Hello Tinnitus! How Are You?

[Malerie]

I'm new to this site as I happened to come across it over this past weekend. Here's my story...I have horrible allergies and have suffered from sinus issues all my life (take allergy shots and antihistamine - these help tremendously). I developed severe sinus pressure amd ear pain only on my left side back on Jan. 15th. I took nasal decongestant for a few days and the pressure subsided (I've done this before other times). Well pressure came back on Jan. 19th and 20th BAD so took nasal decongestants again and it helped but then I had ringing in my left ear right after. The rininging wasn't consistent (went in and out) for 5 days but on Jan. 25th the screeching came on full blast and has not gone away! I've been in agony! It got so loud one day that high pitch noises were distorted but it went back down. I had relief for all of a few hours when the rininging was completely silent on Mon. Feb. 8th during the night but it came back AGAIN! And the next day is was full on attack mode - blood curdle screeches in my head! I have had trouble concentrating and listening to people some. Right now as I type this, my ears are ringing at a very high pitch but I'm trying to ignore it. Yes I'm taking supplements...yes I've gone to an ENT who said my hearing is perfect (no hearing loss), no damage to my ears, no infection he can see and just have to let it go away...oh yea and to use my nasal spray! What kind of help is that? I went home and cried! I went to my GP last week who scheduled me for an MRI (it's tomorrow) so we will see if I have an infection or anything going on. I also have this terrible tightness (feels like a band is on my head) that started last week also. It's pressure but not my normal Sinus pressure - anyone ever get that? What is it from? I feel like my head could pop off my body because the tightness is so bad! Oh yea my T gets worse in my right ear if I move my head backwards (not tilt back but push back)..feels like all my neck and head muscles are extra tight!

Has anyone ever experienced what I am experiencing? Will this subside? The fact that it went away for awhile but came back...does that mean it will fade? I'm trying to stay positive and the positive threads on here help but it's still hard and I'm trying not to get depressed but this SUCKS and it's making everything hard to deal with!!!

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about your suffering with T. Since your T is so new, you can never rule out that it will fade or disappear over time. It has been said that the problem with ears will take months to settle down. So even though the ENT clears you, it may still take time for things to settle down. Sinus congestion & result infection can contribute to T especially if the Eustachian Tube is affected, thing we call ETD. Hope it will settle down for you. As for the tightness in the head and the neck muscles, these may be related to the anxiety and stress you are experiencing. How I know? I have suffered decades of anxiety and panic disorders. So I relate to the head pressure/tightness as well as neck feeling so stiff. Anxiety and stress actually can aggravate T to appear louder. So do what you can to relax and stay calm. People do get better over time. The success stories forum are full of such stories of people getting better. Do read it up. I wrote mine too and list many helpful strategies to help me get better. Are you doing any masking right now? Hope you feel better soon. God bless.

 

[Malerie]

Hi...thank you for your positivity! I will look at your other threads to see some suggested tips to help with stress and anxiety. I don't mask during the day...for the most part other sounds drown out the T but I can hear the buzzing in my ear (buzzing is intermittent). Sometime the refrigerator will make the T worse or very high pitch noises will make it difficult so I turn down noises I can (i.e. tv). I just started using a sound generator at night because I was not sleeping at all and it was making me wired during the day...hard to concentrate and focus and I was very emotional. The past couple of nights have been gooD with the sound generator...listening to thunder and light rain (if sounds too high pitch tend to make the T worse).

I can say reading other people's successes or ability to habituate is helping me stay positive plus my husband is very supportive...he's more positive than me!

 

[billie48]

Here are some masking suggestions, including a rain sound generator which you can make it not so high pitch:

1) Mask at bed time - 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 ipad with nature sounds or music using itune, or use smart phone.

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

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

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

or make your own rain sound: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php

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

 

[Malerie]

Thank you for your help! I read through your post with strategies and tips to get through T as well as the other health issues you have overcome and learned to live with. I find it very helpful and uplifting as I know I'm in the beginning and it's likely that the T could go away but I've feared it could be permanent...the positive stories help me to cope. I'm doing better with not focusing on the T but on other sounds around me this way my mind does not pick up on the T as much or as quickly. Thank you so much for your support and kind words! May God continue to bless you....I know my healing is coming (in whatever shape or form it may be)!