New But a Bit Miserable

[paul harrison]

Hi everyone, not had tinnitus for long, been reading horrendous blogs etc and its freaking me out. I'm 6'4" ex rugby player and never been ill, this has floored me. I'm wondering if there is any support for this, or any trials anywhere on the planet that I can take part in as a test subject. How does one sleep, tried beer, whiskey, even considering 'weed', or do I just get on with life(easier said than done). Positive replies only as I've read enough horror stories. cheers

 

[PhilB]

Welcome to the forum, Paul. Tinnitus floors everyone at the beginning but don't believe the horror stories. For the mast majority of people, it gets better over time. No-one can say how much time you will need to adjust but alcohol is not the answer. You've only had it for 3 or 4 months so not long enough to participate in the Autifony trial that many of us are interested in. You will be eligible in a couple of months though (6 months of Tinnitus is the minimum) so it may be worth giving them a ring to enquire about it. Of the hospitals taking part, Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield is the nearest one to Leeds. See http://autifony.com/autifony-tinnitus-study-uk-sites.asp for the contact details.

Anyhow, you will see that there are thousands of members on this forum. We all have T and we all cope with it one way or another (most of the time, anyway). You may want to check out the sound therapy stuff. That helped me a great deal in the early stages of T. Take a look at the Acoustic Neuromodulation (ACRN) thread in the Treatments section. ACRN is something that you can easily try out for yourself at no cost and there is lots of info on here which will enable you to get started. Good luck and stay positive.

 

[SickoMicko]

Paul try 10mg melatonin for sleep, all natural, purchased at any drug store, not expensive, it works for me.

 

[billie48]

Welcome, Paul. If you find reading tinnitus blog is depressing, you should read the success stories instead. TT has many encouraging and positive success stories and after reading them, you will come to see that T is not an end game nor a catastrophe. Many people get better after some time and finding something which help them. You can learn some insights by reading the stories. Also if you don't have masking yet, do try to get masking going asap. It helps to reduce the stress level of the T reaction. There are APPs on smart phone which can generate sound, and many masking sound videos on youtube (search there by tinnitus masking sounds). You can also use ipod download with nature sounds or your favourite music, or MP3 player. This way you can get mobile masking if needed. For PC, you can download a free sound generator called 'aire freshener'. For bed time, you can get a sound machine or sound pillow for that. Do anything to reduce your stress and anxiety level. T feasts on stress. So the less stress, the lower the level. Try to do something relaxing to help relax. Good luck and take care.

 

[paul harrison]

Thanks for the replies, had my ears de waxed, yesterday but my noise is 100 times worse, we are supposed to by buying a new house, and sold ours but I dont feel I can go through with it. I had the worse night of my life last night, and my wife is deeply upset, I can't see any way out of this, I'm having really really bad thoughts, i love my life and my family but I'm struggling, I'm taking penicillin for a throat infection, but having to drink myself into a coma to get 3 hrs sleep. I felt strong yesterday, but rock bottom now. ????????????????????????????

 

[tomm]

Paul, get to the GP today and pick up some sleeping and/or anxiety meds - everything is going to seem worse without sleep.

If you're an ex Rugby player, get out and have a jog or really hammer it at the gym to knacker yourself out.

CBT will give you some mental tools to deal with the anxiety and help you stop focussing on it. You can call someone local directly.

 

[paul harrison]

Wot is CBT please

 

[tomm]

Cognitive behavioural therapy. A talk therapy where they give you mental processes to change the way to think about things that are affecting you. You can search for a local registered therapist here.

 

[PhilB]

Buying or selling a house and moving house are some of the most stressful things that we do in life. If you are worrying about the house move, maybe that is making the T seem worse. Like @tomm says, ask the doctor for something to help you sleep. Drinking yourself to sleep is not a good idea. A better idea would be going for a jog in the evening to tire yourself out.

 

[paul harrison]

Cheers

 

[Nick the Swede]

As said above, get out an exhaust yourself. That is the best anti anxeity med there is. All the emotional swings is very common during the early months of T.

 

[Chris D]

Paul,
You have my sympathy. I have been suffering with T for only three weeks and it has been hell. I got it after being on Wellbutrin for less than a week. Not being able to sleep is the worst part. That is why I am up at 2o a.m. writing on a T blog. As for weed, I have been a regular user for 30 years but had to quit when the T started, it just made it worse. You may have a different experience but that was mine.

Chris

 

[Nick the Swede]

@paul harrison, skip the alcohol until the anxiety is gone. Helps for the moment but it really feeds it during night and you will always pay a high anxiety price the following day. Believe me i have tried.

