Hi Everyone

GrosBalou

Member
Author
Benefactor
Nov 8, 2015
33
France
Tinnitus Since
10/2015
Cause of Tinnitus
Inner ear barotrauma (diving)
Hello everyone,


It's been a a little bit over a month since that my T appeared after a dive (no more than 20m/65ft). Doctors said I overdid valsava maneuver, leading to inner ear barotrauma, which led to the T (which appeard the day after the dive).

Thankfully, I have no (or very limited) hearing loss. Doctors gave me nootropyl (piracetam) and corticoids. At first I had hard times trying to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night. But my T reduced slightly over the first weeks but since then, pretty much nothing, having ups and downs.

My T varies a lot through the day and is quite erratic (very hard to describe some pulsatile ringing -not always present though - over white noise...). It often is relatively quiet in the morning and before I go to bed. It increases with physical activity, alcohol and stress as well.

I am not able to enjoy movies anymore, I have trouble focusing at work, I don't sleep well anymore. I have anxiety, stress, feelings that my life as knew it before is over…always thinking that I should never have been diving in the first place.

But everything not so dark. By coming here, knowing there was research, things moving on, medications to try and that doctor's speech "live with it" is not the only speech made me a little better.

Since it's been a little bit more than a month, I still may have the possibility to try the AM-101… don't know if it's worth it though, but sticking with the T and skipping this "chance" could only be worse.

I'm currently taking ginkgo biloba, I feel like it lowers my T a little, but I'm not so sure about this.

Any supplements I could take (I 've heard of Magnesium) ?

Anybody here who had a diving accident similar to mine ?

Thanks !
 
Salut GrosBalou ;) Check up NAC , take and eat natural vit C, vitamins B and magnesium indeed. That having said, taking all this ( best brands ) didn't change anything and I even stated that my T is best when I don't take anything. In my case I also gave Vinpocetine a go, but it's a bit controversial so I won't advice it to you. Read and decide for yourself. I took Piracetam as well, for six weeks. Plus a good dose of Ubiquinol . I took TONE ( two boxes ) and I probably forgot sth. It may still go away..is it loud ? How would you estimate it ?
 
Bonjour Gosia,

Thank you for you answer ! I'll try some of these in the near future.

As for my T level, at the begining it would have been a 5 out of 10 maybe, it was quite loud (hard to sleep at that time). Now I would say between 2 and 4 mostly. Now I wouldn't say that my T isn't loud anymore, but it's still really annoying and I can hear it most of the day.
It just is really hard to focus on something else and forget about it, even for like 5 minutes.

I'm glad I found this community, people really seems comprenhensive and helpful against each other :)
 
Bonjour Gosia,

Thank you for you answer ! I'll try some of these in the near future.

As for my T level, at the begining it would have been a 5 out of 10 maybe, it was quite loud (hard to sleep at that time). Now I would say between 2 and 4 mostly. Now I wouldn't say that my T isn't loud anymore, but it's still really annoying and I can hear it most of the day.
It just is really hard to focus on something else and forget about it, even for like 5 minutes.

I'm glad I found this community, people really seems comprenhensive and helpful against each other :)
GrosBalou,
Sounds like you're already feeling a bit better, which is good. You're pretty new to tinnitus, so there's always the chance yours just goes away. For many people early on, it does. And if it doesn't, it sounds like you're already coping better. keep up the good work.

Eric
 
It just is really hard to focus on something else and forget about it, even for like 5 minutes.

Perhaps you can try masking to help your brain focus on other things. I used to do masking all day, from the moment I woke up to sleep time. I would use an ipod nano for masking on the go, and a free sound generator 'aire freshener' on the PC in my office, and also the same on my home PC. Then I would use a sound machine at bed time. I set the volume to the level I could bear because of my severe hyperacusis. But anything was better than hearing the ultra high pitch dog whistle T shrill all by itself. Later on when the brain is more stabilized against the T sound, I require less masking and now I don't mask most of the time especially when I get busy living and enjoying life.
 
Thank you Eric and billie48 for your answers,

I am afraid masking would delay the time I would need to habituate to it, but it sure is a relief.

During the first month, I had some hopes that the T might go away after a few weeks. I began to lose hope right after that time. But if you think there's still some hope that it might go away, well I'll keep that in mind for some more time then :)

Thankfully, I have very few troubles to sleep. Since one or two weeks my T is quite low around bedtime and when I wake up as well. It's more like a hissing at that time of the day.

Anyway, than you guys for your inputs. I'll post updates if there's any improvement !
 
It will fade away just make sure to:

1- put in a healthy diet
2- exercise
3- manage your stress
4- don't react to T just try to mask it
5- Pray

By improving your physical, mental and spiritual aspect, your T has no room but to fade!
 
I really hope it will, either by me not paying any attention to it or by it disappearing totally !

I've always eaten healthy and I currently am in good shape. Although I did not have a physical activity in a week but that's because I've got a muscular pain going on.

Thank you for the advice, but the stress is really hard to manage. Doctor gave me XANAX but I did not used it yet (and I do not plan to use it).
 
Excellent, never use any drugs only in extreme situation.

Xanax can make T worse or permanent in the long run.

You need to keep masking your T to avoid stress and keep yourself busy.

A year from now u will be in a much better state.
 

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