Hi Dr. Nagler,
I was directed to your site by the otoneurologist who's been treating me for tinnitus. a little background:
Tinnitus came on suddenly one night nine weeks ago. Initially it was unbelievably loud. It changed sound, volume, pitch and would go from ear to ear. It has rarely been the same in both ears. Usually one is pretty quiet and the other is noisy. It varies which is which. often, when one ear is really loud it's accompanied by hyperacusis to the point that the ear physically hurts.
Also,it is what my oto-neurologist calls "Reactive tinnitus". It gets louder with loud ambient noise, and quieter with quiet ambient noise, to a point. The oto-neurologist says that's the hardest kind to treat. Because of that I haven't been able to work since this began, because even when I double up on hearing protection the power tools I work with make the noise go berserk.
This has made me so anxious I lost 20 pounds in the first 2 weeks due to not being able to eat much. That has stabilized.
Hearing test shows moderate age-related hearing loss in both ears.
About three weeks ago I got hearing aid-type noise generators as part of the TRT treatment my oto-neurologist wants to pursue. I'd gotten to where I was wearing them just about 24 hours a day, per his instructions. He aprticularly wanted me to start sleeping in them right away and wear them for an hour a day, increasing by one hour every day until i was wearing them anytime I wasn't in the shower.
It really seemed to be helping things a lot. Then I got a terrible cold, which I'm still in the middle of. The generators made my ears hurt, so the oto-neurologist said I could take them out for the duration of the cold.
Today one ear is so loud I cannot stand it. I can't concentrate on anything or even think well due to it. The other ear seems to be almost silent. The noisy one feels the pain and pressure of hyperacusis. This is noisier that when it first started. I'm feeling near-suicidal.
Is this common with illness?
Will it return to the newer, quieter level when the cold has run its course?
I was directed to your site by the otoneurologist who's been treating me for tinnitus. a little background:
Tinnitus came on suddenly one night nine weeks ago. Initially it was unbelievably loud. It changed sound, volume, pitch and would go from ear to ear. It has rarely been the same in both ears. Usually one is pretty quiet and the other is noisy. It varies which is which. often, when one ear is really loud it's accompanied by hyperacusis to the point that the ear physically hurts.
Also,it is what my oto-neurologist calls "Reactive tinnitus". It gets louder with loud ambient noise, and quieter with quiet ambient noise, to a point. The oto-neurologist says that's the hardest kind to treat. Because of that I haven't been able to work since this began, because even when I double up on hearing protection the power tools I work with make the noise go berserk.
This has made me so anxious I lost 20 pounds in the first 2 weeks due to not being able to eat much. That has stabilized.
Hearing test shows moderate age-related hearing loss in both ears.
About three weeks ago I got hearing aid-type noise generators as part of the TRT treatment my oto-neurologist wants to pursue. I'd gotten to where I was wearing them just about 24 hours a day, per his instructions. He aprticularly wanted me to start sleeping in them right away and wear them for an hour a day, increasing by one hour every day until i was wearing them anytime I wasn't in the shower.
It really seemed to be helping things a lot. Then I got a terrible cold, which I'm still in the middle of. The generators made my ears hurt, so the oto-neurologist said I could take them out for the duration of the cold.
Today one ear is so loud I cannot stand it. I can't concentrate on anything or even think well due to it. The other ear seems to be almost silent. The noisy one feels the pain and pressure of hyperacusis. This is noisier that when it first started. I'm feeling near-suicidal.
Is this common with illness?
Will it return to the newer, quieter level when the cold has run its course?
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