Tinnitus Worse After Tooth Drilling

[object16]

I just got back from yet another endless trip to the dentist. I must have chipped a filling, except he said two were chipped and needed to be repaired. I could only handle getting one fixed. There was a lot of drilling, way in the back, where the bone transmission to the ear is intense.

They already know I have severe suicidal tinnitus and try to be as minimal as possible. But now that I have taken my bedtime sedative and laid down, it is immediately obvious that things are much worse.

For situations like this, I have a tiny amount of morphine from a very old prescription. I just took half a tablet (2.5 mg). I have been down to 0.25 mg of Clonazepam, but I took an extra 1.5 mg along with an extra 50 mg of Seroquel. If that does not work within another hour, which I doubt it will, I will take maybe 3.75 mg of Imovane. Anything just to get to sleep.

When I am asleep, I do not hear anything. If I cannot sleep, it spirals. And I am just so frustrated, like, it is bad enough dealing with what I already have, so why do my teeth have to be crummy too?

 

[Michael1122]

Take another sedative—or not. Read the bottle's instructions.

Tinnitus is really mind over matter. It truly is. I recommend finding a calming agent, whether it's Xanax or something stronger, to help take your focus off the tinnitus.

 

[RunningMan]

Take another sedative—or not. Read the bottle's instructions.

Tinnitus is really mind over matter. It truly is. I recommend finding a calming agent, whether it's Xanax or something stronger, to help take your focus off the tinnitus.

Xanax shouldn't be taken along with the large doze of Clonazepam he took, which is also a benzo, with a much longer half life than Xanax.

Mind over matter might work for stable mild to moderate tinnitus.

 

[object16]

I'm thinking about just pulling my teeth and going with dentures. It seems very drastic, but it's 2:30 in the afternoon, and I'm still in bed.

Before the dental work, I was actually starting to do alright. My Clonazepam was down to 0.25 mg, but now I'm at 2 mg, plus Lyrica 225 mg and Seroquel 125 mg—everything has been pushed up. I didn't take Morphine last night since that's a nuclear option.

Having crummy teeth that need constant repairs for chipped or worn-out fillings is frustrating. In the old days, metal fillings were durable, but now it's this white material that chips easily. One piece of unpopped popcorn, and you're suffering for it.

 

[object16]

I'm now reading about dentures, and I don't like that idea either.

I'm thinking a mind-over-matter approach might be best. I see a lot of people here with severe tinnitus that sounds just as bad as mine, if not worse. I think I'd rather die than have all my teeth pulled, go without them for months, and still have to work in a job where I need to speak for a living.

No, I think I'll just keep getting them repaired. I went back and read my "introduce yourself" post from 2013, and it was really, really bad—I was sure I was going to end it all. But now, 12 years later, nothing that drastic has happened. Plus, I'm 68, and my wife has a 100% survivor benefit on my pension. Sure, my family would prefer me to be alive, so I think I'm just going to stick with Clonazepam.

 

[Pinhead]

Was it the drilling? I am having a tooth pulled on Wednesday and I am terrified.

 

[object16]

Was it the drilling? I am having a tooth pulled on Wednesday and I am terrified.

It was the drilling noise.

 

[object16]

I'm struggling today. The sound of my own voice is too loud. I usually play Enya in my office, but my tinnitus is clearly intrusive and far above the level of the soundtrack. I'm just not getting any more drilling done. If I have to get by with 20 teeth, that's more than enough. I have 28 right now, so I can easily sacrifice 8 when the time comes.

I've been pushing clonazepam for four days now. I just had my MSW appointment, and she says it's very obvious I'm having trouble finding words. She mentioned she never sees me struggle with that, but today it's clear.

F***. Will this nightmare ever end?

By the way, thank you all for the hugs ×5. It means a lot.

 

[object16]

Take another sedative—or not. Read the bottle's instructions.

Tinnitus is really mind over matter. It truly is. I recommend finding a calming agent, whether it's Xanax or something stronger, to help take your focus off the tinnitus.

@Michael1122, when my tinnitus was in a stable chronic state, I could handle it. The problem with this spike is that it's extremely intrusive and, frankly, almost frightening—it leaves me in a daze.

I had to resort to a single 2.5 mg dose of morphine, which was difficult to obtain since getting a prescription for it is nearly impossible. Over the past few nights, I've been vaping CBD/CBDv with a small amount (0.1g) of THC flower (35g CBD, 35g CBDv, and 20g THC), along with sublingual CBG.

This morning, a week later, the tinnitus is slightly less intense. Hopefully, it will continue to improve, but nothing is ever guaranteed. This spike is significantly worse than the ones I've had in the past from dental work, which leaves me feeling apprehensive and dejected.

 

[tiniturk]

@Michael1122,

This morning, a week later, the tinnitus is slightly less intense. Hopefully, it will continue to improve, but nothing is ever guaranteed. This spike is significantly worse than the ones I've had in the past from dental work, which leaves me feeling apprehensive and dejected.

This is a positive development, just keep focusing on that. Spikes are tough, but I truly believe this will also subside.

 

[object16]

@Michael1122, thanks. It has really been rough, but at least the spike is not as brutally bad anymore. It has been nine days now. It is definitely still unpleasant, but compared to the first night, there has been some improvement. I am not sure if it will return to baseline, but somehow, I feel like I am just going to have to adjust to this new reality.

I told my coworker that the emotional response is the worst part. Tinnitus has a way of making you feel discouraged and despondent. When I had my session with my social worker, she naturally asked about self-harm. I told her that I had already been apprehended by the authorities when a family member panicked and thought I might harm myself. That experience was as inhumane as it gets. For me, the real trouble would be if I seemed perfectly happy and content, even giving away some of my favorite things to friends.

But really, I do not have any easy way out. Nothing would work. I even looked into Pegasus or whatever it is called, but it is just not an option. I work in too critical of a field. The place would fall apart without me. Then there is the PTSD reaction my family would go through, and maybe even some of my boys thinking, why not? And if I failed, I could end up in a worse state, brain damaged or physically incapacitated. Or I might just throw up all the Morphine and be left with nothing for future use. I took one 2.5 mg dose, and that is it. It is too valuable a medication.

Right now, I am on 1.25 mg of Clonazepam, 600 mg of Lyrica, 125 mg of Seroquel, 450 mg of Tegretol, and 22.5 mg of Mirtazapine. I am not increasing the Mirtazapine. The half life is too long, and I am already dealing with enough from aging and post COVID effects as it is.

So, not a fantastic success, but definite improvement at nine days. I kind of wish I had asked for the high-speed grinder to get it over with more quickly. The low-speed grinder was not as harsh a sound, but it felt interminable.

I also spoke to the dentist, and he said to be extremely cautious. My idea of blending my food is a good one. Honestly, I could probably afford to lose a few teeth rather than go through another trauma like that. I have 28 teeth, and I could manage with 24 or even 20. A lot of people my age, 68, do not have any teeth at all. I just need mine because I speak for a living. But really, the front teeth matter most for that.