Tenacious Tinnitus Club – Ear Pressure, Noise and Hyperacusis

[[Bi...]]

I have researched different ototoxic drug lists and most of them say that the cancer medications, some antibiotics, and nsaids cause tinnitus but then some list have like 400 medications that can be ototoxic.  It really scares me because I am afraid to take pretty much anything.  Do ya'll know of medicines from your experience that made your tinnitus worse?  Thanks!

 

On a bad day when my T is screaming I start thinking it's ototoxic problems but I doubt any of us have ototoxic damage. Just really out of wack gabaergic systems thanks to the benzo.  I know since I remember how good it got on updosing but we tend to forget when we are in distress.  This just takes a LONG time to heal from.

[[Dr...]]

For some it never goes away but it get's better with time until they just get used to it.  Benzo w/d can make it worse since tinnitus is VERY CLOSELY related to ANXIETY.

 

There is no way I could EVER get used to this. I find myself wanting to bang my head on something. I have slapped my head just to try and beat this noise out of me. Of course I stop when I realize I might be giving myself a concussion. 

 

I would like to pose another question here for all of you who are going through the DP/DR routine. Does it seem that when the DR/DP is REALLY powerful and all consuming that the Tinnitus is softer. But when you have a window, (which has been pretty rare lately) the T is very loud and annoying?  Just wondered because today I am having a sort of window, how nice, but the T is VERY LOUD AGAIN.

 

Thoughts on this anyone???

[[Bi...]]

For some it never goes away but it get's better with time until they just get used to it.  Benzo w/d can make it worse since tinnitus is VERY CLOSELY related to ANXIETY.

 

There is no way I could EVER get used to this. I find myself wanting to bang my head on something. I have slapped my head just to try and beat this noise out of me. Of course I stop when I realize I might be giving myself a concussion. 

 

I would like to pose another question here for all of you who are going through the DP/DR routine. Does it seem that when the DR/DP is REALLY powerful and all consuming that the Tinnitus is softer. But when you have a window, (which has been pretty rare lately) the T is very loud and annoying?  Just wondered because today I am having a sort of window, how nice, but the T is VERY LOUD AGAIN.

 

Thoughts on this anyone???

 

I found relief here  www.tinnitusmaskers.com  - if loud white noise helps you these are great.  I do not know how I could have made it this far without maskers. They also retrain the brain so you do not HABITUATE on the tinnitus so much .

[[Dr...]]

Thank you Birdman for always trying to help everyone here. I have not found any sound that will mask what my brain is doing at this time. Well, perhaps I did notice that when I went outside at night the sound of actual crickets did mask. Especially when there are a lot of them rubbing their little legs together. What I am really looking for right now is to find out if anybody with serious dr/dp like me notices that when the dr/dp is not around the T is louder. It seems like it has to be one or the other. Anybody. Just want to know if it is just me or if this is across the board.

[[xe...]]

There is no way I could EVER get used to this. I find myself wanting to bang my head on something. I have slapped my head just to try and beat this noise out of me. Of course I stop when I realize I might be giving myself a concussion. 

 

I felt the same way when I was first off the benzos, and again during a bad spell last winter -- but here I am, more or less used to it. Not nuts about it, for sure, and still hopeful that it will gradually go away over time... but it hasn't gone away yet, and yet I don't obsess about it very much anymore. I'm still aware of it whenever I think about it, and when I'm in a state of anxiety or discomfort then it can start to seem pretty unpleasant again, but for much of the day it's just a relatively neutral stimulus that I don't think about too much.

 

I hope yours goes away entirely, and it very well will with time... but if it doesn't, you will probably be a lot less concerned about it once you're more healed overall.

[[ba...]]

how long can i expect tinnitus to last ??i feel it right now i usually just take 0.0625 mg of xanax  a day i skipped my dose last night since i felt fine other than that my other withdrawals arnt too bad

[[Bi...]]

how long can i expect tinnitus to last ??i feel it right now i usually just take 0.0625 mg of xanax  a day i skipped my dose last night since i felt fine other than that my other withdrawals arnt too bad

 

It's so hard to make predictions especially about something as unpredictable as T.  You have to really just let symptoms be your guide I think.

