Tinnitus Fluctuation

[Misery]

Yesterday my T was so quiet I forgot about it most of the day. Today it's definitely more noticeable today. I'm not fond of calling a rise in volume of T a "spike", I'd rather just say that it fluctuates. I have no idea why it fluctuates, and I'm not going to try to find a possible reason. It does what it does and there's no real point in spending time and effort trying to figure it out. My time will be better spent doing things to distract myself...keeping busy.

I hope you all have a quiet day.

 

[jmccombs82]

Mine fluctuates too. Since its start in October (about 2 weeks before your ringing started actually) I feel like I have had every sound/pitch/volume known. I have not had the typical "ringing" sound that most people think of though. It's been a very strange journey to say the least. I have read that certain food/drink can influence it so I have tried to avoid sugar/alcohol/grease (basically anything bad for you). I am not sure if it is doing the trick. I do know that anxiety influences it a great deal. I have tried to train myself to not associate anxiety with an increase of ringing. I have also found that my ringing also fluctuates in sensitivity to sounds. Sometimes a fan can irritate the ringing. For example, last night I could not sleep with any white noise because it seemed to irritate it. I was able to fall asleep with the background of my bedroom fan. It was the first time in over a month in a half. I don't know if I am learning to accompany the sound in my ears or if it is REALLY fluctuating.

I do also know this...if I dont' get a good night rest, my tolerance for the sound is decreased. If I feel rested I am able to not focus on the sound as much. I have really had to alter my life these past two months. From what I gather it sounds like most ringing is the result of hearing damage and that ringing is the typical high pitched ringing you get after you attend a concert. I don't have that. I think my ringing was the result of some viral infection in the inner ear. I am still optimistic that it will get better. I think the body takes time to heal and slowing down the pace of life for awhile to allow for that healing is important. If we continue to move at the pace before we had the ringing then the difficulty starts. We continue to fight against the ringing instead of accepting into our world.

I do hear your frustration though. My sounds are so unpredictable. Going to bed...I think "I wonder what tomorrow's sound is going to be". I think the most frustrating thing is that by the end of the day you feel so utterly exhausted. My work week is so boring after I get off work because I have no energy left. I work in the field of mental health and am currently working on my clinical license to become a therapist. It's funny to have this ringing while going through my internship because it gives me a firsthand experience in practicing the cognitve behavioral principals I teach my clients. I guess one could say that the ringing has helped me to become a better therapist (????).

Do you know how yours started? How are you keeping yourself sane/healthy/nurtured? Please know that I completley emptathize with your experience. I am in the same boat as you...and I am always up for discussing copings skills/strategies/ideas to keep ourselves sane thoughout this process.

I do want to say...DO NOT GIVE UP. I believe my ear issues will subside over time. Or I will find a system that works. Until then, I kepe my head up, practice my uplifting self talk and believe that I am capable

 

[Misery]

Thank you so much, @jmccombs82.

This is my second time having T. I had T over 15 years ago. At that time it was definitely noise induced and it lasted quite a few months and eventually went away completely either because it resolved itself or because I habituated to it.

This time around I'm not 100% certain what caused the T. I had a cold that started in early October. I attended a concert on October 26. I wore ear plugs as I normally do but we had excellent seats and were right under the speakers. The T began about four days after the concert. A couple weeks after that I was diagnosed as having a "near sinus infection with fluid in my left ear" (my T ear). The fluid in my ear seems to finally be resolving.

You say you use white noise to sleep. The white noise seems too harsh for me. I'm using nature sounds instead and it's working wonderfully. The past few days I've awakened during the night, turned off the sounds and I could not hear my T, so I left the sounds off for the remainder of the night and was able to easily fall back asleep.

I have a MS degree in MFT and (years ago) I worked as a drug and alcohol counselor. I'm also very familiar with cognitive behavioral therapy. It's nice to see others going into the field.

It sounds like you're quite optimistic that this will eventually resolve itself for you. I am also quite optimistic that this will eventually resolve.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I hope you have quiet days ahead of you soon.

 

[jmccombs82]

@Misery

It's a strange boat this tinnitus thing. I had one ENT tell me to "live with it" and another tell me "it will go away...it may take months or years...but I believe it will go away". So with those two incredibly different statements I decided to create my own path and try to eliminate any and all things that don't serve me in my healing process at this point. As far as work goes, I have had to reduce my daily caseload because it is hard listening and being present with clients when you have your own internal struggle going on. I have made immense efforts to igorne the sounds and try to focus on outside noise.

I didnt' mean white noise. I too listen to water running. The white/pink noise stuff is too instrusive and mind numbing. I also find that my ringing is not as harsh in the evening as it was when the ringing started. I cannot predict a pattern whatsoever. I have tried to embrace the "go with the fucking flow" mentality and thus far, it seems to serve me.

I have my MSW and am about 1 year away from getting all of my 2000 face to face clinical hours for licensure. Trying to find the balance in life in this field is hard enough and then I had to go an develop ear ringing. Seriously!!

When you had your ringing years ago...do you remember freaking out like this? How did you cope?

 

[Misery]

Good for you for going so far with your education. I worked for 7 or 8 years as a children's social worker as well as doing the drug/alcohol counseling. I'm guessing you're in the US?

Years ago when I first had T I didn't have easy access to info like there is today. I was quite unhappy about it, but I contined on doing things as I had done prior. I wasn't going to let the T stand in my way. Truly, it's been the same this time as well. I've continued on as usual. The only real difference is I'm using ambient sounds to aid with sleep and I hear my T most of the time during the day as I go about my business. Maybe I'm a little unusual in this way, but it causes me no real anxiety. I do, however, have a curiosity about it. When I had a lot of clicking it was a little unnerving, but that has mostly subsided.

 

[Blair14]

@jmccombs82 Good luck with that, I couldn't keep up with my caseload and crashed, I'm done! I know exactly where you are coming from.