I'm New Here. My Tinnitus Was Very Bearable for 3 Years Until Yesterday When It Started Killing Me.

[sol sober365]

hi im new here.

in january of 2012 i came down with tinnitus, which was TERRIBLE for 7 months.

by august i got used to it and bothered me a lot less.

in fact, for the last 10 years i can count on my hand how many times i had a bad day with tinnitus. very few.

in fact, even when i heard the noise, i started considering musical and relaxing.

that all changed yesterday in the morning.

i woke up and BOOM its been louder than ever.

i thought i had it all under control, but now i feel like all that went out the window. all the pain and horrible feelings i had the first few months of having it (almost 4 years ago) have suddenly returned.

ive seen many drs and had a number of metheds which worked, but none of that is working now.

furthermore, back in the beginning when it was bad, putting on the radio, music, or fan and it blocked it out.

now, i do all of the above and nothings helping. i still hear the noise over it.

furthermore, back when it was bad i had no problem sleeping.

not only that, when i slept i actaully enjoyed the sound of ringing in my ear (mostly the left one, btw).

last night, not only did i have a hard time falling asleep, but when i tried sleeping on my left side, i had to switch to my right side because when i slept on my left side the ringing was too loud for my left ear

no i didnt expose my ears to any loud noises, but yes im on a ton of medications for acid reflux, axiety, and depressrion.

my question is this:

does it ever happen that 24/7 tinnitus becomes bareable for awhile and then years later becomes unbareable again?

if yes, what do you do about it?

i need help

 

[billie48]

Welcome to TT. Sorry about your new T level and suffering from it.
You may be having a spike but spikes often die down given some time to settle down. So don't panic and get too anxious and stressful. Stress and anxiety are toxic too T. Your new T level may be a high pitch one. If the old masking sounds don't work, try those sounds with high frequency, such as heavy rain, shower, waterfall, even faucet sound. I personally find that white noise is not high enough frequency for my T. I need violet or blue noise. There are many nice masking sounds in this TT thread with its audio player:

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

My T is ultra high pitch dog whistle which resonates in my whole head. I could hear my T above the sound of the jet noise in the last 2 flights I took, and above the sound of the raging rapids in the salmon river I fish. It is not a T normal people can bear. I was in a mess initially. Sometimes normal rain sound is not high enough to mask my T. I have to use squeaky faucet sound plus some blue or violet noise. Then I also have H which made all sounds so hurtful, even the soft voice of my wife hurt. If I use ear plugs to block outside sounds for H, then the T scream became to unbearably dominant. So T & H are mutually exclusive. Gosh!!! I tried to choose a less choice of the two devils but there is no lesser choice between them. T & H turned me into a mess with constant panic attacks a few years back. I never thought I could become well again. But you never rule out what time and patience plus some positive attitude can do to heal. Today I live an absolutely enjoyable and productive life.

So never believe the lies of the T bully. T is not an end game. If a panic prone person like me can recover after some time, have faith you can too. Try to read up the success stories to give you hope. I wrote my success story too and listed many important points which have helped me turn around. For brevity I post this link hopefully you have time to read it. Take care and hopefully things will improve for you. God bless.

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

 

[James Brown]

Like I said here before the way you can cope with T depends a lot how higher the sound is. I passed for the 2 situations and when I had a mild noise it was a piece if cake. Now it's hard, and it take more time. Maybe your noise returns to a more bearable level. Good luck.

 

[Karen]

Hi, Sol, and welcome!

So sorry you're going through this right now, and it's hard to say if what you are currently experiencing is a spike, or a new level of tinnitus.

I had mild tinnitus for many years, and it was not bothersome. I had totally habituated to it. Then, five years ago, I took a blood pressure drug for the first time, and my tinnitus got much, much worse.

Although mine is still at a higher level, I have adjusted to it, and have partially habituated (I have both tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus, so it takes a lot longer to adjust to). Please know that things will probably improve for you in time, and it will either go down to a more bearable level, or you will gradually be able to adjust to it.

We are here to support you, and hope that things will begin to look a little bit better for you soon!

