18 Years Old with Tinnitus, Hyperacusis and TMD

[Adin]

Hey people. I've had the listed symptoms for about 3,5 months. Everything came seemingly out of nowhere one night when laying in bed. I had not been exposed to loud noise in days. I have formerly been pretty carefull with my ears because of a former phobia of well, developing tinnitus . (Ironic i know). At first i was terrified and even suicidal, but my mindset has definentally improved a lot since the onset.

But even though it isn't ruining my life like it did in the beggining, I feel like these 3 symptoms/conditions are going to deny me large parts of what would have been the best years of my life. When my friends go to concerts/are out clubbing I always bail. Partly because of fear of worsening my symptoms, and partly because of the fact that i wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway because of the hyperacusis. I love music with a passion, but now i only really listen to it to feel normal, i hardly enjoy it at all anymore. Tmj pains are also taking a great toll on my psyche, and my worsened ability to concentrate are starting to reflect itself in my School results, which is absolutely heartbreaking since i used to be a pretty good student.

Friends and family try to support me best they can, but it just straight up feels like noone really understands what i'm going through. I have no hearing damage according to my ent, no former major health problems and I live an overal good life otherwise.The worst part of all is probably not knowing why it all started in the first place. I don't know, i think i just want to hear from someone who can relate with me or maybe even has/is going through something similiar. Any type of support really would be greatly appreciated. Because right now it feels like i'm in a pretty dark place

 

[stophiss]

Have you been to any doctors like an ENT or doctor to address your TMJ? Do you have clicking in your jaw?...have you had braces which may have changed your jaw alignment or over/under bite?

And... nobody is gonna understand it. Nobody understands anything until they walk in another man's shoes. I sure didn't understand this until I got or gave a moment's notice to it.
But...'we' understand it now.

The thing about tinnitus is...because it is basically a brain processing issue, there is no known cure yet.
But here is where I want to give you hope in the face of so few answers. You are so young. There is no question in your life time there will be help. Look forward to that day. Research is now multi variant. Many different avenues being pursued to reverse tinnitus based upon difficult causations.

Meanwhile, protect your ears at all costs if you have H in particular. Listen to Michael and don't wear earphones or if you must listen at extremely low volume.

Reading your opening post, I hear anxiety which is a theme that runs thru almost every tinnitus post searching for answers and btw many (me) belief contributes to contracting tinnitus in the first place...stress hormones + auditory apparatus change or damage for sundry reasons = tinnitus. If you can't habituate to tinnitus...perform a search how...then seek a therapist to consider anti depressant meds to bring your brain chemistry back to normal balance so you accept what life throws at you like a right hook like tinnitus.

I will leave you with a funny saying from Mike Tyson who is known as not the sharpest knife in the drawer. You may have heard of him. He says it best and something I have always remembered about life which deals each of us many challenges along the way. "Everybody has a plan until they get hit". Mike of course changed many people's plans because he was arguably one of the hardest hitters in boxing history.

Stay positive and get professional help if you struggle.
Take care.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I will leave you with a funny saying from Mike Tyson who is known as not the sharpest knife in the drawer. You may have heard of him. He says it best and something I have always remembered about life which deals each of us many challenges along the way. "Everybody has a plan until they get hit". Mike of course changed many people's plans because he was arguably one of the hardest hitters in boxing history.

Love the humor @stophiss please keep it coming. Great post by the way, that hasn't left anything for me to Add. You are getting just little bit too good at this

@Adin Although TMJ can cause tinnitus, there are clues in your post that could prove something else is responsible. Namely concerts and clubbing, and if you listened to music through headphones regularly, prior to the onset of the tinnitus, then loud noise could be the cause. It can creep up on a person over a long period of time or, just happen suddenly. Think back to when you used to go out with your friends to clubs and concerts, did your ears ever ring afterwards, then it would go by the next day? Exposure to loud noise is the most common cause of tinnitus.

Hope you start to feel better soon
Michael

 

[Adin]

Thanks for the support @stophiss. Really made me feel more possitive regarding my situation .
Regarding your question @Michael Leigh , i have only ever experienced ringing after exposure to loud noise 1 time before the onset that i can recall. It was after a music festival in june i went to with a couple of friends where i did pretty much everything wrong that i could have regarding protecting my hearing (No ear plugs, standing close to the stage large portions of the sets, etc.) It went away after 1,5 days, but the sound i heard then was much different to the one i am currently hearing. I have never been a diehard concert goer, I propably averaged about 1-2 concerts a year before the onset and i have only really clubbed once in my life for a short period of time, since the onset came not long after my 18th birthday. I listened to loud music rarelly, and when i did it was because of friends cranking up the volume, when listening on my phone i virtually never went above 60% volume. (Now i never exceed 40%).

I do however recall some instances of experiencing a very very faint shreaking noise during periods where my jaw would ache more than usual. What is also very weird is that my tinnitus changes A LOT in loudness from day to day, for example, right now i can barely hear it, but the day before yesterday it was so loud i couldn't sleep even with pink noise in the background. I'm going too see an ENT doctor that specialises in jaws and neck next week, to see if i can get help with the horrible pains i am experiencing. If that gets sorted out (Or at least improved) I think i will have a much easier time dealing with my sitation. If the T and H would improve accordingly with my jaw getting better, that would be great. But i'm trying not to get my hopes up, because i know hope is a really harch mistress that can really delay my habituation. I will also look into getting help with improving my ldl because although my H being somewhat mild from what i've read ( I hardly ever experience physical pain because of constant sounds), it is definentally the thing that is holding me back the most along with the tmd.

I will continue listening to music, but with extreme caution. I always carry a pair of earplugs with me just in case, and if i suspect the volume in my current environment could be damaging my ears, i always use a decibel meter on my phone and put in earplugs instantly if it shows anything above 80db. I try to think as possitive as i can and see it as a timeline. 3,5 months ago i was suicidal, now i have more good days than bad. Who knows, in 1-2 years it might hardly affect me at all.

 

[glynis]

@Adin,
Great to hear you are doing better now than 3 months ago....lots of love glynis