter what I do. *shrugs*

Yet, on 21st December 2021, a profile post you wrote:

"The 2-3 mild-moderate tones I initially developed, disappeared after a few months and they were replaced by other less intrusive milder ones."

 

[Merlin L]

American here. Just wanted to chime in - I wholeheartedly agree our medical practioners are knudknicks. That's with everything, not just tinnitus. They have no idea how to treat anything and have lackluster non-investigative minds. All they do is prescribe drugs that get them kickbacks... Believe it or not, that nurse is the standard American nurse.

I'm on 6 months with tinnitus. It's absolute hell but it does improve and maybe even will go away.

Sorry you're dealing with this as well.

I read your story too and I truly agree that festival and concert organizers should put more emphasis on raising awareness about the importance of ear protection. I'm sorry you're still struggling with your tinnitus. 6 months is still early, inflammation in the auditory cortex or in the inner ear can take a long time to subside.

I'm sure you have brilliant and caring and competent doctors in the US too, obviously, but the ones I saw seemed to just want to do lots of (unnecessary) tests to make money. I mean doctors here don't really make more money off of prescribing you medication or ordering a test, but since there is so little scientific knowledge about the causes and treatments for tinnitus and hyperacusis, ENTs and audiologists literally can't do that much for us unfortunately.

Anyway, don't lose hope yet. Your tinnitus can definitely fade or go away. Sometimes it can take a couple of years. Just because the medical community considers something chronic, doesn't mean it's permanent. I had a major back injury and the pain went away after a year of hurting every day. And my friend had her migraines improve significantly after 10 years. Lots of things can and will go away or, at least, improve.

Have you tried to habituate to your tinnitus? It can definitely lessen your suffering meanwhile.

Take care

 

[Merlin L]

I think it's BS that it's an "anxiety-based" condition. 2 years now that I have it, it more or less stayed the same (sometimes a bit worse, spasms happening to more noises), even though I'm very calm and almost "normal" especially the last 6-12 months, even on the "bad" (moderate) tinnitus days. I almost habituated, if it wasn't for some frightening fleeting tinnitus episodes or so.

I believe TTTS is a degree of hyperacusis as a result of faulty nerve activity. Something clearly goes wrong in there (proof of it being the tinnitus) and anxiety has nothing to do with it.

My spasms don't happen in reaction to loud sounds, but more to short sounds or voices that "break" the quietness and maybe (?) startle the ear? I also find crackling plastic or paper bags very annoying, probably because they trigger some kind of low level, continuous spasm, not so much that they appear louder than usual. But I'm not sure. Maybe it's a combination of both - spasm and increased loudness. It's the ear muscles? It's the nervous system itself? I really can't tell for sure lol.

As for what I did to deal with these, the last 2 years since onset, I've lived a very quiet life. I work from home and I'm rarely exposed to a lot of noise. I also make music in my home studio, so I get some "controlled" sound all the time, but I didn't see any improvement in tinnitus, TTTS or anything. They do whatever they want, no matter what I do. *shrugs*

I tried some supplements at various periods, especially Magnesium which is supposed to be good for TTTS and muscle activity in general, but with no results.

I definitely agree that TTTS can't be only an anxiety-based condition, although anxiety can be one of the possible causes and arguably plays a role in its severity. A lot of physical illnesses or conditions can be triggered initially by stress/anxiety and can remain chronic even after anxiety disappears. I was definitely very anxious and stressed due to the onset of tinnitus for a month before my TTTS was triggered.

Another explanation for my TTTS could be related to the functions of the middle ear muscles. The effect of contraction of the middle ear muscles is generally to reduce transmission of sound through the middle ear. I think with my acoustic trauma being so loud (157 dB), my middle ear muscles contracted way too hard and might have hurt themselves and/or caused inflammation. But that's just my theory.

I agree that TTTS is a degree of hyperacusis, as both TTTS and hyperacusis appeared at the same time for me. My spasms seem to happen similarly in reaction to sudden high-frequency sounds or loud audio. I also can't stand crackling plastic or paper bags, and many other formerly quiet sounds, because to me they sound all so loud and distorted now. Although much louder things like a car driving by sound perfectly fine to me and don't trigger my TTTS. I can also avoid my TTTS being triggered by putting a little cotton ball in the ear and then the same sound that used to cause spasms won't. So weird and annoying

Do you have spasms happening spontaneously too, without a noise?