Best wishes,
Karen

 

[sol sober365]

thank you all for the responses.
all i want is to ba able to adjust to this the way i did when the volume wasnt as high.
thats more important then having it go away cuz if it goes away before you adjust to it, then the second it coems back youre back to square one.
i have another question:
way back when my tinnitus first came, i had no problem sleeping on my left side (where the tinnitus is worse) what-so-ever, because not only did the ringing in the ears not bother me at all when i was sleeping i actually enjoyed it a little.
the problem is now i have a hard time sleeping on my left side because the tinnitus in my left ear is so pitch loud i feel like im going deaf i put my left air on my pillow, which has been forcing me to sleep on my right side-my less comfortable side.
my question is does this ever change or if not is it possible to one day get used to this to a point that it doesnt bother me?

 

[Karen]

Yes, it is possible. I've even partially gotten used to sleeping on my bad side with pulsatile tinnitus. It just takes time for your body and brain to adjust to the change in tinnitus level. In the meantime, you could try background sound, or a sound pillow, to try to mask some of the noise.

 

[Cheza]

Unfortunately, no matter what side you sleep on, it won't improve your T. However, I used to be a side-sleeper and now sleep on my back. I don't like it, but it's easier to do deep breathing exercises if I lie on my back. The deep breathing slows down my brain waves and, in turn, it calms my T enough for me to fall asleep.

 

[sol sober365]

are you sure tinnitus is a thing about your brain being in fear and fight or flight mode?
i think its more of an extreme annoyance thing:
example:
if i hear a car going "beep. beep. beep. beep" for hours on end, i wouldnt say im afraid of thesound but i would consider it extrememly annoying

 

[sol sober365]

oh crap!!
my hyperacusis is back.
the last 2 hours ive been hearing whistling after affects to my fan, air conditioner, videos ive watched, and other things.
i had this for a short while on and off four years ago when my tinnitus was bad.
wha do i do for this?!!
HELP!!!!!!!

 

[Nucleo]

Were you exposed to loud sounds lately?

You possibly have/had an episode of sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss. When your hearing goes haywire for seemingly no reason this could be the case.

I guess you seek medical attention ASAP.

 

[Xorthian]

If you are on to s of meds for depression that can be it. Lot of people here suffering from them.
If your hearing got worse it can be what nucleo said otherwise ad did that to you.
Did your dose change or something?

Good luck mAn

 

[sol sober365]

i havent been exposed to any loud noises since august (in each case which i wore strong earplugs and noise cancelling headphone).
went to the ENT yesteay. no earwax, no hearing loss, just some mucus in the head (which we're treating with nasal spray), but i highly doubt thats the cause of it.
im on a large combination of medications which ive been trying unsuccessfully to get off.
1) seroquel 300 and lamicdal 200 at night 7 years for sleep and depression (which i dont suffer much from now, but when ive tried to get off them i get insomnia)
2) nistolic 5 mg by day for rabid heartbeat reactions from the above two meds
3) dexilant 60 mg for extreme acid reflux
4) clonopin, which i started taking in march to replace attivan, which i took for almost 3 years to help me with tinnitus and hyperacusis. the attivan worked real well for almost 3 years till i developed a tolerance and addiction to it, wich caused a lot panic attacks, anxity and depression, but no tinnitus or hyperacusis.
5) i was about get off clonopin in july when my friend committed suicide, which through me into a mental chaos.
that caused my dr to put me on cymbalta 60 mg, which he wanted to be only temporary.
he tried weening me off of cymbalta from 60 mg to 30 mg 10 days ago, but that caused severe negative reactions (heat sensitivity, nausia, and a panic attack) and after four days-by this sunday-i went back to 60 mg cymbalta.
two days later, i woke up with screaming tinnitus in my left ear and today (3 days later) ive got hyperacusis and im hearing whistling effects to my fan, cars, and other noises.
im definately gonna work on slowly getting off these meds but thats obviously something i gotta talk to my dr about, but heres where ithink you people can help me:
1) how do i habituate to tinnitus?
2) is there anyway to habituate to hyperacusis? or do i have ot get rid of it?