Tenacious Tinnitus Club – Ear Pressure, Noise and Hyperacusis

[[Bi...]]

[quote author=Juliea

 

Bird, if you feel you might have some kind of chronic inner ear infection, please see an ENT.  Sometimes not everything is withdrawal.

 

It sure feels like an ear infection but its from the withdrawal.  My ears got the hit really hard, I guess everyone has their least favorite symptom. :'(

[[Bi...]]

Hi Bird

I looked at Campral some time ago and posted on it. The drug certainly looks like it could be effective in benzo withdrawal including the side effect of tinnitus. If I were having a tough time, I certainly would try it. I think Braban was interested in it also, but said it was expensive. Here's the wiki link if anyone wants to start reading about the drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acamprosate

Bart

 

Thanks Bart

[[xe...]]

For what it's worth I took campral for 2-3 weeks or more and didn't notice anything at all.

[[Bi...]]

For what it's worth I took campral for 2-3 weeks or more and didn't notice anything at all.

 

Thanks xerxes.  I just hope time works.  It's hard to believe when things go this slow :'(  Hard to keep the faith at times.

[[db...]]

Hey Birdman,

 

Which maskers did you buy occlusive fit or open fit?  And did your fit choice work out well?

 

Thanks,

dbell

[[Bi...]]

Hey Birdman,

 

Which maskers did you buy occlusive fit or open fit?  And did your fit choice work out well?

 

Thanks,

dbell

 

Hi I bought both, lol  I could not stand the silence if I lost one.  They put me to sleep like a baby.  It's like sleeping in the shower all night long  

 

I like the occlusive the best as they go deeper in my ear and they do not make my ears sore from laying on the pillow all night.

 

Hugs

 

Bird

[[Is...]]

Birdman,

I also have severe tinnitus (left side worse than right side) and ear pain (pain in ear is only on left side).  I went to the ENT and he said nothing was wrong.  He is now sending me to a TMJ specialist.  I am not sure how they are going to help.  Did you find anything to help with the terrible ear pain?  The ENT also sent me for a hearing test.  The hearing test came out fine but said I couldn't hear low tones.  I cannot hear things low because of the loud tinnitus.  This has been going on for over a year with no improvement. 

[[Bi...]]

Birdman,

I also have severe tinnitus (left side worse than right side) and ear pain (pain in ear is only on left side).  I went to the ENT and he said nothing was wrong.  He is now sending me to a TMJ specialist.  I am not sure how they are going to help.  Did you find anything to help with the terrible ear pain?  The ENT also sent me for a hearing test.  The hearing test came out fine but said I couldn't hear low tones.  I cannot hear things low because of the loud tinnitus.  This has been going on for over a year with no improvement.

 

Hi island girl,  They say the ear pain comes from actual pressure in the cochlea and this also causes the tinnitus.  I'm pretty sure it takes many years to heal for long term or high dose users like you and me.  Have faith that you will heal.  I guess 3 years is not unheard of for T to fade away.  This sucks!!

 

I have had some good days but at the speed of healing I'd say it's going to take me a few more years for my tinnitus to be gone down to tolerable levels (2016 just great ) 

People do not understand this level of tinnitus that is actually PAINFUL. It hurts!!  When tinnitus can cause deep ear pain and headaches it's really bad.  Some people just do not understand the level of our pain.

 

I wish you speedy healing Island Girl

[[pr...]]

i have the deep ear pain mostly in my left ear. i've had to manually plug my ears with my fingers about 20 times per day lately as the hyperacusis is so bad again. i simply cannot handle when the train comes by. and it comes by about 20 times per day. i can't believe i don't have the tinnitus like you folks. i mean, i do get it sometimes but you would think with the bad c/t i did that i would have it. i'm grateful i don't have it bad. and when i do get the tinnitus i totally feel for all of you -- it would really make me feel insane.

 

but the hyperacusis and the brain symptoms are making me insane. it really feels as though everything will be this loud and painful forever. it's literally painful within the body, like knives going into your body when dishes clank or the train hoots it's horn and then my left ear deeply hurts. i'm really in it tonight. i was better -- and now back in it bad tonight. :'(

[[Is...]]

Birdman,

 

I just recieved the tinnitus maskers that was suggested. There was no directions but my husband figured them out. I need your advice. I turned them down as far as they will go and they are still so loud. How is this lowed noise in my ears suppose to help? The maskers are so loud they hurt my ears more. Am I doing something wrong?

