What Percentage of Tinnitus Cases Are Permanent?

[BrianW.]

You're only 1.5 weeks in, which really isn't that long of a time. I know it feels like forever though, but remember that many people experience fading after months. As for your emotional response, you will likely eventually get to a point where it won't bother you as much. I'm a little over two months in myself with several tones, and it no longer gets as much of an emotional response out of me.

My best advice is to give it time, and protect your ears well around loud noises. Read some success stories if you're very stressed, I find that they were very good to calm my nerves. Pay attention to what might make your tones louder/softer and be mindful of that as much as you can.

And know that you're not alone! There's always someone here willing to talk if you need it. Hang in there!

Hi Silver:

So have you experienced fading after 2 months?

 

[BrianW.]

The rule of thumb is that the longer you have tinnitus, the more likely it is permanent.

The general concensus seems to lean towards the 2 year mark.

If it hasn't gone away by then, it most likely won't.
Yours is still too early to tell.

Thanks Harley,

As I see your initial onset date is 2017, has yours subsided?

 

[BrianW.]

Since your onset was recent, I would first focus on treatments. During the acute phase, there's a kind of golden window during which certain treatments may be effective, but as time passes, they become less and less effective.

For example, steroids - prednisone - oral or via intratympanic injection - can aid healing in the early days.

I would therefore aggressively seek out time-sensitive treatments with an ENT ASAP!

Good luck!

Jack, last question: Where did you read about this golden window?

 

[Harley]

Thanks Harley,

As I see your initial onset date is 2017, has yours subsided?

Not at all.
Unfortunately.

 

[ASilverLight]

Hi Silver:

So have you experienced fading after 2 months?

Slightly so, but it fluctuates a lot. Currently I have about 2 pretty quiet days followed by a louder day and then that cycle repeats - but the louder day is what it used to be like all the time. So I guess it's improving slightly, just very slow.

My ETD and cold haven't cleared up yet though.

 

[BrianW.]

Since your onset was recent, I would first focus on treatments. During the acute phase, there's a kind of golden window during which certain treatments may be effective, but as time passes, they become less and less effective.

For example, steroids - prednisone - oral or via intratympanic injection - can aid healing in the early days.

I would therefore aggressively seek out time-sensitive treatments with an ENT ASAP!

Good luck!

Hi Jack,

I went to the ENT and he gave me an extremely low dose of prednisone. 5mg twice a day. I don't think that will do the trick. I also got Xanax.

I don't want to waste the "golden window" phase that you spoke of. My ENT is a very stoic, aloof guy who never truly answers my questions.

 

[BrianW.]

That's great!

Prednisone for sure - oral (at a sufficient dose) with a taper seems to be fairly standard.

Sometimes the ENT will use intratympanic injections directly into the ears instead of an oral regimen, or as salvage therapy (if the oral dose didn't do much but they still think an intratympanic injection might help).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is another treatment that has been reported to increase the chances of a positive outcome, particularly if started early enough. There's a thread on it here (summary: mixed results among forum participants, and expensive).

Some antidepressants such as amitriptyline and nortriptyline have also been helpful for some people - not simply as antidepressants but somehow mitigating the tinnitus itself.

Serc (betahistine) is a drug repurposed from Meniere's disease. Although widely prescribed, not a lot of people seem to rave about appreciable benefits (a thread about it here too).

I guess the million dollar question is: what is an appropriate dose of prednisone? They used to pump me full of prednisone at work (commercial fishing). Crazy amounts. When my ENT prescribed 5mg I had to laugh.

 

[Jack V]

I guess the million dollar question is: what is an appropriate dose of prednisone? They used to pump me full of prednisone at work (commercial fishing). Crazy amounts. When my ENT prescribed 5mg I had to laugh.

From what I've learned in my brief experience, it's probably more like what you used to get fishing!

For example, 60mg from 1 to 2 weeks with taper.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15632902

 

[Jack V]

Hi Jack,

I went to the ENT and he gave me an extremely low dose of prednisone. 5mg twice a day. I don't think that will do the trick. I also got Xanax.

I don't want to waste the "golden window" phase that you spoke of. My ENT is a very stoic, aloof guy who never truly answers my questions.

Yeah - you might want to find someone more engaged.

