Help. Tell Me It Gets Better!

[MingMonster]

I developed my tinnitus three weeks ago now and it is driving me insane. Mine is a really high pitched feedback and it almost hurts my ears. I am so depressed because of this, it has really put me in a deep hole.
Someone please tell me that I will adjust. Sometimes listening to music at night doesn't even help.
Also- lipo flavonoids? Does anyone have any success with this??

 

[Nucleo]

The sound may or may not get better but even then, people do get less bothered about it in time.

 

[suera]

good luck.

 

[glynis]

Hi mingmonster,
Tinnitus can ease and can get louder and troublesome .
The unwanted emotions can soon send you in a downwards spiral but this is when we need push extra hard to stay happy and use every bit of knowledge you know about tinnitus to get through it .
Sound therapy can help,relaxation,keeping busy,some nice treats,plans for better days,relaxing bath,lovely walks outdoors,a nice glass of something,nice smelly stuff on as your sense of smell is a good distraction.
Mixing with people,sleeping well,eating well,
Doing things you love with people you love,hobbies,interests and help from your doctor if need medication and talking therapy and the forum.

You will habituate to a point of getting on with your life but be prepared for spikes .
Stay strong and try not panic as anxiety will make tinnitus worse to cope with.....lots of love glynis x

 

[MingMonster]

Thank you, everyone. I have struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, and I keep seeing over and over that anxiety makes T wayyyy worse. So I am working on managing my anxiety. I hope that will help.

 

[Barbara777]

Ming, your tinnitus is very new and could still go away. If you haven't already, have a doctor check your ears to make sure you don't have a wax buildup or something else going on. If the doctor doesn't find anything, try to stay calm as anxiety makes it worse. Keep sound on to distract you. I find using water sounds at night helpful. Also, read some of the success stories and see that it does get easier for many people.

 

[Inge]

Thank you, everyone. I have struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, and I keep seeing over and over that anxiety makes T wayyyy worse. So I am working on managing my anxiety. I hope that will help.

Managing anxiety and sleep are very important. T can go away or decrease especially in the first six months. Download whitenoise app and play pink noise in the background to mask your T. It will take your mind of the T, which in turn will reduce your anxiety over it.

 

[Mad maggot]

It gets better
I've had this seven years. Every now and then I flip my lid and throw a fit but it rarely gets to me that much any more. Maybe two or three times a year I have a few hours melt down.
You will find that you are stronger and more resilient than you ever thought you were.

 

[flkb]

4 years now and going. I've fallen down that rabbit hole and it wasn't pretty in my first 6 months into it. It has gotten better---not my T, but with how I've reacted to it through acceptance and relaxing. Don't get me wrong, there are times when it spikes for days and nights. When it feels louder i try to relax and remind myself tha it will calm down again. It isn't easy but with time hopefully you will find your own way.

 

[Robert44]

I am so depressed because of this,

hi, Don't worry u will get better. You are going through what we all have been through. I was ready to end it all. stayed home from work. cried like a baby. I'm a 53 year old man. couldn't sleep. Now I'm going through my first spike but I'm ok. Somehow you will learn to live with it and it won't bother you as much. You can get your life back. Wear earplugs no advil or caffeine. Protect your ears so it doesn't get worse. You'll be ok

 

[I who love music]

Look up my "Back To Silence" post if you're ready to take action and not just wait to see what happens.

 

[billie48]

Many excellent advice here already. I can only add that being so new with T and a bit traumatized by it, you are functioning in fight or flight mode under the limbic nervous system. The brain, due to your strong reaction, senses danger and threat. So it tries to protect you by activating the limbic nervous system and now the T sound is processed through the Amygdala of the brain which can produce more fear and stress to your system, preparing you to fight or flight. The body is trying to do its job to protect you from a perceived threat.

The trick is try your best to remain calm and positive. According to most posters above, this extreme suffering period is the initial phase and sooner or later the brain will get more used to the alien sensation of T. With being calm and positive, you get less stressful and fearful. This will allow the normal parasympathetic nerves to return in control of your emotions and decision making, and you will be able to think more sensibly and normally again. So give it time. In the mean time, educating yourself about T will help remove the fear towards T. This is like a child being afraid of the dark when young. But by the time the kid get more education about why there is darkness and that it is a normal physical condition, then the fear is slowly removed and then the kid learns not to freak out when darkness comes. Hopefully, by reading up on success stories, by checking up on TT or other sites (such as ATA & BTA), you will learn more about T and won't react so fearfully. That will be the beginning of the turning around towards habituation.

So don't panic. There are a lot of things you can do to help yourself. Checking out this TT resource thread (with masking sounds) and its links to ATA & BTA will be a good start for you. Take good care & God bless your recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

(the icons on the left side give you instructions step by step)