Scared Because of Tinnitus

[Musicforever]

I am only 17 years old and I don't understand why this is happening. I don't listen to lots of loud noises, I listen to music but not at super loud levels.

One night I just started getting this ringing in my right ear, it was like a pattern playing over and over. I had a panic attack from it because it scared me so much. I didn't sleep that night and the noise wouldn't stop.

Ever since then on and off I get this soft ringing and it is in both ears now. It usually happens in the mornings when I wake up or at night or when I'm in a super quiet room. I am so scared this is permanent and it is causing me so much anxiety and sadness.

I've noticed the more I worry about it the more it comes back but it seems impossible to ignore.

I haven't even been listening to music as much anymore which is depressing to me because music was always my life and was always so important to me but I worry the music will make it worse or make it come back.

 

[fishbone]

I am only 17 years old and I don't understand why this is happening. I don't listen to lots of loud noises, I listen to music but not at super loud levels.

One night I just started getting this ringing in my right ear, it was like a pattern playing over and over. I had a panic attack from it because it scared me so much. I didn't sleep that night and the noise wouldn't stop.

Ever since then on and off I get this soft ringing and it is in both ears now. It usually happens in the mornings when I wake up or at night or when I'm in a super quiet room. I am so scared this is permanent and it is causing me so much anxiety and sadness.

I've noticed the more I worry about it the more it comes back but it seems impossible to ignore.

I haven't even been listening to music as much anymore which is depressing to me because music was always my life and was always so important to me but I worry the music will make it worse or make it come back.

Welcome to the forum

Getting tinnitus can be scary at any age. You are at the beginning stages of tinnitus, this can be a bit scary I agree. At first, this can be very weird, but in time it can become manageable. It is important that you protect your ears, from now on. Try to not be in LOUD environments. Loud sounds, stress, and some meds can annoy your tinnitus and possibly make it louder.

This is a new challenge for you, take it day by day and try to remain calm. It takes time, but things will be ok.

 

[CrazyT]

Try to lower your stress. Even if you are bound to have it permanently, it can only help you. Probably it might not even be.

 

[billie48]

I've noticed the more I worry about it the more it comes back but it seems impossible to ignore.

Being so scared or anxious of T initially is a very normal reaction of the body trying to protect us from harm and danger. We are often very scared when T is new because T is both an alien sensation and a new ailment to your body. Our brain doesn't understand T and doesn't know what to expect. Failing to shake T, the brain just reacts in trauma and shock. Your limbic nervous system kicks in overriding the normal parasympathetic nervous system and you function in fight or flight mode, the defensive mechanism for a human in face of a danger. The fight or flight center or the Amygdala is in control now making every sensation quite acute and intense and you easily succumb to fear and worry as that is how the body tries to protect you. It tends to tell you to be aware of the threatening object which in this case is the new T. That is why we tend to monitor T non-stop initially and can't seem to help it.

Try remaining calm and positive as humanly possible as you can. By being calm and positive, and be more accepting of the new normal, by educating ourselves more about T (like what you are learning by joining this forum), and by doing some relaxing or interesting activities or by going back to living life again, our brain will have a better chance to restore the normal parasympathetic nervous system, and the pre-frontal cortex will take over processing the T ringing stimulus from the scare-crow center, the Amygdala. One of the functions of pre-frontal cortex is to suppress the fear reaction. It will also let you handle other negative reactions/emotions more normally.

This process is similar to a child being afraid of the dark because of not understanding what it is all about. Fear sets in and stress builds up and the child cries to get help and to relieve the stress. Later on and growing up the child learns more about the dark and the fear fades and no stress/fear will be forth coming to trigger the limbic system. Likewise with our tinnitus experience, our brain needs to take time to understand T more and be more hardened to it so the fear reaction will subside. But this process takes time and may take learning some good strategies. I mention some helpful strategies in my success story dealing with both severe T & H. Perhaps you can benefit by checking it out below. Don't panic nor despair. Things will improve given time when you are more used to this. Also, young people get better faster. I provide some success stories of young folks and hopefully you will remain calm and hopeful that you will be well. Take good care. God bless your recovery.

success story of 17 years old Zach:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/fake-it-until-you-make-it.7590/

success story of Jari with T since 12 years old:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new.7670/

lana got T at 15 and getting better:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/positivity.13050/

 

[Kolisar]

Hi @Musicforever , and welcome.

First, I have to say I agree with @billie48 and @fishbone . Staying calm is very helpful, especially in the beginning.

I am so scared this is permanent and it is causing me so much anxiety and sadness.

@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ ). So, according to the studies referenced in the post, you have a fairly good chance of your tinnitus not being permanent.

If you have not read this yet, I would suggest the following post by @Michael Leigh , it will answer a lot of your questions about tinnitus in general
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/