It's Been Two Months of Non-Stop Noise.

[Tarizze]

It's just like the sound of crickets I used to hear at night time. Now I hear them all day long, and at night time, I have difficulty knowing what noise it's from the yard, and what noise comes from my head. When it could be so peaceful, like driving in my car with just the A/C on, I miss the silence, the quietness. Some days it feels so loud, I'm only 42, and I can't imagine living like this the rest of my life. Sometimes I think this is going to drive me crazy. I have back problems, nerve pinched, discs bulging, scoliosis, along with other things, but the doctor finds no relations between the tinnitus and the back problems. He actually laughed at me, as if I was an idiot for mentioning that, but I'm just desperate. It's not one noise, it's so many crickets non-stop. I used to enjoy this sound, at night, now I'm just so annoyed. I bought homeopathic pills, that did nothing. I sleep with the help of muscle relaxer and Melatonin. I just want a solution, I just want peace again.

 

[Lorenzo74]

Hi @Tarizze

I, and probably everybody on this site, understand very well what you are going through, so welcome to our noisy club..

I had the same thoughts you are having the first few months, and sleeping and doing other simple things became very hard.. All I can tell you is that it will most likely get better and your brain will adjust to these sounds, but it takes a bit of time... My turning point came after about nine months, that is when I was able to resume a normal sleeping pattern, even though I use some masking sounds from time to time..

Look around the site for habituation strategies and tips, and who knows, with a bit of luck it will go away anyway.. Keep the positivity alive

Take care of yourself and your ears..

Lorenzo

 

[Tarizze]

Thank you Lorenzo. I don't know how you guys are doing this, it's a nightmare, and I don't think I'm overreacting, but I sure do hope that like you say, it gets better, soon. I will browse more in depth here, and certainly follow any advice that helps. It's good to know that it's possible to live like this, I never even knew this existed, much less how frustrating and annoying it could be, and to think so many go through this, it's really amazing. I now do appreciate moments of loneliness. Thank you again, and I'll let you know how it gets. Get better too.

 

[Lorenzo74]

Thank you for the well-wish,

It is good to have a place like this where people can understand what we all go through and where we can get accurate information and exchange tips and solidarity... I never heard about T before I got it either and I was shocked and amazed to see how many people have it, and how many more younger people are getting it through loud exposure to music and Ipods... Very sad...

Anyhow, Life goes on and we will too

Take care !

 

[Georgia]

Hi Tarizze,
Adjusting to T will make it easier and that happens with time. I've had T for about 7 years (not sure don't quote me on the time!) and to begin with I couldn't sleep easily or not think about it. A cure was all I could think about. However with sometime this all became liveable, its hard to say how this happens but I promise it just does. Keep your brain occupied and keep your ears out of stressful noisy situations. Adapting isnt easy but its worth learning to live with it and keeping happy than just suffering and never being happy at all. Don't worry your not alone. And because a lot of the people on this site like myself aren't going anywhere you never will be. We're here and we get it.

Good luck! Stay on the site learn more about your tinnitus and then you'll start to understand how to handle it!

-Georgia

 

[JohnnyMx]

Some days it feels so loud, I'm only 42, and I can't imagine living like this the rest of my life

Hi Tarizze you get to a good place, here we all are (or was) tinnitus sufferers.

First thing, i have same problems as you mention, mines come with pain, neck pain, TMJ, temple pain, eye pain, ear pain.

Couple of things.

Tinnitus will settle down, believe me. I'm only 32 years old, have had Tinnitus since highschool, and i have 2 years with increased T, related to? nobody know still. But i'm guessing related to my neck, TMJ, damaged nerves... my doctors are in process of a Dx. For me, its not a problem now living with tinnitus for another 40 years... why?

Have you been in a room with a loud refrigerator?, when you get in you notice it, but couple of minutes later you forget it is there?... or like smells... have you sometimes get into a room with a bad smell, that you notice it, later you think it has gone, but if someone else enters to the room detects the smell but you barely notice it already?.

Thats called habituation... and the brain does the same with Tinnitus. Your brain, in some time (maybe months) will start to take that noise to the background.

BUT!!, what if you are so focused in the sound of the refrigerator, or in the bad smell, with feelings of fear, anxiety and depression, related with that refrigerator and that bad smell....what will happen? Yes!! they wont go away from your head, and worse, they will appear bigger than they are.

So as soon as you start to DONT CARE about your T, the sooner it will settle down, or habituation will start.

Please, dont feel obligated to start feeling good right now, we all have been in the first stages of tinnitus, just where you are. I had anxiety, depression, i thought my life was over. But you know what, Tinnitus does not make me feel nothing today (is a high pitched, high frecuecy eeeeeee, loud enough to ear it over a loud T.V., 24/7).

With your neck, nerve problems, do you have pain?... go and follow that path... for long time i tought my real problem was Tinnitus, but no, the thing that was really messing me up was pain... I still have pain, but i'm working in my path to try to fix it. Once you get your pain down, your T will follow.

