Tinnitus Decreasing Each Day

[Egg]

Hello!

I have been dealing with tinnitus for a month now and I know that that's a very short time. But I want to share my story to maybe push everybody out there who is just meeting Tinnitus in the right direction. It started after being next to the speaker for about 3 hours in a pretty crowded DJ set. I was also in the middle of a pretty stressful internship at the time -- really far from home. In the first two days it was very loud and I really stressed myself out reading all the horror stories online. I went to see an ENT on my third day and got prescribed with a course of Prednisolone which completely fixed my hearing loss from the acoustic trauma. However, the T stuck with me and I was so focused on it making up these future scenarios where I fail out of college because I can't concentrate etc. My internship ended and now that I am home it feels much more manageable. I also stopped reading bad things about T and spending time with loved ones and just doing things that make me happy. I was also diagnosed with severe anxiety and will be starting prescribed meds soon. I am hopeful that reducing that will reduce my T gradually as well.

I guess what I am saying for the newcommers is that there is a lot of things online that say you have harmed yourself permanently and nothing can be fixed now. But that is not true. So many people that I have talked to along the way said that they also live with it and have not though that it reduces their quality of life. Some even realize that it's an actual problem when I bring up my T to them. So there are so many cases where T is something so insignificant and so many cases that it can just go away. I don't mean to disrespect anybody who has severe T, I completely understand and respect the struggle, but I just wanted to spread some positivity.

 

[Lane]

I was also diagnosed with severe anxiety and will be starting prescribed meds soon.

Hi @Egg

Thanks for spreading a little hope and positivity. As a cautionary note, I'd suggest looking very carefully at any medications that might be recommended for your anxiety, to make sure they're not likely to worsen your tinnitus. It seems people with tinnitus can be very susceptible to various kinds of drugs excerbating their situation. -- Congratulations on things getting so much better for you!​

 

[Meso82]

Sounds like you're on the right way! How bad was your hearing loss?

 

[JLong]

Your T experience sounds very similar to mine minus the hearing loss.

Mine was so loud in the beginning that looking back after my first month I notice it's so quiet that I can only hear it in a quiet room. While it is a possibility that T can stick new people shouldn't completely give up hope (though the first week depression spiraling is common haha)

Congrats on the progress!

 

[MeBeSurfer]

Hi @Egg

Thanks for spreading a little hope and positivity. As a cautionary note, I'd suggest looking very carefully at any medications that might be recommended for your anxiety, to make sure they're not likely to worsen your tinnitus. It seems people with tinnitus can be very susceptible to various kinds of drugs excerbating their situation. -- Congratulations on things getting so much better for you!​

Yes, stay away from Celexa! Caused mine.

 

[Chris Holland]

but I just wanted to spread some positivity

Wrong platform bro, this forum is Doom & Gloom HQ

If I were you I'd spend as little time as possible on here and avoid some of the more notoriously negative members on here. They are easy to spot ...

With the meds, be careful, I had to take Xanax to get over the anxiety but it will be better for you to try and overcome this on your own in due time. The anxiety gets less over time.

In general Tinnitus tends to improve over time, don't get sidetracked by negativity.

 

[Contrast]

Prednisolone which completely fixed my hearing loss from the acoustic trauma. However, the T stuck with me

This is interesting, so your hearing improved certainly (not completely), did your tinnitus atleast lower in volume at all following the predisone?

Certain damage is permanent that predisone can not fix, but I would expect a reduction of T.

In my own case hearing in my right ear started to recover over a slow course of 4 months and my tinnitus quieted down within a months time after my hearing improved.

 

[Tony Phylactou]

Hi @Egg

Thanks for spreading a little hope and positivity. As a cautionary note, I'd suggest looking very carefully at any medications that might be recommended for your anxiety, to make sure they're not likely to worsen your tinnitus. It seems people with tinnitus can be very susceptible to various kinds of drugs excerbating their situation. -- Congratulations on things getting so much better for you!​

Do you have anything in mind because I suspect what I am taking has actually done that.

 

[dpdx]

Hello!

I have been dealing with tinnitus for a month now and I know that that's a very short time. But I want to share my story to maybe push everybody out there who is just meeting Tinnitus in the right direction. It started after being next to the speaker for about 3 hours in a pretty crowded DJ set. I was also in the middle of a pretty stressful internship at the time -- really far from home. In the first two days it was very loud and I really stressed myself out reading all the horror stories online. I went to see an ENT on my third day and got prescribed with a course of Prednisolone which completely fixed my hearing loss from the acoustic trauma. However, the T stuck with me and I was so focused on it making up these future scenarios where I fail out of college because I can't concentrate etc. My internship ended and now that I am home it feels much more manageable. I also stopped reading bad things about T and spending time with loved ones and just doing things that make me happy. I was also diagnosed with severe anxiety and will be starting prescribed meds soon. I am hopeful that reducing that will reduce my T gradually as well.

