I Ruined My Recovery :(

[Don Tinny]

Hello. I am from Argentina, 32 years old. Sorry about poor english.

I came here to give you an advice. Your tinnitus CAN get a lot better (not habituation, real a lot better in volume reduction), but dont ruin your recovery going to loud places, EVEN with "protection".

I had T since chilhood in a very low and tolerable form.

Some day at the end of 2012 my T became an issue when trebly intermitent sounds appeared in my head (maybe caused by headphones or loud traffic at work). It wasnt a case of severe tinnitus but it was a big problem for me. As many sufferers I went to an ENT "specialist" without results. I took B vitamins, trimetazidine, did some TRT. Nothing worked and I stopped to search for a solution.

A day of summer 2015, more than 2 years after the onset, I started to take finasteride pills for my hair and something really strange happened. Almost 3 weeks taking Finasteride my T suddenly had a BIG reduction in volume. Maybe it was coincidence, God knows....but my T became a non-existant problem for me. 2 years later I stopped taking the pills because they have several sexual sides, in my case: very high libido (yes, high) but weak erections.

2017 I was living free finasteride and "free" Tinnitus, only audible in quiet rooms. 3 years with low T so I was feeling less paranoid about it. These forums, the ENTS, all things from the dark past for me.

24 october 2017: The worst decision I took in my life. I wanted a night of fun. Bought Ear Peace HD ear plugs and went to a Gene Simmons Show in a small nightclub. The volume was loud, but I thought "I am wearing ear plugs, I am protected". 24 hs after the show, T came back and worse than ever. I hear it 24/7. Bad days are severe, good days are torelable...but now 50 days after the show I am feeling hopeless about real improvements. Maybe I lost my chance to have a low T life.

A neurologist told me "I think you got better taking finasteride. Take it again, brain is complex". An ENT told me exactly the same. Its my only hope...but I doubt. Most people get T taking that drug. :S

Days before the show I said to my wife "I dont know if I wanna go to the show, I like to have dinner with you (she and our little daughter)". I didnt follow my heart and now I pay the price.

Tomorrow I have and appointment with a psychologist to treat this awful feeling.

Dont ruin your life going to shows or noisy events. Ear plugs are not safe. You can not escape from vibrations that sound produces in small places.

Remember. If you get better you need to FEAR tinnitus. Never forget.

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your T spike up again. Hope it will calm down to baseline. It may take some time as unstable, traumatized ears have been known to take 6 months or more to settle down. Good life can be back. Count on it and keeping positive and remaining calm will help the process. Try some CBT or mindfulness approaches to help calm the nerves. Perhaps try making too. Good luck. Take care. God bless.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Thank you for sharing your story. A story likes yours appear on this forum once a week (sometimes every day), but despite that, when someone new to tinnitus asks for advice regarding attending loud events, some ass clowns here advise them to "not let T win" and to just wear ear plugs.

Have you experience any improvement compared to a how you felt a month ago? Don't lose hope - there is still a chance that in a year or two your spike might fade. Many people experience improvements, see
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

 

[Bill Bauer]

Temporary spikes can last well over a month.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-do-your-tinnitus-spikes-usually-last.23110/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-was-your-longest-spike.22099/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/head-movement-spikes-tinnitus.25179/#post-290614

 

[Don Tinny]

Have you experience any improvement compared to a how you felt a month ago?

Thanks Billie and Bill.

Its so difficult to say. It fluctuates. Some days are "good" but others....not so. Maybe my job is not helping me. Im using silicon plugs here to reduce noisy traffic but plugs make me listen to T more and more.. Maybe weekend days are better. I need time to see what happen. Maybe the daily use of plugs is not good for me. Thinking about changing job. Its a hard time for me.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Some days are "good" but others....not so.

Have you been having more good days during the past two weeks compared to the number of good days during the first two weeks after the spike began?

 

[Don Tinny]

Have you been having more good days during the past two weeks compared to the number of good days during the first two weeks after the spike began?

Maybe yes. The last days I had good day-bad day-good day again. But I dont find a pattern yet. What do you think about the effect of wearing plugs 8 hs per day? My best days are free days (I dont use plugs). Is that just a coincidence'?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I wear plugs myself whenever I am outside of my home. There is a risk of developing hyperacusis, but I believe it promotes healing (and prevents further damage) as far as T is concerned.

If I were you, I would continue doing what you have been doing and I would wait. Ears can take forever (months or even years) to heal...

 

[Maruashen]

In my optinion I think you should overprotect your ear abit for a while, not always tho..

