Hi all,
I am a 24 yr old male, I have had tinnitus for the last 5 months. I'm not sure what caused my T.. It could have been marijuana withdrawals, yet it most likely was caffeine, and running listening to loud music through my ear phones.
The first signs of my T came on lightly, one night when I was in bed I could hear a ringing sound - this made me very anxious although I told myself this was only temporarily and that I would sleep it off and it was all be all good in the morning.. Unfortunately not, I woke up with the ringing louder and started worrying even more. First thing in the morning I went to my local GP and recommended/ got my ears washed out. But the T continued.
After I got home I tried to relax but couldn't, I searched the internet and read what tinnitus was, and read that it doesn't go away for most people. This sent me into a spiral of out of control panic attacks, uncontrollable crying, heavy breathing and anxiety..
The next week was unbearable.. The ringing increased as did my anxiety. When I did manage to get some sleep I would wake up in the middle of the night and start having panic attacks. I would then call a life-line support to get me through. In one day I made 25 phone calls to the same life line to get me through the day. Every day for a week I called support services.
When I spoke to people around me my words were shakey as I was scared all the time. I did not feel safe anywhere. The T was so loud, it was all I could hear, even while watching TV.
I spent must of the day sitting with my arms crossed, at times I would look over my shoulder suddenly for no reason, this could be apart of chronic paranoia; looking for things to get me that weren't there. I barely ate, and lost a lot of weight during this time. Time went slow, I was always stressing about how I would get through the day, like its only 8 in the morning what am I going to do for the next 16 hours before I eventually fall asleep? I just wanted to be unconscious. I tried doing things I use to enjoy like taking my dog for a walk, but 20m down the street I would break down uncontrollably and have to walk back. I tried going for a walk down the beach, but as soon as I get there I would walk for a minute or so but have to come back. During this time I was suffering from severe hypercausis. My ears were so sensitive, even stepping on leaves hurt my ears..
This all lasted about a week, the anxiety and T reduced slightly but the hypercausis gone which was a big relief.. I was ready to go back to where I was living and continue life with the struggle of T. The medication i was on really helped me back on my feet. The tinnitus has been up and down since then. After the first 2 months at night when i'm in bed I would get little T explosions that lasted for a few seconds, going really high pitched then back to its normal frequency.
After 3 months sometimes it would dissappear nearly completely, then it would come back. I remember it was nearly gone and I was living a normal care-free life. It was so low i could just hear it at night and it didn't really bother me, it just just cricket-noises chirping in my head at night, which was still uncomfortable but such a relief from the constant ringing laser noise.
Recently, about a month ago I decided to mow the backyard lawn using ear protection for about 30 mins. This caused my T to increase dramatically, nearly to the point it first started. This lasted 7 days then it went down again.. I find that noise exposure really increased my T, things like chopping wood, or going to a bar with music would increase it, although sometimes I did these things it wouldn't have any effect at all which I found weird.
5 months on and I get the job I have been studying 18 months for to get my qual. The tinnitus is nearly gone, and only bothers me at night or morning when i'm in bed. This was a great turning point for me and the start of my new life.
(At my workplace I am driving trucks and operating machinery. So its the first day of spring, first week into my new job iv been longing for but my ears are RINGING; there's a nasty hiss in my ears that wont go away and can hear 24/7 like it was when I first had T.
I am sure operating machinery even with ear protection has brought my T back to a high level.
I am now severely anxious and depressed again, and considering quitting my job because of this tinnitus bullshit that's ruining my life and destroying me as a person. Its not worth feeling like this, this is a nightmare, symptoms of hypercausis are coming back, and chronic depression increasing by the day. I don't even know who I am these days, completely out of character with very little self-esteem. Every day is a battle to get through work and complete set tasks, knowing that when I come home my T is going to be unbearable.
Am I doing more damage to my ears by operating machinery? I am using good quality ear muffs over ear plugs in my ears and it still seems to be effecting my T.
Has anyone had there T go away after 5+ months?
Has anyone had there T go away whilst operating machinery in the workplace?
Thank you all for reading my personal story on tinnitus, any feedback is much appreciated.
