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Hi,
I ve been bumping into this forum quite a lot lately and I ve decided to make a post myself since I am feeling really desperate right now. I hope that I can find someone here who can give me some hope or at least some good advice in case he/she has had similar experience.
I ve been dealing with anxiety and depression since December 2012. Several years ago I had the same problem with identical symptoms (constant dizzyness, insomnia and generalized feelings of distress) during another difficult phase of my life. Back then I was "cured" by taking an antidepressant: Citalopram/Celexa (one of the most common known SSRIs). I only had to take it for a short period of time (approx.6 weeks) before I felt like my old self again and so I tapered it off and was doing great for many years.
Back to the present: Since it worked out so well in the past for me I decided to take Citalopram again. Starting at a really minimal dose (5mg/day) I felt ok for the first days... until I reached day 6 where I noticed a constant buzzing in both ears. I started my research and after finding several references about SSRI induced tinnitus I knew immediately that this was a side effect of the drug. I immediately stopped taking it.
Now, 2 months have past since then and unfortunatelly the noise has not subsided. No improvement whatsoever. Meanwhile I went to 2 ENTs: Audiometry tests showed no significant hearing loss. Took prednisolon (steroid treatment) but it didnt help. Tried acupuncture, craniosacral treatment and currently homeopathy.. no relief whatsoever.
It is not just the noise that is distressing me. My ears feel like I ve been to a loud concert the day before (clogged feeling and mild hyperacusis). My tinnitus is dynamically changing. Some days it can be masked easily so I only notice it when in quite surroundings. On other days I hear it over every backround noise, no matter how loud. It is composed of several frequencies so it is pretty difficult to pinpoint if it is tonal or just a buzzing but in either case it sounds very high frequent (>10KHz).
As a last resort I went to an audiologist and ordered hearing aids (white noise sound generators). They will be ready in one week. All my hope currently goes into those aids. I am hoping that they can finally bring me some relief although I have noticed that while white noise is good for masking it aggravates the tinnitus after stopping it.
Tinnitus is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. My life has literally turned into shit the past months and I feel really helpless with it. I dont feel like I will be ever able to habituate to this, since my mind is totally consumed by it...
Has anyone had similar experiences with tinnitus and SSRIs? Is there still hope that this will go away or at least get better eventually in time? From what I ve read and understood the tinnitus most probably is caused due to a chemical imbalance (serotonine) in my brain rather than direct damage to my ears. I would have guessed that after 2 months though there should have been some improvement now. What do you think?
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Hi ccrrxx,
Welcome to the forum.
You shouldn't be worried that it hasn't improved yet after 2 months. For many people it can take up to 6 months until there is a substantial improvement.
Having said this, have you tried whether simple painkillers (Paracetamol or Aspirin) the situation? Just 1 or 2 tablets a day for a couple of days could already reduce the level substantially.
In any case, try to take it from day to day at the moment and don't think so much about the future. A few months down the line everything will look already more positive.
Thomas
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I am seven months into T and went 3 months before reaching a point where I felt I could continue with my life. Very Bad.
I have gone with TRT training and am just one week into it. I mostly feel like I am living in a helmet with the hearing aids and am not quite so sure at this point. My advise before going with the hearing aids is to as they say surround yourself with sound. This will cost a lot less than the close to $5,000 for TRT and I think more pleasant than the hearing aid. You must read the literature on TRT and really understand it to treat your self or get some advice from an audiologist. There is a great APP your can download for around $3.00 It is fully programmable it is called Relax M.P. This is really feature loaded and includes Binaural Beats that can help with sleep, relaxation and concentration. Combine this with a smart phone. portable speaker doc and your can take and set anywhere anytime and a pillow setup with speakers. It will make a difference. I cannot say how effective self management can be in the end but this is fast and very convenient till you see where you are going. Some of this stuff you will use even if you do go for TRT in the end.
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There is also an app called sleep pillow and you can mix different sounds to help mask the tinnitus. It can really help keep you calm without drugs.
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Hi Thomas, jimp and Melissa,
thank you very much for your replies.
@Thomas:
First of all, your forum is the best tinnitus support forum out there in the vast universe of the net. Thank you so much for doing this, you give many people hope and mental support, this cannot be praised often enough.
Unfortunately the painkillers dont do anything for me. I tried paracetamol twice but they didnt have the effect I hoped for. I have quit coffee and alcohol months ago since it all started, so I suppose it cannot be due to that factor that the painkillers didnt work. Only thing I cannot quit is smoking, especially now having to deal with this awful condition.. I dont know if it would make any difference but I will try to at least reduce it to a minimum and see what happens (I ve been a strong smoker for many years so I am pretty sure that quitting now abruptly would make things even worse).
