Frightened and Scared

[Pomme]

Hi. I am suffering from bad tinnitus & have some Hyperacusis. I have been suffering from this since late February. I've been off work since the middle of April due to the stress of dealing with it all.
My tinnitus has multiple tones and is hard to ignore. I am wary about going outside as sounds appear to be loud. I am struggling and worried all the time. I take mirtazapine to help with the stress.

I am desperate to get back to work but I am frightened of returning to a noisy environment. I will have to travel to work by train which I really don't know how I am going to achieve given my current state. I will have to try with earplugs or earmuffs and pray it's ok.

I am due to try using white noise generators in mid July which I am hoping will help matters but again I am scared these will only make things worse.

I have a young family and I'm petrified about the future with this condition. I want to get back to normal but I can't at the moment. All my family are being hugely supportive but I am at such a loss as to what to do..

Any advice or help that can be offered would be greatly appreciated.

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. Don't panic and don't despair. Things will get better. Many of us were where you are. Many who developed T, had fear and anxiety about the future like you and yet they get better. Don't project the future based on the current suffering. Yes, you know it, it is tough at the beginning because your limbic nerves take over and you function in fight or flight mode which tends to make things worse as they are. Given time and after learning some strategies, people do get better. I am one of those who suffered from ultra high pitch T and severe hyperacusis. I ws in a mess and I never thought I could get better. But today I live a normal, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. I wrote my success story and share some strategies like many members did. If you like, check this out. And try to read as many success story as you can to give you hope.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

Masking your T is a good strategy at the beginning. Have you done some masking yet? If you haven't yet and don't know how, here are some suggestion. Take care. God bless.

1) Mask at bed time so you can sleep better. Find whatever sounds/music that are soothing to you. You can use a sound machine or sound pillow for this, or a computer with speakers.

2) If you need masking on the go, try load an ipod with nature sounds or music using itune. If you have a smart phone, you can download free APPs for soothing or T-masking sounds.

3) If you have computer and speakers, you can try these excellent masking sounds too:

TT's audio player: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

or click play to mix sounds from this simple sound generator: http://asoftmurmur.com/

or this sound library, particularly the self-mix nature sounds: https://mynoise.net

or download free sound generator 'aire freshener': http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

or search youtube with words like 'tinnitus masking sounds', 'white noise', 'rain sound' etc.

 

[Pomme]

Thanks @billie48 for responding. I am trying to use masking but not with headphones as using them probably caused the issues I am experiencing. I have fullness in both ears as well. Although the tinnitus is bad, I feel I can tough it out against that but the Hyperacusis is another matter. It's got me very very scared and given what I've read about it both on here and other forums, it can be very difficult to treat. I use a sound pillow at night to help me sleep but I'm not sure if I'm just aggravating my symptoms or not by using it.

 

[billie48]

Please read my success story where I do describe the battle with H which made life so much unbearble. T & H don't like each other. Yes I know what it is to deal with H. But most people who have T & H will find that H can fade over time. The idea is to not over-protect and allow normal ambient sounds so that the ears can gradually become hardened and the H symptoms will subside.

 

[Phil-O]

Hi @Pomme,
@billie48 has given some great advice. I (and many more) felt like you on first onset, panic, fear and despair, but you will get through this although it takes time. WNGs are a help, and also try this from Terry aka @I who love music. https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/. @Michael Leigh and @glynis have some good advice too, as well as many others here. Remember you are not alone. Here's an interesting article about stress which may help. Best Wishes Phil

"Stress is the main thing that affects tinnitus. Tinnitus is generated in the part of the brain called the Limbic system. The Limbic system controls our emotions: love, hate, fear etc and these all involve STRESS. Stress feeds tinnitus and tinnitus feeds stress. The more stressed we become the louder and more intrusive the tinnitus is. The louder the tinnitus becomes the more stressed we are. It can become a vicious circle.

This is the reason counselling (talk therapy) is so important when some people have loud intrusive tinnitus. Many Hearing Therapists/Audiologists, that counsel tinnitus patients also have tinnitus. They understand how debilitating tinnitus can be and are able to empathize with what a patient is going through. Through counselling a Tinnitus Therapist is able to "take away and demystify" the negative thinking that a patient has about their tinnitus, and thus this lowers their stress and the perception of the tinnitus over time"

 

[Michael Leigh]

"Stress is the main thing that affects tinnitus. Tinnitus is generated in the part of the brain called the Limbic system. The Limbic system controls our emotions: love, hate, fear etc and these all involve STRESS. Stress feeds tinnitus and tinnitus feeds stress. The more stressed we become the louder and more intrusive the tinnitus is. The louder the tinnitus becomes the more stressed we are. It can become a vicious circle.

This is the reason counselling (talk therapy) is so important when some people have loud intrusive tinnitus. Many Hearing Therapists/Audiologists, that counsel tinnitus patients also have tinnitus. They understand how debilitating tinnitus can be and are able to empathize with what a patient is going through. Through counselling a Tinnitus Therapist is able to "take away and demystify" the negative thinking that a patient has about their tinnitus, and thus this lowers their stress and the perception of the tinnitus over time"

@Phil-O I began reading your post and had the distinct feeling I was reading my own words....That's a bit naughty

 

[fishbone]

Hi. I am suffering from bad tinnitus & have some Hyperacusis. I have been suffering from this since late February. I've been off work since the middle of April due to the stress of dealing with it all.
My tinnitus has multiple tones and is hard to ignore. I am wary about going outside as sounds appear to be loud. I am struggling and worried all the time. I take mirtazapine to help with the stress.

I am desperate to get back to work but I am frightened of returning to a noisy environment. I will have to travel to work by train which I really don't know how I am going to achieve given my current state. I will have to try with earplugs or earmuffs and pray it's ok.

I am due to try using white noise generators in mid July which I am hoping will help matters but again I am scared these will only make things worse.

I have a young family and I'm petrified about the future with this condition. I want to get back to normal but I can't at the moment. All my family are being hugely supportive but I am at such a loss as to what to do..

Any advice or help that can be offered would be greatly appreciated.

First of all,

welcome to the forum. This place will support you and be there for you. Tinnitus can be a scary thing for those that are new to it. I was also scared at first and then found it that it's just an annoying noise, that doesn't shut off. I had sensitivity to sound at first and went and saw an audiologist and through some training, I got that issue fixed.

Talking out your issues, can be helpful. Possibly share your feelings with your family and explain what is going on.

I use white noise generators, once in a while. Make sure that a professionally trained individual teaches you how to do things. If you have to take the train, then use ear plugs, it could help your ears out.

Other than that, don't be scared, we are all in the same boat as you and I have been on this ship for almost 30 years. Tinnitus is horrible, but life goes on.....