Has Anyone Had Complete Resolution of Tinnitus Lasting Over 2 Weeks (Due to Acoustic Trauma?

[Gordon Steinberg]

For background, I had an acoustic trauma about 15 days ago.

My ENT started me on a dose of prednisone at 30mg / day for 5 days on day 13 after the event. On the first and second day of prednisone, day 13 and 14 after trauma, I spontaneously had 95% or so resolution of my tinnitus - about 12 hours after taking prednisone I woke up with what I would characterize as silence, maybe some "feeling in the ears" but no real whine - which continued for 24 hours! It was like a fantasy. The only lingering symptom which I also have, was some dysacusis, where I hear fans running and other white noise with a tone built in, but if those things were shut off, I was at 95% remission. The last 5% I basically couldn't even tell if the tinnitus was there, or if I was imagining it - I could put on hearing earmuffs and really enjoy the sensation of no clear whine!

I was so excited to continue my life, and grateful for a second chance. I assumed this was linear progress and that surely I must be healing! I went out for a walk with my family and enjoyed the day with no tone at all, while carefully guarding my ears.

However last night while watching TV on very low volume, dozing on the edge of sleep, the tinnitus suddenly reared up out of nowhere - I'm talking "silence" to low tinnitus in one ear, to full tinnitus in both ears in about an hour. My tinnitus has that mild burning feeling in the ears of being at a high frequency, if that makes sense.

All of last night was sleepless and dominated by an extremely loud, high-pitched mixture of cicadas and electricity, and today my ears are pulsing with the same noise.

Given my temporary silence and then relapse, I just want to ask honestly - has anyone whose tinnitus passed two weeks from acoustic trauma ever had complete resolution in the ensuing weeks / months? What are the odds?

I am also supplementing with Magnesium, NAC, Nicotinamide Riboside, and Taurine.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to possibly help healing, please let me know. I will spend any amount of money or try any tactic.

Thanks!

Gordon

 

[T Toledo OH]

I had the same thing happen to me. I have a very bad infected upper molar where root canal failed, causing inflammation and infection into my sinus. I had the root canal retreated but it was unsuccessful and I need to get tooth extracted this week.

I was given a prednisone cycle and antibiotics. After, my tinnitus was GONE! Completely. I was ecstatic and almost broke into tears assuming that now that the tooth infection was draining and healing and would take my tinnitus with it.

I had 3 days of silence only to have it come back with vengeance and now I am on a 7 day spike. Extraction will be done this week.

 

[CAgirl]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I had an acoustic trauma 36 days ago. I tried Prednisone on Day 5 but had an awful reaction to just 10 mg so I threw in the towel. Tinnitus never left and got louder Week 4. I am now at Week 5 and trying a very low dose of Prednisone (20 mg) which I'm tolerating ok, except for awful insomnia. So far, hasn't helped at all. It's most likely too little, too late.

Do you think you can go back and ask your doctor for more Prednisone? It seems like there still is hope for people with acoustic traumas to have a reduction of their tinnitus, it just takes a long time. I have been focusing on many of their stories recently. So there is still hope it will go on its own. Can you hear it over ambient noises or only in a quiet room?

 

[Gordon Steinberg]

Hi, I'm sorry you're going through a similar experience - this is a terrible thing to be subjected to. I'm just trying to take things day by day. One encouraging sign for me is that I have had definite improvement in my dysacusis or hearing distortion - anytime I was near a fan or in the shower before I would often get tinnitus tones on top of the actual noise - my ear/brain was misinterpreting the signal, which made it impossible to mask the tinnitus itself. Day 16 now and this has dramatically reduced as of this morning. I've noticed many improvements seem to be overnight, and I think sleep plays a big role in healing.

I am going to seek an opinion from another ENT on the prednisone dose and duration I mentioned, as what I was given was quite light. Also, I have heard of people getting improvement from prednisone even beyond the 4 week window often cited.

Re acoustic trauma - my ENT did say improvement is possible up to 6 months out, and many of the success stories here show great improvement at that point in time or up to multiple years out, even when there was no improvement in the first weeks/months. For that reason, I'm trying to be optimistic!

Lastly, I have taken to sleeping outside in the backyard in a tent in order to mask my tinnitus with the sounds of crickets/nature. I also find going on walks with someone else helps distract me - conversation and the ambient sounds outside help to drown out the noise, even if imperfectly.

Please let me know how things go!

 

[Poseidon65]

I think the answer is almost certainly yes, that some people whose ears still rang at the 2-week mark had complete silence by 6 months.

 

[Gordon Steinberg]

Can anyone share a story of tinnitus getting better from noise-induced tinnitus?

The one thing keeping me going at this point is that people have said it gets better, and I've been reading Tinnitus Talk success stories on loop, but really need some support if at all possible from real examples.

I am 19 days in and every day has been white knuckle, no exaggeration. I have seen 3 ENTs, a neurologist, an otologist, and a psychiatrist. Of the 19 days I've had maybe 1.5 where I could not quite hear the tinnitus - it seemed to dissipate for a half day but then never stayed away too long. Every day other than that has been full of pain, whether it be pain in my neck from anxiety, nausea from gagging and dry heaving, or just the literal intensity in my head. I have both tinnitus and noise distortion where certain white noise like a fan will sound like tinnitus.

I have recently started Mirtazapine which has allowed me to sleep at night otherwise I would not sleep at all.

