Member- Aug 21, 2016
- 352
- Tinnitus Since
- 2005
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Noise / T worsened with antiobiotics
This is a little long, but I thought people might be interested in reading about my experience. I posted a couple of days ago about a large T spike from loud noise exposure, and I was able to get in today to see an audiologist and ENT. I've been to ENT's over the years so knew the drill, but I was impressed with his bedside manner and the audiologist who did my tests.
My hearing tests came back mostly normal though I've lost some lower frequency hearing. Whether the loss was entirely from Saturday's incident or something else is anyone's guess because I haven't had a hearing test done in quite some time, and I barely recall what those results were. I would guess that the hearing loss is from years of noise exposure.
Doctor said there wasn't a lot he could do but did say that for some patients acupuncture, bio neurofeedback, and Arches formula have worked better than placebo in a very small number of studies (with emphasis on the word small). I asked him about steroids since that's what I've been prescribed in the past for T spikes, and he wrote me a prescription for a 6 day course of methylprednisoolone but said there's a good chance it wouldn't work since the multiple studies done have shown it doesn't work any better than the placebo for T.
He did bring up an MRI and said that if I wanted to unturn every last stone, I could get an MRI for the 1 in 10,000 chance there's an abnormal growth on one of my inner ear bones. But he said the chances of this were very, very remote and didn't recommend one. But he did just want to make sure that I knew what the options were to rule out all causes for my particular case.
I also asked him about the incident I had with antibiotics, and rather than dismissing it as the cause as I've read some doctors do, he said it was a definite possibility. Though he also said that T is a side effect for many, many drugs and different people react differently to the same medications. He said to try to avoid the classes of antibiotics that caused my T spike and to try to be careful with the aminoglycosides that are known to be ototoxic. He also mentioned that each class of antibiotics behaves differently, so he thought just because my ears didn't tolerate the antibiotics I took, doesn't mean that all antiobiotics will have the same effect which was reassuring to me.
I just started taking the methylprednisolone and will write an update next week as to whether it's having any affect on my T. Keeping my fingers crossed but know it may very well do nothing for me. I also bought a sound machine to help me sleep, so hopefully that will help some.
Edited to add: If you do go see a doctor, do try to see someone who either specializes in otology or at the very least is an ENT. GP's from my experience are not well informed about T.
My hearing tests came back mostly normal though I've lost some lower frequency hearing. Whether the loss was entirely from Saturday's incident or something else is anyone's guess because I haven't had a hearing test done in quite some time, and I barely recall what those results were. I would guess that the hearing loss is from years of noise exposure.
Doctor said there wasn't a lot he could do but did say that for some patients acupuncture, bio neurofeedback, and Arches formula have worked better than placebo in a very small number of studies (with emphasis on the word small). I asked him about steroids since that's what I've been prescribed in the past for T spikes, and he wrote me a prescription for a 6 day course of methylprednisoolone but said there's a good chance it wouldn't work since the multiple studies done have shown it doesn't work any better than the placebo for T.
He did bring up an MRI and said that if I wanted to unturn every last stone, I could get an MRI for the 1 in 10,000 chance there's an abnormal growth on one of my inner ear bones. But he said the chances of this were very, very remote and didn't recommend one. But he did just want to make sure that I knew what the options were to rule out all causes for my particular case.
I also asked him about the incident I had with antibiotics, and rather than dismissing it as the cause as I've read some doctors do, he said it was a definite possibility. Though he also said that T is a side effect for many, many drugs and different people react differently to the same medications. He said to try to avoid the classes of antibiotics that caused my T spike and to try to be careful with the aminoglycosides that are known to be ototoxic. He also mentioned that each class of antibiotics behaves differently, so he thought just because my ears didn't tolerate the antibiotics I took, doesn't mean that all antiobiotics will have the same effect which was reassuring to me.
I just started taking the methylprednisolone and will write an update next week as to whether it's having any affect on my T. Keeping my fingers crossed but know it may very well do nothing for me. I also bought a sound machine to help me sleep, so hopefully that will help some.
Edited to add: If you do go see a doctor, do try to see someone who either specializes in otology or at the very least is an ENT. GP's from my experience are not well informed about T.