But thats just my opinon, I'm no doctor

 

[Vincent R]

A story likes yours appear on this forum once a week (sometimes every day), but despite that, when someone new to tinnitus asks for advice regarding attending loud events, some here advise them to "not let T win" and to just wear ear plugs.

I've made the same observation. Loud events aside, some people even advice T sufferers not to wear earplugs at all, because "you shouldn't protect yourself against everyday sound." But everyday sound, as anyone at this community can read for themselves, might turn into an ambulance siren or fireworks or a popping balloon at any time. Exposing your ears to 100 decibels and above isn't my idea of a healthy approach.

I was fairly realistic already from T onset. I made sure to avoid loud events, skipped out on headphones, and carried foam earplugs inserted whenever I left the house, as well as earmuffs in the bag. Regardless, I was hit with one nasty sound incident after the other. It was a lack of self-discipline more than anything else. My reptile brain wasn't programmed to see a cobbled street during a sunny afternoon as a dangerous environment. So the earmuffs were left in the bag. Prolonged suffering and growing paranoia seem to finally have overcome my laziness, but it happened too late, and I only have myself to blame.

It's not only a cure that is lacking, but even a standardization of plain and simple advice: If you have T, you need to protect yourself against noise accidents as much as you can. There's no such things as "habituation" since getting used to your T only last until next time a group of youths detonate a firecracker while you stroll by. By maximizing your hearing protection, you can limit the damage somewhat.

The worst advice ever, and I mean ever, is to avoid reading "horror stories on the Internet". You get that from medical professionals and some T sufferers as well. No, people shouldn't read on communities such as TT, because here they actually get CORRECT BLEEDING INFORMATION*. They learn that T can get worse after dental work, syringing of your ears, or if they use certain medication. The get to know that some people who attend loud events with earplugs are fine afterwards, but others are not.

I'm not by default a negative person. There can be a lot of meaning in life (and, as I believe, in afterlife, which can be seen as a very optimistic outlook). But right here, right now, it feels like hell because it is hell. Misguided optimism isn't of much use.

(I guess I wrote this because I felt like venting. For you, all of it is old news, but there may be others on TT that read and have some benefit.)

*Sorry about the capitalization. I know it doesn't help much to scream at the Internet.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I made sure to avoid loud events, skipped out on headphones, and carried foam earplugs inserted whenever I left the house, as well as earmuffs in the bag. Regardless, I was hit with one nasty sound incident after the other.

I had the exact same experience. I tried to be careful, failed to foresee danger when I could have easily known that something wasn't safe. As a result, I had experienced numerous setbacks. Eventually I learned to be more serious about this, and I ended up with fewer setbacks as a result.

If you have T, you need to protect yourself against noise accidents as much as you can.

My ENT told me that it might be a good idea to protect my ears from more shocks, as an afterthought.

The worst advice ever, and I mean ever, is to avoid reading "horror stories on the Internet".

I know - the advice basically boils down to: "avoid information that is relevant for your situation and that can help you to make fewer mistakes."

 

[Bill Bauer]

@Don Tinny are you feeling any better?

Most people get T taking that drug.

I know several people reported getting T after discontinuing finasteride cold turkey. If you ever decide to stop taking it, make sure you taper it.

 

[Bobby B]

Finasteride raises Testosterone levels - maybe this is the connection especially if your libido went though the roof it must have raised your Test levels high

 

[Alue]

A neurologist told me "I think you got better taking finasteride. Take it again, brain is complex". An ENT told me exactly the same. Its my only hope...but I doubt. Most people get T taking that drug. :S

That's interesting. I wonder what's the reason behind it? Finasteride prevents T from being converted into DHT, but it will raise the circulating testosterone level. It can also mess with other hormones in the endocrine system throwing them off balance. How long were you taking it?

 

[Bobby B]

I took Fin for over 7 years never noticed any T issues while on it or after stopping it, this was well before my acoustic trauma. Never saw any reports of Fin or any hair loss drug causing T either

 

[Don Tinny]

That's interesting. I wonder what's the reason behind it? Finasteride prevents T from being converted into DHT, but it will raise the circulating testosterone level. It can also mess with other hormones in the endocrine system throwing them off balance. How long were you taking it?

Hi. I Took Finasteride 2,5 years. My T went way better when I started the treatment (after nearly 20 pills). I think testerone impacts on GABA levels. I am thinking try fin again. But im not sure yet

 

[EarHair]

The plugs you used only are -11 DB. You need at least -20DB. Also have you tried takng finestride again?