 

I made stir when I said  I am not sure if you have to be off the benzo in order to heal LOL.  I meant to say if tinnitus is a symptom and were are doing a symptom based taper then why do we jump if we still have a symptom?  It's almost like there is some rule that say's YOU MUST IGNORE this one symptom as if it's the only exception to the rule.  I always found this point interesting but hesitated talking about it thinking it could stir up the hornets nest and it did 

 

So babyangel may I ask why are you still on such a tiny dose?

 

And for everyone else - If we are on a SYMPTOM based taper then WHY do we ignore tinnitus?  Should we ignore it?  Is tinnitus NOT a symptom?  Are we REALLY on a symptom based type then???  Who ever said to ignore the tinnitus symptom? Of coarse I mean the nasty ear twisting benzo induced tinnitus that is obviously from the benzo's or lack of them in w/d.  More hornets nest coming 

 

 

[[Co...]]

Has anyone had any luck with favanoids for tinnitus...thanks for any reply....coop

[[Bi...]]

There is no way I could EVER get used to this. I find myself wanting to bang my head on something. I have slapped my head just to try and beat this noise out of me. Of course I stop when I realize I might be giving myself a concussion. 

 

I felt the same way when I was first off the benzos, and again during a bad spell last winter -- but here I am, more or less used to it. Not nuts about it, for sure, and still hopeful that it will gradually go away over time... but it hasn't gone away yet, and yet I don't obsess about it very much anymore. I'm still aware of it whenever I think about it, and when I'm in a state of anxiety or discomfort then it can start to seem pretty unpleasant again, but for much of the day it's just a relatively neutral stimulus that I don't think about too much.

 

I hope yours goes away entirely, and it very well will with time... but if it doesn't, you will probably be a lot less concerned about it once you're more healed overall.

 

I always wonder how loud other's peoples Tinnitus is. My ear dr. said mine was a #9  do not know what that mean's but it's just under a 10 which is really nasty   I do not think it's that bad any longer but it's pretty darn loud still.  What I have can't be ignored at all unless the distraction is EXTREME.  When I try to relax it's ALL I can hear, too loud to ignore just about impossible and then to add to it I can feel my ears vibrating to the point I have itch them with a Q-tip.  This is not normal at all.  Is jumping the key or is a 2 year long nano taper the key?  I wish I knew that answer. 

Jumping off the last little bit of benzo is tough on the ears if your predisposed to Tinnitus and ear symptoms for so many.

[[Bi...]]

Has anyone had any luck with favanoids for tinnitus...thanks for any reply....coop

 

It never worked for me coop  :'(

[[ba...]]

i know birdman its a tiny dose im taking i think from taking this so long its caused my body to adapt to it or the smoking i do causes my withdrawals to intensify i sleep fairly well like 5 hours at night then another 2-3 hours around 10am-1pm  after i wrote this i went shopping on my way home in my car it made me a lil shakey how i felt my jaw quiver so i took my dose of meds as soon as i got home its difficult to make my cuts accuratly from a .50mg xanax  i think the dose i took today was half of .0625 so its practically dust that dosage i took around 45mins ago the tinitus is gone i try to activate alot i just finished washing dishes

 

i have a pestle and mortar on its way from china i bought online yesterday i plan to do a water taper i already got a free liquid syringe from a pharmacy i go to

 

[[do...]]

Did anyone have their hyperacusis to get a little better before their tinnitus improved?  Also, did your tinnitus start when you jumped, started tapering, or became tolerant?  Mine started when I became tolerant.  Lastly...does yours get better ...not completely go away...but get better then get worse and so forth? 

[[Dr...]]

Hi Birdman, I seem to be measuring my T by using the decibel method. Since it is so high pitched, by that I figure it to be in the between 3k and 6k, it gets hard to compare it to most of the sounds they use as examples of noise. The closest to the high pitch stuff is a police whistle and that is around 80db. That is considered loud. For comparison a truck without a muffler is 90db. Of course it depends how far you are away. For me the whistle is sometimes right in the middle of my head so I would imagine it to be much louder than 90db which is considered Very Loud. For comparison a normal conversation is 60db. Etc. Etc.

Yours sounds pretty darn loud too. I'm sorry.

 

downtongirl, my T was the second thing to come along and it started 2.5 months after I made the mistake of taking too much clonacrap for a couple of weeks and then going right back to the 1mg. This was before I ever found out anything about benzos. Too late then. So I guess my T began because of a cut that was way to big in the first place.

