Got Blasted by Drive Through Speaker Yesterday. Should I Get Prednisone?

[jdjd09]

So, I have never had an issue with a loud drive through speaker in MY ENTIRE LIFE. Not even before tinnitus. However, I had one that blasted at me so loud that I jumped back when they started talking.

I am concerned I hurt my ears. Not sure if ringing is louder, I think it is though. Also, my ears felt slightly weirder after that.

Again, I never have heard of a drive through speaker too loud either in my life. This one was crazy loud. Again, I jumped back and rarely ever do that even to loud sounds.

What should I do at this point since it happened yesterday.

I took NAC, zinc, and vitamin c. I don't know what else I should do. Help?

PS: I have already had tinnitus you can hear all the time and hearing loss measurable.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I had multiple incidents where I was exposed to a loud noise (e.g., a door slamming) and took prednisone. I didn't get a spike as a result. About 10 days ago, a glass plate fell 2 inches onto another glass plate. I didn't take prednisone. Over the course of a week, I developed a new tone in my formerly good ear. Now it is too late to take prednisone...

 

[jdjd09]

So, do I take prednisone now?

 

[Bill Bauer]

So, do I take prednisone now?

If you are going to take it, it makes sense to take it as soon as possible after your acoustic trauma. You can go to the ER. You might want to lie to them and say that you had to turn off a screaming fire alarm. Then they would likely give a 5-day supply to you. You could then get another 5-day supply by going to another hospital's ER... The standard course of prednisone is 14 days + tapering. The standard daily dose is X mg, where X is your weight in kg = your weight in lbs multiplied by 2.2. The doctor might try to give you a lower dose. Tell them about that rule of thumb, and the doctor could then be convinced to increase your daily dose.

Now, keep in mind that just like with any drug that helps some people with T, prednisone helps most people, but had resulted in louder T for a small minority of people who have taken it. Check out
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/prednisone/tinnitus/
for more information about this.

 

[Bill Bauer]

If you are going to take it, it makes sense to take it as soon as possible after your acoustic trauma.

The sooner you begin taking it, the more effective it is.

 

[jdjd09]

The problem is that I can't 100% tell if it has gotten worse or not honestly. Why? It's because it has been loud as it is. I am having a hard time telling if I should take it or not or if I am simply worrying about nothing. I just don't know. I don't know what to do right now and I am tired of dealing with idiots around me who don't worry about loud noises and don't care.

Also, I am tired of looking like I'm some "crazy" person for being overprotective of my hearing and asking for drugs from doctors who most the time don't honestly understand what it takes to protect hearing or understand prednisone half the time.

I just don't know what to do right now and hate dealing with all these incidents.

 

[Bill Bauer]

The problem is that I can't 100% tell if it has gotten worse or not honestly.

For a couple of days after the latest acoustic trauma (for which I haven't taken prednisone), my T remained unchanged, THEN it began to gradually get worse. You should think about the volume level of the sound that you are concerned about. If it was unusually loud, then I would take prednisone.

 

[jdjd09]

Ok thanks for your input. Does anyone else have thoughts on this as well? Am I overreacting or what do the rest of you think?

 

[Tinker Bell]

If the acoustic trauma caused measurable hearing loss, I would take prednisone.

If I was unsure whether the loud incident had damaged my hearing, I would not. Prednisone is not a hearing loss cure. It works to reduce inflammation. It can also have side effects, namely anxiety which can increase tinnitus.

You are unsure if your tinnitus is worse. If you spend the next few days worried about whether it's louder or going to get louder, well that is almost a guarantee that it will get louder.

 

[linearb]

You're fine and IMO as totally not a doctor Prednisone had no chance of helping you and some small chance of doing really bad things to you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It can also have side effects, namely anxiety which can increase tinnitus.

It is ototoxic, and one of the side effects could be tinnitus.

well that is almost a guarantee that it will get louder.

Yes, but will it Stay loud for the rest of his life? If it will be loud only for a couple of days, then that would not be a big problem.

 

[glynis]

I think it's going to be give it time and also don't stress about it.
Steroids are only given for respiratory problems and arthritis sometimes.
Steroids come with their own problems and not given out like smarties .
Love glynis

 

[jdjd09]

So, I am confused. Would a 5 second blast from a very loud speaker in a drive through (like extremely loud, to the point that I jumped back. I never jump back at noises ever). Also, felt some sensations in my ear during the talking.

I'm unclear if tinnitus got louder because it was already loud from 2 years ago. So, hard to say if it got louder because I hear it all the time already.

Get weird sensations in my ear sometimes too.

