What Are These Other Sounds? I Can't Stop Crying. I Just Want to Be Myself Again.

[Stephanie Wood]

So I've been dealing with my T for about a month now. I try to keep myself a little positive because for the most part, I hardly hear my T and on some days it's completely gone. It's most likely caused by TMJ and I've been getting physical therapy and a bite splint soon.

However, I've recently been struck with another problem. I'll randomly get these weird noises in my ears like a pin dropping or my ear will ring for a split second then stop. They make my ear feel very sensitive when I hear them and it almost feels like the pressure in my ear changes for a second too. They seem to happen a lot more when I'm trying to sleep, it really sucks because as soon as I hear a noise it startles me and it's almost impossible to fall asleep. On top of that, when I finally get some peace and I'm laying down in a really quiet room, I'll get this weird noise in my right ear (which is the ear that first started ringing), that almost sounds like a broom against the floor or kinda like white noise? It's hard to explain. It'll come in a wave and when I hear it I get this weird sensation on that side of my body. I've also gotten a little bit sensitive to high-pitched or really loud noises.

I'm really suffering here, it's gotten to the point where I'm scared to lay down and I'm constantly anxious and I don't want to do anything.

Does anyone know what these noises could be? I can't really find anything on the internet for it. Could it be my ears trying to tune themselves? My PT was really messing around with my jaw the last time I went, so maybe the nerves could be irritated? Or maybe it's just my anxiety? I don't know what to do anymore...

 

[Stephanie Wood]

Also, very rarely (maybe a couple times a day) My left ear will suddenly change pressure and I'll get a faint ringing sound, but it hits so powerfully that I feel dizzy and it really startles me. After my T started I've gotten a hot/burning sensation a couple times in my left ear as well.

It really worries be cause my right ear is the ear that was having all the problems, and now that my right ear is getting better my left ear is really starting to act up.

 

[Stephanie Wood]

I can't stop freaking out. I don't know what to do.

The noises in my ears are changing so much so quickly and I'm in a constant state of anxiety and panic. I was happy that my T was starting to fade but now I'm getting the sharp noises and pressure changes and every time I feel it I just start crying. I can't do anything else and I can't get my mind off of it. I'm terrified to try to sleep because that's when it spikes the most. I can't tell if my ears are ringing anymore because I can't hear anything but my head feels so weird and I think it's at a REALLY high pitch. I keep looking back to the night where I first got T, and I feel so frustrated and even jealous that I had no idea what was coming. I just want to be back to normal. I'm going to college in a couple weeks and I'm not even excited anymore. I'm just scared because I won't be around my mom and I'll have to deal with this on my own. I'm getting my bite splint tomorrow but to be honest, I'm scared it's not gonna do anything. I'm at the brink of giving up.

 

[undecided]

xanax

 

[Path Maker]

@Stephanie Wood What you are experiencing is the classic way people feel when this is new. My words alone are not going to solve it but I can tell you that most people come through the hard part and DO feel better. In many cases, MUCH better. The newness of it and the stark contrast to how normal you felt until this happened is what INTENSIFIES everything you are feeling in the beginning. And you're a human being, so of course you have lots of troubling emotions about this. Don't expect yourself to do an immediate happy dance, but please DO DO DO (I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH) hold out hope for yourself and your situation, because SO SO SO MANY of us here once felt JUST as you do now. And then somehow, time seems to make things better, physically, emotionally, and in your ability to cope. And this can happen for you too.

In the earliest months after I got this, and even now, I found it to be a tremendous comfort (and with some very practical advice/help, too) to go to youtube and watch ALL the videos on the Julian Cowen Hill channel. It's not only the insightful and comforting and practical information he gives, but it helps tremendously to be able to hear it from the face of a soft-spoken compassionate human being who also once suffered with this.

Sending you hugs and also wishes for a great college experience. Just try to breathe through it all, only one day at a time, and make sure to notice all the fun new things on campus, tinnitus or not, because those good things are on your side, and noticing them/participating in them is one thing you DO have in YOUR CONTROL right now, to outweigh this tinnitus challenge that you CAN learn to handle.

 

[Zorro!]

Relaxation exercises -- you need to do them. The problem is not simply with your ears but also your brain. Your limbic system is revved up. It's making everything worse. You need to activate your para-sympathetic nervous system. You do this by practicing relaxation techniques/mediation. It sounds hokey but it works. At least that's my experience.

I know what you're going through sucks. I've been there myself. It seems like it will never end. But once you get your anxiety and frustration under control you will feel much better. This includes sleeping also.

