An ENT Doctor with Tinnitus

[devilinthedust]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry that this thing has happened to you though, as it is not a pleasant experience at all. I wish you the best, and hope you find peace with your new reality. It takes time to adjust and some have it better than others. There will be good days and bad ones. That's the nature of the beast I guess. People sometimes complain because some "specialist" can be, or come across as insensitive. Comments like, "live with it" , and "you will get used to it", or not what you want to hear when faced with this new reality. My first doctor, when I asked if the ringing would stop, simply said "no" and walked out the door. That was it. Not the answer I was looking for, and he could have been a little more compassionate. The problem that I realize now, is that there was nothing he could say or do that was going to make the situation better, and I guess perhaps he felt as helpless as I did. The sad truth of the matter is, "live with it" is the best option we got right now. Hopefully, that will change someday, but for now all we can do is make the best of it. Life goes on, and we either adjust or we die. Dying is not an option for me. Some days when I'm feeling the pain really bad, I think about how lucky I am in other ways. I can still walk and talk, and I still have all my limbs, and my mind is still "fairly" good. Forgetful at times, but that comes with age I guess. In the grand scheme of things I'm pretty blessed. If you look at the things you can still do, sometimes it helps to put things in the proper perspective.

 

[brownbear]

Coming up on 2 years for me. Nothing fantastic to report but the general trend is of slow improvement in my response. I can have amazing days where I barely notice my T all day. Most days I am just vaguely aware of it all the time but not too bothered. I still get some days where it gets me down and I feel anxious but they are getting rarer. I have nothing really positive or negative to say. Just is what it is. I find it increasingly difficult to verbalise how I feel about it to be honest.

 

[glynis]

@brownbear ,
lovely to hear your doing so well with your tinnitus sound.
love glynis

 

[brownbear]

Thanks @glynis. you are always very supportive and I'm grateful

 

[kenJP]

hello @brownbear im a foreigner living in Japan! im almost a month into my T onset.
just wanted to ask you about standard meds given for T onset here in Japan.

Adenosine Triphosphate 100mg (ATP / metabolism / blood flow?)
Kallidinogenase 50mg (peripheral vasodilator?)

I've read that high blood pressure medication lists tinnitus as a sideffect?
Are both of these considered high blood pressure medication?
I am taking these for a few weeks now, but i guess i am being paranoid of the medication.

 

[Agrajag364]

Hi InfiniteLoop,

I think you are right in many respects. However, certainly from my clinical experience there are many people for which there is a reversible cause for their tinnitus. There are also those where treating the cause should help and for some reason it doesn't, and of course those where the cause is unclear. Most patients I see do habituate or their tinnitus goes, so I do think that you are likely to see a misrepresentation of outcomes online.

Having said that I am struggling to find optimism in myself! The only time feel better at the moment is when I am operating as I am totally absorbed in the procedure and it is a noisy environment. Guess I will just have to do more operating!

Would you mind me asking in what proportion of patients you think that tinnitus goes?

 

[Karen C.]

Do you take any supplements that help you manage your T?

 

[brownbear]

Would you mind me asking in what proportion of patients you think that tinnitus goes?

Good question, I'm not sure. I think I most often see T resolving in people who have a definite reversible cause for their T (hearing loss usually but sometimes medication induced). For example treating otosclerosis with surgery, or sudden sensorineural hearing loss reversed by steroids.

 

[brownbear]

Do you take any supplements that help you manage your T?

No. I used to try loads of things but nothing worked

 

[brownbear]

Adenosine Triphosphate 100mg (ATP / metabolism / blood flow?)
Kallidinogenase 50mg (peripheral vasodilator?)

Hi - That is really interesting. Those drugs are not used in the UK so I have no experience of them directly. I guess the aim of both would be to increase inner ear perfusion. I wouldn't be too concerned that they would make things worse. Equally try not to be too disappointed if they don't help.

