Ear "Specialist" Worsened My Tinnitus Dramatically

[Helmut83]

Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum. I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina, male, 33 y/o and I've decided to sign up here since forums in Spanish have little participation so I get no responses.

I've suffered from tinnitus in both ears (louder in the right ear) since 2011 after a rock show with very loud music. I went quite nervous back then but then I saw it didn't affect my sleep and after a few days it lowered a lot until it was easily bearable.

About two weeks ago I noticed a considerable increase in my tinnitus together with a slight sensitivity to some noises (particularly those produced by metal objects), so I decided to go to a doctor to see if I could determine the cause or if there was anything that could be done -still at this point it didn't affect my sleep-. I've been thinking what could it have been and the only factor that changed recently in my daily life was the purchase of a new notebook (quite a cheap one, of un unknown brand), but as far as I know that couldn't worsen tinnitus, or could it? I don't know, maybe by sending some imperceptible sound... anyway...

The doctor sent me two tests: one called something like "impedance test" and another one in which they send you sounds through headphones in different frequencies and you have to raise your hand if you can hear them. On the first one of those, the "impedance test", they put you a sealed earplug inside your ear canal which sends sudden loud noises to your ear to test how it defends itself against those aggressions. During it I could feel it bothered me a lot and it felt like it was damaging my ear. I told this to the doctor but she said those tests were obviously designed not to hurt ears.

I did the other test (that one didn't bother me) but as soon as I got out I could feel the ringing in my ear had gotten considerably worse. I could even hear it in the street, with noise. Not to mention how insanely loud it gets in silent places.

So no matter what the doctor says I'm 100% percent sure that test damaged me and a lot. My tinnitus was one thing when I arived there and another completely different (and much worse) since I got out. And the worst thing? Now it affects -and a lot- my sleep.

I'm absolutely desperate to be honest. This was just two days ago and it's already been the worst 48 hours of my life. I can only get a few hours of sleep at night and if most one during a nap in the afternoon, and that's only if I turn the A/C on. I've tried other noises like using a fan or a rain Mp3 file, but my tinnitus is so loud that I hear it over them! Only the A/C seems to give some results, I still can hear the tinnitus over it but for some reason I get some sleep all the same when it's on. And the nightmares! I never have nightmares... well, these past couples of nights I've had more nightmares that probably during the last 2 years.

As a result I'm feeling exhausted and hopeless. I'm afraid all my life will go in a slump due to this maddening noise. You can say people get used to it; yeah, I had gotten used to it too but it was much lower then. The crucial factor is the volume. It's easy to get used to a light tinnitus, but this? I can hear it even over many sounds during daytime, and what's worse, it doesn't let me sleep. How do you do to stay sane under those conditions?

I'm also furious at the doctor who sent me that test. It's everything they tell you you shouldn't do: use a headphone that gets into the canal of your ear and send sudden loud noises through that. Don't they tell you you shouldn't listen to music that way if you don't want to damage your ear? Why would this be any different?

Seriously, I cannot imagine a whole life of this inferno. Something has to change. I still have hope that it will lower down with time -I have to hope for that-, otherwise I'm willing to try anything. If anyone out there has gone through or learnt to deal with loud tinnitus please tell me what you do to fight it and to sleep with it. Thank you.

 

[Bobby B]

It will get better after a few months - takes time be patient , and make sure to protect your ears from noise , I would invest in a pair of good ear muffs like the peltor x5a and wear those outside for the next months at any place that goes above 60db whihc is the level of a normal discussion in a quiet area

 

[volsung37]

Every time an audiologist or ENT has put something in my ears I have ended up with middle ear myoclonus. I will never let anyone suction my ears or alter pressure in my ears again. I am now 6 months into this hell. I now have at least 4 types of T - tonal, myoclonus, venous hum and occasionally pulsatile. Sleeping is pretty much impossible without meds. Hopefully some people get better over time but I believe many get worse. The reason people stop posting in this forum may be that they have recovered. I know I would think twice about posting a 'success story' as I would see it as tempting fate. However many will not post because their condition has worsened and there is just nothing worth posting. Good luck to everyone suffering from this horrible condition.

 

[Robert44]

hi, My daughter once had that same test you had and her ears were bothering her after. Thank God it got better. I don't know why they do that test. They did that test at a Tinnitus Center. Could you believe it! As far as sleep goes. get an under the pillow speaker and hook it up to a smart phone to play white noise to help you sleep. I did this when I first got T and it helped. You are correct . you need to first get the sleep thing fixed so you can feel better during the day. Sorry for your troubles.

 

[Helmut83]

Thanks @Bobby B , @volsung37 and @Robert44 for your answers. Thanks Bobby for the advice about protecting my ears, I've been doing so for a couple of years now as I feared that my tinnitus could worsen. Unfortunately it happened all the same, but I'll keep on carrying my earplugs everywhere as I reckon it can always get worse.

Robert, yeah, the key is getting sleep. If you get to sleep well, all of the other aspects can be dealed with to a reasonable extent, but no sleeping kills you and takes the problem to a whole next level. It's good to know your daughter had a similar problem and could recover, good for her and also because it gives me hope. It's what I wish most in this moment, I think I'd trade winning the lottery for getting rid of this noise. It's incredible that doctors don't think about possible damage when sending us to do those tests when it's clear that we already have a condition which is not normal and should be handled with care. I'll do as Volsung says and avoid any test from now on unless they explain to me in detail what it is and they assure me there isn't the tiniest risk of further damage.

I'll try to keep my thread updated about how this thing goes. So far it's been ruining me and even though I'm a healthy guy (I excercise myself 4 or 5 days a week, I don't smoke, don't take drugs, only drink a bit occasionally, keep a balanced diet, try to sleep well, etc...) and hate the idea of relying on medications for a natural function -such as sleeping- I've decided to start taking Alplax because this has gotten completely out of my control and I can't sleep.