I have had tinnitus for 10 years but recently it got worse due to a noise exposure. I now hear a whistling sound on top of every other sound. It's driving me mad. It's not maskable. I didn't even know tinnitus could be like this. I really wish it would disappear or at least get better but I'm not hopeful. Maybe I'm weak but I'm in tears. I let my guard down for one moment and instantly this happens. It wasn't a bar, concert or movie theater. It was people playing music from TV speakers in a family gathering. I didn't realize it could ruin me. And now I'm going pay for it for the rest of my life. The whistling sounds are distorting every other sound. They even follow me in the shower.
The weird thing is that I didn't notice these whistling sounds for the first few weeks after the noise exposure. My general tinnitus felt worse but I didn't notice anything like this. I tried actively to not give it attention because I didn't want to fall into a tinnitus anxiety vortex. I was constantly trying to mask my worsened tinnitus by playing water and nature sounds on earbuds and now I fear that might have caused the whistling sounds. They were the kind of buds that didn't go into the ear canal. I tried to use them on low volumes only but maybe it was too loud anyway. I even slept multiple nights with the earbuds and they often dropped out of my ears during the night. I thought it was fine as long as the volume was low because sound is sound whatever the device... I don't use them anymore. Whatever the case, this is the situation I find myself in and can't change that. It's another thing I can constantly blame myself for. I don't know if it's possible that I always had the whistling sounds but just didn't notice them at the beginning. Or maybe they appeared on their own.
I'm anxious and afraid. I don't know what to do. I don't know if there's anything to do. It seems worse because it's not a constant maskable sound. It can't be masked! I don't use masking sounds anymore because they don't work.
The weird thing is that I didn't notice these whistling sounds for the first few weeks after the noise exposure. My general tinnitus felt worse but I didn't notice anything like this. I tried actively to not give it attention because I didn't want to fall into a tinnitus anxiety vortex. I was constantly trying to mask my worsened tinnitus by playing water and nature sounds on earbuds and now I fear that might have caused the whistling sounds. They were the kind of buds that didn't go into the ear canal. I tried to use them on low volumes only but maybe it was too loud anyway. I even slept multiple nights with the earbuds and they often dropped out of my ears during the night. I thought it was fine as long as the volume was low because sound is sound whatever the device... I don't use them anymore. Whatever the case, this is the situation I find myself in and can't change that. It's another thing I can constantly blame myself for. I don't know if it's possible that I always had the whistling sounds but just didn't notice them at the beginning. Or maybe they appeared on their own.
I'm anxious and afraid. I don't know what to do. I don't know if there's anything to do. It seems worse because it's not a constant maskable sound. It can't be masked! I don't use masking sounds anymore because they don't work.