I'm New Here — Any Advice Appreciated

[Flexi]

I have had t the last 6 weeks or so and have been trying to cope with it. Everyone here is very supportive and i have gained alot of info through reading posts and other websites.
Unfortunately i started reading a bit too late as i did some silly things which probably made my t worse.

Not being able to sleep aand anxiety/stress is the worst part. My t seems to be triggered or worsened when im tired and have not had enough sleep. Of course then when i try to sleep i cant because of the t.

It started of as few seconds of loss of hearing in my left ear and a low pitched sound which then disappeared in few seconds. I thought nothing of it and carried on through the day. It then happened couple of days later and again i thought nothing of it. It was only till the 3rd time i started to wonder what it was.

I started to read a few sites on the internet which said it could be tumors etc and i began to panic and constantly listen out for this sound of t. I couldn't hear it but the more i listened out for it it a eventually appeared but only in the left ear. Also just few days prior to this i went to hospital due to pain in my leg which was sciatica and i was given diazepam and dihydrocodeine and another tab. I only took a few of these and the pain went away but keep wondering wether this caused my t.

I suffer from anxiety for years and this gave it a good boost. To relieve myself i told myself its just ear wax and so started to put in olive oil drops. IT MADE IT WORSE!.
Phoned the Drs surgery and asked for my ears to be syringed!!! it made things worse.

Stress and anxiety i just cant get rid of. There was 1 week where my mind was on totally on something else and i was sleeping fine and i was sure it had disappeared until i read more scary info on the net and anxiety kicked in and there it was again with a vengeance.

Now its in both ears and most days only bothers me when i try to sleep.
Some days whenever i speak or hear some sounds around me my left ear squeaks?? does anyone else have this.

Also a few times the same sensation of my hearing dulling out and instead of a low pitched sound ive heard a beep.....this freaked me out it goes away after about 10 seconds.
Also does anyone notice it getting worse only when they are lying down?
As far as my hearing goes its absolutely fine, I can probably hear a clock tick from another room!!

Sorry to bore you guys this is my first point of support as my ENT appointment is 6 weeks away.
This is taking over my life. I am overweight alot and my new year res was to lose weight which i was doing absolutely great until t brought everything to a halt. I am now eating crap again because of stress and started smoking again which i also quit.

Are my symptoms normal with t as all sorts of stuff is going through my head right now.

Any support, help, advice is greatly appreciated with all my heart.

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the board, Flexi. You are at right place as many of us went through what you are going through right now and we have empathy for your sufferings. Don't worry too much about your T. Many of us have a bad time too at the beginning but now many of us write our success stories. So there is a high chance you will be just fine if you learn and practice the collective wisdom from the successive approaches of the recovered members. So do read over the success stories to give yourself some hope.

A few years back I was hit with ultra high pitch T with so much condensed energy like a laser beam hitting a night sky. It was utterly foreign & alien to my senses of sound. It was like the dentist drill x 20 times the pitch. And just when I though I couldn't survive such an unearthly sound, then severe hyperacusis joined in the misery. All normal sounds just turned glassy and sounded as if someone was scratching glass with metal on my ears. All normal sounds became piercingly hurtful to bear. I couldn't stand sounds of TV, parties, movies, music, dish washing, driving, even the soft voice of my wife hurt. So every day was a long dark day of torture of sufferings from T & H. They also cause relentless anxiety & panic attacks as I was already a victim of anxiety & panic disorder long before T & H hit. So besides the horrible sensation of T & H, I also had to deal with the horrific symptoms of anxiety/panic attacks daily, even hourly. I had to survive on meds to survive. I never thought I could recover from such sufferings. But here I am today back to normal and absolutely enjoying my life. Never say never. So I hope you don't worry too much about your condition. It being so new you will be understandably worried. But given time, learning and practicing some good stratgies, you can get better. Just believe it. Be patient and all the best to you. God bless your recovery.

 

[tychobrae]

It's common for T to be more noticeable at night. I play the sound of rain all night long; I downloaded the sound from Amazon , it runs for about an hour and I play it through my portable stereo into which I plug pillow speakers (also available from Amazon, or from the RNID in the UK). It really helps me sleep. The sound of rain is a good sound for me as I find it relaxing as well as taking the focus away from my T but it might not be the the right sound for everybody. It's worth experimenting to find a sound you're comfortable with.

 

[Flexi]

Thanks for all your responses and support guys. Billie what methods or treatments did you use to make it better. How long does it take before habituation takes place.
I have started taking kalms tablets to help relax. Does anyone know of other ways of relaxing that work?.
Im trying to build my mindframe to get back in the gym. Do you think this will help?

Thanks again for all your support

 

[Piper the great]

Thanks for all your responses and support guys. Billie what methods or treatments did you use to make it better. How long does it take before habituation takes place.
I have started taking kalms tablets to help relax. Does anyone know of other ways of relaxing that work?.
Im trying to build my mindframe to get back in the gym. Do you think this will help?