It won't happen by magic -- you have to do the work and really buckle down and seriously practice relaxing. But if you are in serious distress though you should consider seeing someone in the behavioral health field. They can help you with counseling and medication should you need it.

Hang in there. It can, and often does, get better.

 

[The Red Viper]

Also, very rarely (maybe a couple times a day) My left ear will suddenly change pressure and I'll get a faint ringing sound, but it hits so powerfully that I feel dizzy and it really startles me. After my T started I've gotten a hot/burning sensation a couple times in my left ear as well.

It really worries be cause my right ear is the ear that was having all the problems, and now that my right ear is getting better my left ear is really starting to act up.

What you're describing here is known as temporary or fleeting tinnitus. It has happened to me as well, but it only started happening after I got regular tinnitus. Your ear suddenly feels like it's going deaf with a pressure change, following by a sharp ringing sound that goes away after a few (5-30) seconds. I can tell you that it's only happened to me a handful of times since I got T, but never once happened before I got T. I didn't really get dizzy or have a hot/cold flash though. It is thought fleeting tinnitus is normal, but the fact that it's never happened to me before T leads me to think that there's something deeper here.

I don't think it's anxiety. I honestly think the whole anxiety thing is complete BS for conditions like T. We all get anxious from time to time, even severely anxious. The same can be said about stress. However, to induce a permanent ringing in the ear? It just strikes me as highly unlikely. The TMJ thing also seems highly dubious to me. It's like the default for when no cause is known; just blame it on TMJ, which itself isn't really known. But perhaps in your case your story presents with trauma or stress to the jaw.

TL;DR I'm rambling here, but I honestly don't know but would suggest that you rigorously "retrace" your steps to try to find the cause.

 

[Stephanie19115]

I'm sorry! I know how you feel. Been dealing with this since 2013. Been misdiagnosed several times! Tomorrow I go for an angiogram.
I know it's scary but just hang in there!! You are not alone

 

[Zorro!]

I don't think it's anxiety. I honestly think the whole anxiety thing is complete BS for conditions like T. We all get anxious from time to time, even severely anxious. The same can be said about stress. However, to induce a permanent ringing in the ear? It just strikes me as highly unlikely. The TMJ thing also seems highly dubious to me. It's like the default for when no cause is known; just blame it on TMJ, which itself isn't really known. But perhaps in your case your story presents with trauma or stress to the jaw.

The OP stated that she is "really suffering" and "constantly anxious". Anxiety may not be the cause of her tinnitus but clearly it goes hand-in-hand with it. This pretty much renders the question of causality moot. If her tinnitus is caused by TMJ there's no telling how long a "cure" will take or if it will even work. Learning some relaxation techniques to quell anxiety now, and in the future, is a good thing to have in her arsenal.

 

[Stephanie Wood]

It's currently 2:45 in the morning and I'm wide awake. I had to go downstairs and watch tv because I just wasn't able to sleep in my bed, even with a fan on full speed and nature noises. Along with that, I took an over-the-counter pill that's supposed to relax you and make you sleepy but it did little to none. Got about 2 hours of sleep before waking up. I'll reply to all the helpful things people have said in the morning, but I'm too tired right now.

I'm not sure what this is about, but my ringing is very odd. I only hear ringing in my ears if I have my ears pressed up against something like my pillow, but then if I press it against something else like one of my stuffed animals, there's no ringing and instead faint white noise/ ocean sounds. If I don't have my ear against something it's totally silent. Not sure if my ears are even ringing or it's just something else.

 

[Hendre Vlad]

Cover your ears..tell us what you really hear...When I sleep , I put music on my pc...always mask it when i go to sleep,really helps.I have never take meds for this condition not even sleeping pils.

 

[Stephanie Wood]

@Path Maker Thank you for the message. I understand that it can get better and I'm really hoping it does. I got literally no sleep last night because my anxiety was just so sky high and now I'm getting a new noise in my left ear that sounds like a faint electrical signal or like someone pouring dry rice into a bowl. Every time I hear a new noise my anxiety resets and I'm back to square one. I have a very hard time falling asleep on my back but I have to because laying on my ears makes the noises much louder. It doesn't help that I'm sitting around at home with nothing to do either. I just want to talk to my therapist (seeing him tomorrow) and I'm going back to the ENT on Thursday. I'm so mad and jealous that the people that were in my high school don't have this and I do. Many of them were listening to music much louder than I was (I'm not saying my T is noise induced, but still), and it just feels so unfair. I don't want to go through this at college. I'm gonna have to sleep on the top bunk too, so I won't have any fan noise close to my ear. I've never had to go through something like this where it's completely out of my control. I've had to wear a back brace for my scoliosis too and that was like 10x better than what I'm going through now. I've been watching Julian's videos and it's had a little bit of effect, but not much.

