Thank you all for responding.
I am still taking the antibiotics for the supposed Eustachian tube inflammation / infection, but I also started a course of Prednisolone, a corticosteroid, which is supposed to help with the the neuronal / cochlear inflammation caused by the initial trauma. My understanding is that suppressing the immune system's reaction will help prevent further damage to my hearing, and some people have even had their hearing recover to some degree.
I noticed the ringing had already subsided by the 4th day (and I was starting to accept that I can live with it without much distress), and it seems to me still less now that I have been taking Prednisolone for 2 days. Perhaps, it'll get even quieter. My main hope at this point is that it, at least, sticks to the lowered level I experience now. I spend as much time as possible wearing earplugs when in a noisy environment (including when working on my laptop which can rev up its fan to a noticeably loud level); strangely, while wearing the earplugs I recalled hearing the same ringing before too, so I must have had some T going previously, but either due to ignorance or its very low level I hadn't paid much attention to the sensations.
Here are some things that I learned about Prednisolone therapy (some of them are not so much fact-based, an aggregate of various opinions expressed on the net):
- ideally, it should be taken within the first 48 hours after Tinnitus onset; people have also reported improvement even after a 1-2 week delay, but very few cases benefited if they were past that 2 week window
- it mostly helps when the underlying cause is hearing trauma (from loud noise, physical impact, etc.)
- this is pretty potent stuff; corticosteroids work by suppressing the immune system, so you should consult your doctor, and watch out for the potential side effects that can appear during therapy; the drug must be tapered off, otherwise there is a risk of getting some nasty effects; it bumps up blood glucose levels, and may affect the liver, which is why I'll be getting blood work done every few days to keep an eye on my blood chemistry
- even if taken soon after Tinnitus onset, there is still no guarantee it'll work, or how much it will help improve the symptoms
- there as an equivalent drug called Prednisone, which the liver metabolizes to Prednisolone; depending upon what country you're from or what doc you visited you may be prescribed one or the other; Prednisolone is supposed to be the less taxing drug, since it does't burden the liver as much (if at all)
- different doctors prescribe different regiments, some for 9 days, some for up to 2 weeks; the initial dosage varies from 50-100mg per day for the first 3-9 days, and later drops by 10mg every day till the last day when you have to take only 10mg; my non-professional opinion is that 60mg for the first 5 days, then going 50-40-30-20-10 for the next 5 days is the way to go
- be prepared for the psychological side effects; if you're already feeling rather distraught by tinnitus, any anxiety attacks brought on by this therapy may leave you rattled even more; I had an attack in my sleep last night, and spent 15 minutes calming myself down (rationalizing that the symptoms are just a physiological reaction that I'm simply ascribing negative emotions to)
- Prednisolone / Prednisone can cause or exacerbate insomnia; I take some Valerian root to, hopefully, prevent that, though I may try going without it in case it's not affecting me (I hate missing on sleep!)
- if you're taking other meds, check out for possible interactions; Wikipedia has a pretty good couple of pages that explain these 2 drugs
And for the obligatory legalese -- please, don't take what I wrote as medical advice; I'm not a medical professional, and I am simply stating my personal understanding of Prednisolone therapy. Always consult with your own doc, whether GP or ENT.
Wish you all better todays than yesterdays!
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