I'm Juliane, Tinnitus Since 2003 After Rock Festival — Worsening in 2023 After Acoustic Trauma

HI everyone!

My name is Juliane, I am 44 and I was doing super-fine in spite of having tinnitus - until January this year.

I've had tinnitus since 2003 after a rock festival. First many years with tinnitus were rough. I was young and felt my life was over. Then suddenly from about 2011 until 2023, I can honestly say that I was not bothered by my tinnitus to any degree that's worth mentioning. As in: I actually think it was more or less gone (not habituation, but objectively lowered volume)!

Perhaps this can even provide some hope to new as well as long-term sufferers - I went from tinnitus that was at times making me suicidal to almost non-existing tinnitus that lasted for 12 years (which I could only hear if I pressed my ear against my pillow and concentrated and even then it was super low). So things CAN improve significantly even after, in my case, 8 years with tinnitus! And then, unfortunately, they can get worse again...

Fast forward to January 2023. I ran out of luck and I guess had become complacent - a new acoustic trauma caused my almost non-existing tinnitus to spike like never before. Since then, I haven't been the same. I have been severely depressed, suicidal, anxiety-ridden and taking sleeping medication for the first time in my life. And now I am here.

I have been reading and lurking on Tinnitus Talk for months, and felt it was time to introduce myself. Nice to meet you all! Although I wish I didn't need to be on here, but I guess we all share that. I hope to engage in some supportive and encouraging chats here. And to meet new people. Feel free to say hi!

I should add that I am currently freaking out because I have read here on Tinnitus Talk that Zopiclone can cause or worsen tinnitus :-( I have been taking exactly 20 of those pills and do feel it might have worsened my already horrible tinnitus :-( Do any of you know if Zopiclone induced tinnitus is permanent?

Juliane

 

Good to meet you Juliane!

Unfortunately a lot of us are here on the same page, it’s quite impressive you’ve gone so long without any spikes or worsening. I’m here 3 months into my first spike after 7-8 years of tinnitus.

I’ve read many posts of noise related spikes/worsenings improving after time. So try not to give up hope as of yet!

 

Hi @Juliane. I am not familiar with Zopiclone sleep medication. Is there a way to ask your doctor to switch to a different medication?

It is so easy to become complacent after years of being okay tinnitus wise. I have been guilty of the same thing. You got through this once before and you will again. Never doubt that.

 

Similar story here. I got low frequency tinnitus following pyro at a Rush concert in 2011. I was already using earplugs but not consistently enough, then in 2019 I got severe high and mid tones plus hyperacusis. It eased off somewhat to the point where I can enjoy most things in life again, but rock concerts are definitely off the table.

Hope you find encouragement and support here!

 

No idea... I see some threads of Zopiclone making tinnitus wore, some making it better and others stating it's not ototoxic. If you believe it's an issue, you could try to come off of it with your doctor's direction of course. It could also be you are worried about it becoming worse and focusing on it more.

 

Welcome to the forum. I've had tinnitus about as long as you and a pneumatic nail gun exposure at work (while wearing silicone earplugs) completely fubared my life. This was 7 years ago and every moment is now a tinnitus assault; I had to retire as I could no longer focus mentally.

Please give the details around your second trauma; it's always enlightening to see how letting your guard down can negatively affect people with existing tinnitus.

 

Z-drugs and benzodiazepines can form tolerance and addiction quickly. It is probably not good to rely on them in the long term, or at least take them only irregularly. If you decide to stop zopiclone, don't do it abruptly to avoid withdrawal—consult your doctor about tapering.

From what I've read, the prevalent opinion is that Z-drug and benzodiazepine-induced tinnitus is not permanent in most cases, but can take weeks or months to dissipate. Note that abrupt discontinuation itself can induce tinnitus.

 

Hi @Juliane.

Welcome to the place nobody wants to be.

Becoming complacent happens, I am guilty of that myself so you are not alone in feeling the way you do. I'm 14 months into my tinnitus increase and while things have gotten better in that I can live a somewhat normal life, anxiety still plays havoc when it rears its ugly head. Knowing what you had and now what you end up with tinnitus wise is a hard pill to swallow. Hopefully as time goes on your tinnitus may get better once more or you learn to manage it using different techniques learnt from Tinnitus Talk

 

Dear all,

Thanks a lot for your kind replies and support! It means a lot. Really! Makes me feel I'm not entirely alone in knowing what it's like to suffer from this torturous condition.

I am actually in tears right now due to a particularly bad tinnitus night with absolutely no sleep. As a consequence, I've needed to cancel plans I was looking forward to (the sun is of course shining here today and the sky is clear and blue just to show me how nice of a day it COULD have been if not for tinnitus) - another nice "side effect" of tinnitus is how much it destroys in terms of social life, relationships etc. I am sure you all know it too well!

