Hi, I'm new to the forum and I hope that sharing my story will help others struggling.
Just before my 22nd birthday, I was getting into bed one night when a ringing started in my ear. I hadn't been in any loud environments recently or suffered any ear trauma so the noise really came from nowhere. I assumed it would go and played rain sounds to help me sleep that night.
The next day the noise was still there, so I tried ear drops thinking it may just be a build up of wax. At the time I was in my second year of uni and although I didn't recognize it at the time, I must've been quite stressed with assignments. I went to the doctors who prescribed me something (sorry I cant remember) to help. Whatever it was made no difference and I went into deep depression.
I had never experienced depression before until this. I felt hopeless and would spend days crying, emotionally drained, and at night I was so stressed. I was mentally exhausted (don't worry it gets better). I had to defer an exam and went back to the Doctor, who prescribed Amitriptyline. Google will tell you it's an antidepressant but this is not the purpose it was prescribed to me for- it's also used to help people with anxiety and sleep problems. The way it was described to me is that the Amitryptyline helps to calm your mind down and relax you-essentially making it easier for you to drown out the noise. I was first prescribed a low dosage and at the time I was still doing assignments and I didn't feel it making a difference. My dosage was then upped to 50mg and at the same time I was nearly finished with Uni for the summer.
Things started to improve. I was able to ignore the noise easier and gradually the stress and depression faded and I felt happier and more hopeful. I know what you're going through and I know how hopeless it feels but please believe me you will get better and life will be bright again. In my personal experience, stress effected my tinnitus massively.
In the summer I started working at a job I enjoyed and was socializing a lot more- it was at these times that tinnitus barely crossed my mind. Now, I'm 23 and about to graduate. I sleep with rain sounds on and I'm still on Amitriptyline but have managed to gradually lower my dosage to 20mg a night. I'm hoping to eventually not take it at all in time. I know people say to accept that you have it but I would also say to do whatever helps you cope with this. Personally, I believe as this tinnitus came out of nowhere it can leave out of nowhere again. This mindset helps me to live happily day to day-accepting that I have it right now, but reassuring myself on down days that it may leave again, or if not, become so unacknowledged that it disturbs me in no way.
I hope my story helps you to keep hope and find the remedy that works for you. If you want to ask me anything feel free