So, here's my tinnitus story. My apologies, it ended up a bit long...
The first time I experienced an acoustic trauma was back in 2007 or something. I went to a rock/metal club to see a few bands. I didn't have earplugs with me which I normally do. I sat in front of a monitor even though it was so loud that it felt quite uncomfortable. After the show I knew something was wrong because other people's speech sounded muddy and distant. I figured that giving my ears some 'silent treatment' for a week or two would help them recover, which it did and assumed I dodged the bullet of more severe consequences. More weeks passed and the left channel of my Korg headphones went dead - the same day I came to realize that I had developed tinnitus. It did creep me out and decided that I would never again use headphones. I still don't, for the most part.
The second acoustic trauma was probably late 2012. A bad one. Basically just ended up being with the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were rather big studio monitors in a room, the host put his sound system on with a mic attached and gain set to 11. The feedback signal swept wide spectrum of higher frequencies and it felt like hammering a nail through the skull, I would guess. This happened in a city I had never visited before and all I could do was to count the hours to get back home the next day with my aching and ringing ears.
When I got home I tried to find some ENTs. I went to see one ASAP and I was hugely disappointed how the doctor bypassed my concerns and prescribed Betaserc and some lotion to moisturize my dry ear canals. Since Betaserc is not really a solution for an acute acoustic trauma this visit to the ENT ended up being the most expensive moisturizer ever. I made another appointment for the next morning with another ENT/audiologist who was a bit older and had more experience. I had read about hyperbaric oxygen therapy and discussed about it with him. To my amazement I ended up going through HBOT treatments. There happens to be those in my home town and if this wasn't the case it wouldn't have been an option.
Several days had passed and HBOT should be accessed ASAP. I was so desperate that I was willing to do anything and everything to make things better even just a tiny little bit. I can't really tell how much HBOT actually helped with my ears, but in the end I think some improvement did occur. But HBOT was not a solution to the problem. It was time to try some alternatives.
A family member of mine happens to have a device that allegedly stimulates blood circulation, improving oxygen and nutrition on a cellular level via pulsed magnetic field (PEMF). I thought maybe it's worth a shot. At least it can't do any harm, can it? I had purchased a load of all kind of supplements so maybe PEMF could help body to make the the most of them. If I had to pay for it I probably wouldn't have bothered with it. For a two to three month period I did PEMF on both ears approximately two to three times a week. I couldn't and still can't tell how much of a benefit it had on my ear related problems, if at all, but at least I felt good about the fact that I had tried my best. I also ended up trying acupuncture that was performed by a Chinese doctor. It was an interesting experience and I thought it gave me some help after several sessions.
Anyway, months passed and overall anxiety and tinnitus settled down to a level that didn't bother me too much and I could cope with them. Later on there have been some difficult and not so difficult times but that's just how it goes with tinnitus as most of you who read this know. Being a music lover and playing in a band involves an element of danger for a person with ear related problems, but I've done my best to protect my hearing and have managed with it.
But, that's not the end of this personal tragedy. Or shitshow. Or whatever. I had a prescription for some Sildenafil, better known as Viagra (I don't really have an ED, but I'm not going to go too much into the details on this one). I've found out that Viagra and other similar drugs have ototoxic properties. I have tried it a few times, maybe 10-12 in a timespan of several years, so no frequent use. On those occasions that I've tried it I've kept the dose minimum, around 12 to 15mg which is quite low considering 50mg is supposed to be the starting dose. There is no consensus on how or why these drugs induce ototoxic effects but it is suspected to increase blood flow in the inner ear too much. Like a cochlear hard-on. This is my suspicion too, since I've felt some excessive blood flow/pressure to the inner ear a few times but not much other adverse effects so I had thought that if I don't overdo it, everything should be okay. Last time I took it was early December. Being in a hurry I ended up taking something like 30-35mg which is considerably more than the usual doses, but not that much on a scale of 25-50-100mg strength that these pills are sold. During the next weeks I've felt some ache in both ears, fullness and overall discomfort and there were moments I experienced some SSNHL but tried not to think too much of it. Going to a doctor wouldn't be much of value, I thought.
