Struggling with a Sudden Worsening of Tinnitus After Eleven Years

sandra72

Member
Author
Oct 13, 2014
215
Netherlands
Tinnitus Since
may 2014
Since January, my tinnitus has changed. It has gotten worse, much worse. I have had it for almost eleven years now, and for the last four years I could handle it well. It stayed in the background. I only heard it in silence, and there were almost no high tones anymore.

A lot has happened in the last few years. There has been a lot of stress. I have been ill and have a chronic condition. That is why I started taking Oxazepam. After about eleven months, I stopped taking it. I took one per day, and very occasionally two. The stupid thing is that I stopped all at once. I had withdrawal symptoms, but my tinnitus stayed the same. There was no increase at that point. That only came later.

I have a granddaughter who is one and a half years old, and she can make quite a lot of noise. I protect my ears when I am with her. She even imitates me now, putting her hands over her ears. I also went to an arcade once, where there was a lot of noise, but I did not stay very long.

I had a hearing test, and my ears are a little worse than they were eight years ago, but still not bad enough for hearing aids. I have mild hearing loss.

I feel miserable and depressed, and I cannot see a way forward. I do not know how to deal with this. It is loud. I hear a beep of around 4 kHz. I hear a noise, a hissing sound. It sounds like static, as if flashes shoot through my head, and I hear it above everything, even in the shower.

Now my question is: can this still improve? Why is this happening after so many years when it was just fine?
 
Sorry to hear your tinnitus got worse. Mine did as well this year, after about twenty years, so I can relate. It can be a challenge to relax when you hear the tinnitus over everything else.

Would you say the hissing you perceive flickers, rather than being a consistent flat tone?

I think, with time, your brain could definitely adapt and things could improve. There is always hope. You could get a blood test to rule out deficiencies or other possible causes. I have done the same and recently started having massages because my muscles are very tense.
 
I feel sorry for you. I have that static or hissing sound too. Yes, I hear it even in the shower. I even heard it while I was in the MRI machine.

When I first got tinnitus, I was able to mask it with general everyday sounds, but this static or electrical sound is very piercing.

I hope we can both habituate to it!
 

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