Hello, I‘m Jiri and This Is My Story (Bad Tinnitus 5 Weeks In) Help, Please.

[Sonic17]

I was told later that week by a neurologist to go straight to a rehab and specifically to see this one chiropractor

Interesting, my neurosurgeon said to stay away from any chiropractors.

 

[w-drak]

Čau Jirko,
there we go, another member from my country. I have read everything you had posted... And I must say I have been having similar T journey as you right now. @jjflyman posts were also super important for me - and actually kept me sane during first couple weeks (especially because he's had two onsets of T, two acoustic traumas, exactly as me). If you need some advice or help Jiří, don't hesitate to contact me. I have tried a lot of stuff to get me better since my July's onset, so... yeah, got some experience..
Best regards,
Honza

 

[Jiri]

@Bill Bauer Don't mean to be pessimistic here but you can't really fix a brain damage, can you? This is especially apparent in the UFC and other contact sports where you see a lot of brain trauma and it's consequences (slurred speech, aphasia, alzheimer's disease and the list goes on..) I mean what's safe about getting blows to your head anyway?

I know that brain has some capability of recovering from trauma, to which extend tho is still unknown. In that respect I feel if it was just a prob. of the tiny hairs.. sounds to me like a more solvable problem. Will ask about this my neurologist when I see her the next time, and show her the video too. Let's see.

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@Greg Sacramento Something interesting happened to me today. I woke up after a good sleep and I had almost no traces of my tinnitus. Just a mere humming sound in my head. Then I went to a rehab, had a back massage and some soft acupressure c. spine m. The tinnitus got worse after that again. Does that suggest anything? A good sign a bad sign, any pointers? How is your tinnitus doing btw, any improvement?

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@Sonic17 Thank you so much for your kind words. I need all the hope I can get. For real, I want to get back on track asap and just get on with my life again. As for the video sample, you need to lower the volume cuz if you blast it through the speakers full force then that would kill a man lol Anyway, yes. This was the closest I could find online as to how mine sounded last sat, hence the mental house visit. How do you feel, any improvement in your tinnitus?

Interesting, my neurosurgeon said to stay away from any chiropractors.

Golden advice. Stay away from them. I could feel him twist and "crack" my neck several times and I think it did me no good. The following extracorporeal shockwave therapy may well have been the reason for my t. getting that bad.

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@w-drak Nazdár, draku!
Cheah man, guess we're in the same boat now. Any pointers, tricks or tips will be much appreciated ofc. I think the 2 obvious questions here are: How did you get your tinnitus and has it got better over the time?

Cheers,

Jiri

​

 

[Bill Bauer]

Don't mean to be pessimistic here but you can't really fix a brain damage, can you?

Why are we guessing about whether or not to be pessimistic, when we have studies the give us a sense of the fraction of people that recover?

As for how devastating brain damage is, I guess it all depends on the extent of the injury. If it is just one neural network with a handful of neurons that is malfunctioning then that's one thing. If someone has a steel beam ripping through their brain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
that's another thing.

 

[Jiri]

Stats is your field, so you tell me. I was told this by a M.D. not even from my head. I'm only concerned with stats as far as standard deviational ellipsises, dispersion plots and frequency counts go.. all I need as of now.

And am well aware of Phineas Cage. My major is Applied Linguistics and in particular the language acquistion and language related disorders - neurolinguistics & aphasia. I believe his case was the Broca's aphasia.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Jiri As I said 80% of the time, muscle trauma by impact to the c spine will resolve. That percentage is quoted in all detailed articles on this subject including whiplash. It's nerve pressure causing the tinnitus - I've gone into the reasons why many times besides in this thread.

You also still need to rest those muscles until some healing takes place. Some physical therapists are smart and others not. Many of the smart ones are employed by sport teams, corporations and hospitals with high rated physical therapy units. Some of the others including rehab centers and massage centers just see $.

I do believe that your tinnitus will improve or heal, but your ears may remain sensitive for awhile. You could even pick up a tone more pronounced for awhile. This can happen with anxiety and stress. I read case histories on this where exercise that includes forward head motion being the cause from tighten muscles of activity or prior inactivity. These studies include past or present muscle spasm history combined with mental stress conditions.

