Hey Christina.
I think I should be the last one here to give you any form for advice, but you shouldn't lose any hope. It can get better. I want you to read something I came across from an old post here on TT. It's just a good reminder that tinnitus is not always chronic.
"I have been speaking to many people and read stories of people who got rid of their ringing in the ears . I wanted to put everything together for you.First, I must mention that I was able to find less stories of recovery from tinnitus on the internet. That's when I thought it may be forever. But then, I came across people in real life. It was astonishing to know that so many people I know had gone through this, I didn't even know. How could this be? Then I thought, if we completely got rid of the noise overnight, a very few number of us would ever come back to the board tomorrow, because you want to forget. That's why, reading the stuff on the internet is going to be always more depressing because people come here when they feel bad and lonely. In real life, stories of recovery are more common and we need to remember that.
1-4 people I spoke to were in their early 50s. All told me that they woke up one day with ringing and it went away in one-two years.
2-Our neighbor had stress related tinnitus, after she lost her mother. Her doctor put her on prozac and ginko. she was almost back to normal, but 6 months into it she started having panic attacks and went back to square one.It took her over a year and she completely got rid of the noise.
3-A family friend took an overseas flight. When he landed his ears were ringing. He said he got really depressed and used a lot of anti depressants. He doesn't know whether it was the loud engine or the pressure change that caused it. His ears rang for 2 years and he fully recovered.
4-I know 3 people in the army whose ears rang over a year after they left the army.
5-I saw stories of at least 5 people on the internet whose ears rang for at least 6-7 months after a loud concert. In addition to that 2 friends of mine healed in 1- 1.5 years. I came across a story of a fellow forum member who healed in 2 years. In his post he also mentioned another friend of his who also had recovered in 2 years. All of them are noise induced tinnitus.
6-My friend's mom had stress related T after she lost her husband. She said her ears rang for 2 years and then she fully recovered.
7-I am not even writing stories of so many people who recovered in less than 6 months.
So, if you come to this board as a newbie, and if you are feeling depressed, afraid and if you feel you can't go on... Stop for a moment and take a deep breath. It will get better and you will heal. We just need to accept that we are going to go through a difficult time period for a while.Cheers"