Tinnitus for 1.5 Months After Music Festival — The Most Horrible Ailment I've Ever Suffered

Hi, I'm sorry to hear you're suffering with this.

Don't be afraid to call the national suicide hotline. I did very frequently for the first six months.

I can't really say it's gotten any better.

I can hear it right now and I absolutely hate it.

I lose sleep from it sometimes or feel like I have a constant headache from it.

I wish I could give you better news but honesty is the only way to the truth.

Avoid loud sounds and music, invest in musician earplugs and keep them on you at all times. Don't be afraid to leave when something is too loud.

I was recently at a friend's birthday party and left because the DJ was too loud.

It's very hard. I'm a year and 4 months in now and I can't really say it's gotten better.

I simply refuse to kill myself and give up my life.

I do my best to prevent it getting worse and a small bit of me holds out hope it may still go away.

I don't think there's any real evidence that anything helps tinnitus. But I'd rather eat healthy and be at a healthy weight, have the rest of my health sorted out, than be overweight with other health issues on top of the ringing. Lol.

I never really cared for junk or processed food.

That stuff is high inflammatory though so I doubt it helps to eat it.

It's miserable. I've had a few nights now where I've slept with no Melatonin and no fan. Still ringing but I was able to sleep.

 

This sounds a really good success story - and one, as I also had mild tinnitus since birth that got worse after trauma, that I needed to read today.

Can I ask whether your tinnitus was ever sound reactive - and over those four years did you protect your ears much when out and about, or not at all?

 

I'd say no, there isn't much evidence. Certain foods or drinks may spike tinnitus temporarily for some people, but nothing will make it permanently worse, and eating healthy won't make it go away.

 

Hi @Tweedleman,

Glad to hear that you are about 85% back to normal with your hearing, and that your tinnitus is 2/10, four years on.

What was the timeline for your recovery? Has it just been a case of gradual steady improvement over the four years?

I am two months in, after acoustic trauma at a music festival, and my main symptoms now are constant tinnitus in both ears and still some ear discomfort.

This was the first music festival that I have ever attended, and my hearing was perfect before. I would love to get tinnitus-free again, but I am losing hope with each passing week...

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

I don't think eating healthy can really heal it but I do notice that alcohol can make it louder. Apparently the alcohol can inhibit parts of the brain that would normally filter the noise down. I read this somewhere awhile back...

I still drink but not excessively. I personally no longer really notice any changes with alcohol.

 

I know my last replies were pretty dark.

Just thought I'd follow up with some kind of positive news - the past week I've been sleeping without any fan or Melatonin and been able to get a full 8 hours sleep.

This has been pretty huge for me.

I can't really say it's gotten lower but I'm happy to be able to sleep without a sound machine/sleep aid.

 

I'm having a rough night but interestingly enough I think I am almost experiencing silence in my left ear. The ringing is a lot fainter in the left than the right... more of a twinkling noise. The right ear is still pretty damn loud though and unfortunately driving me nuts.

I also don't hear the "pan flute" noise I usually hear in the right ear along with the pure tone.

Not really sure what to make of it.

God it would be great to hear silence though.

 

I hope things continue to improve for you.

 

Small update:

Going to try eliminating alcohol after new year's as it is a neurotoxin.

I'm not a heavy drinker but I do drink about 3-4 drinks a week, and am wondering if this had a cumulative contributing effect. I have drank like this since I was 21. Alcohol is inflammatory and can disrupt nutrient intake, etc.

Planning to do this while upping my Taurine and Magnesium intake for 6 months and then I'll re-evaluate.

I've stopped taking the Melatonin as it gives me a really bad groggy after effect the next day.

While this was obviously triggered by acoustic trauma in my case, I feel like the longevity of it is really a brain issue; not an ear issue.

Thanks.