So glad for you. Remain positive.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Stats is your field, so you tell me.

It isn't, but I had taken some stats courses.

We know that over 25% (possibly as many as 70%, everything depends on the extent of the damage, age, etc.) get to hear silence again. Just because extensive brain damage is irreversible, doesn't mean that minor damage involving under 100 neurons is irreversible.

 

[Jiri]

@Greg Sacramento My tinnitus was caused by a combination of both physical and acoustic trauma. I believe you when you say when the muscle trauma heals my tinnitus will decrease in loudness. That does makes sense. However I'm in my 2nd month now and beginnig to lose hope slowly. Also, finding out recently that it is more of a brain problem than ear didn't help me much either. Nevertheless, thank you for giving me hope.
https://knops.co/tinnitus-need-to-k...tm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=BlogPost_Life

Also, you haven't answered my question. I recall you saying your t. was ringing hard. Are you feeling better?

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@Bill Bauer I wish so hard you were right, you have no idea. That's why I'm sticking to this forum so much even tho my docs forbid me from going on the internet and reading about tinnitus.

 

[InfiniteLoop]

@Jiri

How is your audiogram by the way? Given the description in the thread and the description of your T, I will guess that you have hearing loss at very high frequencies (>8KHz) in your right ear. Sensorineural hearing loss after head trauma is not unusual and affects the very high frequencies first, and is often one sided. You should get an audiogram going to 16KHz since the standard 8KHz are really to check the need of hearing aids and not that useful.
Stay calm. If the noise does not improve, you capability to stand it will. Passing time is one the few tools to deal with T.

 

[Jiri]

How is your audiogram by the way?

I can't give you exact numbers as I don't know them. I had the test done twice at two different ENT clinics (audiology is usually a part of the clinic in my country). They both came out just fine. Mine hearing is better than normal I was told - I'm aware there still might be some hidden hearing loss. Not sure if this is going to make any sense to you but in one of those medical notes it says:'curves bilat. with a threshold 5 - 10 dB'. I mean it's not mine hearing that I'm complaining about, it's the tinnitus that's worrying me big time. My goal is to make it fade away completely or at least to the point where it won't be bothersome for me anymore - and by that I don't mean habituating to all the squeaks and high frequencies. To get back to living normal live asap (lawn mowing etc.).

 

[Bill Bauer]

To get back to living normal live asap (lawn mowing etc.).

Is it the case that you don't care about the risk of T returning (and being even louder that second time around than during your first experience with T), or is it the case that you are not aware of this risk?

I plan to stay away from lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners for the rest of my life.

 

[Jiri]

Is it the case that you don't care about the risk of T returning (and being even louder that second time around than during your first experience with T), or is it the case that you are not aware of this risk?

I'm aware of the risk. I only have 2 old grandparents who are still, thank god, a bit mobile.. sometimes a little morbid too, but that's a different story. They also have a big garden so who else is meant to do it? I haven't got the money yet to pay someone else to do it. As for vacuum cleaning, my old gran walks on all fours up to the stairs. It is my responsibility.

It is also why I was looking for the best possible hearing protection, like these bad boys: https://www.amazon.com/ClearArmor-1...dded-Certified/dp/B00NKSMPZW/?tag=tinntalk-20 They rank among the best + earplugs in. What other options have I got?

 

[Bill Bauer]

They also have a big garden so who else is meant to do it?

First of all, this mowing doesn't have to be done more often than once or twice a year. Second of all, surely you or your grandparents can pay for someone to do it (in other words - pay to reduce your risk of making your T worse). If you don't have the money, you could do some other part time job that is quiet...

 

[Jiri]

First of all, this mowing doesn't have to be done more often than once or twice a year. Second of all, surely you or your grandparents can pay for someone to do it (in other words - pay to reduce your risk of making your T worse). If you don't have the money, you could do some other part time job that is quiet...

Sounds great in theory, to put things in practice on the other hand... been there many times.

surely you or your grandparents can pay for someone to do it

I've already said this is not an option. "Surely". We've got other things and bills to worry about. Nada.