 

[brownbear]

Difficult times for me. Not coping too well. Lots of anxiety again. Sigh.....

 

[GregCA]

Difficult times for me. Not coping too well. Lots of anxiety again. Sigh.....

Anything out of the ordinary happened?

 

[glynis]

@brownbear,
Sorry to hear this, im struggling also and waiting an audiology apt.
I haven't put a post up yet but I'm in a million pieces with what I'm going through but not tinnitus related .


Has your tinnitus got worse?
love glynis

 

[Jack Straw]

Difficult times for me. Not coping too well. Lots of anxiety again. Sigh.....

Hello! I am sorry to hear you are not doing well. I saw in your previous posts that you are an MD ENT surgeon? Maybe @Markku can get you a doctor tag if that's the case.

I'm sorry to hear your not doing well. Has anything changed recently? More stress at work? Loud noise exposure?

 

[brownbear]

Thanks guys. No, nothing has changed. Not sure why I'm suffering. My usual coping mechanisms are failing at the moment. Feeling in disbelief at my ridiculous T again. Taking it day by day. Going to bed early to get it over with. Prefer sleeping to being awake. Old school suffering for me. I hate this and my reserves are running low. Hopefully I'll perk up again soon.

 

[Deamon22]

@brownbear wishing you all the best, hope you get trough this quickly.

 

[Ecip]

Thanks guys. No, nothing has changed. Not sure why I'm suffering. My usual coping mechanisms are failing at the moment. Feeling in disbelief at my ridiculous T again. Taking it day by day. Going to bed early to get it over with. Prefer sleeping to being awake. Old school suffering for me. I hate this and my reserves are running low. Hopefully I'll perk up again soon.

Yes, the anxiety is horrible with this tinnitus shit.

I'm seeing an ENT here in Switzerland tomorrow... I'll see what he has to say. I've recently also had a spike. Yet again looking for a job that will finally take me away from noise completely. Future = uncertain.

Did you ever try Lidocaine IV? It, apparently, it will eliminate tinnitus for a few hours to a day or so...

Keep your chin up, doc. We're all in this shit together. Somehow.

Have you ever considered working as a GP? In a nice, quiet office? Prescribing percocets and birth control pills? lol.

 

[jay777]

Thanks guys. No, nothing has changed. Not sure why I'm suffering. My usual coping mechanisms are failing at the moment. Feeling in disbelief at my ridiculous T again. Taking it day by day. Going to bed early to get it over with. Prefer sleeping to being awake. Old school suffering for me. I hate this and my reserves are running low. Hopefully I'll perk up again soon.

Hi what do you take for sleep?

 

[Samantha R]

@brownbear
Sorry to hear this.... I do get the ups and downs as well, but seem to recover from the downs quicker than earlier in my onset.

You know you can do it, I'm sure you'll get back into a good space soon.

 

[brownbear]

I highly recommend watching a documentary on Netflix called Resurface. Let me know what you think. I cried when I saw a deaf and blind veteran surfing.

 

[Jason37]

I highly recommend watching a documentary on Netflix called Resurface. Let me know what you think. I cried when I saw a deaf and blind veteran surfing.

Check out TED Talks with Rebecca Alexander... Deaf with cochlear implant and loud tinnitus...and blind! Usher's syndrome, but she is living life to the fullest!

 

[MikeS]

You mentioned your ear felt blocked and you have sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I have minor sensorineural hearing loss, and it feels like fullness in my ear. Hearing aids help, because the fullness goes away, and exposure to external sounds relieves tinnitus.

I was never around loud noises. Never wore headsets, and rarely went to concerts. Worked a quiet office job. My tinnitus happened during impact at a car accident - concussion where my brain bounced off the top of my skull. Coincidentally, an audiology exam taken a few months before my accident, and then after, showed no change in hearing. My hearing loss and tinnitus are not related. Sound and tinnitus are more closely related to the brain than people realize.