 

Provided you drink alcohol in moderation, in most cases it will not affect noise-induced tinnitus which is what you have. In fact, it often has a beneficial effect on the tinnitus when used for medicinal purposes, as it helps to relax the mind and eases stress.

Please go to my started threads and read: Food, Drink and Tinnitus.

All the best,
Michael

 

I appreciate your response, Michael. You have a lot of good information.

I am still curious though to see if eliminating alcohol does anything. I only drink socially so it does not bother me to eliminate it again.

Since alcohol is a neurotoxin and they seem to think chronic tinnitus lies more in the brain than the ears, I'm wondering if my long term casual alcohol use possibly weakened my brain in someway that made me more susceptible to this. I'm going to try eliminating it in combination with dry fasting.

I'm just not convinced it can't be healed. I'm going back to the drawing board on it to try some new things.

 

Thank you for your kind comments @Blackbird1016.

The advice that I give is not absolute and should be used for guidance. I advise that you try not to read too much information about tinnitus and the things that might affect it because we are all different. Try taking up a new hobby or interest and in time you will start to feel better.

Please read my habituation threads.

I wish you well,
Michael

 

I don't think I will ever stop researching it. It's just how I am. I have read everything I can get my hands on about it.

Lenire actually just got in touch with me. In the US it's $300 for the consultation and $4,000 for the device...

Based on what I've researched on it and read on Tinnitus Talk, I think I'll be passing on it.

Apparently it has made people's tinnitus worse in multiple cases.

This is really great to read. I've been suffering really badly from it lately (I can't seem to tolerate taking Melatonin anymore, so I'm back to trying to sleep without it).

I would love an 85% reduction. Fingers crossed I suppose. Lol.

It's great your workplace does that. I would love to see music festivals and concerts do the same thing. I really felt betrayed by the industry. 15 years going to venues and concerts and learning guitar, with no clue I could damage my ears.

Are you in the US?

 

I was the same when I first got tinnitus 27 years ago but time made me realize this wasn't such a good idea. Please read my thread: Keeping Things Simple with Tinnitus.

I believe you have done the right thing deciding not to try Lenire. Someone with noise-induced tinnitus contacted me a while back asking for my advice about this tinnitus treatment. I advised them not to try it as it involved listening to audio through headphones. This person chose not to follow my advice when I said to wait on traditional treatment that involved counselling and using sound therapy wearing white noise generators. Unfortunately Lenire made this person's tinnitus worse.

Based on my many years experience with noise-induced tinnitus, counselling and corresponding with people that have this condition, has enabled me to write articles which can be accessed on my started threads. I believe printing and taking one's time to read the material will help a person to get a better understanding on how tinnitus and to an extent, hyperacusis affects our mental and emotional wellbeing. Once a person acquires this knowledge, the negative thinking that is often attached to tinnitus, will slowly be demystified and they will feel much better about themselves and their future.

Michael

 

Slightly freaked out after realizing my kitchen hood vent (which my landlord makes me use constantly) is at 70 dB (using a free meter).

I haven't been using earplugs while it is on.

I think my tinnitus is perceived by me as 40 dB, which is terrifying, as the table fan that masks it reads as 40 dB.

I wish I had checked the dB on household items sooner.

I'm frightened it didn't go away because of the hood vent I have to use because of my landlord when I cook.

 

60 to 70 dB is conversational level and shouldn't be detrimental.

 

It most likely didn't go away as chronic tinnitus doesn't usually fully go away.

 

Thanks. I was blaming myself for a bit.

Please keep your negativity to yourself.

 

It's not negativity. It's reality.

 

I'm so sorry to see three people agreeing with you.

People have had tinnitus spontaneously reverse after years of suffering.

I know you're suffering terribly from your posts so I understand the grouchiness but no need to try and drag others down.

I personally think tinnitus is curable. Whether that is with medical intervention or time, who knows, but I continue to look for answers because I believe there is one and there have been some sufferers who came back after years with reports of silence or a significant decrease in loudness.