It is done usually once in 2 weeks. It rains, then it's sunny again and you can literally see the grass grow in front of your very eyes. Kinda how nature works, unless you want to let the grass & weed overgrow and then only the use of a combine harvester would be a solution. I'm sure some people wouldn't mind living in a jungle. Not us.

I might have found a solution, however, and it's this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-11...d=1514143811&sr=8-1&keywords=fiskars+momentum

 

[Bill Bauer]

It is done usually once in 2 weeks.

It doesn't Have to be done once every 2 weeks. This explains why it would be expensive for you to pay for this. If you do it once or twice a year, then you will be able to easily pay for it.

Kinda how nature works, unless you want to let the grass & weed overgrow and then only the use of a combine harvester would be a solution.

A regular lawn mower can take care of it.

I'm sure some people wouldn't mind living in a jungle. Not us.

The choice is between "not living in a jungle + risk of T getting permanently louder" and "living in a jungle and not having to worry about increasing the risk that T will permanently get a lot louder".

 

[Jiri]

The choice is between "not living in a jungle + risk of T getting permanently louder" and "living in a jungle and not having to worry about increasing the risk that T will permanently get a lot louder".

Have you even checked out the link I attached to my comment? That could very well be a solution to this problem. In addition, I've only read positive reviews about the lawn mower.

A regular lawn mower can take care of it.

This is after what, 3 weeks time? "A regular lawn mover can take care of it". 'Shirley'.

As of now I'm looking for a quite vacuum cleaner too (66 dB ish) + ofc wearing a hearing protection.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Have you even checked out the link I attached to my comment? That could very well be a solution to this problem. In addition, I've only read positive reviews about the lawn mower.

I saw it now. It is my understanding that this type of mower requires more physical effort compared to regular mowers. The solution that I suggested is easier and cheaper.

This is after what, 3 weeks time?

At the start of July my backyard looks like that, and before I had T, I would use my lawn mower (which was the cheapest corded lawn mower at Walmart) with no problems. Some years I would do this again at the start of September. Other years, I would just wait until next July to do it. I never had any problems.

 

[Jiri]

Ok, I think we're gonna have to agree to disagree here.

I saw it now. It is my understanding that those types of mowers require more physical effort compared to regular mowers. The solution that I had suggested is easier and cheaper.

More physical effort, yes = cardio + muscle workout => releases happy hormons (serotonin + dopamine, technically the only two things that make you happy). Easier and cheaper perhaps where you live. Certainly not here.

I never had any problems.

Good for you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

More physical effort, yes = cardio + muscle workout => releases happy hormones

Scientists say that that is what happens, but for some reason when I try to exercise and engage in physical activity, I immediately begin hating my life and get depressed and suicidal.

 

[Chris Holland]

@Jiri

Hey man,

Just read your story and really feel where you're coming from.

I had my tinnitus come up 8 weeks ago now and the first weeks were pure hell, no sleep, total train wreck the whole nine yards. My GP prescribed me Temazepam (also a benzo) for sleep and this was actually the only bit of relief I managed to get since onset, it calms me down so much it feels like my tinnitus sound was a bit lower.

Because of this I asked him to prescribe me Xanax as well for during the day and thank god he did because I don't know how the hell I would have managed to pull through this far without it. Like yourself I also worked full time before this thing started, I work as a broker for an American trading company, very high pressure job and I used to put in a lot of hours in the gym, kickboxing and bodybuilding 5 -6 days a week.

I too have the feeling some of my tinnitus could have been caused by neck and back injury (due to insane heavy lifts and no physio for 8 years) but it could also have to do with some sort of hidden hearing loss or even a bout of vestibular neuritis I had about 8 months ago. Whatever it was it won't bring me any closer to getting rid of it, oh yeah, I have been diagnosed with a burn out too by my GP and ENT, which I thought was because of the T but in retrospect maybe the T was because of the burnout ...

Anyway what I mean to say is considering we are both of roughly the same age, demanding a lot of our bodies and minds (you're a trooper for toughing it out for two weeks without sleeping meds, I was on them after my 4th day of not sleeping because I was jumping out of my skin) maybe, just maybe the tinnitus is due to stress?

