I'm Moakley, Noise-Induced Tinnitus for Over 4 Years — Recently Getting Worse

[Moakley]

Hey guys,

I have been hovering over these forums for the last couple years and have to say that it has been a blessing and a curse. I have had tinnitus for 4 1/2 years and believe it to be sound induced. I just woke up with it like so many others. My life has been totally changed because of it and not all of it is bad. I have had many spikes and have developed some new sounds as well over the years and I freaked out most of them and ultimately came to realized life must go on.

I am writing on here now because this time just feels different. I can not seem to block it out anymore and have been struggling to sleep which of course makes it worse. I have been seeing a therapist to help me cope but I am not sure they are giving me the right type of treatment.

I have mentioned Tinnitus Retraining Therapy and CBT but they keep on wanting to dig into my life to try and understand why I cannot let it go (I am not Elsa!).

So I don't know what all to put in this post but I am just going to keep typing until I feel better lol. I am 27 years old and have about 3 different tones I can hear currently. The newest one seems to be the worst and I feel like it has always been there but is just much worse now. It sounds like an old light bulb vibrating and is at about 10000 Hz I think. I cannot seem to drawn it out with anything either (except the shower thankfully).

I want to also add that in my 4 1/2 years I have actually been living a fairly normal life with plenty of caution of course. When I first got tinnitus I thought life was over and struggled for a few months and after an ENT told me there was nothing they can do I broke down on the drive home and by the time I got back home did not think there was any hope left. But over time I crawled out of the pit of despair and went 2 years without much of an issue.

In that 2 years my tinnitus actually got much better. I know a lot of people are going to say otherwise but it really did. I could not hear it unless I tried to in a quiet room and even had a few times I would struggle to find it at all. My father-in-law has tinnitus and has had it a very long time. I have talked to him about it and he says it got it from working in a factory and has never even been to the doctor about it. He has told me his changes sometime but always settle back down for him. His also seems to be much louder than mine. I am super glad he can deal with but how does he do it?

Fast forward to today and the last couple of years I have been having spikes roughly 3 months apart which real feels unfair because that is about the time it takes me to overcome a spike so I feel stuck in this roller coaster pattern of up and down. How do I get out? I have in the past habituated the tinnitus well enough to only bug me at night when sleeping. I cannot seem to do it this time though. How do you all cope on a day to day basis? Why am I getting spikes now with no sound exposure? Is stress able to make me hear new sounds or just intensify what I have already? I am super worried about the future and what my tinnitus will become, how do you all deal with the though of it getting worse? I really feel like I am at some breaking point here and do not know where to go so please help!

Also been to the ENT twice going a third time in 2 days. both times I have been I have been told I have well above normal hearing but do show very slight lost in my right ear when compared to my left but still above normal range. I only have tinnitus as far as I know and I can modulate it by moving my jaw, neck, and pressing on my head. I have also been to the chiropractor and it helped alleviate my spike once so I am think of going back.

 

[billie48]

Why am I getting spikes now with no sound exposure? Is stress able to make me hear new sounds or just intensify what I have already? I am super worried about the future and what my tinnitus will become, how do you all deal with the though of it getting worse? I really feel like I am at some breaking point here and do not know where to go so please help!

Welcome to the forum. It is sometime not easy to pin point what causes spikes and not all of that come from sound exposure. Stress is one of the causes. If you suspect that stress is the issue, then try to best to de-stress the body, such as doing some relaxing exercises, hiking, jogging, meditation, yoga, or going on vacation etc. Whatever can relax you. Try proper breathing exercise too if stress is the issue. However, many other causes can aggravate or trigger tinnitus spikes, such as ETD, TMJ, sinus congestion, ear infection etc. So check with an ENT to rule out those issues first. There are many good strategies shared in the success stories. Don't worry about the future. It may not be as bad as you are projecting it to be. Initially I struggled with this type of thought too, called a cognitive distortion 'catastrophic thinking'. My ultra high pitch tinnitus plus severe hyperacusis just turned me into a mess and I never thought I could get better in the future. But today I live a normal, productive and happy life. So the future may not be as bad as we tend to think at our worst time. I share in my story some helpful strategies. Check it out to see if they will help you turn around your suffering. Take care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

[Moakley]

Welcome to the forum. It is sometime not easy to pin point what causes spikes and not all of that come from sound exposure. Stress is one of the causes. If you suspect that stress is the issue, then try to best to de-stress the body, such as doing some relaxing exercises, hiking, jogging, meditation, yoga, or going on vacation etc. Whatever can relax you. Try proper breathing exercise too if stress is the issue. However, many other causes can aggravate or trigger tinnitus spikes, such as ETD, TMJ, sinus congestion, ear infection etc. So check with an ENT to rule out those issues first. There are many good strategies shared in the success stories. Don't worry about the future. It may not be as bad as you are projecting it to be. Initially I struggled with this type of thought too, called a cognitive distortion 'catastrophic thinking'. My ultra high pitch tinnitus plus severe hyperacusis just turned me into a mess and I never thought I could get better in the future. But today I live a normal, productive and happy life. So the future may not be as bad as we tend to think at our worst time. I share in my story some helpful strategies. Check it out to see if they will help you turn around your suffering. Take care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

Billie48 Thank you so much for this! Your story is very up lifting and I so happy that you have found a way to live and stay positive! I cannot believe I have let meself fall victim to the negative thoughts again just because of a spike and hope I can make my way back to normal life. Do spikes still bother you or are they just a blip on the map? or do you even get them anymore?

 

[billie48]

Do spikes still bother you or are they just a blip on the map? or do you even get them anymore?

Thank you for your kind words on reading my success story. I sure hope you will get better over time as many others do. Spikes tend to fall back to the baseline. Once the ENT clears you of any problem in the ears, just relax and give it some time and follow the positive strategies shared by me and many other success story authors. These days I don't give a dime about T high or low and they do come at times due to the stresses of life. That is how I tell that I need to moderate the other aspects of my life to get the stress level down. But spikes come and go. Don't worry about it and don't fret about it and it will die down. Here is one success story from a member who said doing nothing for tinnitus works for him after much efforts in trying other treatments. Perhaps you can borrow some wisdom from this guy. I also include the most read success story on this forum about using a simple method to quiet the tinnitus, called 'Back to Silence' by IWLM. Good luck. God bless your recovery.

Doing Nothing works this guy:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/doing-nothing-worked-for-me.4778/

the most read success story with a simple but effective method by IWLM:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

 

[Peter61]

Thanx Billie48 for those two links, they are both very inspirational. So good to read about people who have found a way to deal with T, give it a place and just get on with their lives. And a big thanx for reaching out to people here on the forum, lifting them up and giving them a helping hand. I admire and respect your dedication to keep inspiring others who struggle with T and turning their despair into hope.