I guess what I am saying for the newcommers is that there is a lot of things online that say you have harmed yourself permanently and nothing can be fixed now. But that is not true. So many people that I have talked to along the way said that they also live with it and have not though that it reduces their quality of life. Some even realize that it's an actual problem when I bring up my T to them. So there are so many cases where T is something so insignificant and so many cases that it can just go away. I don't mean to disrespect anybody who has severe T, I completely understand and respect the struggle, but I just wanted to spread some positivity.

Do you have T on both ears?
Did you do an audiogram? You are so lucky you got a good ENT. My ENT was garbage.

 

[Lane]

Do you have anything in mind because I suspect what I am taking has actually done that.

Hi @Tony Phylactou,

My tinnitus began with a single dose of an anticholinergic drug called Promethazine. I've since learned that virtually all anticholinergic drugs are ototoxic, and should be very carefully considered before taking them. Most cold, flu, nasal and allergy medications are anticholinergic. I read an online account of a man taking a single dose of Benadryl, and four years later, still had the tinnitus it caused. Below is a listing of the wide-ranging array of drugs that are considered anticholinergic.

The list below was from THIS ARTICLE:

We have identified drugs with high, moderate and low anticholinergic (AC) action in brackets. The greater the AC activity the more worrisome the cognitive impact. The rankings are somewhat arbitrary and controversial since some research categorizes these drugs differently. This is our best assessment at this time. It may change as better research is conducted.

• Amitriptyline (Elavil) [high AC activity]
• Atropine [high AC activity]
• Benztropine (Cogentin) [high AC activity]
• Chlorpheniramine (Actifed, Allergy & Congestion Relief, Chlor-Trimeton, Codeprex, Efidac-24 Chlorpheniramine, etc.) [high AC activity]
• Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) [high AC activity]
• Clomipramine (Anafranil) [high AC activity]
• Clozapine (Clozaril) [high AC activity]
• Cyclobenzaprine (Amrix, Fexmid, Flexeril) [moderate AC activity]
• Cyproheptadine (Periactin) [moderate AC activity]
• Desipramine (Norpramin) [high AC activity]
• Dexchlorpheniramine (Polaramine) [high AC activity]
• Dicyclomine (Bentyl) [high AC activity]
• Diphenhydramine (Advil PM, Aleve PM, Bayer PM, Benadryl, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Simply Sleep, Sominex, Tylenol PM, Unisom, etc.) [high AC activity]
• Doxepin (Adapin, Silenor, Sinequan) [high AC activity]
• Fesoterodine (Toviaz) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril) [high AC activity]
• Hyoscyamine (Anaspaz, Levbid, Levsin, Levsinex, NuLev) [high AC activity]
• Imipramine (Tofranil) [high AC activity]
• Meclizine (Antivert, Bonine) [high AC activity]
• Mepenzolate (Cantil) [high AC activity]
• Nortriptyline (Pamelor) [high AC activity]
• Olanzapine (Zyprexa) [high AC activity]
• Orphenadrine (Norflex) [high AC activity]
• Oxybutynin (Ditropan, Oxytrol) [high AC activity]
• Paroxetine (Brisdelle, Paxil) [low AC activity]
• Perphenazine (Trilafon) [high AC activity]
• Prochlorperazine (Compazine) [moderate AC activity]
• Promethazine (Phenergan) [high AC activity]
• Protriptyline (Vivactil) [high AC activity]
• Pseudoephedrine HCl/Triprolidine HCl (Aprodine) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Scopolamine (Transderm Scop) [high AC activity]
• Thioridazine (Mellaril) [high AC activity]
• Tolterodine (Detrol) [high AC activity]
• Trifluoperazine (Stelazine) [high AC activity]
• Trimipramine (Surmontil) [high AC activity]