 

And yes downtongirl, mine gets better, then worse, then worse than that and then better...over and over. Just like yours does.

[[Bi...]]

Did anyone have their hyperacusis to get a little better before their tinnitus improved?  Also, did your tinnitus start when you jumped, started tapering, or became tolerant?  Mine started when I became tolerant.  Lastly...does yours get better ...not completely go away...but get better then get worse and so forth?

 

Hi Down's,  I have kept log sheets on lots of people here and on other benzo sites.  The normal order of events for 80% of the people is hyperacusis comes first and when it fades tinnitus fills it's spot.  I hurt someones feeling for saying it but it's just what my log sheet shows.  I am so misunderstand sometimes (sorry Pretty)  :'( :'( :'( 

I'm a nerd, good with math, chemistry, physics and science but not so good with people and forming ideas on paper and forums :'( :'( :'(  Any how that's what my data shows on progression of hyperacusis and tinnitus but it's not a firm rule, I default too WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT

[[Bi...]]

Hi Birdman, I seem to be measuring my T by using the decibel method. Since it is so high pitched, by that I figure it to be in the between 3k and 6k, it gets hard to compare it to most of the sounds they use as examples of noise. The closest to the high pitch stuff is a police whistle and that is around 80db. That is considered loud. For comparison a truck without a muffler is 90db. Of course it depends how far you are away. For me the whistle is sometimes right in the middle of my head so I would imagine it to be much louder than 90db which is considered Very Loud. For comparison a normal conversation is 60db. Etc. Etc.

Yours sounds pretty darn loud too. I'm sorry.

 

downtongirl, my T was the second thing to come along and it started 2.5 months after I made the mistake of taking too much clonacrap for a couple of weeks and then going right back to the 1mg. This was before I ever found out anything about benzos. Too late then. So I guess my T began because of a cut that was way to big in the first place.

 

And yes downtongirl, mine gets better, then worse, then worse than that and then better...over and over. Just like yours does.

 

Hi Dream, Level 9 means it takes 90 to 100DB white noise to cover my tinnitus. Some people still hear it at 10  or 100 to 110DB.  There is no level 11 since 11 causes hearing damage.

 

I have a DB app for my Iphone.  Just search the app store for DB, lots of free apps out there.

[[Bi...]]

i know birdman its a tiny dose im taking i think from taking this so long its caused my body to adapt to it or the smoking i do causes my withdrawals to intensify i sleep fairly well like 5 hours at night then another 2-3 hours around 10am-1pm  after i wrote this i went shopping on my way home in my car it made me a lil shakey how i felt my jaw quiver so i took my dose of meds as soon as i got home its difficult to make my cuts accuratly from a .50mg xanax  i think the dose i took today was half of .0625 so its practically dust that dosage i took around 45mins ago the tinitus is gone i try to activate alot i just finished washing dishes

 

i have a pestle and mortar on its way from china i bought online yesterday i plan to do a water taper i already got a free liquid syringe from a pharmacy i go to

 

Hi baby, I am not judging I'm not worthy myself. I know 6 people who could never get totally off and others that went back on low dose after years off.  They claim they need a low dose and just stay on a miniscule dose for life and these are all Tinnitus people.  I want to be totally clean but I will not stop searching until I have satisfaction.  I can't live with this all my life, I will go insane. "THE BELLS THE BELL'S  -  I'm going to stay clean for 2 years and then I'll look at ALL options and I mean ALL!  As long as I see improvement I'll stick it out, I guess. 

 

Is that why you are on .0625?  Does it help your tinnitus?  Benzo's are tricky they find 1000 way's to pull use back in. Did you ever try just taking it every other day?  Some people say it's better than micro tapering for some reason. A benzo group in Russia swears by it called 'TIME tapering'.  I just do not know.

 

[[...]]

Has anyone had any luck with favanoids for tinnitus...thanks for any reply....coop

 

It never worked for me coop  :'(

 

I tried flavonoids for about 3 months and they did not help

[[No...]]

Did anyone have their hyperacusis to get a little better before their tinnitus improved?  Also, did your tinnitus start when you jumped, started tapering, or became tolerant?  Mine started when I became tolerant.  Lastly...does yours get better ...not completely go away...but get better then get worse and so forth?