 

[paul harrison]

Ok I will forget the weed then. Been to a hypnotherapist today, not to cure me but to learn to de stress and relax using Emotional freedom Technique tapping into the bodies own healing properties, nice guy, there for 3hrs and £60, but I'm not sure he recons that I shouldn't go down the root of tablets as the problem will be there when I finish the course, which is true I suppose.

 

[billie48]

You can do EFT yourself by following their tutorial and save the money. If you have acute anxiety that your will power or relaxation exercise can't temper, than getting some meds to help is a good idea. Once you know something can help to reduce the anxiety and perhaps even the ringing loudness, you can even get more confident. We don't need meds for long term. We can phase them out when the condition improve. That was what I did. I had to depend on Ativan (benzo) for anxiety and Prozac (anti-depressant) for anxiety plus sleeping pills for the darkest period. Now I don't need them for my T anymore. These days I don't give a dime to T high or low. The body learns to get used to my ultra high pitch loud dog whistle T over time. I also learn to use some CBT techniques to help counter the distorted thoughts which they call cognitive distortions in CBT.

 

[jovionabedofrose]

In my experience with T alcohol will help for s few hours to sleep but then POW intense suffering. There are things that make my T off the charts,,,,alcohol.....stress/anxiety.....salt......caffeine/coffee......loud/busy/noisy places..just to name a few

 

[Jesse Pinkman]

Thanks for the replies, had my ears de waxed, yesterday but my noise is 100 times worse

How did the ENT get rid of the wax? Did you get your ears syringed with suction? You should never do that. A user called @quietatnight had a major spike after he got his ears syringed with suction. He recovered, dont remember how, maybe you should ask him

 

[uncle vikin]

Mine started after I had earwax removed .She irrigated it then went in with tweezer and pulled the wax out .Mabe I should have left it in.I just can't figure T out it keeps you guessing.

 

[paul harrison]

OK, its been nearly three months since I got this tinnitus. At first it was the worst thing in my life, and I thought it was all over( a bit dramatic but thats how I felt). Now however, I still have it ringing away but I am not at all frightened of it, its more of a slight irritation, and most of the time I try to ignore it. At first I tried all sorts of rubbish, and read all kinds of crap. If anyone wants proper advice read articles and U-Tube stuff written by Julian Cowan-Hill, he's a guy that's had tinnitus, and is so positive to read. I read and watched most of his stuff and its was like a switch that turned off my stress and fear of tinnitus to just a mere irritation. Yes it still buzzes, but I experiment with, foods, and drinks, what makes it buzz and what dosn't. At first I read that dairy stuff, alcohol, sugar stuff, was all bad, so I went onto a miserable diet of soya milk, fruit, chicken and veg, and there was no change. I thought 'what the hell am I doing', I felt miserable, so I went back onto dairy, red meat, a few biscuits, and my usual beer with my mates at the weekend. Maybe it gets a little louder the day after, but I try to ignore it, and I'm Happy again.
I do however, exercise, and very regular, I have got up to 30 miles every other day on my road cycle, and I make sure I do it. I find it takes every bit of stress out of my body, and I feel so calm and relaxed.
So if you read this don't worry, work out what makes it buzz louder food wise, then avoid it, same with drink. To be honest the buzzing goes whilst I'm having a few pints, but it comes back the next day.
I suppose the point I'm trying to make is, if you change the way you think about tinnitus, you will feel a million times better, I do, and I'm not talking bull.
Also try avoid doom and gloom negative articles on this subject, do not read them, and if anyone starts to tell you negative stuff about tinnitus tell them, politely to bugger off!!!
Cheers

 

[Gin]

I went months and months trying to get rid of my T. And it is scary. Especially if you have never been ill or heard of it before, like I had. And yes some of the blogs and posts are really negative and can terrify you. I went over a year without any diagnosis. Tried nasal sprays, steroids, etc. Before I got the Meneire's diagnosis. It is hard to deal with (the symptoms), but its not fatal. One thing I did try and was amazed that worked for my T was Lipo Flavnoids. It doesn't work for everyone and it is an over the counter vitamin supplement. I rolled my eyes and ignored the suggestions at first too. Finally I decided why not it couldn't hurt. I bought a bottle at wal-mart for $24. I took 2 in the morning 2 at lunch and 2 in the evening. Within the first 2 or 3 days it decreased my T was 80%. Three months in, my T is completely gone. I even went off of them for a little while. It was still gone. I have since went back on them, due to having an attack that spiked my T briefly. But now again, no T. So if I were you, I'd give it a shot.

 

[Oli]

@Gin What was the cause of your T?

 

[Candy]

@Gin how loud was it, when could u hear it?
Thanks

 

[Gin]

Don't know. It showed in tests that 2 organs in my right ear weren't responding. They could be damage caused from Meniere's disease.