I'm so up in the air about what to do right now. Whether to call the doctor for prednisone or not...I just don't know what to do. Too many people without this issue (not speaking about this website) say that I worry too much about too many things. But, then they don't have a clue what this is like. So I don't even really fully trust myself what to do.

Do I ask for prednisone over an incident like this or not? I am so lost right now. I know prednesone is used for hearing loss and previous ENT seemed to be aware of this.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Do I ask for prednisone over an incident like this or not?

My tinnitus was caused by a sound that lasted a Fraction of a second. That's all it took to cause T for 10 months (thus far).

The longer you wait, the less effective prednisone is going to be. 48 hours after the incident, there is probably no reason to take prednisone.

 

[jdjd09]

I tested my hearing with a hearing test app I use. I use the same headphone and have the same volume used (yes, it isn't pefect, but it would detect a major shift in hearing). The test looks the same as a month before.

Does that change people's answers on here about taking prednisone?

 

[jdjd09]

Anyone? I am so indecisive right now :/. I understands Bill's point, but I also want to know if maybe that is an overreaction for only 5 seconds of sound from a drive through speaker turned full blast.

 

[Tinker Bell]

My view has not changed. No need for prednisone. Try to stay calm, distract yourself and not worry about what happened.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Does that change people's answers on here about taking prednisone?

My answer is still the same (if I were you, I would take prednisone), but keep in mind that I am not a doctor.

 

[Bill Bauer]

5 seconds of sound

Like I said before - in my experience, a FRACTION of a second is ALL it takes.

My second acoustic trauma took place at the end of May. I pressed a loud phone to my ear. I moved my hand away from my ear after a second - it was enough for a spike that, to this day, manifests itself with higher pitched T...

 

[glynis]

@jdjd09 ,
How have your ears been today ?
Love glynis

 

[PaulBe]

I think, that when we hear sound pushed loudly though tinny speakers, what we hear is all the frequencies where our hearing loss occurs being worked all at once. I don't think it causes further damage so much as it makes us brutally aware of just what damage is already there. Kind of like pressing on a cut briefly. It stings for a while but after a while it stops.

Were the sound sustained over a long period of time, or repeated frequently, that could be different as we now don't know where our thresholds for compounding injury start from.

 

[jdjd09]

@jdjd09 ,
How have your ears been today ?
Love glynis

I honestly don't know :/. I don't know if I have hurt them or if things will go back to the way they were. How do I figure this out? I don't know what else to do.

 

[jdjd09]

I think, that when we hear sound pushed loudly though tinny speakers, what we hear is all the frequencies where our hearing loss occurs being worked all at once. I don't think it causes further damage so much as it makes us brutally aware of just what damage is already there. Kind of like pressing on a cut briefly. It stings for a while but after a while it stops.

Were the sound sustained over a long period of time, or repeated frequently, that could be different as we now don't know where our thresholds for compounding injury start from.

So do you think I'll be ok and nothing damaging happened? Is there a general timeframe for me to know if things will get better?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Is there a general timeframe for me to know if things will get better?

Things should get better within 3 months of the incident. If they don't, at that point there is still Some hope, but it Would begin to look like the damage might be permanent.

 

[PaulBe]

Is there a general timeframe for me to know if things will get better?

There probably isn't. Bill's suggestion above is as good as any though.

 

[jdjd09]

There probably isn't. Bill's suggestion above is as good as any though.

So there is a chance I'm screwed over a 5 second incident like this then? This is apaolutely insane.

 

[linearb]

So there is a chance I'm screwed over a 5 second incident like this then? This is apaolutely insane.

There's a chance you'll die of an aneuryism tomorrow. Life is full of uncertainties.

However. The odds of an event like the one in the OP being a problem, are likely less than the aneuryism... which is, itself, unlikely.

Something's gonna get you eventually, though. That's how it works. Maybe a stray bullet, stray dog or stray metastatic cancer cell.

 

[Bill Bauer]

So there is a chance I'm screwed over a 5 second incident like this then? This is apaolutely insane.

I have been suffering for at least 10 months now, as a result of an incident that lasted less than a second.

 

[PaulBe]

So there is a chance I'm screwed over a 5 second incident like this then? This is apaolutely insane.

There is an equal chance that you aren't screwed over with this. I seriously doubt that a five second exposure would have lasting consequences.

That said, everyone here is already kind of screwed over. Its is all absolutely insane, absolutely that something that we all had no reason to even think about suddenly becomes front and centre with every new day.

 

[DebInAustralia]

I think it's going to be give it time and also don't stress about it.
Steroids are only given for respiratory problems and arthritis sometimes.
Steroids come with their own problems and not given out like smarties .
Love glynis

and autoimmune conditions