Not saying there is not some pre-disposition here but stress seems to be THE major trigger for tinnitus to rear it's ugly head. As you said yourself while sedated your T got less intrusive, I had the same experience, is this due to the drugs? No it's due to the lowered stress levels, I however have never learned how to lower my stress naturally and still need these drugs as I will teach myself to unwind through more natural methods.

As to your T sound I feel you bro, I have a high pitched 6khz ring in my left ear with some sort of a airplane flying way in the distance sound and a high pitch 5khz - 6khz ring in the right, it's seriously annoying. Out of curiosity, I'm visiting a psychiatrist now and was thinking about taking a AD instead of the Xanax (considering they can become addictive) what meds are you on?

Best,

Chris

 

[Jiri]

maybe, just maybe the tinnitus is due to stress?

May be in your case it is due to too much stress. I was under a lot of pressure too this past year so I feel my body just gave in at one point. Nowadays it's all about making a good career but nobody gives a f* about their health anymore. Then accidents happen.

Anyway, as long as it is not noice-induced I think you have a good chance of recovery. Well, as for the kickboxing and heavy lifting, yeah smth could have moved in your c. spine now causing your T. Really sorry about that and all that pain you've been through. In my right ear it sounds like 11 kHz high-pitched whistle and left ear is less bothersome, just some ringing. It's annoying af. Especially knowing there's no cure for it. Haven't heared silence since October.

As for your Psychiatrist visit, I'd recommend Clonazepam instead of Xanax. I think it's safer for people with T and it helped me a lot more. I was on Xanax too for a bit.

The drugs I'm on right now: Pregabalin 300 mg a day, Clonazepam 4 mg a day, Brintellix 20 mg a day and Betahistine 48 mg a day.

I never had to take so many drugs before. It was all about protein shakes and nutrition in the good old days....

Well, stay strong, brother. Hopefully there will be a cure for us soon.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-university-of-michigan-tinnitus-discovery-—-signal-timing.2805/page-12#post-301422

And one more thing, you could ask your doctor about this drug called Retigabine (Trobalt, Potiga). I'm gonna ask myself the next time I speak with my Psychiatrist. Apparently, it might be the only thing that works.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/retigabine-trobalt-potiga-—-general-discussion.5074/ (read the Mpt's comment)

 

[Chris Holland]

May be in your case it is due to too much stress. I was under a lot of pressure too this past year so I feel my body just gave in at one point. Nowadays it's all about making a good career but nobody gives a f* about their health anymore. Then accidents happen.

That's so true bro, it's all about the money, my employer was pushing me to come back to work asap, they gave me a month to recover and now since it will take me longer (obviously) they have not so much as replied to a single of my mandatory updates to them, I don't need their sympathy but that's just cold ... Loyalty gets you nowhere I guess.
One thing I learned from this whole ordeal though is that living this lifestyle will catch up with you, big time.

Anyway, as long as it is not noice-induced I think you have a good chance of recovery. Well, as for the kickboxing and heavy lifting, yeah smth could have moved in your c. spine now causing your T. Really sorry about that and all that pain you've been through. In my right ear it sounds like 11 kHz high-pitched whistle and left ear is less bothersome, just some ringing. It's annoying af. Especially knowing there's no cure for it. Haven't heared silence since October.

I don't know man, I mean habituation sure, I believe I'll definitely achieve that in due time and with some luck the T will fade a bit and be pushed out of my perception unless I search for it. However full recovery from it just seems unlikely to me on a short term, sure hope so but don't want to set myself up for disappointment, habituation is my goal for now, if it goes completely than that's perfect but if I habituate and it does not bother me anymore that's fine too ... I believe by reducing stress, changing my lifestyle, doing body based practices like yoga, tai chi, chi gong etc. and by having regular massages and maybe some physio symptoms should back off gradually over time. I have noticed some great improvements already when I'm truly relaxed, unfortunately my stress levels still go through the roof sometimes and I seem to be back at square one, recently noticed a ''new'' sound which had me freaking out.
Regular sessions with my psychiatrist and practicing mindfulness should help with this too. For now the drugs help to take the edge off which is okay for now and I will use them as long as needed to habituate.

The drugs I'm on right now: Pregabalin 300 mg a day, Clonazepam 4 mg a day, Brintellix 20 mg a day and Betahistine 48 mg a day.

