New to Tinnitus; 29 y/o Dork in the DMV Area

[LunarRXA]

Hi everyone,

It's been years since I've been on a forum. It's kind of nostalgic and fun in its own way. This past week my hearing loss hit a threshold. I went to seen an audiologist and an ENT and am setting up an MRI this next week. I'm doing my best to look at my Tinnitus as a challenge. It's difficult.

I play GW2; an MMORPG; it was/is my main coping method for dealing with my depression & anxiety. In doing so I listened to music at, unknowingly, unhealthy volumes for about 5-6 years. My tinnitus is a high pitched whine in my left ear that's usually inaudible to me and a clicking sound in my right ear when exposed to certain frequencies; food sizzling on the stove, running water, crinkly noises such as food packaging and certain types of music and songs. Oh and car-engines; engines are fun =p (not really).

It's been a rough week. In order to beat this thing I'm going to have to really challenge myself and make better use of my time. I went on a date with a fun girl this past Friday. My tinnitus was only really an issue about 25% of the time. It was nice, and sorely needed. We laughed a lot, I got her number and we'll make plans again in the future. I've dealt with severe depression before. It did a number on me.

According to the ENT I've lost about half of my hearing over the 5k-6k+ Hz range. That tends to fall into things like birds chirping and higher pitched women or children's voices. It hurt a little when he said that hearing at that range/scale is what he would expect to see in a 40 or 50 year old. None the less.

I'm struggling to find my new sense of normalcy. There are still things I want to do and people that I want to see. I'm trying not to give myself too much time to dwell on it too much, but I could really use a hug. I've been taking melatonin before bed, and exercise seems to help alongside Netflix/Amazon Prime (simultaneously). Getting past the clicking bed-sheets in the morning is more of a struggle than I'd like to admit.

I guess I'm going to have to become more disciplined from now on -shrug-

-Brian

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. It is understandable that the initial stage of tinnitus suffering is tough no matter what we do. So mentally it is better not to dwell on T on what it is doing everyday as trying to control it can drive us nut and make us fearful of T. Your T is still very new and acoustic trauma will usually take the ears weeks to months to settle down.

You are doing the right thing to try keeping on living as normal (like dating a girl out), and have fun in life. You will find that as you stick to living as normal as possible and giving T as little attention and time, the brain will slowly learn that T is not that important nor unlivable. So the big red sign 'threat' will be removed from the subconscious brain slowly. After a while, the brain will get bored with T and will not try to monitor it. That will be the time habituation will finally happen slowly. Good luck. Take care. God bless.

 

[Arseny]

If you are sure your tinnitus is caused by acoustic trauma there is no need to do other tests especially noisy MRI or acoustic reflex test. Also DO NOT clean your ear wax with syringes or microsuction, only manual extraction.

Basically there is a high risk that anything involving noise might exacerbate tinnitus and you shouldn't take it.
Wear earplugs near the roads and avoid public places with a lot of bass (nightclub for example), because it can cause damage through the bone.

Also you are within a time frame when HBOT might help. Try to get 10-20 sessions.

 

[LunarRXA]

The ENT said that there was a low chance that there could be some sort of benign growth in my ear. That's what the MRI is meant to check in on. My little brother had one when he was younger and it was dealt with. They also said that Debrox once a week was fine. I'm just trying not to pay it too much attention right now. I'm not browsing the forums like a madman. Just checking maybe once daily or every other day or so. I haven't looked into any ear-plugs yet. I may in the future, but I'm not big on clubs or louder scenes anyway.