I'm a nineteen year old girl and I'm leaving for college in a week (I thought this information might help somehow).
So. Basically, my sister was having a sleepover, and I decided to put earplugs in to drown out the noise. When I put the earplugs in, I heard a faint ringing. Really quiet. But I tend to worry about my health, so I immediately went to see what it was. I found tinnitus and I freaked out. But then I remembered that I could only hear it when I had earplugs in. So I went to sleep without a problem.
But for the past week, the sound has been steadily increasing. For the first few days of me noticing this, I didn't notice it unless my ears were plugged. But then on day three, I found myself not being able to sleep, but still not noticing it at all unless the room was dead silent.
Day five I could hear it relatively loudly, even while I was watching TV. I went to the doctor, and she said that it was due to fluid being trapped behind my ear. She gave me Flonase to help the fluid drain. 7-10 days and the noise would be gone, she said.
But now it's been six days since that visit, and it hasn't improved. In fact, the noise is louder, even though I've been doing the Flonase twice a day. I don't understand why it's been increasing so rapidly, and I hate loud music so I know that couldn't have exacerbated it (I listen to earbuds when running/studying, but always at a low volume, never above 50% because I don't like loud noises). I was exposed to a very loud, sudden noise when I accidentally turned on my car radio and it had some how been turned to a very loud volume, but that was over 2 months ago and I turned it down immediately. I wasn't affected from that incident at all. Anyway, less than a week ago, I could only hear it with earplugs in, and now I'm sitting in a room with music on and I can hear it above everything.
One thing that I think could be making it worse is my anxiety. I haven't been diagnosed with anxiety, and I'm not saying I have a real disorder, but for the past few weeks I've been very anxious and depressed, and I've had this on-edge/uneasy feeling following me around. And now with the tinnitus, I'm anxious all the time and I can never relax or feel good. I heard that stress can worsen this problem, and I feel like personal stress has been mounting on me for months. So maybe that could be making this worse.
Anyway, in summary, I noticed slight ringing when putting earplugs in, and in a short period of time it's progressed into a problem that affects me 24/7. How could my tinnitus get worse that quickly? Can someone give me some insight so I can get some sleep, or at least give me hope that I can be happy, even if this does affect me forever?
So. Basically, my sister was having a sleepover, and I decided to put earplugs in to drown out the noise. When I put the earplugs in, I heard a faint ringing. Really quiet. But I tend to worry about my health, so I immediately went to see what it was. I found tinnitus and I freaked out. But then I remembered that I could only hear it when I had earplugs in. So I went to sleep without a problem.
But for the past week, the sound has been steadily increasing. For the first few days of me noticing this, I didn't notice it unless my ears were plugged. But then on day three, I found myself not being able to sleep, but still not noticing it at all unless the room was dead silent.
Day five I could hear it relatively loudly, even while I was watching TV. I went to the doctor, and she said that it was due to fluid being trapped behind my ear. She gave me Flonase to help the fluid drain. 7-10 days and the noise would be gone, she said.
But now it's been six days since that visit, and it hasn't improved. In fact, the noise is louder, even though I've been doing the Flonase twice a day. I don't understand why it's been increasing so rapidly, and I hate loud music so I know that couldn't have exacerbated it (I listen to earbuds when running/studying, but always at a low volume, never above 50% because I don't like loud noises). I was exposed to a very loud, sudden noise when I accidentally turned on my car radio and it had some how been turned to a very loud volume, but that was over 2 months ago and I turned it down immediately. I wasn't affected from that incident at all. Anyway, less than a week ago, I could only hear it with earplugs in, and now I'm sitting in a room with music on and I can hear it above everything.
One thing that I think could be making it worse is my anxiety. I haven't been diagnosed with anxiety, and I'm not saying I have a real disorder, but for the past few weeks I've been very anxious and depressed, and I've had this on-edge/uneasy feeling following me around. And now with the tinnitus, I'm anxious all the time and I can never relax or feel good. I heard that stress can worsen this problem, and I feel like personal stress has been mounting on me for months. So maybe that could be making this worse.
Anyway, in summary, I noticed slight ringing when putting earplugs in, and in a short period of time it's progressed into a problem that affects me 24/7. How could my tinnitus get worse that quickly? Can someone give me some insight so I can get some sleep, or at least give me hope that I can be happy, even if this does affect me forever?
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