That's quite a cocktail bro
Not that I'm not popping pills, I'm on 0,5 mg of Xanax XR and about 20 mg of Temazepam per day ...
The Xanax works for me but kinda makes me feel depressed a bit, maybe the Clonazepam is a better fit.

And one more thing, you could ask your doctor about this drug called Retigabine (Trobalt, Potiga). I'm gonna ask myself the next time I speak with my Psychiatrist. Apparently, it might be the only thing that works.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/retigabine-trobalt-potiga-—-general-discussion.5074/ (read the Mpt's comment)

Yeah I've seen that thread but seems risky business though, then again all these meds seem to be kind of a roll of the dice so who knows? Could check into that ...

Btw, did you notice any increase (or decrease) on your T from the Pregbalin or Brintellix? I want to try a SSRI as well but was kind of spooked by some of the stories of it spiking T which I found online.

Best,

Chris

 

[mahdi89]

are you better now man ?
am planning to do some shockwave therapy but for my knee
do you think i should cancel ? i have heard that only the treatment near the spine will affect the tinnitus

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum but I like it a lot already so I thought I'd say hello to all of you and share my story here.

I used bullet points for ease of orientation & to mark when and where I think the trauma has occurred.

• I first noticed a slight ringing in my right ear after I went to a Judo class, where I did a handstand, my left arm gave in and I fell on the back of my c. spine. We did countless front rolls before that. I remember it must've not been so bad back then as I was still able to focus on working on my assignments and sleep no prob. This was towards the end of October.

I was used to working in complete silence to be able to focus, the same goes for sleeping.

• I started to notice my Tinnitus in the r. ear a lot more on the 4. Nov. 2017. It was right after a B-day party when one girl shouted something into my right ear. As you can imagine, there was a pretty loud music in the club too.

A small side note: I was a full-time postgrad student and employed full-t. at the same time, pulling in 40 – 50 hours a week to survive in London. Lost 7 kg within the first 2 to 3 months. It was tough – all work and no play for me. I returned back home mid Oct to save some money and finish my dissertation in peace (the irony) so that I can get a good grade. Meeting my friends in our favourite undergrad club after all this time, and celebrate my B-day there 'sounded' like a great idea.

Right the next week Mon I went to see our local ENT doc. He looked into my ears, found nothing, measured my hearing (audiometry) – that was fine, prescribed to me Betahistine 16 mg 2x a day and said he is looking forward to his retirement in Feb. 2018. That was it.

• The next I would say 2 weeks were still very tolerable – I was able to sleep and I had a date with a lovely girl (my classmate). There was of course no better place like going to the cinema to see an action movie. I did have some ringing back then in my r. ear but I bought some good quality ear plugs and thought it'll be ok (a bad mistake). Little did I know.

• I was told later that week by a neurologist to go straight to a rehab and specifically to see this one chiropractor who happened to be a M.D. as well. He was supposed to be the best. They both thought the ringing was caused by a cervical spine damage from Judo (particularly a pinched nerve and/or arteria vertebralis). I highly doubt that now. They used some device on me – it looked like some variation of a small jackhammer that produces shock waves. The therapy is called extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT). I was told it'll relax my trapezius muscles and that it works. Anybody with a tinnitus please don't undergo this procedure! I could feel my inner ear and the whole head vibrate, not to mention the loudness. Again, the doc. said it'll help and that I have a good chance of recovery after that.

Last week beginning Tue 21. Nov. is when my nightmare truly started. Just the worst. At first it was a really bothersome ringing in my r. ear. that kept changing in frequency. Then it got a lot louder and high-pitched. In addition, I could feel a new sensation – a high-pitched frequency sound right in the centre of my head that got and gets sometimes louder then my r. ear ringing. I could not sleep at all. I only passed out usually at 5 a.m. or even 7 a.m. out of pure exhaustion (sitting on the side of my bed usually). Not to mention that I am now way behind with my dissertation and I had to take a break in my studies because I simply cannot focus anymore. It was driving me insane to the point I was considering doing something really stupid ☹

Then it got miraculously better for 2 days. One day I even felt like it went away completely – so strange. I went to sleep normally without any pills and enjoyed the peace.

