New to Tinnitus Have Some Simple Questions

[Ivan C]

My T (left side only) appeared all of a sudden Jan 2 at 3 am. I was able to go back to bed but was then awaken again at 6 am to a nagging back and neck pain. The pain got worst thru the day and I ended up with severe back, extremities, and neck ache and with a 101 fiver by Jan 4th. Ran to the doctor who said I had the flu but would not test for it (butthole). I did not have a running nose or ANY respiratory systems symptom whatsoever and never did. For 4 days I was in bed taking Tami-Flu and Tylenol 3. Once those symptoms got little better I started going to work to find it difficult to work due to back and neck pain and started to get head aches. Due to my T i have been in to 3 ENTS and 1 Neurologist and had a brain MRI and a Carotid Artery Ultrasound. All looks good. My audio test shows a drop at 4KHz to 60db but that same drop has been there since 2003 so I have no sign of hearing loss. I dont drink, smoke, or even drink coffee. I visit the gym at least 5 times a week so needless to say I am healthy otherwise. The first ENT try to put me in Topomax but it drove me crazy the first pill i took (axiety, depressions, shortness of breath, it was crazy and only one pill) then came the neurologist who prescribed Amitriptyline and a 6 day pack of Prednisone. Again the Amitriptyline was just bad for me as I was stoned all day and night "zombie". To complicate things I was visiting with my mom who says "so you have headaches, back, and neck ache, why dont you put a neck brace and see what happens?" So my wife and I go get me a cervical collar and my freaking neck pain and headaches go from a 9 to a 2 on 10 point scale. The other thing is that i get a feeling of my ears getting full about 2 minutes after I take the collar off. Okay so here are my questions:

a) Could this be spinal meningitis?
b) My T runs about 8KHz but it changes tone drastically if I force my jaw to one side or even weirder if I press on my temple. If T comes from my brain, I don't understand why changing the acoustical shape of my middle ear (which I suspect is what I am doing when moving my Jaw but I cannot explain why pressure on the temple would also affected) then why do this things change the tone?
c) What antibiotic could a doctor give me that are not Ototoxic?
d) What do people with T take for headaches that does not aggravate the T more?
e) I read the stuff on AM-101 and it seem as if I have an opportunity to be a good candidate for the next two additional months but not after that, what do I do? ask my doctor for it?

I apologize for being so long but also thank everyone in advance that will provide a response and please let me know if this is the right place to post this.

Ivan

 

[billie48]

Welcome Ivan. Sorry to hear you are suffering. Perhaps most of us here are not medically trained to answer your questions. You may want to take your questions to the doctors on the Doctor's Corner. Your question in b) may have to do with TMJ but again I didn't know enough about it to answer. But since you talk about T changing by moving the jaws, so perhaps ask the doctor(s) about this. As for question d), it is highly persona. You seem to be sensitive to some drugs which did nothing for me. I took Amitriptyline for headache as well as an anti-depressant drug. It works for me and no side effect. So hard question to answer there. The only thing I can advise you is that T is quite an unpredictable animal and like you I woke up one night a few years ago with my ultra high pitch T blasting away and I couldn't be sure what caused that. I didn't listen to loud music nor use ear buds and never went to concert much. I did use fire arms and I had no issue with my ears. Anyway, I wasted a lot of energy worrying about what could hurt T ending up I gingerly tip-toe around T all the time. After a year, I just said screw it, I am going to live my life the way I want and that is that. When I gave up worrying about T that was when I started to get better. There are many roads leading to Rome. When you read enough success stories you will get some insights how people can get better. Take care.

 

[uncle vikin]

Ivan I have to agree with billie 48 .You can chase a cause or cure for T and you may never find out the answer.There is alot of info on this site and also doctors that can help you.I tell people all the time when you first experience tinnitus if you have anxiety ,panic ect. you have to get this under controll.Tinnitus can't hurt you but the reaction to it can cause problems.Hopefully yours will go away ,as you have just noticed it.Just to note your symptoms and doctor visits are all to common with tinnitus .I see alot of people on here with neck back jaw pain.I am not a doctor but what I have read and looked into it sounds alot like somatic nerves have something to do with it .I too have jaw and neck tightness and pain but I can't cure my T.They are doing alot of research into alot of areas dealing with the auditory pathway and the brain .They are also finding a connection to the somatic nervous system and auditory patchways.Hopefully they will find some relief for Tinnitus.Untill then Ivan get your stress under controll .Something has triggered T and it may resolve .One thing that happens is you habituate to it and it gets better with time in most cases.I have had it 5 months and it does not stress me out and I sleep now alot better and it is getting better all the time. You will be alright
Mike K (uncle vikin)

 

[uncle vikin]

Oh Ivan google Susan Shore university of Michigan Tinnitus she is a Dr. and researcher .She has a video around 5 minutes long and another around 50 minutes long that goes into detail explaination on the somatic system and T. Such as jaw movement and T changes.Also on medicines I take whatever takes care of my pain advil or tylenol ect.also antibiotics precribed by a dr.You will just have to see what works and what is ototoxic for you it may be different for each person.