Hello all,
Been dealing with my Tinnitus for only a couple weeks now, and from reading on the forums 3-4 weeks is not so bad. My Tinnitus has shifted in tone drastically over the weeks however I would never say it was every more than a 5/10 though when I am stressed it feels much much worse.
I usually go to a weekly loud meetup and went to one or two concerts. Never had any signs of issues after that, no ringing directly after those events.
I noticed my tinnitus when I was under a lot of stress prepping for an exam. I recall first getting a loud ring in my right ear with tapered out quickly. I was nervous after that but had to keep studying. Took my test, passed, had a huge sigh of relief and went about my life completely forgetting about Tinnitus. A week or so after that it came back worse.
Since then, within the last couple weeks, I've been all over the place with my T. Went to the ENT and was told I have no hearing loss and nothing wrong with my ears. Went to a primary care doctor and who told me everything looks fine, that I'm just stressed out.
There were days when my T was really bad. There were days when I had no T at all.
I went back to the ENT and told him I was still dealing with this on/of T. He gave me a prescription of Prednisone. I took it and the next day I had a complete day of absolute silence. That same day I got a deep tissue massage which is the first time I ever did one. Next day I woke up with the loudest my T had ever been- or at least that's what it felt like. My shoulder/neck hurt like hell after the massage. The next couple days well still on Prednisone my T is the lowest it's ever been. I feel like when I work out at the gym if I do certain exercises my T gets worse. You can see how hard I am trying to understand my T and find some sort of root cause. I've been taking supplements as well, truthfully I don't know if they help at all but at this point it's worth a shot that it may help.
I know that I have cervical degenerative disc disease. I've had pain in my neck and left shoulder for years because of it and the weight (morbidly obese). I've been working on the weight and so far am almost at 100 pounds down.
I'm now seeing a neurologist who has scheduled me for an MRI, I'll be doing that this weekend. Hoping we'll find something.
Emotionally this has been a roller coaster for me. Not knowing the cause of my T has been the hardest part. Feeling like I need to be the detective because the ENT and GP told me there's nothing they can do. Is it something with my neck and spine? Do I have hearing loss I don't know about? Why does it fluctuate so much from 0/10 to 5/10 (imo) - there absolutely is a fluctuation in severity from day to day or time to time. The best days have been silence and the worst days were relentless at night while crying about it.
Stress and anxiety are absolutely a huge part of it. Anxiety definitely makes it worse. The mental fatigue this has had on me is intense. Sometimes my T is very low or not there but I always am scared I am hearing it. Something a little loose in the fan, the fridge is whining a little because it's making ice, the PC fan is squeaking a little too much- is it my T? Is it changing getting worse? Coming back? Is it there? I didn't hear it when I was outside do I hear it now that I'm home? The anxiety I am causing myself is insane. I am trying my best to stay calmer and keep pushing through. I need to stop googling every single idea that comes into my hear for a cause. I need to just relax.
What gives me hope that I will hopefully one day walk away from this is that there is variation in my T. There was a lot of variation before the Prednisone and with it I've been able to have even a day of silence. I can hope that even if my MRI doesn't find anything that eventually this will go away over time- it just might take more time than I want.
Sorry for spilling my guts. It's been so stressful not understanding this. This mild T is nothing compared to what I am sure many others here have to deal with every single day. Your posts have informed me, some scared me, and some gave me hope. Either way the information is appreciated.
I hope that in time I too can contribute something of value with whatever I find on this journey.
Much love.
Been dealing with my Tinnitus for only a couple weeks now, and from reading on the forums 3-4 weeks is not so bad. My Tinnitus has shifted in tone drastically over the weeks however I would never say it was every more than a 5/10 though when I am stressed it feels much much worse.
I usually go to a weekly loud meetup and went to one or two concerts. Never had any signs of issues after that, no ringing directly after those events.
I noticed my tinnitus when I was under a lot of stress prepping for an exam. I recall first getting a loud ring in my right ear with tapered out quickly. I was nervous after that but had to keep studying. Took my test, passed, had a huge sigh of relief and went about my life completely forgetting about Tinnitus. A week or so after that it came back worse.
Since then, within the last couple weeks, I've been all over the place with my T. Went to the ENT and was told I have no hearing loss and nothing wrong with my ears. Went to a primary care doctor and who told me everything looks fine, that I'm just stressed out.
There were days when my T was really bad. There were days when I had no T at all.
I went back to the ENT and told him I was still dealing with this on/of T. He gave me a prescription of Prednisone. I took it and the next day I had a complete day of absolute silence. That same day I got a deep tissue massage which is the first time I ever did one. Next day I woke up with the loudest my T had ever been- or at least that's what it felt like. My shoulder/neck hurt like hell after the massage. The next couple days well still on Prednisone my T is the lowest it's ever been. I feel like when I work out at the gym if I do certain exercises my T gets worse. You can see how hard I am trying to understand my T and find some sort of root cause. I've been taking supplements as well, truthfully I don't know if they help at all but at this point it's worth a shot that it may help.
I know that I have cervical degenerative disc disease. I've had pain in my neck and left shoulder for years because of it and the weight (morbidly obese). I've been working on the weight and so far am almost at 100 pounds down.
I'm now seeing a neurologist who has scheduled me for an MRI, I'll be doing that this weekend. Hoping we'll find something.
Emotionally this has been a roller coaster for me. Not knowing the cause of my T has been the hardest part. Feeling like I need to be the detective because the ENT and GP told me there's nothing they can do. Is it something with my neck and spine? Do I have hearing loss I don't know about? Why does it fluctuate so much from 0/10 to 5/10 (imo) - there absolutely is a fluctuation in severity from day to day or time to time. The best days have been silence and the worst days were relentless at night while crying about it.
Stress and anxiety are absolutely a huge part of it. Anxiety definitely makes it worse. The mental fatigue this has had on me is intense. Sometimes my T is very low or not there but I always am scared I am hearing it. Something a little loose in the fan, the fridge is whining a little because it's making ice, the PC fan is squeaking a little too much- is it my T? Is it changing getting worse? Coming back? Is it there? I didn't hear it when I was outside do I hear it now that I'm home? The anxiety I am causing myself is insane. I am trying my best to stay calmer and keep pushing through. I need to stop googling every single idea that comes into my hear for a cause. I need to just relax.
What gives me hope that I will hopefully one day walk away from this is that there is variation in my T. There was a lot of variation before the Prednisone and with it I've been able to have even a day of silence. I can hope that even if my MRI doesn't find anything that eventually this will go away over time- it just might take more time than I want.
Sorry for spilling my guts. It's been so stressful not understanding this. This mild T is nothing compared to what I am sure many others here have to deal with every single day. Your posts have informed me, some scared me, and some gave me hope. Either way the information is appreciated.
I hope that in time I too can contribute something of value with whatever I find on this journey.
Much love.