I especially think it is reversible after reading many accounts of people suffering from HPPD and having it reverse. HPPD seems to be very similar to tinnitus in how it affects the brains perception of "reality" and in how the neurons have become reorganized and overactive in the visual cortex.

 

I wasn't trying to drag anybody down, and I don't like the accusation. I said in MOST cases chronic tinnitus doesn't fully go away. It's a fact, hence it being called chronic.

 

I'm not sure how accurately pointing out things about chronic tinnitus cases qualifies as 'negativity' or dragging others down, but okay. Past a certain point, I think it might not be realistic to expect tinnitus to completely disappear on its own.

Those are outliers.

 

It's really not an accusation. You are dragging someone down.

There's a success stories section because it does successfully go away for some people and for some of those people it's even been after years.

Since nothing seems to be well documented in any capacity regarding tinnitus I don't even know if we can really call them outliers.

Yes. I would qualify it as negative and it is dragging me down for no reason.

If you're resolved to your situation and have no desire to look for solutions or investigate further, that's fine by me.

I share what I come across here as I think it can be resolved. I'm not sure where the two of you get off making anything more difficult for anyone else on here when we're all already suffering so much.

If you're interested in being negative, please go elsewhere. Anyone who's had tinnitus knows it's considered chronic after six months by some doctors and twelve months by others (at least for me in the US). People still resolve after that. It's one of the first things that come up when you google it and I'm sure often the first thing someone reads within the first few weeks of onset when it's completely freaking them out.

I am starting to see why some people completely abandon tinnitus support groups.

When someone gets tinnitus, we don't advise them to continue exposing themselves to the situation that caused it.

We advise to avoid what caused their tinnitus in hopes of it resolving. If it is noise induced, we advise avoiding loud noises. Some of us even debate on what is considered loud.

So it is rather understandable, upon me finding out my oven hood is between 70-80 dB and I use it daily, to go I hope that didn't prevent me healing at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 months, etc.

Whether or not that contributed to the longevity of my tinnitus is unknown. I personally would have worn earmuffs if I had known the decibel loudness at the time.

The two ENTs I saw at onset advised I go about living my life as usual, i.e. still go to concerts and bars regularly with no hearing protection. I specifically asked about this and they said I could wear earplugs if I want but that it was not necessary.

I personally decided to not follow that advice and I'm glad I didn't.

We now know from the Lenire device that many people reported to doctors that the device was worsening their tinnitus and they encouraged them to keep using it!

On a regular basis on Tinnitus Talk we say doctors know nothing, do no research into tinnitus, gaslight some of us, etc. They investigate nothing, handle us carelessly, and do not document their patients, etc. Many of us know more about tinnitus than the doctors with a few exceptions.

So for me personally, if these people are the ones setting the standard for what is considered "chronic tinnitus," it is a completely arbitrary marker to me.

People want to scoff at me saying perhaps casual alcohol use for over 19 years played a role in my tinnitus.

But we know that the potassium channels not functioning correctly play a large role in why noise induced patients have tinnitus.

So I looked for studies on how alcohol affects potassium channels, and in binge drinkers and alcoholics it does negatively affect it.

So I'm going to try cutting out casual drinking for six months to a year. Let's see if anything happens.

 

Oh, I would love to go back to those days when I could mask my tinnitus with a table fan. I would probably have to go back 10 years, when I really didn't think about tinnitus outside of the bedroom. No fan, not even a large box fan, masks my tinnitus in recent years, and tinnitus didn't start causing me distress until 22 months ago when it suddenly increased. My tinnitus cycles in intensity over hours or days, but crickets/cicadas sounds that I sleep to don't even mask it now, even when my tinnitus is less intense. The shower still seems to work for the short term.