I had a surgery mid-December where they removed an osteophyte from my right foot. Not a big deal, it was a smooth operation. Pre-op they gave some painkillers like paracetamol, maybe some Ibuprofen and during the op sedatives (Fentanyl and when I asked for more the nurse gave something else too that I don't know of, I was not allowed more Fentanyl) and anaesthetic injected to the spine. I got home the same day and for the pain doctor prescribed a shitload of 600mg Ibuprofen, some panacod (paracetamol+codeine) and a few spare mild oxycodone pills if needed. I didn't go overboard with the painkillers. I stopped taking any after a week or so and the amounts were within daily limits.
Good news is that the foot is doing great. Bad news is that ears are not. I still feel some occasional small pain in both ears but not that much as in December. It seems to get pronounced if I listen to some white noise for example so not doing that. It's like there's a 'sonal silhouette' or a tonal morse code kind of a thing going on that jumps out to ruin the soundscape that white noise is specially good to bring to attention, like shadows on a wall. Not listening to anything at the moment because it seems that I've developed/resurrected reactive tinnitus. Both ears react to some sounds creating an overtone to it, like sound of a computer fan. Or sounds of a fridge. Or cars passing by - and there are plenty, living in the center of a city.
I actually went to an ENT a week ago who is also an audiologist and had a nice looking resume. They had separately mentioned tinnitus as one of their special interests. I tried to describe my symptoms, history of ear traumas and all but didn't really listen to what I had to say and basically just told me to 'suck it up'. They checked my ear canals and decided that I needed some microsuction. If my sleep-deprived brain had been even remotely working I would have denied that but I was at a loss. It felt quite uncomfortable and LOUD, but can't really say for sure if it worsened the state of my ears or not. Never again.
Is this because of Sildenafil or the combination of other potentially ototoxic painkillers/anaesthetics in conjunction with it? I guess no-one can tell. These are pretty much the same symptoms that I experienced back in the day (sounds/frequencies distorting with increased tinnitus) rubbed into my face again with a few new tricks.
Since 2012 music was never the same again but I had habituated so well that didn't really pay attention to sounds/frequencies distorting that much even though I could tell how my ears made me hear things and tones that should not be there. But here I am - suffering the consequences of my poor decisions once again. I hope I can reach the same level things were a few months ago.
Thanks for reading!
The first time I experienced an acoustic trauma was back in 2007 or something. I went to a rock/metal club to see a few bands. I didn't have earplugs with me which I normally do. I sat in front of a monitor even though it was so loud that it felt quite uncomfortable. After the show I knew something was wrong because other people's speech sounded muddy and distant. I figured that giving my ears some 'silent treatment' for a week or two would help them recover, which it did and assumed I dodged the bullet of more severe consequences. More weeks passed and the left channel of my Korg headphones went dead - the same day I came to realize that I had developed tinnitus. It did creep me out and decided that I would never again use headphones. I still don't, for the most part.
The second acoustic trauma was probably late 2012. A bad one. Basically just ended up being with the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were rather big studio monitors in a room, the host put his sound system on with a mic attached and gain set to 11. The feedback signal swept wide spectrum of higher frequencies and it felt like hammering a nail through the skull, I would guess. This happened in a city I had never visited before and all I could do was to count the hours to get back home the next day with my aching and ringing ears.
When I got home I tried to find some ENTs. I went to see one ASAP and I was hugely disappointed how the doctor bypassed my concerns and prescribed Betaserc and some lotion to moisturize my dry ear canals. Since Betaserc is not really a solution for an acute acoustic trauma this visit to the ENT ended up being the most expensive moisturizer ever. I made another appointment for the next morning with another ENT/audiologist who was a bit older and had more experience. I had read about hyperbaric oxygen therapy and discussed about it with him. To my amazement I ended up going through HBOT treatments. There happens to be those in my home town and if this wasn't the case it wouldn't have been an option.
Several days had passed and HBOT should be accessed ASAP. I was so desperate that I was willing to do anything and everything to make things better even just a tiny little bit. I can't really tell how much HBOT actually helped with my ears, but in the end I think some improvement did occur. But HBOT was not a solution to the problem. It was time to try some alternatives.
