Hi everyone!
As long as I have tinnitus, and even probably after I have tinnitus (hopefully, and you will see why I say this) I plan to be active on here so I figured why not begin posting! My name is Ashley, I'm almost 22. I am an Au.D. student so I talk about and learn about tinnitus on the daily. I do tinnitus assessments 1-2 times a week on patients so I know most of the current techniques and counsel people all the time on tinnitus -- habituating, enriching your environment with noise, TRT, etc.
I got tinnitus just about two weeks ago. I am convinced it's from vascular issues and I am really hoping it could be "fixed." Basically, I was stretching. Exercise is not a new routine-- I've been working out for about two weeks trying to prepare for a 5k (my first one!) I think I stretched way too hard, because I literally had the most crippling pain and fell to my knees. I then had tunnel vision for 2-3 minutes, with aural fullness. After all this had passed, I've been left with a constant high pitched tinnitus. I had classmates test my hearing the next day, unchanged. All within normal limits. I told a supervisor of mine, who then called an ENT, and said that they wouldn't be able to do anything because there is no hearing loss, and they told me to go to a neurologist. It took me a few days to get to this point of telling a supervisor because I didn't want to be told the same things I tell my patients-- habituate to the tinnitus, etc. But I told them, and away to the neuro I went.
Prior to the neurologist, I heard this tinnitus ALL the time. It triumphed over any masker. When masking, you never want to overpower the tinnitus; rather, just have it blend in with something and take your mind off of it. There were nights I had to go to sleep with a fan AND rain forest noises coming from my phone and the tinnitus still wouldn't mix into the background. Luckily, the next morning I called the neuro and they had a cancellation and I went. I was put on Valium. Since I was getting slight migraines with it too, the neuro hypothesized that my brain is hyperactive, giving me migraines and tinnitus, and that the Valium would suppress some neural activity and calm the cortex down. I took half a pill that night and the next day my tinnitus was still there and constant but the intensity of it was SIGNIFICANTLY decreased! I was overall in a much better mood about it, and I had hope that it would soon go away. I took half a pill of Valium for a few nights following, and I was at the same place -- still there, but not as intense. Last night I did not take the Valium, and today I'm so so (I just didn't take it because the neuro said take it as needed, and I wouldn't be on it for any longer than 2 weeks anyway.)
So, that is my story. Before my neurologist, there were days I literally would cry for hours. I had no enjoyment in anything I really liked to do. I am very convinced/hopeful that there is some underlying issue and that treating that will fix my tinnitus. I know that tinnitus is usually a symptom of something else. In most cases, it is irreversible sensorineural hearing loss. Since I don't have that hearing loss, I'm hopeful. Thanks for listening guys!
I hope I can help encourage people and I look forward to joining this community!
As long as I have tinnitus, and even probably after I have tinnitus (hopefully, and you will see why I say this) I plan to be active on here so I figured why not begin posting! My name is Ashley, I'm almost 22. I am an Au.D. student so I talk about and learn about tinnitus on the daily. I do tinnitus assessments 1-2 times a week on patients so I know most of the current techniques and counsel people all the time on tinnitus -- habituating, enriching your environment with noise, TRT, etc.
I got tinnitus just about two weeks ago. I am convinced it's from vascular issues and I am really hoping it could be "fixed." Basically, I was stretching. Exercise is not a new routine-- I've been working out for about two weeks trying to prepare for a 5k (my first one!) I think I stretched way too hard, because I literally had the most crippling pain and fell to my knees. I then had tunnel vision for 2-3 minutes, with aural fullness. After all this had passed, I've been left with a constant high pitched tinnitus. I had classmates test my hearing the next day, unchanged. All within normal limits. I told a supervisor of mine, who then called an ENT, and said that they wouldn't be able to do anything because there is no hearing loss, and they told me to go to a neurologist. It took me a few days to get to this point of telling a supervisor because I didn't want to be told the same things I tell my patients-- habituate to the tinnitus, etc. But I told them, and away to the neuro I went.
Prior to the neurologist, I heard this tinnitus ALL the time. It triumphed over any masker. When masking, you never want to overpower the tinnitus; rather, just have it blend in with something and take your mind off of it. There were nights I had to go to sleep with a fan AND rain forest noises coming from my phone and the tinnitus still wouldn't mix into the background. Luckily, the next morning I called the neuro and they had a cancellation and I went. I was put on Valium. Since I was getting slight migraines with it too, the neuro hypothesized that my brain is hyperactive, giving me migraines and tinnitus, and that the Valium would suppress some neural activity and calm the cortex down. I took half a pill that night and the next day my tinnitus was still there and constant but the intensity of it was SIGNIFICANTLY decreased! I was overall in a much better mood about it, and I had hope that it would soon go away. I took half a pill of Valium for a few nights following, and I was at the same place -- still there, but not as intense. Last night I did not take the Valium, and today I'm so so (I just didn't take it because the neuro said take it as needed, and I wouldn't be on it for any longer than 2 weeks anyway.)
So, that is my story. Before my neurologist, there were days I literally would cry for hours. I had no enjoyment in anything I really liked to do. I am very convinced/hopeful that there is some underlying issue and that treating that will fix my tinnitus. I know that tinnitus is usually a symptom of something else. In most cases, it is irreversible sensorineural hearing loss. Since I don't have that hearing loss, I'm hopeful. Thanks for listening guys!
I hope I can help encourage people and I look forward to joining this community!
Manager
Is your tinnitus on and off, or does it come and go with the migraines? Thanks for your response and nice meeting you!
Member
