There's porn on the internet? WILL have to check that out! I will try to answer some of your questions. Question #2-Steroids did not help me. Question #3- Xanax did nothing for me but it has helped other people. Question #5-First thing I asked when I came down with tinnitus(12 years ago).

Was told you still would hear the tinnitus even if you cut the nerve. I would go deaf in both ear's to get rid of my tinnitus. Have always said that. Complete silence would be very nice to "listen" too. Question #6- I was in the military and worked around loud jets but it was a requirement that we wore ear protection. To talk we would use hand signals.

With the soldiers today where they are using gun's all day I have heard where quite a good number of them are coming back with severe tinnitus and it's a big problem for the VA administration. So maybe tinnitus will be getting more research $$$$ to find a better way to cope or cure it.

There are many different forms of tinnitus. Mine I dont believe will ever be cured because it is a nerve or brain based issue. I am literally hearing my nerves. Such a wonderful sound.


Some people do experience recovery, all you can do is sit back and hope for the best.

Your situation does not resemble mine, well off course except for the never ending noise. The only thing that occurs to me is that early on I went to an accupucturist. She said that if I had come to her in the first month the treatment might have been more effective. If you do go to one ask first whether they use the deep needle method or not. I went to both and the deep needle method seemed to be helping but was more than twice as expensive and I didn't have any insurance that would have covered it. So if you are able, see a therapist using the deep needle is what I'm trying to say. Would be interested to know the results.

First I would encourage you, if you haven't already, to see an ENT and then have your hearing checked. The ENT can tell you if the steroids will work at this point. Most, but not all, of us have tried Xanax on here. It can help with your nerves in dealing with tinnitus because it can be nerve wracking to those in the beginning stages, well, late stages too, but some get used to it and dont need Xanax anymore, some do. I have a mild high frequency loss that my audiologist says hearing aids wont help with it. You can have your auditory nerve severed, which is drastic, but even if you did, which I dont know would be an elective thing to have done, you can still have the possibility of hearing your tinnitus even if deaf in one ear. There are many military personnel coming back with tinnitus. There is more research into it partly because of that and the amount of people that have tinnitus. My audiologist says that tinnitus can originate in over 100 places so it is hard to tell where it is coming from. It can come from the cochlea, the brain stem, an area in the brain itself. The only way to know is to do a pet scan, which arent readily available for patients to have one at this point. A pet scan is used in studies on mice with tinnitus but my audiologist says pets scans arent available to patients with tinnitus just to see where theirs might originate. Maybe in the future. If yours goes a bit lower when you plug your ear I dont want to encourage plugging your ear, but sleeping with a folded over ear cant be comfortable or good for the long term, but maybe using cotton in that ear. I can tell you that plugging your ear permanently can turn up the volume in that ear because your brain/ear want to hear sounds and when you plug your ear continuously your brain turns up the volume internally so it can hear sound. Also, you can make yourself sound sensitive. Plug the ear long enough and take the cotton our and normal sounds will sound louder. This is known as hyperacusis or sound sensitivity. I know this is hard for you. Everyone in the beginning has a hard time coping and figuring out what to do. It is not uncommon for a virus to cause tinnitus. Please see your ENT and Audiologist for starters, that is if you havent already. Many ENT's arent well versed in tinnitus, most people on here can tell you that. The ringing could stop as it quick as it started. It is hard to know if it's permanent at this point. Best Wishes! Keep coming back here for support.

P.S. I see a chiropractor who does ear acupuncture, its called ariculotherapy. He does do needle acupuncture but he can also do ear acupuncture without needles. I get treated for stress, anxiety, sleep, inflammation, menopause, allergies, etc using this method. He also adjusts my neck which helps with my tinnitus. Ive been to a myriad of doctor for my tinnitus and the only thing I find that really helps is time and my chiropractor.