 

The order for me was tinnitus first, after a 50% cut ( ). At that point, I had tinnitus that sounds (so to speak) close to what Birdman is describing. It was bad. That didn't last long, though. The hyperacusis, however, was extreme. That lasted throughout my taper. It didn't stop until a few weeks after I jumped (and I still wake up happy every morning that it's gone!).

 

Since then, I get bouts of tinnitus off and on. Nothing nearly as bad as after the first big drop in dosage, but it's there. It gets worse if I'm stressed, tired, or anxious ... and during a wave, of course. It's not debilitating or anything, but it's annoying, for sure, and much worse if I focus on it (like now, lol!).

 

It comes and goes, and I'm not terribly worried that it will last forever. It's apparently very common. Plus, I'm so relieved that almost all of the other symptoms are gone, the tinnitus seems like small potatoes compared to the other stuff. I'm sure I'd feel differently if it were as intense as what some people experience.

 

 

[[Bi...]]

Has anyone had any luck with favanoids for tinnitus...thanks for any reply....coop

 

It never worked for me coop  :'(

 

I tried flavonoids for about 3 months and they did not help

 

Hi bart, I hope your doing well and still lifting weights   I too have shelf full of "SLIGHTLY USED" supplement bottles. REFUND!  I wish

I still take PLP as it's the only one that's makes any sense to me, without PLP your brain can't make gaba period. But very few people are short PLP except some extreme vegans. I have read interesting studies on schizophrenia and PLP malfunctions.  It's interesting how much schizophrenia is due to glutamate over activity in the brain and I sure felt schizophrenic in c/t!   

[[Bi...]]

Did anyone have their hyperacusis to get a little better before their tinnitus improved?  Also, did your tinnitus start when you jumped, started tapering, or became tolerant?  Mine started when I became tolerant.  Lastly...does yours get better ...not completely go away...but get better then get worse and so forth?

 

The order for me was tinnitus first, after a 50% cut ( ). At that point, I had tinnitus that sounds (so to speak) close to what Birdman is describing. It was bad. That didn't last long, though. The hyperacusis, however, was extreme. That lasted throughout my taper. It didn't stop until a few weeks after I jumped (and I still wake up happy every morning that it's gone!).

 

Since then, I get bouts of tinnitus off and on. Nothing nearly as bad as after the first big drop in dosage, but it's there. It gets worse if I'm stressed, tired, or anxious ... and during a wave, of course. It's not debilitating or anything, but it's annoying, for sure, and much worse if I focus on it (like now, lol!).

 

It comes and goes, and I'm not terribly worried that it will last forever. It's apparently very common. Plus, I'm so relieved that almost all of the other symptoms are gone, the tinnitus seems like small potatoes compared to the other stuff. I'm sure I'd feel differently if it were as intense as what some people experience.

 

Hi noklonono, That's true but it's my last s/x so I'm focused on it, and it's on the border line of NASTY tinnitus, feels like there's a blow fly in my left ear    When I hear it I just cringe, nasty sound, high pitched like a jet engine or turbo charger maxing out in ultra sonic range. Eeyeyeyeyeyeyye

 

I have no other s/x I am 90% healed. After 10 hours sleep I am still yawning after a double strength coffee I'm almost embarrassed to say, My husband says I'm spoiled -  I earned it, I scratched and clawed my way through the gates of hell for two years now, toughest thing I ever did!

Last week I took 900 mg gabapentin and the tinnitus went down 95% for a day and I was able to take out my maskers for a day so I know it's just from OVERAGE of  excito-glutamate acting on very weak receptor bases and theoretically it should come around someday and fix itself.  I do not take the gabapentin much as it's useless if you take it more than once a week BUT it let's me know where I stand and gives me a break from the madness.  Mentally even I too get really beaten down sometimes,,, even I need support sometimes  :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(    I guess I'm am lucky to feel this healed, just waiting for the freaking T too clear now,  waiting , waiting, waiting. 

 

[[...]]

Hi Bird

Ya, I'm fine and still pumping up. I've been getting off my supplements with the "highly scientific" method of just running out. Glad to hear your T is improving. You're a very interesting case and really contributed a lot of good stuff to this forum.

Thanks

Bart

[[xe...]]

