I got tinnitus two weeks before my 21 birthday and that was when my life took a different path.
I'm no native speaker of English, but after reading so many of you guys' stories, I really want to share mine.
Such support forum does not exist in China, where i live, unfortunately.
It might be quite boring and nagging, but I want to describe some details, as i think they might be the reason why i got T. (Doctor could not tell me what was wrong cuz i don't have any noticeable hearing loss or any other symptoms)
I remember clearly it was a Monday. I got up early as usual to go to work. Nothing was wrong in the morning or I was too busy to notice anything. I still can not forgive myself for doing that one stupid thing - I somehow chose to wear a short skirt with bare legs on an unusual chilly day. I already started to shake when I walked out of my dorm room. On the bus to where I walk, I played loud music as always to cover the noise from the bus engine and leaned my head towards the window to take a nap. I was frozen the whole time and when I woke up, my neck started to sore a little bit. During the day, sitting in the office, at some point i started to have a headache, it felt like I had a fever. And looking back, I did at that point start to hear some electronic sound in my head, and my ears felt like covered with something, but it was pretty much masked by other noises and i did not pay attention.
The night when I went to bed, when I put on my earplugs, T was there waiting for me and it never missed a day since then. My T fluctuates and for most of the time it's a electronic sound. Going to bed starts to become a torture and one thing I fear most. I tried to put on some music or white noise to help, but i was so used to sleep in complete silence with earplugs, so the music did help mask my T but kept me awake at the same time. I panicked, went to see different doctors, cried almost everyday and finally decided to go home for two weeks(I'm a full time college student with an internship job).
Things got a little bit better at home. With my family around, I was able to sleep but i still woke up a few times in the night. Then I started to try traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture treatment. All the doctors I've seen did not take me seriously, they said i was just too stressed, once i got some rest, i would be ok. But it was not the case. I admit i went through something extremely stressful the month before T stroke me and I had some health issue which i could not take care of because of being too busy at that time(a fever in the afternoon and stomach flu for a month and was super tired with a headache sometimes even when i just woke up). Rest didn't help much with my T or maybe it was not enough rest. I went back to school after this short break and started again to have sleepless night.
Here I am, stopped taking medicines except vitamin B, still have no clue how I'm gonna fix this. Some people say by changing their lifestyle, doing things like exercising regularly and eating healthily help, but I have been working out on a daily basis and playing in a volleyball team for almost three years with a very well rounded healthy diet (maybe lack of some carbs cuz I'm trying to maintain low body fat) with a good sleeping schedule form 11 to 7. I don't know why T happened to me. Maybe what the docs said is true ? I should not put myself into that much pressure?
Now it has been exact 2 months, the volume of my T stay almost unchanged (although indeed sometimes i feel it's lower and sometimes higher ), but I'm finally able to talk about it without burst into tears in the next second and sometimes even with T, i could fall asleep really quick (only occasionally, most of the time i still struggle a little bit and going to bed is still not something joyful for me like it use to be), i start to live my life again, studying for my thesis, hanging out with friends, and surprisingly, there is time in the day i can stop thinking about the T completely when I'm around friends or concentrate on other stuffs (but of course, when there is noises to mask my T). Now I'm looking forward to the coming school break at the beginning of next year when i can go home for two month. I miss my families more than ever and sometimes I even think my T is a sign telling me to not be so self-obsorbed, to stop being a perfectionist, to appreciate those small good things in life and to be thankful of what I already have.
I'm no native speaker of English, but after reading so many of you guys' stories, I really want to share mine.
Such support forum does not exist in China, where i live, unfortunately.
It might be quite boring and nagging, but I want to describe some details, as i think they might be the reason why i got T. (Doctor could not tell me what was wrong cuz i don't have any noticeable hearing loss or any other symptoms)
I remember clearly it was a Monday. I got up early as usual to go to work. Nothing was wrong in the morning or I was too busy to notice anything. I still can not forgive myself for doing that one stupid thing - I somehow chose to wear a short skirt with bare legs on an unusual chilly day. I already started to shake when I walked out of my dorm room. On the bus to where I walk, I played loud music as always to cover the noise from the bus engine and leaned my head towards the window to take a nap. I was frozen the whole time and when I woke up, my neck started to sore a little bit. During the day, sitting in the office, at some point i started to have a headache, it felt like I had a fever. And looking back, I did at that point start to hear some electronic sound in my head, and my ears felt like covered with something, but it was pretty much masked by other noises and i did not pay attention.
The night when I went to bed, when I put on my earplugs, T was there waiting for me and it never missed a day since then. My T fluctuates and for most of the time it's a electronic sound. Going to bed starts to become a torture and one thing I fear most. I tried to put on some music or white noise to help, but i was so used to sleep in complete silence with earplugs, so the music did help mask my T but kept me awake at the same time. I panicked, went to see different doctors, cried almost everyday and finally decided to go home for two weeks(I'm a full time college student with an internship job).
Things got a little bit better at home. With my family around, I was able to sleep but i still woke up a few times in the night. Then I started to try traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture treatment. All the doctors I've seen did not take me seriously, they said i was just too stressed, once i got some rest, i would be ok. But it was not the case. I admit i went through something extremely stressful the month before T stroke me and I had some health issue which i could not take care of because of being too busy at that time(a fever in the afternoon and stomach flu for a month and was super tired with a headache sometimes even when i just woke up). Rest didn't help much with my T or maybe it was not enough rest. I went back to school after this short break and started again to have sleepless night.
Here I am, stopped taking medicines except vitamin B, still have no clue how I'm gonna fix this. Some people say by changing their lifestyle, doing things like exercising regularly and eating healthily help, but I have been working out on a daily basis and playing in a volleyball team for almost three years with a very well rounded healthy diet (maybe lack of some carbs cuz I'm trying to maintain low body fat) with a good sleeping schedule form 11 to 7. I don't know why T happened to me. Maybe what the docs said is true ? I should not put myself into that much pressure?
Now it has been exact 2 months, the volume of my T stay almost unchanged (although indeed sometimes i feel it's lower and sometimes higher ), but I'm finally able to talk about it without burst into tears in the next second and sometimes even with T, i could fall asleep really quick (only occasionally, most of the time i still struggle a little bit and going to bed is still not something joyful for me like it use to be), i start to live my life again, studying for my thesis, hanging out with friends, and surprisingly, there is time in the day i can stop thinking about the T completely when I'm around friends or concentrate on other stuffs (but of course, when there is noises to mask my T). Now I'm looking forward to the coming school break at the beginning of next year when i can go home for two month. I miss my families more than ever and sometimes I even think my T is a sign telling me to not be so self-obsorbed, to stop being a perfectionist, to appreciate those small good things in life and to be thankful of what I already have.
Member
. I'm in a similar stage of life as you (23 years old, recently graduated from university, just started working) so you're definitely not alone in this battle!