Do you get any burning or pain sensation in the ear as a result of spasming?

Hope we can find relief soon

 

[Sammy0225]

Wow, your story really resonates with my own journey. I've also experienced hyperacusis, TTTS and multi tone tinnitus.

 

[DimLeb]

I am confused with your story @DimLeb.

Today you wrote:

Yet, on 21st December 2021, a profile post you wrote:

"The 2-3 mild-moderate tones I initially developed, disappeared after a few months and they were replaced by other less intrusive milder ones."

Well, you are definitely right that what I wrote is confusing haha. I'm confused as well, because I kind of forget how my tinnitus has evolved over time. When I wrote that on 21st December 2021, I thought what I developed that year (the first few months since onset) was moderate and way worse. But now I'm thinking it was the anxiety making things seem bigger than they actually were.

I have around 3-4 tones that have changed in texture many times, but not in volume now that I think of them. They are very mild - sometimes I can't detect them in silent rooms, sometimes I can. Except for one "special" air exhaust/bonfire tone in my left ear that this year started to have "bad" days when it intensifies and kind of spreads.

So yeah, I believe I always (since onset) had those 2-3 mild, lower volume tones which changed over time in terms of texture, and my problem recently is just the (4th one) hissing left ear one. I must say that even on its bad days, I'm at most at moderate level and I shouldn't be complaining, because things could be way worse. I also know that it resets after sleep or after 24 hours, so that keeps me calm.

It's actually hard to say how many lower volume tones there actually are, because they form something like a mid-range 1-2 kHz radiator noise all together, which is quite annoying when trying to sleep with the ear down to the pillow.

Anyway, my noises are very weird. But mainly mild thankfully.

 

[DimLeb]

I definitely agree that TTTS can't be only an anxiety-based condition, although anxiety can be one of the possible causes and arguably plays a role in its severity. A lot of physical illnesses or conditions can be triggered initially by stress/anxiety and can remain chronic even after anxiety disappears. I was definitely very anxious and stressed due to the onset of tinnitus for a month before my TTTS was triggered.

Another explanation for my TTTS could be related to the functions of the middle ear muscles. The effect of contraction of the middle ear muscles is generally to reduce transmission of sound through the middle ear. I think with my acoustic trauma being so loud (157 dB), my middle ear muscles contracted way too hard and might have hurt themselves and/or caused inflammation. But that's just my theory.

I agree that TTTS is a degree of hyperacusis, as both TTTS and hyperacusis appeared at the same time for me. My spasms seem to happen similarly in reaction to sudden high-frequency sounds or loud audio. I also can't stand crackling plastic or paper bags, and many other formerly quiet sounds, because to me they sound all so loud and distorted now. Although much louder things like a car driving by sound perfectly fine to me and don't trigger my TTTS. I can also avoid my TTTS being triggered by putting a little cotton ball in the ear and then the same sound that used to cause spasms won't. So weird and annoying

Do you have spasms happening spontaneously too, without a noise?

Do you get any burning or pain sensation in the ear as a result of spasming?

Hope we can find relief soon

Yeah... TTTS and hyperacusis are a beast on their own. Keep in mind that at least (loudness) hyperacusis can clear up after some time. At least for me, the TTTS (not sure if I actually have hyperacusis) has stayed, but more or less I got used to it for the most part. You are right, it's those muscles causing the problem, but there is nothing we can do about them. :/

Yeah, driving a car and louder environments like the supermarket are fine for me as well. It's those goddamn low sounds inside the house, like clicking knobs, hitting cutlery and plastic bags which are the problem.

Sometimes I get some spontaneous spasms or thumps (maybe it's a better word for that), but usually 1-3 in a sequence randomly every some weeks. A few weeks ago, I had it happening 1-2 thumps every 2 minutes in a span of 1 hour and it was horrifying. I'm not sure if it was anxiety or something else that triggered it... But it stopped on its own thankfully.

