Having a Hard Week

[Natalie Roberts]

I keep thinking my tinnitus is getting better or my reaction to it is, then I have a week like this and it's hard to stay positive. It seems to have gotten louder and is constantly bothering me. I hear it all the time.. It's not giving me anxiety but I'm kind of in thought process that maybe I need to see another dr. I mean, they didn't do any MRI or anything on me. I was debating seeing a neurologist but I don't know if that's the right route to go either. My primary dr said I don't need an MRI as did the ENT when I saw them initially. I have an appointment with a tinnitus specialist in a week (which is of course not covered by insurance ) and I'm hoping she can give me some direction here. It's just much more noticeable all the time now instead of giving me breaks.. :,( wearing me down.

 

[glynis]

Hi Natalie,
Audiology are the best people to see and see if White noise generators would help you or hearing aids.
Try keep stress down and relax as much as possible even the odd ten minutes time out for yourself as I know you have a young family .
Stay positive ....lots of love glynis x

 

[Natalie Roberts]

Scratch that.. I've been having terrible anxiety all day because of the tinnitus today. I hate it so much. I had hope things were getting better but the last week is just getting worse. Could use some support

 

[Natalie Roberts]

I don't know why but my tinnitus has been so loud for a week or so and its really wearing on me. I am having a really hard time understanding why it's so loud and dealing with it. I thought I was habituating to it until a few weeks ago now I feel like I'm starting all over .. Yesterday it was silent for a few hours and it was AMAZING. Today it's been so loud all day. I can hear it over the tv, music, everything. I am having a bed time focusing and conversing. I feel very depressed :,(

 

[hurtingdream]

I've been feeling the same way. Yesterday was pretty good but today sucks. Changes in T makes it real hard to habituate.

 

[zombiechick]

Mine gets that way too. It can be pretty rough. I am getting better at getting through my day, the nights can be rough. Did you change anything? Your diet? Stop breast feeding? It could be your hormones still settling down. Maybe talk to your doctor. Yesterday my T was bad. Loud hissing in my left ear. Sometimes it helps to cry it out.

 

[Purple Parrot]

Mine changes all the time too. I'm in relative silence about 50% of the time, mild tinnitus for 20% of the time and then the remaining 20% is constant loud (often) pulsing ringing tinnitus at various pitches. The loud will often switch in and out, from mild to loud again (in the space of an hour or 2). Sometimes I feel like I'm going mad and there are still times when the loud moments make me nervous that it won't back off....

I'm noticing though that there are certain triggers for the loudness. Dehydration, coffee, wheat, sugar, sleep deprivation and anxiety/stress/anger are all triggers (not necessarily immediate triggers though which is interesting). Posting on this forum can actually bring it on for me when I'm in silence (again, not immediately - but half an hour after I log off it will start ringing away again).

Next time you're feeling more chill, come up with some coping strategies to follow when you're feeling bad. Maybe you'll jump into the shower and alternate between warm and cold water (this is very grounding), scrub your skin gently with a natural fibre brush (grounding as well)...go for a nice relaxing walk, sip on tea, put some soothing music or an audiobook on. Sometimes I find going for a run can help as well. It's noiser when I'm running but then the "runner's high" kicks in and it pipes down.

 

[Natalie Roberts]

Mine gets that way too. It can be pretty rough. I am getting better at getting through my day, the nights can be rough. Did you change anything? Your diet? Stop breast feeding? It could be your hormones still settling down. Maybe talk to your doctor. Yesterday my T was bad. Loud hissing in my left ear. Sometimes it helps to cry it out.

I haven't really changed anything. I am still nursing but I feel lik my hormones may have stabilized slightly. My dr doesn't know anything about tinnitus so that won't help. I have an appointment with an audiologist next week so we will see what she says. I may go see another ent or a neurologist I just don't know what to do from here.

@Purple Parrot It is frustrating when everything keeps changing. How do you habituate when it's different all the time? I do notice mine is worse when I'm under more anxiety or stress also. I am just feeling really beat down and tired. I had really hoped mine would go away and instead it's getting louder as it goes on. At the moment mine is pretty quiet but it's because I'm sitting in relative silence in my living room. If the tv was on it would be blaring away. It's super reactive still after six months!

@hurtingdream exactly.. I really thought I had habituated until recently and now I'm like wait a minute! I feel like I'm almost starting completely over at step 1. Even the anxiety has come back the last few days .

 

[billie48]

HI Natalie, your T is still relatively new. New T is known for unpredictable pattern of ringing or morphing. It is a period loaded with setbacks. So it is better to have a more 'macro' approach to the road of T recovery or habituation. Try your best to mentally prepare for a period of up to 2 years (mostly within 18 months) of such pattern, and treat it as part of the price to pay for eventual habituation. This way you won't want to sink into mental black holes every time T does a new spin. Look beyond and don't 'micro-manage' T and the recovery journey. There will be inevitable bumps along the road, sometimes more, sometimes less. But the bright days of final habituation will be ahead. Keep positive. If needed, take some natural or herbal supplements for calming the nerves and use some masking if needed. This is the new normal. The more we accept this, the more likely T will be less intrusive. Take good care & God bless.

 

[Hil]

@Natalie Roberts I am in the same boat. Mine keeps changing as well. Once I think I've begun to habituate, a new noise shows up. Or a sound I'm used to be softer or in the background suddenly gets loud. I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, I really hope things begin to ease up soon.

 

[Natalie Roberts]

@Natalie Roberts I am in the same boat. Mine keeps changing as well. Once I think I've begun to habituate, a new noise shows up. Or a sound I'm used to be softer or in the background suddenly gets loud. I'm sorry you're having such a rough time, I really hope things begin to ease up soon.

I hope yours eases up as well. Mine was really good today all day and I needed a good day so this helped me to recharge!

 

[Natalie Roberts]

HI Natalie, your T is still relatively new. New T is known for unpredictable pattern of ringing or morphing. It is a period loaded with setbacks. So it is better to have a more 'macro' approach to the road of T recovery or habituation. Try your best to mentally prepare for a period of up to 2 years (mostly within 18 months) of such pattern, and treat it as part of the price to pay for eventual habituation. This way you won't want to sink into mental black holes every time T does a new spin. Look beyond and don't 'micro-manage' T and the recovery journey. There will be inevitable bumps along the road, sometimes more, sometimes less. But the bright days of final habituation will be ahead. Keep positive. If needed, take some natural or herbal supplements for calming the nerves and use some masking if needed. This is the new normal. The more we accept this, the more likely T will be less intrusive. Take good care & God bless.

Thank you for your post. I really appreciate your advise, as always. It makes sense, what you said about expecting it to take longer to habituate. For some crazy reason I was thinking I had habituated earlier but then things changed and I realized I hadn't. Today was a good day for me and I needed that. I hope things are well for you.thank you again for your kind words.

 

[hurtingdream]

I hope yours eases up as well. Mine was really good today all day and I needed a good day so this helped me to recharge!

Mine was good today too. Hopefully we all have better days in the future!