Hang there Tarizze, and just dont be anxious to get good really fast, give it time, you have the right to develop anxiety, to develop stress, to develop depression... but as soon as you think is enought (days, weeks, months), start to dont care about it, do the things you love, and start to DONT follow the sound. The sooner the better.

Hugs!

 

[Craggy 65]

I did not believe all these people who said I will get used to it,but they were right and I was soooooo wrong.

 

[billie48]

Thank you Lorenzo. I don't know how you guys are doing this, it's a nightmare, and I don't think I'm overreacting, but I sure do hope that like you say, it gets better, soon. I will browse more in depth here, and certainly follow any advice that helps. It's good to know that it's possible to live like this, I never even knew this existed, much less how frustrating and annoying it could be, and to think so many go through this, it's really amazing. I now do appreciate moments of loneliness. Thank you again, and I'll let you know how it gets. Get better too.

Welcome Tarizze. You are at the right place for support as most of us were where you are. We understand how you feel, the stress, the sense of hopelessness and fear about the future. In this initial phase of suffering, the brain is dealing with an alien sensation of T ringing. It is still trying to figure out T. But time is a great healer for the body. You won't always think the same way about this T sensation like you are now. Currently your limbic nerves are dominant as you are signalling to them that T is a threat to you. So it zooms in on T and magnifies its suffering. You are functioning in fight or flight mode which makes all bad sensations much worse that they are. Time will help the body harden to the T sensation and your will feel better. It is like tasting spicy hot pepper for the first time and most people can't handle that bad sensation. I remember saying to myself how on earth people like this burning in their mouth. But given time, and not treating the burning sensation as a threat, the brain will slowly get used to the sensation. Eventually most spicy food lovers will get to the stage that the burning sensation will be neutral, or even a pleasurable sensation like what I find now. We will never find T ringing pleasurable. But at least, over time the body can harden to T ringing and not react negatively like at the start. It is doable as you can find many examples of this if you read the success stories. Take care and God bless your recovery.

 

[Tarizze]

That's it, I'm sad, anxious, desperate, but, what you say does make sense and it does happen. I live on a corner house, next to a busy street, where loud music at 2am is a daily thing, and the honking of the horns is at all hours, plus next to a church, and I am used to all those noises, to the point that if someone is calling outside my house for me, I don't hear them, because of being used to blocking all the noises outside, but this being in my head, well, seems different. Time might make it less obvious and more natural, although I really rather it just stops. It's so weird to think that this is life now. I just want to cry sometimes. Thanks anyway JohnnyMx for the info. Hopefully it will be like that, and I will try to not purposely put so much attention to it, I know I do it. Thanks again!

 

[billie48]

But first off, your T is so new. It may fade or disappear. You should go to the doctor to get a course of prednisone or corticosteroids as many members here recommend getting this treatment asap for new T. But if T stays, it should settle down a bit after the initial stress & trauma which aggravate T. It is a livable condition and people can learn to habituate to this sound. It is just another sound, be it an annoying one for the time being, and it won't hurt us if we don't react negatively. You have already learned from your experience how the body can ignore and fade out even loud noises around you that you don't treat as a threat. It is just like flying where the loud jet noise is all encompassing around you but you won't be aware of it once you are deep into watching a movie. Distraction + not treating T as a threat will lead the brain to eventually fade out even loud sounds around us. So getting back to living your life normally plus pursuing new hobbies are great ways to distract from paying attention to T.

 

[Tarizze]

Thank you Craggy 65 and
billie48! It's nice to read and know that this can be dealt with. Being very real, I don't want to get used to it, I want a solution, a goodbye to these noises, but, at least I see from you all that it's not as tragic as maybe I am feeling it to be now. Thank you all, it does really help to read your stories.

 

[Gosia]

Hi there! I know how you feel, I'm a newbie too and same thing -I didn't want to hear that I will get used to it. I just wanted my silent head back. Hovewer I must admit I got a bit used to that cause nobody wants to be miserable all the time so I just had no choice. That having said I still believe it will pass completely. We the newbies can still believe that. If it doesn't happen within 6 months, I will start to worry. For now just tell yourself it's temporary and wait forbthe better times.
some here are twice younger than you..you had as many as 42 years of silence .

 

[James Brown]

My T changes the sound and when I get that cricket sound it's really annoying. I live with this for 20 years and sometimes just wish to put a gun in my ear and shoot. I guess all of us have the same though once in a while. Everyone has his type of T, mild, hiss, ringing. There are types of T easy to handle. Others are harder. Yesterday I had that cricket sound, and my day was really bad. Today I woke up with just a hiss, loud but easier to handle. I almost forgot my T all day. Each person experience is unique.Those who say it's easy to cope sometimes have just a mild T.

 

[patwalsh]

I did not believe all these people who said I will get used to it,but they were right and I was soooooo wrong.