And no, no burning or pain. But the sensation of all that is disturbing and can drive you mad...

And the worst of all is, no one gets it. No matter how you may explain all these to people, why you need to be careful around sound, how it affects you etc, they think you're mad and making all these up.

 

[Blackbird1016]

I read your story too and I truly agree that festival and concert organizers should put more emphasis on raising awareness about the importance of ear protection. I'm sorry you're still struggling with your tinnitus. 6 months is still early, inflammation in the auditory cortex or in the inner ear can take a long time to subside.

I'm sure you have brilliant and caring and competent doctors in the US too, obviously, but the ones I saw seemed to just want to do lots of (unnecessary) tests to make money. I mean doctors here don't really make more money off of prescribing you medication or ordering a test, but since there is so little scientific knowledge about the causes and treatments for tinnitus and hyperacusis, ENTs and audiologists literally can't do that much for us unfortunately.

Anyway, don't lose hope yet. Your tinnitus can definitely fade or go away. Sometimes it can take a couple of years. Just because the medical community considers something chronic, doesn't mean it's permanent. I had a major back injury and the pain went away after a year of hurting every day. And my friend had her migraines improve significantly after 10 years. Lots of things can and will go away or, at least, improve.

Have you tried to habituate to your tinnitus? It can definitely lessen your suffering meanwhile.

Take care

Thanks for your words.

I am always trying to habituate to my tinnitus as much as I can. Tonight I drank (2 martinis) with my boyfriend and it is loud as hell.

It's unfortunate. We don't deserve it. We have done anything wrong. 90% of the population does what we do... hopefully it will pass.

best to you. It is challenging.

 

[Ziekfelt2]

I know you're right and thank you for your kind words. It's important to try to accept it, while remaining hopeful that it will improve in time. I read that studies on rats show that cochlea inflammation and neuroinflammation in the auditory cortex can take 6 to 9 months to come down. I guess patience is needed on this healing journey. I'll check out the book. Thank you

Was tinnitus the only symptom you are/were experiencing or did you have any noise sensitivity or anything else too?

Tinnitus and anxiety as a result. I also had a slight 20 dB loss in my left ear at 8 kHz. This is no noticeable. I'm getting better and more confident every day. The book Rock Steady is good. Give it 6-12 months.

 

[Merlin L]

Wow, your story really resonates with my own journey. I've also experienced hyperacusis, TTTS and multi tone tinnitus.

Gosh, I'm sorry you've been dealing with this. It really does suck. I see that yours happened almost a year ago, has it improved?

Could you describe your hyperacusis symptoms?

Take care. I hope it gets better

 

[Blackbird1016]

I read your story too and I truly agree that festival and concert organizers should put more emphasis on raising awareness about the importance of ear protection. I'm sorry you're still struggling with your tinnitus. 6 months is still early, inflammation in the auditory cortex or in the inner ear can take a long time to subside.

I'm sure you have brilliant and caring and competent doctors in the US too, obviously, but the ones I saw seemed to just want to do lots of (unnecessary) tests to make money. I mean doctors here don't really make more money off of prescribing you medication or ordering a test, but since there is so little scientific knowledge about the causes and treatments for tinnitus and hyperacusis, ENTs and audiologists literally can't do that much for us unfortunately.

Anyway, don't lose hope yet. Your tinnitus can definitely fade or go away. Sometimes it can take a couple of years. Just because the medical community considers something chronic, doesn't mean it's permanent. I had a major back injury and the pain went away after a year of hurting every day. And my friend had her migraines improve significantly after 10 years. Lots of things can and will go away or, at least, improve.

Have you tried to habituate to your tinnitus? It can definitely lessen your suffering meanwhile.

Take care

Thanks

I would say there's no real way to habituate to your tinnitus - it just either happens or it doesn't.

I do have a pretty strong hate for the medical establishment here.

Twice I was told I had a cavity, didn't go back to the dentist for 7 years, no cavities now. They were not so big they could not remineralize/heal themselves. I just cleaned up my diet and stepped up my oral hygiene after saying no to drilling.