That's why I think people with hearing loss should get hearing aids. Otherwise, the brain loses the ability to hear sounds, and it makes things worse.

Now while I work, I wear a headset with ambient techno music. It helps with the static, white noise in my head. Externalizing sound is a good thing, as long as the headsets are not turned up excessively loud.

My tinnitus is severe, it does bother me, and affects my concentration. But I am used to it by now, and techno music helps a lot -- there is some programming concentration music that I use -- Call of Duty gamer music or Aes Dana.

 

[housemzk]

@MikeS - How fast did tinnitus set in after the car accident? Was it immediate or did happen over time?

 

[MikeS]

@MikeS - How fast did tinnitus set in after the car accident? Was it immediate or did happen over time?

Immediately. I was waiting at a stop sign for traffic to clear when I was rear-ended. I felt my brain hit the top of my skull. I heard an electrical sound right away, and I was very rattled. I got out of the car, and looked up at the electrical lines. I had never experienced tinnitus, so I was hoping it would go away.

 

[Agrajag364]

Thanks guys. No, nothing has changed. Not sure why I'm suffering. My usual coping mechanisms are failing at the moment. Feeling in disbelief at my ridiculous T again. Taking it day by day. Going to bed early to get it over with. Prefer sleeping to being awake. Old school suffering for me. I hate this and my reserves are running low. Hopefully I'll perk up again soon.

I hope you're doing better. I remember a post of yours about getting used to your loud T that was quite inspirational. Loud T is tough. I have weird tinnitus that is super loud one day then quiet the next so I know the difference. Maybe yours will get quieter over the next couple of years. I recall you're an ENT so will likely know more than the rest of us about the natural history of tinnitus, but I am beginning to notice it's not infrequent for people on the facebook tinnitus forums to say e.g. they had tinnitus for 5 years then it either went away, or got much quieter. The reason they're back in the forums is the T is louder again, or back, after some further years. This does make me wonder if this thing quietens down or goes even after years for quite a few people.

 

[brownbear]

When other people's tinnitus gets better and yours gets worse...

 

[Bam]

When other people's tinnitus gets better and yours gets worse...

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@brownbear i gotta tell you it's pretty hard to have sympathy for you when you were chest beating for all your worth on a thread a few weeks and telling a load of us we're all just whining.

When are people gonna wake the fuck up?!! We're not gonna get treated seriously if people like you, who actually are in a position to educate people on how this kills people and destroys lives, keep telling people we're fine and T is easily ignored.

 

[brownbear]

@Bam, not sure about accusing anyone of whining, but sincere apologies. Really hope things get better for you. Thinking of you. Best wishes

 

[Bam]

@Bam, not sure about accusing anyone of whining, but sincere apologies. Really hope things get better for you. Thinking of you. Best wishes

@brownbear No worries mate. I was thinking about you a lot too and hoping you were okay. That was a harsh comment born of frustration. You were probably just trying to inject some hope whilst feeling marginally at peace and i got all bent out of shape because frankly I'm fucking sad, lonely and tortured to shit. I know you've had dark times with this too and suffer bad. Hopefully this neuromod device can help us both and we can enjoy better times in the future. Have a nice xmas my friend.

 

[dougwarby]

Thanks guys. No, nothing has changed. Not sure why I'm suffering. My usual coping mechanisms are failing at the moment. Feeling in disbelief at my ridiculous T again. Taking it day by day. Going to bed early to get it over with. Prefer sleeping to being awake. Old school suffering for me. I hate this and my reserves are running low. Hopefully I'll perk up again soon.

Hi Brownbear, how are you doing now?
I read that you are an ENT surgeon and recently your anxiety got a bit worse. I hope things settle again for you. I am also a doctor (GP) and have had unilateral tinnitus for 6 weeks. I was so distressed initially but am starting to come to terms with it, do you think managing the anxiety about it is the most important thing?
best wishes to you