I'm so thankful for this community and I promise to give back 1000 times over but right now I'm really hurting and just looking for some tangible hope.

Thanks!

 

[ajc]

I've been reading Tinnitus Talk success stories on loop, but really need some support if at all possible from real examples.

How are the success stories NOT real examples? Because they are.

Also don't forget that most people who get better stop visiting forums.

Why does it say on your profile that you've had tinnitus since 2016? But you say you've had it less than a month?

A month is NOTHING! If you're still feeling this way a year from now, I'll be surprised.

 

[Gordon Steinberg]

Hi,

Sorry for the confusion. I've had mild tinnitus for 4 years that never bothered me at all. In the last 19 days my life has been upended. I don't mean to say the success stories aren't real - just looking for some encouragement from others.

Thanks!

 

[Gordon Steinberg]

I'm seeking some support from folks that have currently or have had this type of tinnitus. It is ultra shrill - so much so that sometimes I can barely perceive it - I think it is the highest frequency it could possibly be while still being perceptible. Despite that the volume or signal is quite strong - when I manage to forget it is there I find my neck muscles constricting and it tunes back in. Whether or not I focus on it my body will not tolerate it. It's like pitch specifically designed to torture. I have had a handful of hours since this began that I can say I have actually felt any normalcy - I wanted to say happiness but I haven't been happy.

I am on day 31 following acoustic trauma. The first three weeks I took off from work. I have technically been back at work since but manage 2-3 hours at best. Every day I can barely function. Mirtazapine has allowed me to sleep but every minute of every day I feel like I don't want to exist. My tinnitus effects me no matter where I am - even if I go outside with other noise - it is faintly overlaid. My inherent state is discomfort. My neck tightens up with anxiety from the noise which grates at my body at a near unconscious level. If I could drop the frequency I think I could simply resume my life, but it's so shrill.

I am currently taking Chelated Magnesium, Ginkgo Biloba, a multivitamin, Zinc, Nicotinamide Riboside, Pycnogenol and NAC.

If my tinnitus settles at this pitch and volume I'm not sure I can survive. I do not fear death at this point, I simply want a release. It would be preferable to me to have a terminal illness so the end could be decided for me; I'm not sure for my family's sake I could take my own life though I want to. I have developed a phobia of being indoors and I find it very hard to focus on anything, though daily I force myself to take a 5 mile walk.

I have read every success story multiple times over.

6 weeks ago I had every opportunity in the world. Now I'm genuinely unsure if I can make it another month.

The hardest truth is that regardless of what anyone says, this may improve or it may not. I simply wish I were in a coma until another time. I have lots I still want to do in life, but not in this condition.

 

[Darren H]

The hardest truth is that regardless of what anyone says, this may improve or it may not. I simply wish I were in a coma until another time. I have lots I still want to do in life, but not in this condition.

View this as your lowest point, and look forward to improvement. Things will get better. I am 25 and suffered SSHL over 3 months ago. I have severe high frequency hearing loss and Tinnitus. As detailed in many posts here your Tinnitus is so likely to improve considering you don't have major hearing loss like me. We certainly are enduring a shocking condition but there is still lots of hope. By the time the regenerative medicine becomes freely available in about 2 years I bet your Tinnitus will either be gone or as it was before so much so that you pay no heed. Best of luck on your journey! Time is the greatest healer

 

[CAgirl]

Yes, I hear you Gordon. Mine is the same ultra-shrill tone. I agree, it is like it was specifically designed for torture. I am almost 8 weeks into this now. It has to improve for us somehow!!!

 

[Bill Bauer]

I think that chances are that you will be like many people here and in the long run (2-3 years after the onset), get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

 

[LateNightArt]

I had a really bad spike a few weeks ago from acoustic trauma and it took around 2 weeks for improvement but now it seems to have totally cleared up and is sometimes even lower than it was before the incident so have hope it will get better because I'm confident that it will!

The other day I literally couldn't hear it at all when lying in bed.

I have suffered with tinnitus for 2 years and I am getting closer to silence every day, despite some pretty bad slip ups. It can just suddenly get better but it is kind of unpredictable, so don't worry too much and try to think positively.

 

[GBB]

I had a really bad spike a few weeks ago from acoustic trauma and it took around 2 weeks for improvement but now it seems to have totally cleared up and is sometimes even lower than it was before the incident so have hope it will get better because I'm confident that it will!

The other day I literally couldn't hear it at all when lying in bed.

I have suffered with tinnitus for 2 years and I am getting closer to silence every day, despite some pretty bad slip ups. It can just suddenly get better but it is kind of unpredictable, so don't worry too much and try to think positively.

That's great to hear. Was the original cause of your tinnitus noise, and has it gotten progressively better?

 

[LateNightArt]

That's great to hear. Was the original cause of your tinnitus noise, and has it gotten progressively better?

It has kind of been all over the place if i'm honest but for the most part it has gotten better. It was initially caused by ETD but it was later worsened by acoustic trauma.
I would say there have been setbacks but overall it has gotten better. There have been times where it is literally making me disorientated with how loud it is and other times where it has literally disappeared for a little while, more recently it has been going away for a few minutes occasionally and i don't notice it during the day anymore.

 

[Gareth Davies]

Hi @Gordon Steinberg

How has your tinnitus progressed at this point?

Do you believe any of your supplements or prescribed medicine have helped?