Hi From The USA

[J M]

This is my first post, and I got my tinnitus from an ototoxic med (glipizide), which resulted in a bi-lateral inner ear infection.

A few months later, the doctor gave me a prescription for Remeron, for sleep, and just 2 mg of this med resulted in partial deafness in my left ear, and damage in my right ear too.

In January, I had my teeth cleaned at the dentist's office, and their ultrasonic scaler caused acoustic trauma to both ears.

You'd think by now that I would have screaming tinnitus, but thankfully it is not. The acoustic trauma has been the toughest part of it all. High pitched sounds like frying chicken, or listening to a shower head can aggravate my hearing and tinnitus.

 

[aurelientt]

Hi JM, welcome to the boards. I am sorry to hear about your experience with the ototoxic medications. I have T which is permanent in my right ear but sometimes becomes an all-head thing, if you will. It has been about six weeks so I am still hoping that it will subside with care but am, of course, skeptical about my chances on that front.

I am also thankful that your T isn't screaming. Again, welcome!

Brandon

 

[J M]

Thanks, Brandon.

I hope the very best for you.

 

[Karen]

Hi, J.M., and welcome!

It looks like today's world is dangerous to the health of our ears, based on your experiences! I'm so sorry you had bad experiences on those three occasions, but am glad that at least your tinnitus is not roaring.

I've had a similar experience with drugs. My severe tinnitus was caused after taking an ototoxic medication (a blood pressure drug), then made worse by the doctor giving me more BP drugs. I finally got myself off the BP medications, and am using natural means to control my blood pressure. However, my tinnitus remains.

Have you been to a doctor about your tinnitus, and/or have you had an audiologist test your hearing? Have you talked to an ENT about the acoustic trauma? What suggestions did he/she have to help you cope?

It's possible that your tinnitus will calm down a little bit in time. In the meantime, there are things you can do to help yourself, such as wearing earplugs in noisy places, taking supplements that may help calm down the tinnitus a bit, getting enough sleep, and avoiding totally silent environments. Also, there are some people on here who have hyperacusis (sensitivity to noises) and they may have additional suggestions for you.

Please look around on these boards; you'll find a lot of information, much of it hopeful. There are some great people here, and we all want to help and support each other. Welcome!

 

[J M]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Karen.

I am unemployed, and I have no health insurance except for limited free healthcare through the county's health.net network. There is no ENT or audiologist in the network, so I have never been able to get a proper exam in that regard.

I did manage to contact Dr. Neil Bauman online and he talked like my ears may never be fully normal again. Meaning that I would probably have to wear ear protection for things like vacuum cleaners, mowers, etc. Acoustic trauma has been the toughest thing I have ever encountered in the past few months. I think it is worse than tinnitus itself.

 

[Karen]

J.M.,
There is an article that talks about acoustic trauma on the thread Erik just posted about hyperacusis. You might want to read it when you have a chance.