Really Bad Now... I Need Help Please

[earear]

Hi all,
I have had noise induced T for 10 years now. It has recently become louder and I am struggling to cope with it on top of life pressures.
I could really use some support right now please.

 

[Michael Leigh]

@earear My tinnitus increased quite significantly after habituating to it for some time, so I have an idea what you're going through. I recently wrote a post: Is habituation possible? You might find a section of the text below helpful. Hope you start to feel better soon. Michael.

To the person that has habituated for a while and noticed a tinnitus spike is lasting longer than usual and is showing no signs of settling down as it would normally. Try not to panic. As you know stress can cause this, for life is problematic and few of us go through it without having problems. On the other hand some people habituate to the point where their tinnitus is hardly heard. Under these circumstances it's easy to forget and throw caution to the wind. Have you been attending clubs, bars or gigs where music has been played loud and you haven't been using noise reducing earplugs? It is something to consider.

Have you been listening to music through headphones? Although the tinnitus hasn't bothered you passed, there's no guarantee that you wont be affected now even when played at low volume. Whilst it's good that a person habituates and carries on to lead a fulfilling life, it would be prudent to remember to protect one's hearing at all times or at least be conscious of it. I have been contacted by many people having habituated for a while and stopped using sound enrichment at night and noticed their tinnitus becoming intrusive again over a period of time. Others attending venues where music is played loud, and those using headphones.

My advice is to be careful in whatever you decided to do. If the tinnitus doesn't calm down after three weeks then I think it's time to ask your Doctor to refer you to ENT. Hopefully, you'll be put on a treatment plan. Since you have the experience of habituation and what this entails, it wont be long before you'll feel like yourself again.

I have habituated twice in the twenty years that I've had tinnitus, although the second time was more difficult and took longer it was still possible.

Michael

 

[billie48]

Welcome. Michael has given you excellent suggestions. I wish to add some suggestions in masking the new spiking T. Firstly, most spikes will settle down after some time. So don't panic and get too anxious. Anxiety and stress are bad for T. So for the time being, perhaps try masking your T. Even partial masking is better than nothing. Give the brain time to absorb in the new T level by masking as you go. Here are some masking ideas:

1) At bed time, you may want to consider a sound machine or sound pillow.

2) On-the-go, I used to have an ipad. Nowadays, people can use smart phone.

3) If you have PC speakers, consider these masking sites:
TT's own audio player with great masking sounds:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

If you need more masking sounds for PC, here is free 'aire freshener':
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

Rain sounds are soothing indeed. How about making your own rain sounds with this rain generator:
http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php

 

[earear]

Thank you so much Michael and Billie for your replies. Michael I have been very careful with my hearing for years now and have always used ear plugs at my day job and at a couple of concerts I went to. The increase in T was due to someone in my car, while I was driving for Uber, turned up the volume on my radio to full volume. Needless to say I wasnt wearing earplugs at the time. This was last Saturday night and the increase in volume of my T has so far stayed at the higher level. I'm really having trouble concentrating on anything other than the T right now. How can I work like this? I am not in full time employment and are having to pick up casual work right now.
Billie, thank you for the links. I am playing the rain generator as I write this and it is helping.
I am very grateful for this forum, as I believe it is very hard for people with no T to understand the effect this cruel condition can have on an individual.

 

[billie48]

If your spike is within last few weeks from acoustic trauma of the car radio, you may consider getting some prednisone from the doctor to see if it helps. Members here often recommend this for T caused by acoustic trauma and do that asap.

 

[Michael Leigh]

@earear
My tinnitus increased to insurmountable levels a few years ago in similar circumstances to yours.
I was listening to music on my HI-FI one evening and everything seemed fine. However, the next day I noticed my tinnitus became louder and over the next two weeks reached excruciating levels. I returned to ENT and started TRT for the second time. My road back to recovery hasn't been an easy one and something I never to go through again. I hope yours will be quicker and a lot smoother. If your tinnitus doesn't calm down soon, I suggest you get an appointment at ENT as soon as possible for treatment.

Try avoiding quiet rooms and surroundings during the day and especially at night, by using a sound machine by the bedside or attached to a pillow speaker. When using sound enrichment, try to keep the volume slightly lower than the tinnitus and not to completely mask it so that it can't be heard. The brain cannot habituate to the tinnitus if it cannot hear it.

Please click on the link below, where you will find a series of articles that I have written on tinnitus that you might find helpful.

Best of luck.
Michael
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/member?user_id=3134&content=thread

 

[James]

Hello @earear
Could it be the winter weather? Cold and short days. I'm struggling too this season. It's been bad, like the loudness has increased. People mention stress has something to do with it. It's even loud when I wake up.
Thank you @Michael Leigh for the above post, some good comment I need to do - sound enrichment.

 

[earear]

Hi @James
Mine too is loud when I wake up. I think it is more of a problem at the moment due to me not having a job to go to. I think if I had to get up and go to work, I would have no choice but to deal with it.
Maybe as you say for you in the case of the changing seasons, it could be a change in barometric pressure? For me though, I am living in Australia and it is summer here.
I found this great free hypnosis session on youtube. It has put me in a deep sense of relaxation which I have found very helpful. I listened to it twice, one immediately after another and on both occasions it put me to sleep. I know this is only temporary, but it is good to know I can relax to this extent.
I am in no way associated with this guy, I just found it on you tube and found it helpful. This is not a link, but if you copy and paste into a search engine. The guy's name is Gary something.


Tinnitus: Turning Down the Volume Hypnosis Session

 

[Michael Leigh]

@James . Thank you and hope the sound enrichment helps.
Oasis sound machines are the best in my opinion and made specifically for people with tinnitus.
Michael