Hi Woodsman,
I suffer tinnitus as a result of a reaction to a drug that was administered to me for my RSD (IV Pamidronate) apparently a very rare side effect, the story of my life. I also developed vertigo now mostly triggered when I travel on planes, trains or boats which is often. When I first got tinnitus it was like a loud roaring motor inside my head. I could not hear what anyone was saying to me over top of the motor noise in my head, it was very frightening. The doctor gave me a course of prednisone, along with 20 sessions in a HBOT chamber. My vertigo started after the HBOT dives. Ultimately between the 2 treatments it calmed things down but the tinnitus kept coming back sometimes quite significantly other times just a low buzzing sound.
My ENT specialist did not want to keep giving me prednisone because of my history with RSD bone loss and rare side effects.
He offered me a little known treatment that stopped the loud roaring noise in it's tracks. He gave me 3 treatments of a steroid injection directly into the eardrum. At first I rejected it for fear of the pain but I honestly got to the point where I was loosing my mind so I decided to go ahead and try the injections and I'm very happy I did as it has made a big difference for me. (now I know why Van Gogh cut his ear off, they say he suffered from tinnitus too). Apparently one of the few treatments that offer any significant relief from tinnitus is IV lidocaine, which I also have every 3 weeks
Now my tinnitus is mild a very low buzzing sound that still comes and goes but no where near as bad as the loud motor, mainly it is intensified typically when I have a head cold or when I fly.
In the end I did lose part of my hearing in the high frequencies so I can related to the frustrations you have with background noise causing confusion. I don’t like to be in loud places trying to have a conversation.
The question is was I predisposed to tinnitus because I have RSD or is it my RSD that causes it to flare up? I recently read that it is now thought that the noise originates in the brain and not in the ear, as was previously believed. If the ear is damaged by exposure to loud noises or certain medications (including aspirin), the brain may try to compensate and end up producing electrical signals that a person hears as a ringing in the ears. .
Here is a link to the Mayo Clinic that discussed causes of tinnitus.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tin...SECTION=causes
MsL