The ringing is now back unfortunately stronger than ever. Yesterday night I noticed that in addition to my r. ear ringing and the oscillating sound in my head, my left 'healthy ear' started to make a humming noise as well. It feels I can almost hear 3 different sounds now. I fell prey to panic, it's very loud in my head, desperate, and my anxiety is going through the roof. Super scared over here and I can't sleep again.

I understand there is a 3 to 6 months window period when it may get better. I also understand my ears are damaged now. All I know is I could never habituate to all the noises as they are now. It's much too bad. It'd be my end.

I wrote an essay, I'm sorry for that. It did keep me a little distracted from all the noise for a while. If you made it all the way here – thank you. I appreciate the time you took.

A BIG QUESTION: Does anyone have any idea what that high-pitched tone in my head could be?? It does not sound like your "standard" tinnitus. It sounds more like a broken circuit signal right in the centre of my head that keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. It gets very loud, oscillating and it's a high-pitched whistle! I can feel it drown out the tinnitus ringing in the both of my ears. What the heck is that?? I feel like I have some brain nerve damage on top of this all (MRI of my head was ok tho).

It kind of sounds like this, from 0:00 – 0:04 Just higher in pitch.

Any statistics, facts or personal advice/experience that would help me at least get rid of all the anxiety now and gave hope for better tomorrows again, would be highly appreciated!

All the best wishes,

Jiri

P.S.:
Promise: If I survive this and my T. subsides or goes away by some miracle, I will not be the one who just disappears after 3 months mark. Every new positive bit of info I find, I'll share on this forum 100%.​

 

[Mikejl46]

I hope you get it worked out. I feel for you.

I have been dealing with it for like 10 years now, has gotten a little worse recently, I'm still able to deal with it, hoping it doesn't get any worse.

Every once in a while I will get a tone in the center of the head, along with the 8kz tone the right ear where I also have a low motor hum.

I just have to keep pushing forward and not let it get to me.

I hope you can do the same.

 

[Jiri]

are you better now man ?
am planning to do some shockwave therapy but for my knee
do you think i should cancel ? i have heard that only the treatment near the spine will affect the tinnitus

Hey buddy, I have good days and not so good days. As for the shockwave therapy for the knee, that might be ok. I mean it's quite far from your head and c. spine. If it feels uncomfortable then stop it.

I hope you get it worked out. I feel for you.

I have been dealing with it for like 10 years now, has gotten a little worse recently, I'm still able to deal with it, hoping it doesn't get any worse.

Every once in a while I will get a tone in the center of the head, along with the 8kz tone the right ear where I also have a low motor hum.

I just have to keep pushing forward and not let it get to me.

I hope you can do the same.

Hi Mikejl, thanks for the nice words. Yes, we gotta keep pushing forward and hope for the best. A legitimate treatment is what this world deserves. Follow @Autumnly She helps to keep this site up to date with latest research news:

Hearing Regeneration Trials

Spoiler

• Frequency Therapeutics - FX-322
  • in Phase 1.5 (Results: December 2018)
  • Phase 2 (begin 2019)
• Audion / Regain Trial
  • Phase 1/2 ongoing in the UK
• Genvec / Novartis - CGF166
  • Phase 1/2 ongoing

Trials to begin in 2019 / Things to look out for in 2019

Spoiler

• Neuromod (MuteButton)
  • launching their new device in January 2019 starting in Ireland, then Europe, then the US
  • results of their latest trial: 1H2019
• Xenon Pharma - XEN-1101
  • Phase 2, expected to wrap up in 2nd quarter 2020
• Frequency Therapeutics
  • Phase 2
• Otonomy
  • 1H19: OTO-313 (reduce tinnitus) Phase 1/2
  • 1H19: OTO-413 (repairing synaptic damage) Phase 1/2
  • OTO-6XX (hair cell regeneration)
    • 2H18: candidate selection
    • 2019: Phase 1/2
• University of Minnesota (device for tinnitus)
  • Phase 3 ?
• University of Michigan (device for tinnitus)
  • perhaps updates on their currently ongoing trial
  • Estimated Primary Completion Date: September 2022
  • Estimated Study Completion Date: January 2023