As for being complacent, perhaps I was being too hard on myself. I have actually been very "neurotic" about protecting my ears with plugs through the years (I btw have no hearing in my left ear following sudden deafness years back) so I have not been that complacent to be honest. But on New Year's Eve I forgot to wear my ear plugs while stepping outside for a few minutes and that's when the loud noise from nearby fireworks hit me and my already compromised ears :-( Seems so unlikely and stupid that it almost seems like it was my destiny somehow... If that makes sense. I should add that this freak accident came after a particularly stressful period at work, being on a long plane ride while having a horrible cold and being completely stuffed in my nose and ears, and in general, feeling weak, stressed out and exhausted. If this plays a role for being more susceptible to acoustic trauma, I don't know, but I definitely think it might. My intuition tells me so.

@Starthrower, thanks for your suggestions and kind words. Sorry to hear you are going through something similar. As for Zopiclone, I haven't taken any in 14 days and am too scared to do it again. I hope the pills I did take have not worsened my hearing issues. With tinnitus there is not really any way to tell... To be honest, I am too scared right now to try any sort of medication and will just deal with the sleepless nights somehow although getting no sleep is torture in itself.

@Jammer, I am so sorry to hear about your work accident and the resulting tinnitus increase. Life can be so horribly unfair, tough and random. The randomness of sudden loud noises completely derailing good lives is particularly difficult to deal with in my opinion. It's just so meaningless, pointless and stupid to deal with.

I hope we can all find the relief we so badly need - better today than tomorrow.

All the best,
Juliane

 

Welcome. Crazy that fireworks did you in. How loud could they be? Was it an official show or just someone fired one nearby you?

I strongly believe that sinus infection compromises ears resilience to damage. I do not think I would get tinnitus from an acoustic trauma if it was not for a sinus infection I had at the time. Though I had zero tinnitus before and your ears were already compromised.

 

Hi Juliane,

I am going through a very similar situation to you right now from the loud noise of an MRI scan. It is just in my left ear and is an additional buzzing/blasting sound on top of my standard tone tinnitus. It is most distressing. I'm five weeks out and haven't noticed much improvement but still clinging onto the hope it will dissipate in time. What's more concerning is I start a new job in a month's time.

Here are some of the things I am trying after many a late night reading:

- Magnesium L-Theoronate

- Working through the OTO CBT tinnitus app - heard nothing but positive things about this in numerous places, but I will give an honest 'warts and all' review in a month's time.

- Sound enrichment (as with TRT) of a day and through the night set at a level lower than my tinnitus.

- I am working with a physio that has done research on the somatic causes of tinnitus and successfully treated patients (granted this is a long shot as I have noise-induced tinnitus) but not leaving any stone unturned.

- Not sure what country you are in but I have been fitted with NHS Phonak hearing aids for free - I feel like this has made somewhat of a difference for this new tone, I only had mild hearing loss but interestingly, when wearing these new hearing aids, the single tone tinnitus I've put up with for two decades, gets shut off or greatly reduced.

- I have a prescription for Mirtazapine but have been too scared to take it as of yet.

There are a plethora of people more qualified/experienced compared to me but wanted you to know there are many of us in a similar boat. I sincerely hope in another 3-6 months time we can share improvement or success stories.

 

I had to close my house up and not get the usual cooling breeze due to the highlight of the armageddon season, which starts about a month before the 4th and lasts a bit into September. People just love an excuse to enjoy high power explosives.

I don't get why it is so popular to expose your friends and family to such damaging acoustic trauma as a national past time, let alone your neighbors. And there are no warnings from the media about the acoustic shock damage that can occur; very shameful!

I wore my earmuffs while going out to flip the burgers on the grill, as the explosions started in earnest at 4pm.

4th of July is first and New Years is second to my most despised "holidays".

 

@gameover, thanks for welcoming me

I believe the correct term for what did the damage is "firecracker". They are illegal where I live, but nonetheless some random people down the street (that I did not know nor talk to, I have no idea who they were) decided to fire one off next to me and they are extremely loud. Almost as if they are designed to do ear damage. I would consider it a criminal offense to hurt people for life for "the fun of it". Also I don't get at all what the fun is. Just a loud stupid bang is what they're about. But I doubt there's much I can do about it.

I believe you are right regarding sinus infections making ears more vulnerable. Ears are so sensitive in general and it has always baffled me why we are not taught in school to really look after our ear health and protect them. For me, growing up, it was all about protecting and brushing our teeth, which is very important too, but you can, after all, get new dental implants. Not the case with ears :-(

 

@Juliane, I'm sorry to hear about your recent worsening, although for someone 17 months in, it is encouraging to see that your initial tinnitus seemed to improve after many years. Hope for that is what keeps me going.

What an unfortunate freak accident with the fireworks! I can relate as my tinnitus was also brought on by what I consider a freak accident too. It seems so unlucky that it happens to us, and it pretty much is just that - bad luck, but be assured that it's not your fault. No one should have to live in earplugs every time they step outside. No matter how diligent you are, it's damn near impossible to avoid every noise. And I'm 100% in agreement with you that you were probably already in a susceptible state. I feel like this absolutely contributed to my tinnitus onset as well. But again, it's not your fault.

The good news is that you were able to pretty much beat tinnitus before, so there's no reason right now to think you aren't capable of it again. You know the drill - be as careful as you can right now to allow your ears time to heal.