 

 

 

love IslandGirl

[[Bi...]]

Birdman,

 

I just recieved the tinnitus maskers that was suggested. There was no directions but my husband figured them out. I need your advice. I turned them down as far as they will go and they are still so loud. How is this lowed noise in my ears suppose to help? The maskers are so loud they hurt my ears more. Am I doing something wrong?

 

love IslandGirl

 

Hi island girl,  If they are on the lowest setting I can barely get relief.  I use them at about half volume.    It sounds to me like you have hyperacusis more so than tinnitus.  As I healed the hyperacusis went away and the tinnitus got worse.  If the maskers hurt you I'd say you have hyperacusis more so than tinnitus.  That will change overtime and the hyperacusis fades and the tinnitus remains.  I think as you heal you will find them more relieving.  I could not use them either until I healed some more.  I think you will find them very useful in the months yet to come when the hyperacusis fades and the tinnitus get stronger.  I am very sure these will work for you is still in the future as you heal more. At some point in your healing future you will be happy you got them trust me.

[[Bi...]]

INTERESTING

 

Tinnitus and Antidepressants

Nortriptyline

Mark Sullivan, M.D., Ph.D., Wayne

Katon, M.D., and others completed a large

double-blind study in 1993 on the tri-cyclic

drug

nortriptyline

. Nortriptyline is an oral

medication that can be started out at a very

small dose and increased gradually. In the

double-blind placebo controlled study, many

subjects had a decrease in tinnitus in the

worst ear (although not in both ears), a

decrease in depressive symptoms (which is

no surprise since they were taking an anti-

depressant), and a decrease in disability as

rated by the tinnitus patients. The people

who had the most improvement in this

study were people who were depressed or

had trouble sleeping.

New-Generation Antidepressants

The newer generation of antidepres-

sants falls into a few categories. The biggest

is the SSRI

(selective serotonin reuptake

inhibitor)

category, which includes Prozac,

Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro and Luvox. In

addition, Effexor, Remeron, and Cymbalta

have some serotonin reuptake properties

but also other properties.

The SSRIs primarily focus on the brain

chemical serotonin. The auditory cortex –

the hearing part of the brain – is very rich

in serotonin receptors. Additionally, the

auditory cortex is highly connected to the

limbic system, which is where our emotions

are regulated. The limbic system is also

densely populated with serotonin receptors.

There are a lot of case reports of individuals

with tinnitus who got better – sometimes

significantly better – on this new generation

of antidepressants

 

 

We then looked at which people in the

study had severe tinnitus, which had

tinnitus in just one ear, and so forth to try to

figure out if there was a specific group of

tinnitus patients who got better with Paxil.

We looked at only the people who got 50 mg

of Paxil compared to all the people on

placebo and found that more people on the

high dose of Paxil (50 mg) compared to

those who got the placebo had consistent

improvement on a number of questions

about tinnitus, and had a decrease in the

loudness of their tinnitus as measured by

tinnitus matching.

 

 

REF;

http://www.ata.org/sites/ata.org/files/pdf/pdf_archives/Treatments_and_Devices/tinnitus_and_antidepressants_robinson_march_05.pdf

[[Bi...]]

Experts think that tinnitus might trigger depression, which in turn worsens the way tinnitus is experienced. By treating the depression, antidepressants might reduce tinnitus symptoms indirectly. But tinnitus patients without depression might also benefit from the drugs because they inhibit certain neurotransmitters in the auditory pathways of the brain that might affect the tinnitus directly.

 

REF;

http://consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/can-tinnitus-be-helped-with-antidepressants/index.htm

 

 

 

 

 

I have had tinnitus for 3 years. Never stops. Started suddenly in middle of night. Terrible screaming and other sounds like a enormous fly in ears. I have it in both. I have been told I had horrible things, like rabies and encephalitis, lyme desase, stroke. I have none.. I did have bad case whiplash 2 days before this noise started. I have had surgery for bone in my neck they thought caused it. No it didn't. I have had all steroid shots in neck 6 different times, tried physical therapy, every pill I could take. I am now on Ativan because I can not sleep at all. I can even hear this over jet engine on plane. I have run out of doctors because they don't care about noise in ears. How bad could it be, they say.