Another time I had a re-occurring eye infection, the guy just kept giving me steroid eye drops (over 6 months), almost gave me steroid induced glaucoma, and then I fixed the issue after reading it could be low tear film quality from lack of Omega 3s in diet (tear film won't be as efficient at flushing out bacteria)... I added daily servings of walnuts in and now I haven't had an eye infection in 4 years. When I asked him if he thought it could be my tear film quality, he laughed at me.

Another experience with these whacked out doctors - an eye doctor tried to jump my prescription from -5.00 to -7.00 even though I had no issue with reading 20/20 with my present glasses.

I never filled the script and instead bought glasses from Zennis with the same script... I went to a different eye doctor without telling them my current script, and I still read 20/20 at -5.00 a year later. I'm even trying to lower it more with holistic methods.

It's all about money for these people. Unfortunately, you just can't trust them.

 

[ECP]

When I said I had suffered an acoustic trauma from a gunshot, and, mind you, I'm a pretty sensitive person and I was literally on the verge of tears, the nurse (?) YELLS "Pew, pew, pew, you're such a badass." Okay, I get maybe she was trying to make me feel better or lift the mood, but it came off as if she was making light of the whole situation, which felt inappropriate.

I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience with the American healthcare system. I feel outraged on your behalf because illnesses and injuries probably feel so much more distressing when you're in a foreign country and you don't know any of the healthcare professionals or institutions you're about to rely on for comfort and healing.

The nurse who said, "Pew, pew, pew, you're such a badass" was downright inappropriate. If you received a patient satisfaction survey from that hospital, I hope you let them know about this incident so that this nurse can be told by her supervisors to be more respectful of her patients' feelings. And if you didn't receive a patient satisfaction survey, you still have the right to contact the hospital with a letter or an email to make your feelings known. All American hospitals have employees that keep track of patient satisfaction (usually using a standardized survey by a company called Press Ganey), and trust me, if you had an exceptionally good or bad experience, they will want to hear from you and then pass your comments on anonymously to the appropriate department(s).

America's gun culture is very controversial, and I'm guessing that the nurse doesn't approve of people who use guns recreationally. She certainly has the right to feel that way, but she was out of line when she made light of the circumstances surrounding your injury. You did not kill or injure anyone, and neither did your friends, so you deserved to be treated better by that nurse.

And even if you had killed or injured someone by firing a gun, it was still the nurse's job to treat your ear problems competently and without judgement. Her feelings about guns should never factor into the way she talks to people in the examination room. That's for police officers, lawyers, and legislators.

 

[Matchbox]

As already said, protect your ears.

You're in a critical phase where it will either get better or you'll learn to live with it and it hopefully stays stable. Hair cells tend to die up to a month after acoustic trauma.

To avoid it getting worse at all costs:

Other than protecting ears above 50 dB sounds for the next month, increase your intake of antioxidants, whatever they are, it doesn't matter. NAC or vitamin C are the ones of choice typically.

Gunshots cause temporary hydrops. A low dose of Lasix would've been a good idea the day of, and steroids too. It is much too late for that. Steroids need to be taken for at least 2 weeks to work and the importance of tapering MUST not be ignored. Use them only if you get a LOT worse, and do please taper very slowly. I would only use them if you actually lose hearing on an audiogram. Steroids can help the ringing but only temporarily.

Getting a hearing test app for your phone and consistent headphones will help monitor if you're actually worse or better and can help you make rational choices.

Klonopin helps most people initially, but you shouldn't use it more than once unless it's an emergency. Only take it if your tinnitus and hyperacusis become unbearable. If it makes your tinnitus worse, it is only temporary.

 

[cyberspace]

As already said, protect your ears.

You're in a critical phase where it will either get better or you'll learn to live with it and it hopefully stays stable. Hair cells tend to die up to a month after acoustic trauma.

To avoid it getting worse at all costs:

Other than protecting ears above 50 dB sounds for the next month, increase your intake of antioxidants, whatever they are, it doesn't matter. NAC or vitamin C are the ones of choice typically.

Gunshots cause temporary hydrops. A low dose of Lasix would've been a good idea the day of, and steroids too. It is much too late for that. Steroids need to be taken for at least 2 weeks to work and the importance of tapering MUST not be ignored. Use them only if you get a LOT worse, and do please taper very slowly. I would only use them if you actually lose hearing on an audiogram. Steroids can help the ringing but only temporarily.