Hello Neilster,
I hate to say 'welcome' because this is a club you don't want to join in the first place! However, I think you will find answers.
Your experience is very similar to mine, and not common. I lost my hearing in one ear overnight in March 2010. It was apparently due to a virus, although I didn't have a cold or any overt symptoms at the time. Just woke up half deaf. I went to the emergency room and then to an ENT and was treated with prednisone, both oral, for two weeks, and three injections into the ear drum, a week apart. This is the frontline treatment for Sudden Deafness, and works in about a third of the cases. If there is no improvement in a month or so, the hearing probably isn't going to come back.
The tinnitus came along with the Sudden Deafness. I didn't know what was happening to me and wanted to kill myself - anything to stop the constant noise. (I've wondered if Vincent Van Gogh had tinnitus.) A doc who specializes in t advised me that cutting the nerve would NOT stop the t.
You've had this a short time and it might be an infection that will go away, or improve.
Depending on your hearing loss - I'm guessing you saw an ENT, if you've been prescribed steroids and you should also see an audiologist for a hearing test - there are options for Single-Sided Deafness.
You need to get as much information as possible. Once you have that, contact me directly through this board, if you want to, as I have done quite a bit of research since this happened to me.
I've heard that Xanax helps. I take Temazepam to sleep some of the time. I've been on a mood stabilizer for years anyway (Lamictal)
You will acclimate. I know this feels unbearable right now :(
There are many ways to cope with it, should it continue.
Best,
Kat

Damned good name for this website, looks like I'll need it once a day at least. Thanks so much for your responses.

I got -really- lucky being born a nephew of chief heart surgeon at the best local hospital, i already got my MRI tonight, I'm in Canada where the wait can otherwise be months.

My doc only gave me 5 500mg pills of prednisone though, isn't that too little in case it can be effective? I feel like going into a drugstore with a fake gun and demanding every steroid in the house! (joke i won't do it, don't call the cops!)

I have been downing a ton of magnessium/calcium pills it may have made the tinnitnus quiet, i cannot tell but i'm trying to remain positive.

Delta, man you look young, did you go to a lot of docs? I would think you'd get better treatment or attempts than the older people, my ENT was actually HAPPY for me that i didn't lose more of my hearing.

Do you guys feel imbalance/pressure in the bad ear also?

I don't know about Canada, but in L.A. 'older people' are given equal treatment.

Not in Canada, our health care system is free - in other words, socialist, so the docs tend to look at us as a group rather than individuals. In other words, if they let me suffer but cure a teenager, for them it's a job well done because on average they've cured the population. Of course this is conjecture - but i feel it's a horse of a different color than when the doc gets paid from the patient.

My wait for an MRI would have been up to NINE MONTHS (!!) but I just came back from it, after only three days. No pay. It's a really really bad system if you don't have relatives or friends in a hospital or if you live in a very busy city, however if you live in a quiet town then health care is both free and fast - but they need to send you to a bigger city like mine for an MRI or similar that require expensive machines.

That being said, the technician said the MRI was only about a million bucks! Yet the major hospital only has one?! You can see something is wrong there.

The MRI was pretty cool, I just wish it was curing me instead of just taking pictures, the power in there felt like enough energy to do anything it bloody well wanted to do. Loud though and sure enough triggered my tinnitus - i had a relatively 'quiet' day on that front i was actually hoping it was gone but i think it plays tricks on me, or me on it, sometimes i think it's not there but alas, it always is.

Speak you to later my friends, let's at least be thankful we're alive and kicking even if we have problems, there is SO much worse as I just saw in the hospital it's hard to feel bad for myself after seeing all the people who cannot even move or who will never leave the hospital again.

Hi Everyone. Look up the information from Hulian Cowan Hill. he runs a T clinic in London. I downloaded his book "Tinnitus, From Tyrant to Friend". It has been a sourse of great encouragement to me. I've had mine for 5 months, I see a psychologist once a week and take Depramil in the day and Zopivane at night to sleep. make no mistake, this is a unrelenting monster but taking good care of your physical and emotional self, giving yourself TLC and enjoying all the good things in your life, we can get buy and live in hope. God bless you all. Every night I pray for all the T sufferers in the world. Gill, Cape Town.

Sorry that is "Julian Cowan Hill".

Sounds like danis is back.... :'(

Neilster, do you really mean 500mg of steroids per pill? That is a TON of steroids in one pill! Maybe you mean 50mg? And steroids should be tapered off of after taking them for a few days...not just stopped cold turkey, or it can affect your adrenal gland. 0_o

Steroids did quiet my T each of the four times I tried them (2 shots and 2 tapering six-day packs). However, it only quieted it for a day each time and then it came back. :-/ (I also think I got my T after a virus, like you.)