But I'm not gonna lie to them as ANY doubt in their data can set them back, and these people want to help.
Seeing the positive results and that reddit story Hudson posted I feel now really stupid having panicked and quit in the middle of therapy... Now that I am aware of relief this drug (probably) gave me, I'd gladly join phase 3 and have my ear stabbed again. In the name of science!
P.S. Still don't know if I got the real thing or placebo. Perhaps I should call my doctor
I'm very frustrated with the pace of tinnitus research. That is why I am looking at graduate school for tinnitus research myself.
I got tinnitus when I was 17. I was scared as hell, because there was even less information then than now. Basically, they told you that you had damaged your ears somehow and you had to live with it. There was little or no belief that it was a brain issue back then. I understand the panic, the desperation. The thoughts that your life are over, that you won't be able to to live a normal life and participate in normal activities, like going to a dance with a girl, or being in a bar with loud music. I remember scared to go hunting with my own dad because I was concerned about the blast from the gun, so much so that I did not go with him. It hurt him very much and he could not understand why a son would not want to hunt with his father. I have been dumped by girls for other men because they were tired of my worry/obsession about tinnitus, or wearing ear plugs when we went to movies and I got weird stares. Nothing is more emasculating than to have people stare at you in public when your girlfriend is there, and to have her ashamed. I have had to quit jobs that were good paying opportunities because of noise levels. I've cried out of desperation on my mom's shoulder, which is frustrating for a mother that can't help in ways I can't imagine. I've looked at that shotgun leaning against my wall. How easy it would be to pop a buckshot round in it, drive up into the mountains out in the middle of nowhere, hike somewhere with a gorgeous view and end it. That wouldn't be beating tinnitus, it would be giving in. I've come to terms with that. I want to study tinnitus, and beat it like the piece of crap it is. I want to contribute in a way so that others' lives won't be profoundly impacted the way mine has.
What am I getting at here? I am just saying I know all about tinnitus. I don't remember what silence is like. I want it gone. I don't want others to have to go through what I have gone through. If that means counting myself out of a trial that COULD have a possibility of helping me, I'll accept that. I want treatments available for that scared 17 year old I was. I want a doctor to be able to give that scared teenager some kind of meaningful treatment, instead of saying "Go home and live with it. No one really knows much about it."
At the end of the day, we all make decisions about our treatment. I want to ensure that a drug like AM-101 has all the possibility of making it through regulatory trials. If it does, maybe then the doc could squirt some of that crap in my ear drum and it could help.
EDIT - My purpose of this message was not to convey fear, desperation or to make anyone worried. I am just saying that I know what all of you face every day. Just be careful that we don't shoot ourselves in the foot when there is real opportunity here.
Why did you panic? What were you told were the risks? I want to do this treatment/trial.
So: It appears that University of Miami, where I am getting several different treatments, will be recruiting for an AM101 trial. I had been pretty psyched. But my doctor today told me it will be a three-month max from onset protocol. So I wont qualify.
I told him I had heard there might be some trials where you could be a far away from onset as 12 months, but he had not heard of any yet.
In the meantime, if you live in the U.S. Southeast and are interested, you may want to give UM a call.
http://otolaryngology.med.miami.edu/
They already have. Not very effective.Why don't they use people who've had it for 5 months-3 years or something too? That way they would know when it's "too late"...
Is it the goo or whatever they spray into the ear that's super expensive?
They already have. Not very effective.
They already have. Not very effective.
I thought I had read it here that they have done a twelve and six month trial with varying results. Of course, my memory is pretty defunct, so it would be best if someone else could reply with some verification.Hey t-man: So they already tried AM101 on folks who have had T beyond three months? Also, while I obviously am biased, it doesn't seem like there should be a huge difference between three months and five months. But I guess for data gathering sake, they have to cut it off somewhere.
I got started having ringing in my ear about a month ago. Are there any trials in the northeast that i can sign up for?
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01934010?term=tinnitus&recr=Open&rank=22
This is the next trial. They only take people who also participated in the previous trial.
open label follow on study ? what does that mean ?
Good news by the way