Thanks again for all your support

I think T is different to everyone, and what ever makes YOU feel better is a good thing... no Sleep and T goes nuts..... do what ever it takes to get a good night sleep, and also do anything to stop focusing on the T, it will fall back in your brain in time, habituation is different to everyone.... but fill your ears with some soothing noise 4 to 6 hours a day, sleep well, and relax, and habituation seems to happen when your not looking...

 

[Karen]

Hi, Flexi,

I think that exercise really helps when you are suffering with tinnitus. At least, it has been a life-saver for me. On my worst tinnitus days, I found that walking outdoors really helped, and now I'm back at the gym again, as well. I go about three times per week, plus daily walking. It may not take away your tinnitus, but it will distract you, and give you an overall feeling of well-being. I highly recommend it!

 

[billie48]

I think T is different to everyone, and what ever makes YOU feel better is a good thing... no Sleep and T goes nuts..... do what ever it takes to get a good night sleep, and also do anything to stop focusing on the T, it will fall back in your brain in time, habituation is different to everyone.... but fill your ears with some soothing noise 4 to 6 hours a day, sleep well, and relax, and habituation seems to happen when your not looking...

Flexi, Piper is right that T is different to everyone. So there is no need to compare your progress with other people. My progress was actually slower than most people because besides T, I also suffered severe H. But worse, I have prior condition of anxiety/panic disorders, which T & H could trigger relentless attacks on auto mode. I had to depend on meds, not to lower the T volume, but just to survive the panic attacks which are absolutely horrible and alarming. Panic attacks can cause people home bound or land-bound (afraid of panic attacks on plane) for life. That is just how crippling they are to their victims. So when these came daily, even hourly, what progress I had was very minimal at best within the first 6 months. But here I am back to normal. So rest you heart. You can do better than me. If you want to learn how I recovered, for brevity, please read up my success story titled 'From Darkness to Light' on this site:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light.3148/

You should read up as many success stories as you can to give yourself some hope and comfort that people do get better. One person's journey may not reflect the same as yours, but when you read enough, you will find someone's tinnitus sufferings very close to yours. Generally, if you can reduce your anxiety level by getting some exercise (as Karen puts it), or have some prescription for it from your doctor, or get good sleep (use meds and/or masking), then your T may improve. Also try to enjoy doing something (what you used to enjoy or new hobbies); practice some good strategies such as CBT, TRT, relaxing meditation; watch your diet (MSG, caffeine, salt, supplements etc.); get busy with your life to distract from paying attention to T, all these are things you can do to help yourself. Last but not least, give it time. You are very new to T. Your body needs time to absorb in the new alien sensation of T. You will get better with it over time. Why I say that? Read the success stories and you will find TIME (and a strategy) is almost a common ingredient of recovery & habituation. Take care.

 

[Piper the great]

Flexi, Piper is right that T is different to everyone. So there is no need to compare your progress with other people. My progress was actually slower than most people because besides T, I also suffered severe H. But worse, I have prior condition of anxiety/panic disorders, which T & H could trigger relentless attacks on auto mode. I had to depend on meds, not to lower the T volume, but just to survive the panic attacks which are absolutely horrible and alarming. Panic attacks can cause people home bound or land-bound (afraid of panic attacks on plane) for life. That is just how crippling they are to their victims. So when these came daily, even hourly, what progress I had was very minimal at best within the first 6 months. But here I am back to normal. So rest you heart. You can do better than me. If you want to learn how I recovered, for brevity, please read up my success story titled 'From Darkness to Light' on this site:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light.3148/

You should read up as many success stories as you can to give yourself some hope and comfort that people do get better. One person's journey may not reflect the same as yours, but when you read enough, you will find someone's tinnitus sufferings very close to yours. Generally, if you can reduce your anxiety level by getting some exercise (as Karen puts it), or have some prescription for it from your doctor, or get good sleep (use meds and/or masking), then your T may improve. Also try to enjoy doing something (what you used to enjoy or new hobbies); practice some good strategies such as CBT, TRT, relaxing meditation; watch your diet (MSG, caffeine, salt, supplements etc.); get busy with your life to distract from paying attention to T, all these are things you can do to help yourself. Last but not least, give it time. You are very new to T. Your body needs time to absorb in the new alien sensation of T. You will get better with it over time. Why I say that? Read the success stories and you will find TIME (and a strategy) is almost a common ingredient of recovery & habituation. Take care.

Since I got the T, (maybe had it forever who knows) but the people I met all said the same thing, in time you forget about it.... how can we forget about it, if we constantly remind ourselves we have it..... I stayed off website for a year to let me forget about it... lurking on these sites can be bad long term... when I made progress, I came on to help newbies.... I think in a few months I will drop off to finish my life, whether or not a "cure" is ever found....I think of it as paying back to the post that got me by, when I needed help...

 

[Rog]

HI @Karen . Does exercise help you ? You have PT right?

 

[Karen]

Hi, @Rog ,

Yes, exercise does help me, even on the worst days. I do have both PT and regular tinnitus, and exercise helps to distract me from the noises in my head. I've heard that, for some people, their pulsating gets worse during or after exercise, but that hasn't been the case for me.

Did you say that you have both ringing and PT as well?

 

[Rog]

I have tinnitus in both ears but lately I've expirienced some PT too. Hope it goes away soon. Thank you @Karen.