I am a 24 yr old male, I have had tinnitus for the last 5 months. I'm not sure what caused my T.. It could have been marijuana withdrawals, yet it most likely was caffeine, and running listening to loud music through my ear phones.
The first signs of my T came on lightly, one night when I was in bed I could hear a ringing sound - this made me very anxious although I told myself this was only temporarily and that I would sleep it off and it was all be all good in the morning.. Unfortunately not, I woke up with the ringing louder and started worrying even more. First thing in the morning I went to my local GP and recommended/ got my ears washed out. But the T continued.
After I got home I tried to relax but couldn't, I searched the internet and read what tinnitus was, and read that it doesn't go away for most people. This sent me into a spiral of out of control panic attacks, uncontrollable crying, heavy breathing and anxiety..
The next week was unbearable.. The ringing increased as did my anxiety. When I did manage to get some sleep I would wake up in the middle of the night and start having panic attacks. I would then call a life-line support to get me through. In one day I made 25 phone calls to the same life line to get me through the day. Every day for a week I called support services.
When I spoke to people around me my words were shakey as I was scared all the time. I did not feel safe anywhere. The T was so loud, it was all I could hear, even while watching TV.
I spent must of the day sitting with my arms crossed, at times I would look over my shoulder suddenly for no reason, this could be apart of chronic paranoia; looking for things to get me that weren't there. I barely ate, and lost a lot of weight during this time. Time went slow, I was always stressing about how I would get through the day, like its only 8 in the morning what am I going to do for the next 16 hours before I eventually fall asleep? I just wanted to be unconscious. I tried doing things I use to enjoy like taking my dog for a walk, but 20m down the street I would break down uncontrollably and have to walk back. I tried going for a walk down the beach, but as soon as I get there I would walk for a minute or so but have to come back. During this time I was suffering from severe hypercausis. My ears were so sensitive, even stepping on leaves hurt my ears..
This all lasted about a week, the anxiety and T reduced slightly but the hypercausis gone which was a big relief.. I was ready to go back to where I was living and continue life with the struggle of T. The medication i was on really helped me back on my feet. The tinnitus has been up and down since then. After the first 2 months at night when i'm in bed I would get little T explosions that lasted for a few seconds, going really high pitched then back to its normal frequency.
After 3 months sometimes it would dissappear nearly completely, then it would come back. I remember it was nearly gone and I was living a normal care-free life. It was so low i could just hear it at night and it didn't really bother me, it just just cricket-noises chirping in my head at night, which was still uncomfortable but such a relief from the constant ringing laser noise.
Recently, about a month ago I decided to mow the backyard lawn using ear protection for about 30 mins. This caused my T to increase dramatically, nearly to the point it first started. This lasted 7 days then it went down again.. I find that noise exposure really increased my T, things like chopping wood, or going to a bar with music would increase it, although sometimes I did these things it wouldn't have any effect at all which I found weird.
5 months on and I get the job I have been studying 18 months for to get my qual. The tinnitus is nearly gone, and only bothers me at night or morning when i'm in bed. This was a great turning point for me and the start of my new life.
(At my workplace I am driving trucks and operating machinery. So its the first day of spring, first week into my new job iv been longing for but my ears are RINGING; there's a nasty hiss in my ears that wont go away and can hear 24/7 like it was when I first had T.
I am sure operating machinery even with ear protection has brought my T back to a high level.
I am now severely anxious and depressed again, and considering quitting my job because of this tinnitus bullshit that's ruining my life and destroying me as a person. Its not worth feeling like this, this is a nightmare, symptoms of hypercausis are coming back, and chronic depression increasing by the day. I don't even know who I am these days, completely out of character with very little self-esteem. Every day is a battle to get through work and complete set tasks, knowing that when I come home my T is going to be unbearable.
Am I doing more damage to my ears by operating machinery? I am using good quality ear muffs over ear plugs in my ears and it still seems to be effecting my T.
Has anyone had there T go away after 5+ months?
Has anyone had there T go away whilst operating machinery in the workplace?
Thank you all for reading my personal story on tinnitus, any feedback is much appreciated.