Anyway, be thankful it's mild. I wish I could go back to those days and have a second chance at protecting my ears more, but I never thought back then that it could get this bad. I never came to Tinnitus Talk or researched tinnitus in those days because it didn't bother me enough. And now I know my hearing loss is moderate as well across the board, more so at 8 kHz+. So, it's good you are taking action early - you can probably avoid my fate.

I tried many supplements to help with tinnitus and sleep over the last 22 months. Magnesium, Melatonin, Taurine, Super B complex, Multivitamin, Vitamin D, L-Theanine, GABA, 5-HTP, Inositol, Valerian Root, NAC, NAG, Lithium Orotate, CoQ10, CBD (different types), THC. All have been useless for me for sleep and tinnitus. And I haven't had any positive outcome with antidepressants, either, and I suffer anxiety. I have gotten minimal help from OTC sleep meds and Hydroxyzine. Zolpidem helps with sleep, which I use sparingly - partial tablets if I can't get back to sleep.

The only thing I can count on is that it just gets worse over time, but I'm trying to minimize that by limiting exposure to loud noise. My only hope it that the Shore device or something else becomes available to me in the next few years that actually helps the tinnitus, and that I can somehow reduce my anxiety and insomnia even sooner.

 

Yes for someone somewhere sometime, but overwhelmingly that is not the case, after 4 plus years it is very clear to me this isn’t going away short of a medical breakthrough (looking at you Dr. Shore).

For me the sound and pain of the piercing sound haven’t decreased at all since the day I received this condition.

What did change was over about 18 months my hyperacusis gradually diminished to the point it is basically gone and, though still a very significant impact on my day to day experience of existence, I continue to improve my conscious and unconscious reactions to it so it is not devastating anymore, merely very unpleasant.

I think you would be hard pressed to find more than a handful of people over the full history of Tinnitus Talk who spontaneously recovered after 18 months.

You be you by all means, but I’ve come to the conclusion that while being optimistic is healthy, holding on to false hope can be damaging. Optimistic is knowing that you will be better at living with this and it will be significantly less burdensome over time, maybe to the point you forget you have it.

But believing it is going to just go away if it hasn’t after the first year or so is believing in miracles. Miracles happen but you probably shouldn’t invest your future wellness with a miracle as a plan. Kind of like folks do win the lottery but it probably isn’t a very good retirement plan.

 

Sorry to hear your tinnitus is so loud.

Yes, that's why I keep researching despite the overwhelming push not to here by so many people, which I frankly find strange.

I think Susan Shores device is more targeted than Lenire so there is hope there.

I am also exploring what could have potentially messed with my brain's potassium channels as I think that's the primary issue here.

Maybe I need less of a support group and more of an explorer group.

And yes, I think it can still resolve after two, four, ten years, etc.

I'm not quite sure how continuing to investigate a medical issue and pursue different possible remedies because it looks reversible upon research and has spontaneously reversed for people can be compared to the lottery.

Personally, I do not think it is healthy with this condition to submit to the idea it will not go away. I do "forget" about it during the day. But I also have time I dedicate to researching it as well as bad days where it really bothers me (i.e. nights).

From reading up on it, I think it can go away. If you've ever read about HPPD, it is worth looking at. It is much worse than tinnitus, but similar in terms of what's happened to the brain, and most people resolve but it takes serious time. Some after four years. But it requires fully removing the damaging stimulus and resting the brain.

And I know many people on here have had tinnitus well over four years. And I'm sorry you've been suffering so long and I'm glad you found a coping mechanism that works for you.

I can't speak for everyone's tinnitus, health, long term habits, traumas, etc. but I'm narrowing certain long-term possible factors of mine and am going to try eliminating them and resting my brain.

If I thought it was truly not curable or could not spontaneously resolve, I would take a different approach... but it's more so that I honestly think it is resolvable after reading up on it and exploring different avenues and conditions similar to it.

I agree. Susan Shore's device has a lot of potential. I'll still be researching though because this condition is very irritable and I would be devastated to be misled and make it worse, as so many people seem to have been by Lenire.