I've been to a couple ENT's (long story), and both had aggressive treatment recommendations - high dose steroids, hyperbaric oxygen, injections, etc.

 

[SteveH1970]

I got mild Tinnitus in November 2015. It was pretty loud in the beginning but then it calmed down progressively around September 2017 to the point I didn't notice it during daytime. It was more a less a non issue over time. In January 2018 I got hit by severe Hyperaccusis and crazy loud Tinnitus. Couldn't work for 7 months and was suicidal at moments. 2 years later I'm fine, still have Tinnitus and H, some days more, some days less. My life is great. The secret to T & H or just T is accepting it and getting on with life and work your way around it. Find ways that work for you. Every T and every person is different. I got better when I stopped worrying about when it is gonna go away, or if it is gonna get better. I stopped looking for miracle cures from one day to another. That shit drives you crazy and stops you from making progress. You just have to accept it, and accommodate to it. These days now, I go to bed, my Tinnitus howls like crazy, but I fall asleep in 5 minutes time. I wouldn't say it doesn't bother me, but most of the time I don't give a fuck either. I don't worry anymore how my T or H is gonna be tomorrow. I just wake up and do my shit. What helps imho is mental health and mental stability. I cut back on alcohol, take care of my sleep, exercice some, walk in the forest. My life is 95% normal now. Just to tell you how bad it can be for me, sometimes I hear my T driving 150km/h on the highway. Sometimes I have great days too where it's really quiet. Even the bad days, I don't worry too much, I know there a good days ahead.

Eventually get help from a psychologist that has good experience with T and don't let people with negative thoughts eat away all your energy. And be careful around here, there is a lot of negativity, and a lot of pseudo scientific bullshit posted too. Spend a lot of time in the success stories section. That will cheer you up.

It's all about the mindset imho. I'm not saying it is easy, there will be ups and downs, but if I can do it, everybody can do it.

It can get better, and yeah it can go away, even after years, but don't waste your time for miraculous remedies that don't exist.

And one very important thing -> It is NOT your fault that you got Tinnitus, you gotta hammer that into your head.

I hope you do well

 

[lightning]

@SteveH1970 What caused your tinnitus to get worse? My biggest issue with tinnitus is when I wake up during the night or when I wake up a bit early. It's hard to get back to sleep because my mind zeroes in on it, even though I have sound enrichment / white noise in the background (my tinnitus is impossible to mask). How do you handle that with such loud tinnitus?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I guess the million dollar question is: what is an appropriate dose of prednisone?

According to my doctor its 60 mg per day (1 mg per kg of body weight, not to exceed 60 mg) for two weeks + tapering.

 

[Tybs]

@SteveH1970 What caused your tinnitus to get worse? My biggest issue with tinnitus is when I wake up during the night or when I wake up a bit early. It's hard to get back to sleep because my mind zeroes in on it, even though I have sound enrichment / white noise in the background (my tinnitus is impossible to mask). How do you handle that with such loud tinnitus?

I'm not Steve, but I guess I can share some of my experience here...

I wake up every night like this. You get used to it eventually: most of the time I turn around and am back asleep within minutes again. At some point I pretty much got "bored" with focusing on my tinnitus and started thinking about other stuff instead. Assuming that other stuff is not something which worries me, falling asleep is not a problem anymore.

But I admit it took quite a while to get to this stage. Give it time and try not to worry about it, living day by day until it either fades or it becomes "normal" for your state of mind.

 

[Jack V]

I'm not Steve, but I guess I can share some of my experience here...

I wake up every night like this. You get used to it eventually: most of the time I turn around and am back asleep within minutes again. At some point I pretty much got "bored" with focusing on my tinnitus and started thinking about other stuff instead. Assuming that other stuff is not something which worries me, falling asleep is not a problem anymore.

But I admit it took quite a while to get to this stage. Give it time and try not to worry about it, living day by day until it either fades or it becomes "normal" for your state of mind.

What's hard for me to overcome is the sheer loudness of it.

For example, if I woke up in the middle of the night and there was a loud tea kettle whistling, I'd need to take the tea kettle off the fire to silence the whistle before I could get back to sleep.

So if I wake up with a tea kettle whistling in my ear, whether I focus on it or not, the sheer loudness of the sound prevents me from getting back to sleep.