 

I am addicted to Ativan and that worries me. My ears hurt. They feel they are being pulled. can't move arms, push, pull. lift, lay down without terrible screaming bussing and noise like whoooooo, real irritating to say least. I can not cry laugh or do anything that requires throat movement. All doctors think I'm making this worse than it is. At the end of what I can take, with no help to come. Any masking noise has been tried. I'm new here. Thanks for letting me vent! No one who has never heard these noises could ever understand.

 

REF 

http://www.patient.co.uk/forums/discuss/tinnitus-and-antidepressants-36463

 

[[Bi...]]

Changes in blood serotonin in patients with tinnitus and other vestibular disturbances.

Sachanska T.

Author information

Abstract

 

The role of serotonin as a mediator and stress hormone and its function in vessel tonus regulation is proved. The aim of the work is to study the concentration of serotonin in blood in patients with vestibular disturbances before and after vestibular provocation and in patients with tinnitus. The study was performed on 134 persons distributed among three groups: group I, 35 patients with vestibular disturbances; group II, 75 healthy persons; group III, 24 patients with tinnitus. Serotonin was examined twice in patients with vestibular disturbances (group I) and in healthy persons (group II), before and 15 minutes after vestibular provocation realized by a cold caloric test, and once in patients with tinnitus (group III). Vestibular loading provokes changes in blood serotonin: In vestibularly stable persons, serotonin decreases and comparatively weaker vestibular vegetative reactions develop. The role of serotonin in the compensatory mechanisms of the organism related to vestibular crisis is discussed. We recommend its inclusion with routine neurootological examinations for selecting candidates for work in conditions that overload the vestibular analyzer. Patients with tinnitus have serotonin blood values that significantly exceed the referent ones.

 

?? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??  To much serotonin  ??  ANY BODY??

 

REF

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10753413

[[Bi...]]

SSRI anti-depressants are in wide use today and prescribed for many people with tinnitus. In some cases they help but they can come with a host of side effects. Some of the more serious side effects include heart palpitations and chest pain, decreased libido, suicide (this has been in the news recently as it affects teenagers), nervous system disorders and tinnitus. The Physician’s Desk Reference lists tinnitus as a "frequent" side effect of SSRI anti-depressants. There are no side effects to supplementation with tryptophan. So here we can have a situation where an individual who is depressed because of tinnitus is prescribed a medication that is a known cause of tinnitus.

 

Anyone ever try tryptophan??

 

REF ;  http://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/theres-a-link-between-serotonin-and-tinnitus.275/

 

[[Is...]]

Birdman,

 

I keep trying the use of Kava tincture to help manage the tinnitus.  Some nights it works for me other nights it doesn't.  I have now ordered Kava Paste (a more concentrated Kava) to see if that will help me at night.  The nights are the worse for me.  I try to lay down and the tinnitus drives me crazy so I can only lay about a minute before popping out of bed.  This has been going on for 13 months.  Needless to say, I don't lay down very often.  I mostly walk with little or no sleep. 

 

Sorry I don't have any answers for you about your above posts.  I hope someone can help.

[[pr...]]

bridman,

 

i just talked all about the too much serotonin and tryptophan issue on my blog.

 

my posts on here are ignored so i'm leaving this thread.

[[pe...]]

I can so much relate to the discussion that is going on here.  IslandGirl I completely emphathize with what you are saying.  I suffered terribly with severe tinnitus.  It made me extremely anxious and depressed.  I was incapacitated by it.  And worst of all, I couldn't sleep through it.  I am guessing that for 15 months after it started I only slept an average of 4 hours per night.  I thought I was going to die of sleep deprivation.  I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't function, my anxiety was off the wall...I didn't want to live anymore.  I should also interject here that my tinnitus started after an episode of water intoxication, but it did get worse while I was on klonopin and during withdrawal.  The last thing I wanted to do was take another drug, but someone in my life convinced me to go to a nurse practitioner for help.  She prescribed Zoloft, which ended up being a lifesaver for me.  With Zoloft, I was finally able to sleep.  My tinnitus started diminishing, which I attributed to being able to sleep.  As the tinnitus started diminishing, my anxiety and depression started lifting.  Since I knew I didn't want to get addicted to Zoloft, I did some research and found an herb that works similar to an SSRI.  After 2 months of taking Zoloft I tapered off and switched to an herb called Kanna.  With the Kanna, I continued to be able to sleep and function.  I am no longer taking Kanna, but I am sleeping well and I feel my tinnitus continues to very slowly diminish, with some days being worse than others.  Tinnitus is something that people just don't understand how debilitating it can be and much suffering it can cause. 