Other Drugs that May Have Some Anticholinergic Activity

• Alprazolam (Xanax) [low AC activity]
• Amantadine (Symmetrel) [low AC activity]
• Baclofen [moderate AC activity]
• Brompheniramine [high AC activity]
• Carbamazepine (Tegretol) [moderate AC activity]
• Carbinoxamine (Arbinoxa) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Carisoprodol (Soma) [moderate AC activity]
• Cetirizine (Zyrtec) [moderate AC activity]
• Cimetidine (Tagamet) [moderate AC activity]
• Clemastine (Tavist) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Clidinium & chlordiazepoxide (Librax) [low to moderate AC activity]
• Clorazepate (Tranxene) [low AC activity]
• Codeine [low AC activity]
• Colchicine [low AC activity]
• Darifenacin (Enablex) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Digoxin (Lanoxicaps, Lanoxin) [low AC activity]
• Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol, etc) [high AC activity]
• Diphenoxylate plus atropine (Lomotil) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Disopyramide (Norpace) [low to moderate AC activity]
• Flavoxate (Urispas) [moderate AC activity]
• Fluphenazine (Prolixin) [moderate AC activity]
• Furosemide (Lasix) [low AC activity]
• Hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix, Dyazide, HydroDIURIL, Maxzide & literally scores of other medications for high blood pressure) [low AC activity]
• Loperamide (Imodium) [moderate AC activity]
• Loratadine (Alavert, Claritin) [moderate AC activity]
• Loxapine (Loxitane) [moderate AC activity]
• Maprotiline [low to moderate AC activity]
• Meperidine (Demerol) [moderate AC activity]
• Methocarbamol (Robaxin) [moderate AC activity]
• Methotrimeprazine (Nozinan) [moderate AC activity]
• Nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia) [low AC activity]
• Olanzapine (Zyprexa) [moderate AC activity]
• Orphenadrine (Norflex) [moderate AC activity]
• Quetiapine (Seroquel) [moderate AC activity]
• Procyclidine (Kemadrin) [moderate AC activity]
• Propantheline (Pro-Banthine) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Ranitidine (Zantac) [low AC activity]
• Solifenacin (VESIcare) [low to moderate AC activity; more research necessary]
• Thiothixene (Navane) [high AC activity]
• Tizanidine (Zanaflex) [high AC activity]
• Tramadol (Ultram) [low AC activity]
• Trihexyphenidyl (Artane) [high AC activity]
• Trospium (Sanctura, Spasmex) [high AC activity]

Here's a graph from a different website...

 

[Tony Phylactou]

Hi @Tony Phylactou,

My tinnitus began with a single dose of an anticholinergic drug called Promethazine. I've since learned that virtually all anticholinergic drugs are ototoxic, and should be very carefully considered before taking them. Most cold, flu, nasal and allergy medications are anticholinergic. I read an online account of a man taking a single dose of Benadryl, and four years later, still had the tinnitus it caused. Below is a listing of the wide-ranging array of drugs that are considered anticholinergic.

The list below was from THIS ARTICLE:

We have identified drugs with high, moderate and low anticholinergic (AC) action in brackets. The greater the AC activity the more worrisome the cognitive impact. The rankings are somewhat arbitrary and controversial since some research categorizes these drugs differently. This is our best assessment at this time. It may change as better research is conducted.

• Amitriptyline (Elavil) [high AC activity]
• Atropine [high AC activity]
• Benztropine (Cogentin) [high AC activity]
• Chlorpheniramine (Actifed, Allergy & Congestion Relief, Chlor-Trimeton, Codeprex, Efidac-24 Chlorpheniramine, etc.) [high AC activity]
• Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) [high AC activity]
• Clomipramine (Anafranil) [high AC activity]
• Clozapine (Clozaril) [high AC activity]
• Cyclobenzaprine (Amrix, Fexmid, Flexeril) [moderate AC activity]
• Cyproheptadine (Periactin) [moderate AC activity]
• Desipramine (Norpramin) [high AC activity]
• Dexchlorpheniramine (Polaramine) [high AC activity]
• Dicyclomine (Bentyl) [high AC activity]
• Diphenhydramine (Advil PM, Aleve PM, Bayer PM, Benadryl, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Simply Sleep, Sominex, Tylenol PM, Unisom, etc.) [high AC activity]
• Doxepin (Adapin, Silenor, Sinequan) [high AC activity]
• Fesoterodine (Toviaz) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril) [high AC activity]
• Hyoscyamine (Anaspaz, Levbid, Levsin, Levsinex, NuLev) [high AC activity]
• Imipramine (Tofranil) [high AC activity]
• Meclizine (Antivert, Bonine) [high AC activity]
• Mepenzolate (Cantil) [high AC activity]
• Nortriptyline (Pamelor) [high AC activity]
• Olanzapine (Zyprexa) [high AC activity]
• Orphenadrine (Norflex) [high AC activity]
• Oxybutynin (Ditropan, Oxytrol) [high AC activity]
• Paroxetine (Brisdelle, Paxil) [low AC activity]
• Perphenazine (Trilafon) [high AC activity]
• Prochlorperazine (Compazine) [moderate AC activity]
• Promethazine (Phenergan) [high AC activity]
• Protriptyline (Vivactil) [high AC activity]
• Pseudoephedrine HCl/Triprolidine HCl (Aprodine) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Scopolamine (Transderm Scop) [high AC activity]
• Thioridazine (Mellaril) [high AC activity]
• Tolterodine (Detrol) [high AC activity]
• Trifluoperazine (Stelazine) [high AC activity]
• Trimipramine (Surmontil) [high AC activity]