A family member of mine happens to have a device that allegedly stimulates blood circulation, improving oxygen and nutrition on a cellular level via pulsed magnetic field (PEMF). I thought maybe it's worth a shot. At least it can't do any harm, can it? I had purchased a load of all kind of supplements so maybe PEMF could help body to make the the most of them. If I had to pay for it I probably wouldn't have bothered with it. For a two to three month period I did PEMF on both ears approximately two to three times a week. I couldn't and still can't tell how much of a benefit it had on my ear related problems, if at all, but at least I felt good about the fact that I had tried my best. I also ended up trying acupuncture that was performed by a Chinese doctor. It was an interesting experience and I thought it gave me some help after several sessions.
Anyway, months passed and overall anxiety and tinnitus settled down to a level that didn't bother me too much and I could cope with them. Later on there have been some difficult and not so difficult times but that's just how it goes with tinnitus as most of you who read this know. Being a music lover and playing in a band involves an element of danger for a person with ear related problems, but I've done my best to protect my hearing and have managed with it.
But, that's not the end of this personal tragedy. Or shitshow. Or whatever. I had a prescription for some Sildenafil, better known as Viagra (I don't really have an ED, but I'm not going to go too much into the details on this one). I've found out that Viagra and other similar drugs have ototoxic properties. I have tried it a few times, maybe 10-12 in a timespan of several years, so no frequent use. On those occasions that I've tried it I've kept the dose minimum, around 12 to 15mg which is quite low considering 50mg is supposed to be the starting dose. There is no consensus on how or why these drugs induce ototoxic effects but it is suspected to increase blood flow in the inner ear too much. Like a cochlear hard-on. This is my suspicion too, since I've felt some excessive blood flow/pressure to the inner ear a few times but not much other adverse effects so I had thought that if I don't overdo it, everything should be okay. Last time I took it was early December. Being in a hurry I ended up taking something like 30-35mg which is considerably more than the usual doses, but not that much on a scale of 25-50-100mg strength that these pills are sold. During the next weeks I've felt some ache in both ears, fullness and overall discomfort and there were moments I experienced some SSNHL but tried not to think too much of it. Going to a doctor wouldn't be much of value, I thought.
I had a surgery mid-December where they removed an osteophyte from my right foot. Not a big deal, it was a smooth operation. Pre-op they gave some painkillers like paracetamol, maybe some Ibuprofen and during the op sedatives (Fentanyl and when I asked for more the nurse gave something else too that I don't know of, I was not allowed more Fentanyl) and anaesthetic injected to the spine. I got home the same day and for the pain doctor prescribed a shitload of 600mg Ibuprofen, some panacod (paracetamol+codeine) and a few spare mild oxycodone pills if needed. I didn't go overboard with the painkillers. I stopped taking any after a week or so and the amounts were within daily limits.
Good news is that the foot is doing great. Bad news is that ears are not. I still feel some occasional small pain in both ears but not that much as in December. It seems to get pronounced if I listen to some white noise for example so not doing that. It's like there's a 'sonal silhouette' or a tonal morse code kind of a thing going on that jumps out to ruin the soundscape that white noise is specially good to bring to attention, like shadows on a wall. Not listening to anything at the moment because it seems that I've developed/resurrected reactive tinnitus. Both ears react to some sounds creating an overtone to it, like sound of a computer fan. Or sounds of a fridge. Or cars passing by - and there are plenty, living in the center of a city.
I actually went to an ENT a week ago who is also an audiologist and had a nice looking resume. They had separately mentioned tinnitus as one of their special interests. I tried to describe my symptoms, history of ear traumas and all but didn't really listen to what I had to say and basically just told me to 'suck it up'. They checked my ear canals and decided that I needed some microsuction. If my sleep-deprived brain had been even remotely working I would have denied that but I was at a loss. It felt quite uncomfortable and LOUD, but can't really say for sure if it worsened the state of my ears or not. Never again.
Is this because of Sildenafil or the combination of other potentially ototoxic painkillers/anaesthetics in conjunction with it? I guess no-one can tell. These are pretty much the same symptoms that I experienced back in the day (sounds/frequencies distorting with increased tinnitus) rubbed into my face again with a few new tricks.
Since 2012 music was never the same again but I had habituated so well that didn't really pay attention to sounds/frequencies distorting that much even though I could tell how my ears made me hear things and tones that should not be there. But here I am - suffering the consequences of my poor decisions once again. I hope I can reach the same level things were a few months ago.
Thanks for reading!
Member