I always wonder how loud other's peoples Tinnitus is. My ear dr. said mine was a #9  do not know what that mean's but it's just under a 10 which is really nasty   I do not think it's that bad any longer but it's pretty darn loud still.  What I have can't be ignored at all unless the distraction is EXTREME.  When I try to relax it's ALL I can hear, too loud to ignore just about impossible and then to add to it I can feel my ears vibrating to the point I have itch them with a Q-tip.  This is not normal at all.  Is jumping the key or is a 2 year long nano taper the key?  I wish I knew that answer. 

 

Well, "ignore" isn't the right word, when I actively try to ignore it, I can't. Think of it this way -- how does the bottom of your left foot feel? Suddenly you're aware of it because I brought it up. You can't help but feel it. But, thirty seconds ago you probably were not thinking about it at all. So, I cannot ignore the ringing once I'm aware of it. I don't think the volume is any different than it was 6 months ago. But, somehow, I am aware of it a lot less now than I was then. That doesn't mean I don't think about it frequently -- I do! But, there's a big difference between "frequently" and "constantly", and "constant awareness" was how I've spent much of the last 2-3 years.

 

So, I haven't had much luck reducing the volume, or actively making myself less aware of it. I have had some success divorcing my emotional reaction to the stimulus from the stimulus itself -- and once that happens, awareness necessarily fades to some extent because sensory perceptions which are constant and have no emotional gravity to them are boring and don't deserve much attention.

 

When this is really bothering me, dealing with it at all seems impossible and the idea of going back on benzos is pretty attractive. When it's less bothersome, as in right this second now, it's an annoyance and I wish I didn't have to deal with it, but it seems like a smaller problem than taking benzos all the time.

 

It's worth noting that this exact issue was why I reinstated benzos in ~2009 after being off of them for a year or so. I went to a loud concert which really set off the ringing badly for ~a few days, developed such terrible anxiety about it that I stopped sleeping, and more or less begged to be reinstated.

 

If I'm still as aware of it in another 18-24 months as I am right now, then maybe I'll be thinking about reinstating again, who knows. I'm skeptical that will happen, though -- I think if I continue down the path of regular exercise and meditation that I've landed on over the past year, it's quite likely that another couple years will have me in a very different place than where I sit right now.

 

As for how loud it is -- that's deceptive. I've read that in general tinnitus is rarely more than 10-15 db, but can seem much, much louder to the person experiencing it. I don't really think the volume varies much, but when I'm very anxious then there's almost nothing I can do to drown it out, and when I'm not worked up about it, music at a normal volume completely replaces my awareness of it. If I focus and look for it, then I'll still be able to find it -- just as I can always find the sensations from the bottom of my left foot if I focus on and look for them.

 

If not but for this issue, I'd feel 100% recovered today... and if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas

[[Dr...]]

 

 

I can't live with this all my life, I will go insane.

 

Benzo's are tricky they find 1000 way's to pull use back in.

 

I certainly agree with the first statement 100%.  And you really said a mouth full on the "tricky" benzo issue. That was a great way to say it.

[[Bi...]]

 

 

I can't live with this all my life, I will go insane.

 

Benzo's are tricky they find 1000 way's to pull us back in.

 

I certainly agree with the first statement 100%.  And you really said a mouth full on the "tricky" benzo issue. That was a great way to say it.

 

With the long healing times it's all that much worse. These drugs are the WORST crap in the world, in a life threatening situation maybe they are warranted like for a heart attack.  I always keep 10mg Ativan in my purse just in case me or my husband has chest pain and looks like a heart attack is eminent or occurring.  It can save a life BUT for daily use this stuff should be BANNED!!

 

[[Bi...]]

I always wonder how loud other's peoples Tinnitus is. My ear dr. said mine was a #9  do not know what that mean's but it's just under a 10 which is really nasty   I do not think it's that bad any longer but it's pretty darn loud still.  What I have can't be ignored at all unless the distraction is EXTREME.  When I try to relax it's ALL I can hear, too loud to ignore just about impossible and then to add to it I can feel my ears vibrating to the point I have itch them with a Q-tip.  This is not normal at all.  Is jumping the key or is a 2 year long nano taper the key?  I wish I knew that answer. 

 

If not but for this issue, I'd feel 100% recovered today... and if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas

 

 

TOO TRUE    I like your way with words X  :laugh:

 

[move]merry christmas  [/move]