 

Please don't leave the thread pretty. 

 

PD

[[Is...]]

Pretty,,,,,

 

Don't go..  Please

[[Is...]]

Pretty Daughter,

 

Can you tell me where you get your Kanna from? I did an on-line search and a few places seem sketchy. What form do you use. Seems like they have pills, powder and tinctures. Pills are so much easier for me. Also what dosage do you take?  Sorry for asking so many questions. I am desperate to see if anything helps.

 

Love IslandGirl

[[Is...]]

Birdman,

 

I have tried tryptophan. It was referenced in Julie Ross "Mood Cure" book. She says tryptophan converts to 5HTP which then converts into Serotonin. She referenced that this helps lift depression and anxiety. I tried it for a little bit and it did not seem to work for me, but to be fair that was earlier in the healing process so maybe I should give it another try. In any case, it did not help my tinnitus.

 

Love IslandGirl 

[[pe...]]

Pretty Daughter,

 

Can you tell me where you get your Kanna from? I did an on-line search and a few places seem sketchy. What form do you use. Seems like they have pills, powder and tinctures. Pills are so much easier for me. Also what dosage do you take?  Sorry for asking so many questions. I am desperate to see if anything helps.

 

Love IslandGirl

 

Don't worry about asking questions.  The best way to learn is from each other.  I got my kanna from Skyfield Tropical.  I'm seeing it says they are offline until February 28th.  I'm not able to find the kanna in their store right now, so maybe it is because they are temporarily offline.  I highly recommend this brand.  They make their product according to these guidelines to ensure you get an effective product:

 

If you have tried Kanna and been unimpressed, it is usually because the manufacturer is unaware, or has ignored traditional knowledge of it's preparation. In this case, traditional preparation (fermentation) plays a vital role in freeing the active compounds. There is a dramatic difference between kanna that has been fermented, versus harvested and dried, or chemically extracted. Fresh leaves have almost no potency. To get the active alkaloids out of kanna / sceletium:

 

- Kanna must be more than 1 year old (older is preferable), and harvested in the autumn.

- The entire plant must be used, roots stems, leaves, flowers, seeds and all.

- The plant must be crushed and properly fermented for 7 days. The resulting gray herbal material (and it's liquid) is then dried.

 

Many kanna products use simply the dried powdered leaves, which are ineffective and contain oxalic acid, something which traditional fermentation naturally destroys. Only by using this fermentation process will Kanna yield its profound secrets; we know because we've done it ourselves.

 

PD

 

 

[[Bi...]]

bridman,

 

i just talked all about the too much serotonin and tryptophan issue on my blog.

 

my posts on here are ignored so i'm leaving this thread.

 

Hi Pretty, Can you please repost your work here? I am sure people here would love to see it.  I would be interested in your info on serotonin and tryptophan info. I am searching for answers and help just like you.

 

Please repost it here,  PRETTY PLEASE with a cherry on top

[[Bi...]]

Birdman,

 

I keep trying the use of Kava tincture to help manage the tinnitus.  Some nights it works for me other nights it doesn't.  I have now ordered Kava Paste (a more concentrated Kava) to see if that will help me at night.  The nights are the worse for me.  I try to lay down and the tinnitus drives me crazy so I can only lay about a minute before popping out of bed.  This has been going on for 13 months.  Needless to say, I don't lay down very often.  I mostly walk with little or no sleep. 

 

Sorry I don't have any answers for you about your above posts.  I hope someone can help.

 

Kava - good stuff  :o :o :o

 

I did be afraid to try it.  Is it mild?

[[Bi...]]

Hi island girl.  I was thinking about the maskers.  12 months ago I had the same problem and could not stand the Loud white noise either.  But after a while the H went away and only the T remained and then I craved the relief from the maskers.  I think your still somewhat acute if you call them TOO LOUD.  You are probably worse off then me in that case.  I think as you heal you will get to a point where only the T remains and then you too will crave that relaxing white noise.  It will happen, I'v talked to lots of people here that report this healing trend of H turning into T eventually.

 

Give it time.  I think you have a ways to go before you get to the stage I am at now. 20 months from cold turkey date and counting, man this benzo thing takes a long LONG time for healing

 

 

perfect daughter - You know a lot about kanna.  I'd like to see if it works for me.  One more supplement will not break my supplement storage shelf (I already have a beam supporting it all )