@Zorro! Yeah my anxiety and emotions are really out of control right now and I have no idea how to reel them in. I don't even feel calm anymore when I don't hear anything because in my mind I'm like "Well if it's just going to come back again what's the point of feeling better/happy?" My anxiety just rests everyday and I can feel my brain really struggling, especially since I got zero sleep last night.

@The Red Viper Yeah the fleeting tinnitus is even worse than the regular T at this point. It didn't start getting it until my PT really messed around with my jaw one day. I'm talking pulling and pushing on my jaw really hard, pulling my jaw forward, putting his fingers in the joint sockets when I open and close because I seem to have a deviation in my jaw, so the joints don't work at the exact same time like they should. A couple days after him doing that I started to get the little pin-drop noises and the pressure in my ears have been changing a lot. I know it's not anxiety that started the T, but it's certainly making it worse. It's literally the only thing I've thought about 24/7 for a month now, even when I'm watching tv and doing other stuff. Before I got all my symptoms I was constantly moving my jaw around because I had a bad habit of gnawing at my inner lip, and I would to it for hours at a time each day. Not to mention I always rested my jaw on my hand during school, which made me clench a lot. I also had braces and when it came time to wear a retainer I hardly did. I don't know, I'm going back to the ENT on Thursday to see what they say. When I took the hearing tests and a hair cell test they said everything was fine and nothing was damaged, but there's a sickening thought in the back of my mind constantly that that's not true.

@Stephanie19115 Thank you, I hope everything does okay for you, I'm seriously struggling right now but it's nice to know I'm not alone.

@Hendre Vlad When I close my ears now there is a ring which sounds like it's more towards my left ear, and there's also this weird white noise type sound that's constantly fluctuating and going up and down (Sounds like it's more in my right ear). However, this changes a lot during the day. It's never the same for too long. I don't like doing this a lot though because it spikes my anxiety to hear the noises so up-close. I tried listening to music all night last night but it didn't really do anything. I've only tried Benadrill once and it did nothing, and I took an over-the-counter pill my mom has that's supposed to relax you but it did nothing. If I don't find a way to calm down by myself I think drugs might be the only option.

 

[Path Maker]

@Stephanie Wood As difficult as it may be in the beginning, try to not attend to each little sound. I know that's easier said, especially when this is new. But as an experiment, how about giving yourself a couple of days where you try the best you can (no need to be perfect here!) at floating past the sounds, keeping your attention outward. Make them involved days. Go shopping for college. Have dinner with friends. Etc. Just for two days. It may give you more of a sense that you DO have control over your reactions, to some degree.

I'm not being naive here. I know you're dealing with a new and serious concern. I would just hope that you can do something to mitigate the anxiety and hyperarousal.

Also, if you can, please gently redirect your thoughts away from the jealousy/unfairness part. I understand this is human nature to feel this way and I've had fleeting moments of it. However, in my case, these moments were fleeting because I'm much older than you are and have had tons of life experience and realize two things:

1) Life IS unfair. But in many ways, it is more than fair. When you look with a more global perspective, you can see all the "fair" stuff. The gifts you've been given that many people DON'T have. Food, shelter, literacy, good general health, four functioning limbs, a bright mind, etc. Not being sappy about this. It's the TRUTH. As humans, we don't like it when a challenge occurs that is a negative change for us, and of course you should do EVERYTHING you can to get well! But please don't waste time and energy in negative thinking about others who don't have tinnitus. People are walking around with all sorts of things.

2) A psychologist once told me, years ago when I had a significant health problem and was struggling with this very issue: The best antidote for getting rid of non-productive jealous feelings (because all jealous feelings do is sap your energy/make you feel worse/don't change anything one bit) is to actively place your focus on what IS good and right and positive in your world.

Hope this is helpful. I didn't mean it in a lecture-y sense. Just as a helpful insight as you keep on keeping on. It is very possible that a few years in the future you will see this time of struggle as something that enlarged your world view and grew you.

 

[Stephanie Wood]

I've been trying to control my anxiety today but my heart keeps pounding and I've been unable to stop it. Mainly because the change from the T fading and now I'm getting weird electrical/ticking sounds in both of my ears (very faint) it sounds like the T is like "flickering out" but there are random split seconds where it does get louder then fades again. I'm so scared right now because I can't tell if this means it's getting better or worse, or if I'm gonna wake up and it's gonna be louder again. My left ear also feels REALLY tight and sensitive, this is the ear that's making the most noise. I sometimes get a thumping feeling too in my ear.