Have you learned to live with it? Did you do anything in particular for this to happen or did you have some kind of treatment ?

 

[Craggy 65]

Have you learned to live with it? Did you do anything in particular for this to happen or did you have some kind of treatment ?

Well,for the first 6weeks I was not happy,on diazapam and zimovane ,but this past 3weeks,apart from a two day spike,I have started to not to think about it so much.No diazapam and now no sleepers.As I write this its buzzing away,but I'm emotionally wound up by it,it has become,as someone here said my new silence.You will be similar,I'm sure.Maybe not the same timescale,but it will happen,good luck on your journey,

 

[patwalsh]

Well,for the first 6weeks I was not happy,on diazapam and zimovane ,but this past 3weeks,apart from a two day spike,I have started to not to think about it so much.No diazapam and now no sleepers.As I write this its buzzing away,but I'm emotionally wound up by it,it has become,as someone here said my new silence.You will be similar,I'm sure.Maybe not the same timescale,but it will happen,good luck on your journey,

Thanks craggy. I'm on the 5 week mark and still can't sleep without sleeping tablets ( zopiclone) I've managed to stay off the diazepam the last week or so and the panic attacks have began to slow down but I still find it hard to just sit down and relax, I'm always trying to keep myself busy which is exhausting, but Even that won't make me fall asleep! Glad to here you have kicked the tablets

 

[Craggy 65]

Thanks craggy. I'm on the 5 week mark and still can't sleep without sleeping tablets ( zopiclone) I've managed to stay off the diazepam the last week or so and the panic attacks have began to slow down but I still find it hard to just sit down and relax, I'm always trying to keep myself busy which is exhausting, but Even that won't make me fall asleep! Glad to here you have kicked the tablets

You seem to be on a similar journey,I,ve only just stop taking that type of sleeping tablets,after using just half a pill.I still take 2 amytripaline each evening,but they are non addictive.You will gradually become less focused on your ears,and more interested in your other life.let me know how it goes.

 

[Carroc]

It would be interesting for research to find out what determines who gets this awful T. I was reading 40% of war vets get T but why is it not 100%. Some people get it out of the blue....others its age related....others its being exposed to noise related. I even tried to journal my journey but could find no common thread. I could have a low stress day and it can ring loudly. Other times high stress and its more bearable. Lucky are those who can mask it because since its a noise in my head I hear it along with the TV or music.

 

[patwalsh]

It would be interesting for research to find out what determines who gets this awful T. I was reading 40% of war vets get T but why is it not 100%. Some people get it out of the blue....others its age related....others its being exposed to noise related. I even tried to journal my journey but could find no common thread. I could have a low stress day and it can ring loudly. Other times high stress and its more bearable. Lucky are those who can mask it because since its a noise in my head I hear it along with the TV or music.

Yea it's very strange. I'm trying to find a pattern but can't seem to come up with one. I'm trying to cut out certain foods which might trigger a spike but it seems to make no difference. Hopefully my trip to the ENT consultant on the 2nd June might shed some light on it?

 

[Jessikweh]

Hey! When I first got tinnitus I was just like you. Frustrated, angry, upset, annoyed, etc. I really felt like my life was over & I was sick of it. I kept thinking "ffs why does this crap ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?!" I don't have answers to why I have it either! It's been two years & four months now & while I still feel the same about it, it no longer controls my life. I promise you, it DOES get easier. You'll learn to sleep again (perhaps not in silence though) & learn how to distract yourself eventually. Though the time frame depends on person to person. But on the bright side, many times tinnitus does go away within 9-12 months so there is hope yet for you. You seem like a really lovely person & I'm hoping it resolves on its own if not, you're not alone! We're all here for you

 

[Carroc]

Found this website with a lot of information
http://hearinghealthfoundation.org//what_is_tinnitus

 

[uncle vikin]

To all on this post .I have had T for 8 months ,first 3 months Xanax anti depressant meds the works now I don't take nothing my hissing comes and goes one thing is for certain T is something that gets turned on and it varies from person to person it does seem to get better or our brains get better at coping with it usually within 18months (habituation)doctors really don't know what causes it or how to treat it. So if they are not doing research on T they really don't care. It seems when we focus on our T that's when we notice it more and it seems to get louder when we stay busy it diminishes . I don't like it but I have had to come to accept it and learn to live with it. Accepting it I believe is the hardest part of the process. I can say I am a lot better than I was 6 to 8 months ago. I believe it has something to do with nerve damage .Where? I don't know maybe in the brain ,neck , ears I don't know and I don't believe they are close to finding the answer .It is just a strange ailment of the human anatomy they know nothing about .Maybe someday they will find the answers .In my case it did get a lot better and as I have noticed most people do get better .But not many get 100% recovery but there are times I feel pretty close to 100% and other times back to the same old hissing. Hopefully I have not fully habituated yet and it will get even better still.* months and counting. Uncle Vikin