Worst case scenario I habituate. Best case scenario it resolves.

And I truly hope yours gets better for you as well.

 

@AfroSnowman, I still want to believe in miracle, but as I am approaching the 1 year anniversary, the hope is waning and the despair grows

By the way, your case is arguably one of the craziest given you are a victim of Havana's syndrome. This for me was yet another missed chance to learn about tinnitus. I read about it a few years back, well before I got my tinnitus. Yet, somehow, as usual, the word tinnitus or ringing in the ear did not register in my mind.

I am reading explanations of the Havana syndrome as a case of "mass psychogenic illness". Sounds really insulting to the victims.

I hope, despite your unreal cause, you will get better against the odds. Best.

 

Where’s @Damocles when you need him... It’s well documented that chronic tinnitus is a persistent long-term condition for most who have it. To say otherwise is sticking the middle finger to those who have dealt with this condition for decades now, especially for those in the severe category and debilitated.

Tinnitus is also the top service-related disability among U.S. military veterans. Yet another sign of the prevalence of chronic cases...

I’ve donated my money to research initiatives like the Bionics Institute. I've emphasized multiple times now the crucial need for objective measurements in tinnitus.

The goal is to provide effective and proper solutions to large swath of chronic tinnitus sufferers. How we get there in a timely fashion is the bigger issue. For now, Susan Shore's device stands as the sole potential hope for individuals dealing with tinnitus, specifically for the chronic cases.

The member before me provided a rational and highly probable explanation as to why your tinnitus persists despite your concern about the kitchen hood vent. For some reason, you took exception to this. If anything, take that as a positive indication that your tinnitus is quite stable and doesn't readily spike/worsen from noise exceeding 70 dB, unlike many others here who would likely be experiencing a worsening from it. Really not sure what there’s to get worked up about.

You seem to be blowing this out of proportion, reacting strongly to such an innocuous statement. It's almost like you’ve been wanting to say this for a while, but was waiting for the right time to say it. Congrats, you decided to pick the most tamest of statements.

This right here mirrors my own journey since my tinnitus upgraded to severe, albeit I did experience improvements in how reactive (susceptibility to spikes) my tinnitus was within the first year. Loudness hyperacusis, distortions, and palinacousis improved gradually and non linearly, but improvements in tinnitus percept has been virtually non-existent for the most part, and I’m almost 3 years in. Still have bunch of nonsensical tones/noise that fluctuates constantly in loudness (roughly around 7-9 in volume level), and instant reactivity that competes with certain external sounds. I cope by accepting the situation and relying on habituation as my primary way of dealing with it.

 

I can assure you that while there was maybe the odd mass psychogenic illness case particularly when it started in Havana, there are a lot of people, serious people, really serious people, who can no longer work, several had to kill themselves, MRIs showed damage in their brains, for me my hearing and vestibular systems got whacked up in documented measurable ways. It is one thing to stress yourself into a condition like tinnitus, it is something quite different to lose your hearing in notch consistent with exposure to a percussive wave. Trust me, physical things were happening to people.

Interestingly the attacks have largely stopped after the CIA Director visited Moscow about 1.5 years ago reportedly to issue threats on the issue. Coincidence?

To be clear, I know only a small amount more than what we read in the press (because I know what State, CIA, and NIH were asking me about in their investigations) but my assumption is that this is one of those situations that politically you compensate the victims and move on, because if you come to the public conclusion that the source was an identifiable actor, we would find ourselves in a state of war and no one wants that.

 

That's crazy. Thanks for sharing. So sad, who would think that working as a diplomat can expose one to such a torture. Russians liked to poison people, no surprise they would not hesitate to cause brain damage remotely.

Indeed one may wonder what does it take to perform such an attack on person (distance, time, how big is the device) and how targeted/effective it is. And can it be deployed on a large scale. Imagine an entire city getting brain damage with tinnitus.