Other Drugs that May Have Some Anticholinergic Activity

• Alprazolam (Xanax) [low AC activity]
• Amantadine (Symmetrel) [low AC activity]
• Baclofen [moderate AC activity]
• Brompheniramine [high AC activity]
• Carbamazepine (Tegretol) [moderate AC activity]
• Carbinoxamine (Arbinoxa) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Carisoprodol (Soma) [moderate AC activity]
• Cetirizine (Zyrtec) [moderate AC activity]
• Cimetidine (Tagamet) [moderate AC activity]
• Clemastine (Tavist) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Clidinium & chlordiazepoxide (Librax) [low to moderate AC activity]
• Clorazepate (Tranxene) [low AC activity]
• Codeine [low AC activity]
• Colchicine [low AC activity]
• Darifenacin (Enablex) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Digoxin (Lanoxicaps, Lanoxin) [low AC activity]
• Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol, etc) [high AC activity]
• Diphenoxylate plus atropine (Lomotil) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Disopyramide (Norpace) [low to moderate AC activity]
• Flavoxate (Urispas) [moderate AC activity]
• Fluphenazine (Prolixin) [moderate AC activity]
• Furosemide (Lasix) [low AC activity]
• Hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix, Dyazide, HydroDIURIL, Maxzide & literally scores of other medications for high blood pressure) [low AC activity]
• Loperamide (Imodium) [moderate AC activity]
• Loratadine (Alavert, Claritin) [moderate AC activity]
• Loxapine (Loxitane) [moderate AC activity]
• Maprotiline [low to moderate AC activity]
• Meperidine (Demerol) [moderate AC activity]
• Methocarbamol (Robaxin) [moderate AC activity]
• Methotrimeprazine (Nozinan) [moderate AC activity]
• Nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia) [low AC activity]
• Olanzapine (Zyprexa) [moderate AC activity]
• Orphenadrine (Norflex) [moderate AC activity]
• Quetiapine (Seroquel) [moderate AC activity]
• Procyclidine (Kemadrin) [moderate AC activity]
• Propantheline (Pro-Banthine) [moderate to high AC activity]
• Ranitidine (Zantac) [low AC activity]
• Solifenacin (VESIcare) [low to moderate AC activity; more research necessary]
• Thiothixene (Navane) [high AC activity]
• Tizanidine (Zanaflex) [high AC activity]
• Tramadol (Ultram) [low AC activity]
• Trihexyphenidyl (Artane) [high AC activity]
• Trospium (Sanctura, Spasmex) [high AC activity]

Here's a graph from a different website...

View attachment 20763

Thanks a lot .Great help.My one is included I will have to see about that

 

[throwaway]

Hi @Tony Phylactou,
I've since learned that virtually all anticholinergic drugs are ototoxic, and should be very carefully considered before taking them.
View attachment 20763

Did you take other anticholinergic drugs after Promethazine that further worsened your tinnitus?

Thanks.

 

[Lane]

Did you take other anticholinergic drugs after Promethazine that further worsened your tinnitus?

Hi @throwaway -- No, I just took the single 25 mg. dose of Promethazine; nothing afterwards.

 

[throwaway]

Hi @throwaway -- No, I just took the single 25 mg. dose of Promethazine; nothing afterwards.

Did it give you hyperacusis?

 

[Lane]

Did it give you hyperacusis?

It significantly worsened my hyperacusis of many years duration. After three years, I'd say my hyperacusis is now close to the baseline I had before taking the Promethazine. I didn't have tinnitus before taking this drug, but the severity of it has decreased substantially since that fateful day (Feb. 4, 2018). It felt like a 10+++ at the beginning, and has lessened over that past 3 years to where it maybe averages around 7-8, sometimes as low as 5-6. I'm hoping for further improvements.