Getting a hearing test app for your phone and consistent headphones will help monitor if you're actually worse or better and can help you make rational choices.

Klonopin helps most people initially, but you shouldn't use it more than once unless it's an emergency. Only take it if your tinnitus and hyperacusis become unbearable. If it makes your tinnitus worse, it is only temporary.

Hello, I've been reading your posts on Prednisone and I'd like some advice on how I should taper from now. I had microsuction earwax removal which worsened my tinnitus; I started Prednisone a week later. I was on 30 mg first day, 40 mg next two days, then went up to 50 mg, then 60 mg for 3 days. I went up in dosage as I was scared of the Prednisone side effects at first but wanted to increase my dosage so I would be taking something effective. I went down to 50 mg for two days, then now I'm on 40 mg. I notice that my tinnitus is louder now and the tones are different/more distorted.

I'd like some advice for the safest and best decision from here. Thank you.

 

[cyberspace]

As already said, protect your ears.

You're in a critical phase where it will either get better or you'll learn to live with it and it hopefully stays stable. Hair cells tend to die up to a month after acoustic trauma.

To avoid it getting worse at all costs:

Other than protecting ears above 50 dB sounds for the next month, increase your intake of antioxidants, whatever they are, it doesn't matter. NAC or vitamin C are the ones of choice typically.

Gunshots cause temporary hydrops. A low dose of Lasix would've been a good idea the day of, and steroids too. It is much too late for that. Steroids need to be taken for at least 2 weeks to work and the importance of tapering MUST not be ignored. Use them only if you get a LOT worse, and do please taper very slowly. I would only use them if you actually lose hearing on an audiogram. Steroids can help the ringing but only temporarily.

Getting a hearing test app for your phone and consistent headphones will help monitor if you're actually worse or better and can help you make rational choices.

Klonopin helps most people initially, but you shouldn't use it more than once unless it's an emergency. Only take it if your tinnitus and hyperacusis become unbearable. If it makes your tinnitus worse, it is only temporary.

Hello sir. My tinnitus is getting worse as I am tapering off of Prednisone. Please give me some advice.

 

[Matchbox]

Hello sir. My tinnitus is getting worse as I am tapering off of Prednisone. Please give me some advice.

Taper slower.

 

[cyberspace]

Taper slower.

I don't know how much slower to go. I've been on for around a month now and tapering around 5 mg per week.

 

[Matchbox]

I don't know how much slower to go. I've been on for around a month now and tapering around 5 mg per week.

I'd do relative strength of 75% less per day of previous.

Once at 0.5 mg, I'd stay there for at least a few days, then cut to zero.

 

[cyberspace]

I'd do relative strength of 75% less per day of previous.

Once at 0.5 mg, I'd stay there for at least a few days, then cut to zero.

I'm on 30 mg now so do I jump to 22.5 mg tomorrow which is 75% of my current dose?

 

[gameover]

Well, anyway. Back to my mess of a story. I was visiting my friend in the USA and as per American tradition, we went shooting with friends, something that is wildly uncommon where I live. Although I had been to the USA before and went shooting there, I wasn't aware of the damage a gunshot could cause or how loud some of the guns were. I forgot to put on my earplugs and took one shot with a .45 handgun that, according to Google is around 157 dB. That's a lot of noise.

After the shot, I initially had a very loud high-pitched ringing in my ears that subsided in less than a minute and seemingly I felt back to normal. I put on my earplugs and continued shooting. There was no muffled hearing, no dizziness, no pain, and no ringing. In fact, I had no sign of any trauma for a week, during which I went to see a hockey game, watched movies, and went to the stockyards, all of which were quite loud events, but even then, it did not feel too loud. A week after the gunshot accident and a week full of loud activities, on one evening I noticed a very faint ringing in my left ear, which I hoped would go away in a couple of days. Deep down, I knew I was in trouble. Perhaps it was all the doom and gloom stories on the internet that I was reading.

How are you doing these days?

This is a crazy story (also a very well written one). One shot! And such a delayed onset.