Lack of sleep and tinnitus seem to go hand in hand. Most people seem to agree that once you get sleeping under control, it gets a bit easier. If you need to find a med that works for you then work with your doctor to do that. I am a big fan of doing whatever you can to relax and physically exhaust yourself enough to sleep. Take relaxing baths, workout - whatever it takes to help. I take Melatonin every night for sleep.

I also just wanted to add that you shouldn't beat yourself up for cancelling plans. Yes, it sucks. But not sleeping is a good reason to cancel plans. You need to do what's best for yourself. Whenever tinnitus causes me to get down or cancel or change plans, I always try to treat myself. Make some little positive out of it. Hopefully in the future tinnitus will be impacting your day to day much less, but for now give yourself some grace. Help may be on the way soon with Dr. Shore's device. I hope you feel better soon.

 

Yeah, firecracker. I suspected that.

I wrote it many times, but this is exactly what angers me the most - lack of education. Had I known about the danger I would not have got tinnitus. 100%.

 

Hi @Cmspgran. So sorry to hear about the MRI scan creating tinnitus problems for you. It's horrible you get a new health issue by trying to do something good and necessary for yourself (the scan). I have tried MRI scans myself and also found them terribly loud. I wore earplugs, but would be very hesitant to ever do it again. It's just too loud. But of course, sometimes you have no choice...

Nice to hear that you are taking positive steps to manage your tinnitus. I am convinced that with a proactive and positive mindset and looking into solutions (whether they directly help the tinnitus or the mindset) is the way to go. And if you continue to look for ways to manage your tinnitus, you WILL manage it, and it WILL get better.

As for hearing aids, I have an appointment with an ENT in August, so waiting to see if anything can be done. Although I'm a bit scared about the ENT appointment itself. Don't feel like having strange sounds sent into my ears as of now... :-(

I wish you all the best with your new job. I see why it's stressful to start a new job during a challenging time like this as I'm sure you feel fragile. Take it step by step, one day at a time, and make sure to not pressure yourself too hard - easier said than done, I know.

I truly and sincerely hope we'll be able to share improvement / success stories in 3-6 months too!!!

@Ngo13, thanks so much for your kind message. I love your profile image!

I am happy to hear that my story can provide some hope. Yes, things can definitely get better - even after years of tinnitus. I was being very careful with my ears during those years but also "messed up" from time to time because I was young and had a big appetite for life and couldn't entirely stay away from parties, clubs, etc. And even so, things improved a lot, but it took a while. I think it's so important to not tell people black and white things like "If it hasn't improved after 6 months / 1 year, it never will". We all need hope and things can change. Some people have been told they had incurable cancer and still have recovered and surprised even doctors. No one really knows what the future brings. We just need to do our best and stay hopeful.

Sorry to hear about your freak accident, it's horrible to be hit by random and destructive things :-( And especially since it's not your fault at all. And you are right, no one should have to live in earplugs all the time, and we can never protect ourselves 100 % all the time. We need to live and that comes with risks, unfortunately.

I love that you treat yourself when tinnitus is bringing you down - sounds like the ideal thing to do. We all deserve things like that. Wishing you the best and hope you feel better soon too.

@Jammer, that sounds so tough and difficult :-( Honestly, it should not be allowed to take so many people as prisoners and expose them to dangerously loud sounds for such a long time period! It really sounds horrible and I feel so bad for you that you have to take so many precautions just to be able to LIVE.

I do feel that hearing issues, although prevalent in most of the world, are not taken that seriously. Hearing issues can make people seriously isolated and lonely. And exploding things for fun can ruin lives! How is that not taken into account when celebrating July 4th and New Year's Eve? I just don't get it :-(

We need to look after ourselves as it seems no one else is... I learned the hard way that from now on, I will not leave my home on New Year's Eve ever again. Simply too risky.

 

@Juliane, thank you for the kind words, everything you said was pretty much spot on, I feel a lot of self-guilt for being complacent with the MRI and not taking my own moulded earplugs like I had in the past when undertaking them, the thought of being stuck with this new spike from that one afternoon's mistake doesn't bare thinking about.

You are right about feeling a state of fragility in preparation for starting the new job, this has really taken the wind out of my sails and knocked my confidence in a way I never thought possible.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with it all, stay strong and as positive as possible, I know how difficult that is right now, believe me. Do keep us updated on your progress.

 

I understand and know all about feeling guilty. I still struggle to forgive myself for going outside on New Year's Eve without earplugs. Had I not, the acoustic trauma from the firecracker would not have happened. But I did.

As for your MRI, you were following medical advice. And I am sure they told you it was safe. But it wasn't. It is very unfortunate and part of me knows that I will probably not start recovering mentally before I stop feeling guilty. It just takes time and is so exhausting. I hope we both will get there in time.

Stay strong and positive too, and please keep us updated as well. Wishing you all the best too!

 

I just stumbled on this post. Sorry to hear about your regression. But I am encouraged by the recovery story from your first bout with tinnitus and I feel optimistic that you will heal again. You survived 8 years with this before, you must be very strong. Stronger than you even realize.

I'll keep you in my prayers.