I am on 2,5 months now, closing down the deadline where German medicine defines the symptom as chronic. Like I ve mentioned in my first post, I ve tried a lot up until now but unfortunately nothing helped and I havent sensed any improvement of the symptom getting better. The only good news is that I can sleep normally without interruptions. I have some "good days" where the "noise" goes relatively unnoticed while I am outside and working in the office and I only hear it when there are not enough backround audio distractions or when I think about it. On other days though I have no chance blending the TT out. It truly is a "mental" thing for the biggest part of it.
One thing has been crossing my mind lately and I will make an appointment with a psychiatrist to discuss it. My TT began during a very stressful phase (burn-out, quarter- to midlife-crisis, depression, anxiety... call it what you want) and most probably due to taking a small dosage of an antidepressant (as I explained in my first post). Now, considering the nature of my symptom (bilateral/2sided), a feeling of coming from within the head somehow, and the fact that it was not noise-induced, I think it is definitely caused by some imbalance of the central nervous system. I ve had noise-induced TT before as a teenager which subsided after 2-3 weeks and it felt different than what I experience now (as far as I can remember).
Furthermore, experiencing "sounds from within" is not completely new to me as I believe that I ve had always had a very mild tinnitus for the past decade which I never was really aware of. One theory would be that my 100% compensated TT suddenly became decompensated due to stress, making the brain unable to automatically filter it out. And now pandora's box is open...
I ve read several posts and references of people that have actually found relief or have even cured the TT by taking antidepressants. It is actually being used as "off-label" treatment by some doctors. Since this whole thing still keeps me in a depressed mental state I am wondering if maybe I should give it another shot with a different AD. Obviously though I feel reluctant doing that. On the other hand though, maybe that is the key to solving this... either having the noise going down or at least feeling indifferent about the TT would work for me.
What do you think Thomas? Have you had any experience (or read experiences from others) with that kind of medication for treating TT?
@jimp:
I started with TRT as well (had some basic counselling) and now using white noise hearing aids (since yesterday). Since my insurance is covering the costs (I live in Germany) I decided to give it a shot. My audiologist and TT-specialist explained to me that I should try to mask the noise only to a 90% so habituation can be effective in the future. My problem is though that I feel that the white noise is actually aggravating my TT. I doesnt matter how loud I adjust the volume on the aids, the TT seems to somehow get through anyway so when I wear them I keep the volume to the minimum. The audiologist said that habituation with the aids is a process that will last up to 2 years. I am at the very begining yet but not quite sure if this is the right thing to do, since I dont see how aggravating it is a good idea in the long term (it quites down again the next morning). Interestingly I can mask the symptom with external noises but not with the white noise generator (must be due to the nature of the broad band frequency).
What is your experience so far?
Thank you in advance and sorry for this long post.
Last edited by ccrrxx (28-04-2013 23:11:39)
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Hi ccrrxx,
I have heard from quite a few people who have apparently been helped by anti-depressants, but in the long terms it is obviously not an ideal solution. I personally would avoid them if I can because of the severe side effects associated with them. I would consider them only as a last resort, that is if I feel I am not able to function anymore otherwise.
As for the TRT, I am surprised they are offering you this already after less then 3 months into your condition; I have heard that the recommended starting time is 6 months or later, as before that the habituation process is less likely to work.
Thomas
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I will post a longer response later, but the TRT treatment has taken away 80% of the physical symptoms I was having. It has had a fairly minor reduction in the ringing itself and the hearing aids seem to make the ringing actually go up similar to what you are saying. Over all it has been very helpful though and has brought me to a state where I can continue with my life and not feel like I am in a hopeless situation.
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It is all about having belief in the self-healing properties of your body and the confidence that the nervous system eventually re-adjusts itself to its normal state. You have to think positive. Let the good phases motivate you and either try to ignore the negative phases or use them as a guide what to change about your life.
Thomas
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Thanx Thomas, I agree with you, keeping up an optimistic attitude does help the recovery process a lot, (if you read the current Spiegel 's edition there is a very interesting article about the healing properties of meditation and positive "suggestion" being applied in modern medicine). It s just so damn hard to do that with this specific condition, due to its level of constant annoyance and especially when you have to read everywhere that this might probably be permanent. I do my best to cope and keep up the faith that this will subside in time or at least stop bothering me as it does now...
@jimp
I would be very interested to read about your experience so far with the hearing aids. I myself am still experimenting and kind of in a dilemma whether they are improving or worsening the condition... a bit of both at the same time I guess. I do not fear silence anymore while using them. When the sound level goes down they work as a "noise-net" masking the distorted silence. which gives some sense of control over it. On the other hand though I feel how the TT becomes more aggressive and tonal (mine is really high-pitched) trying to "fight" through the white-noise. True masking is not possible for me with these aids.
Is this aggravation-effect only in the beginning until one gets used to the aids? How do you figure that your TT has improved? Do you wear them all the time or just for shorter periods during the day?
Thanx in advance
Best regards,
m
Last edited by ccrrxx (26-05-2013 13:16:27)
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