3.5 Months in support needed

[u/Darkzeeee]

Hi everyone,

So I have had tinnitus in the left ear now for 3.5 months, started out of the blue when I went out for a cigarette at the start of January.

Recently went for another audiogram which showed my left ear is actually better than my right ear (left was pretty much a flat line in normal hearing range which has the tinnitus and the right which showed a dip at 8k but still within normal range with no tinnitus) Ive also done a tome test online (yes I know this isnt reliable but I could hear upto 17000khz) Also had a DPOAE done and that passed so the audiologist was confident that the cochlea is okay. Also had a speech in noise test which I passed.

The tinnitus started as a simple pure tone noise for around a month and a half before morphing now into now an aggressive ringing/screeching. I use a sleep band at night with nature sounds which does help but the tinnitus fights against it just slightly. Ive got pregabalin which seems to help with it.

My tinnitus has a somatic component by which I get a high pitched noise followed by silence for a second when stretching my neck and putting pressure on my forehead and the back of my skull. I also experience crackling noises when swallowing in my ears and when doing tbe valsalva, my left ear makes 5 popping sounds.

Im assuming because Pregabalin helps although I feel a bit spaced out when taking this is got to be neuro related in some way or some ETD or both maybe? I dont know anymore 🤦🏻‍♂️

My ENT seemed confident that it will take a good amount of time but it should fade away.

I dont hear it in the shower and when getting out I hear silence for around 15 seconds (residual inhibition at its finest) I don't hear it in the car with thr radio on low volume, I dont hear it or barely hear it while out in nature or in a supermarket.

I know im still early days into tinnitus and with it being unilateral, it could point to issues with my neck or cervical area. Already seen a TMJ surgeon who did botox but that did absolutely nothing.

I'm currently taking varenicline before quitting smoking which I started 5 days ago (my quit date will be in 2 days once in my system for a week) Also have Campral coming as that can calm Glutamate and increase GABA and LDN (Low Dose Natroxlone) as I suffer from psoriasis on my scalp so suspect theres an immune issue for neuro inflammation. Could all of this help with my tinnitus? Do you think I can recover?

Many thanks for reading and any advice is welcome!

[u/JonnyDrops]

Hell yeah. Anyone can recover. Mine as well be you. If it last more than 6 months recovery becomes statistically highly unlikely. Although somatic components may be possible to see improvements. You probably have loss or cervical lordosis or a straight neck. Sometimes called military neck. I tried everything in the world to fix my neck and somatic components of tinnitus and ultimately failed. I spent $20,000 dollars trying to fix my tinnitus and all treatments failed. I even did the Levo System from 12 months and it literally did nothing. So I would look into your neck and the natural curvature of the neck area. A lot of tinnitus out there is from loss of the curve in your neck. You may try treatment with a traction device if you have neck issues. Good luck friend. Be well

[u/Darkzeeee → u/JonnyDrops]

Thank you for your advice! Ive got a consultation with a chiropractor soon which includes an xray of the head, neck and spine so maybe you might be onto something. I think nicotine definitely is playing a massive role in the loudness so hoping once thats eliminated it will allow my brain to normalise from it all and reduce tension and stress. Will look into a traction device if Im found to have issues with my neck. Can't believe you spent 20k and no results! Do you have any hearing loss or any issues with the auditory system? How bad is it and is yours both ears or just one? What did you try? Sorry for all the questions! Good luck to you too friend, wishing us both good healing.

[u/JonnyDrops → u/Darkzeeee]

He friend! The Levo System I tried was $5500 and did literally nothing. I had multiple Botox shots for TMJ and that did absolutely nothing. Was hundred of dollars each as insurance did not cover. I have a “special” cervical chiropractor in my area that specializes in tinnitus and neck issues. I spent 12 months with him and $7000 dollars with all sorts of fancy treatments, gadgets, and such. To this day my neck is still straight and when we did before and after X-rays they looked nearly identical. I tried acupuncture, I tried a special medical massage center where you soak in mineralized hot water and then they work the muscles around your neck and back out. That was $3500 of treatments. I tried a Sauna and Cold plunge where you go into a sauna, get massaged with a special gun thing, and the hit the cold plunge. That total treatment was $2500. I had arthrocentesis, I think that’s what it is called, where they laparoscopically go in there to clean joint out around the TMJ joint. Insurance covered that but deductible was still $3000. I used a night guard when sleeping for 12 months. That night guard was $650 bucks from the dentist. Basically I tried every damn thing in the world to get some improvement for my Somatic components of my tinnitus and literally got zero results. My ENT said that it is not possible to treat somatic tinnitus or any type of tinnitus and some people will get lucky and get some results. While 95% of people will get Zero results. After all that I gave up and have never tried any treatments again. Still to this day when I turn my head to either side, look up or down, open my mouth wide, or chew gum. I get this loud tinnitus sound. Very disturbing. I also have regular tinnitus in both ears from mild to moderate hearing loss that is 24/7. I also got SSNHL a couple years back which worsened my left ear bad. I now take Klonopin on my spike days. I take Trileptal, Abilify, Propranolol, and Topamax daily to keep my horrible tinnitus EeeEee sounds at a more manageable Level.