Hi Everyone... Need Some Advice and Support

I am graduate student here at Houston and came across this forum while searching for tinnitus on google.
This is my story.
Since last week I am having some bad throat which maybe due to the chronic cold that I have since ages which comes up during seasonal changes.
Two days back when I got up in the morning, I had this unbearable very high pitched sound like "eeeeeee" in my ears when there wasn't any source around. I got anxious and had some panic attacks and was shivering like anything. I searched and found that this disease is called tinnitus and doesn't have a cure. After reading this I had some teardrops and almost fainted. I found that it can be because of Loud sound like concerts and disco and listening loud music for a long time but I didn't do anything. I was studying at my home for past 1 week for my finals and I don't know why is this happening to me. I have project submission and quizzes due next week and I can't concentrate on anything because this thing is always there on my mind. Couldn't even sleep properly for 2 days. I live alone in States and my family is thousands of miles away from me.
Need some help guys. Is this high pitched sound the onset of "T" and is it temporary or permanent? and how do I cope up with this?

Thanks
Harry

 

Hi Harry

I'm not terribly knowledgable about it (I have tinnitus in one ear caused by Meniere's), but i do know that you have come to the right place!

There are some members on here who can give you excellent advice. Have a read of the some of the threads in Treatment and Support

 

@Harry for a lot of folks tinnitus starts at a time of high stress. Mine originally began during a very stressful period of studying. See a doctor quickly and ask about a short course of steroids (prednisone)- it might help if you get in quickly (like today). It might also be worth taking a magnesium supplement as stress depletes this I think and there is some evidence this depletion might be implicated in some cases. Zinc and vitamins B12 & E might also be worth taking.

Try to move quickly. Is there any chance of delaying your deadlines to give you chance to deal with this? I imagine the stress is probably enormous at the moment, and stress/anxiety is probably contributing to the tinnitus. Whatever else you do, also try to find time to practice whatever stress relief works for you.

Do not despair, and likewise do not let this paralyse you as you might be able to reverse it. You might even find it just goes away on its own when you feel more relaxed. But get what help you can quickly is my personal advice.

P.S. The problem may also just be to do with congestion from your illness. I hope this is the case.

 

Hey Harry,
Welcome to the board. You are at the right place as many of us have gone through where you are now and we do understand your suffering with your tinnitus. Sorry to hear you are struggling. That is to be expected when your tinnitus is so new. The 1st phase of T suffering is often traumatic. Many of us have gone through the same tough struggle you are going through now. So we truly understand how you feel and have deep empathy for your sufferings. I encourage you to lighten up and relax a bit. Your T being so new, it may just disappear or fade over time. So take it easy. You are at the early stage of T suffering and so you tend to have distorted thought about the future. In CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), these are called cognitive distortions which tend to cause you to think in unrealistic or catastrophic way about the future. You can google it to read up how cognitive distortions can really increase our anxiety & affect our mood or judgement.

Right now, your brain is under the control of the limbic system due to the tinnitus trauma, and it functions in 'fight or flight' mode which tends to make you think that things are much worse than they are. Most of us have gone through the sufferings you are going through, fearful, worried, depressed, sleepless, not knowing how to face an uncertain future, etc.... But many do recover or are recovering. Many posted their success stories. So you should read up these success stories to help you calm down and have a brighter hope for the future.

I also highly recommend you to read up on Dr. Stephen Nagler’s “Letter to a Tinnitus Sufferer”. He also suffered with tinnitus like us before and has recovered. So he knows what you are going through. You can read it and try to follow his advice to improve your condition. By the way Dr. Nagler is kind enough to answer questions about tinnitus in the “Doctor’s Corner’ section on this site. He is an expert on TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy). You may want to ask him for guidance there. Dr. Hubbard is another doctor there who can answer your questions. He is specialized on CBT.

In the meantime you may want to consider masking your T so you won’t be so anxious about facing the T ringing. I used a PC download with a free sound generator called 'aire freshener'. This way I can work while listening to masking sounds. You can download it here: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html
If you have smart phone, there are free APPs out there too. I used an ipod download with nature sounds (bought from Amazon.com) by using the itune software. This gave me mobile masking when I needed it most during the start. You can also buy a sound machine or sound pillow for masking at bed time.

Also, if you are too depressed and anxious, please talk to your doctor to get some medicines to help you to cut off the sharp edges of the extreme emotions. I used Ativan (for anxiety), Prozac (anti-depressant) and sleeping pills just to survive my darkest days. So if you ever need them, go talk to your doctor.

There is also an earlier thread on what to do if you are new to T. I have listed 8 steps there to help a newer sufferer to cope with their new T experience. Check out this link to see if the info can help you. Take care & God bless your recovery.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-and-stressed-with-tinnitus-read-this-first.3978/#post-40275

 

Thanks @dboy and @billie48 ! This thing is really driving me crazy! Can't even study for my finals! They will be ruined. Went to an ENT. She couldn't find the reason for my tinnitus. She said its may b because of stress and will go away soon! Prescribed me methylprednisolone for a week and said you will be fine! So my question is will I be?
I am on the fourth day and it has no effect so far. I cannot bear this ringing with no reason. @Dr. Nagler and @Dr. Hubbard can you please advice me how to cope up with this and any other medicines or remedies you suggest?

 

That would typically also be difficult. Tinnitus can rarely be diagnosed directly (objective tinnitus). Sometimes the cause for subjective tinnitus can be found via audiograms or a visual examination if it concerns eg. the middle ear.

But +99% of all cases of tinnitus cannot be diagnosed. The only way to "diagnose" tinnitus is to take a narrative approach ie. what happened in the days immediately before you developed tinnitus (eg. the sore throat you mentioned). Also a longer term perspective may be needed ie. lifestyle habits such as long term noise exposure (nightclubing, ipod listening, etc.).

An extended audiogram hearing test (> 8 kHz) may also be helpful, but can only provide a clue; an indication if you like - not a diagnosis (which many ENTs on the contrary seem to think).

Doctors tend to blame things on stress when they can't find the real cause. She is guessing. And while stress may be a contributing factor, it cannot cause tinnitus to develop by itself.

My advice would be to consider your options very carefully during the early stages (= the so-called window-of-opportunity). Steroids are most effective in the very acute stage (= 0-48 hours post onset) - if they are actually effective at all (which would depend on the cause of your tinnitus + hearing thresholds).

So here is what I would do in your situation. See another ENT. Explain your situation to him/her as well as what happended before you developed tinnitus as well as what you, yourself, believe might have been the cause. Based on that consultation, you will get a diagnosis. Consider if - from that diagnosis - you are eligible for one of the current on-going clinical trials (AM101, AUT63, OTO311). Make your intentions clear while you are with the ENT (if you actually want to pursue that line of thought...).

There are many people on this forum who like to sugarcoat people's tinnitus situation by saying "oh, it will probably resolve soon". While that may be true, the truth is also that it may not resolve. And so, if I were you, I would put forward a real effort in the early stages.

My suggestion.

 

Had MRI and MRA, shows blood flow is chocked in one of the arteries of the brain. Can this be the possibility of my tinnitus. My tinnitus is like a cathode R tube or a high voltage wire of a sort and is unreactive to sounds though I still protect my hearing at all loud places. Infact it is unreactive to sugar salt sodium caffeine alcohol and other stuff as well. Its been same since the onset. @Dr. Nagler and @Dr. Charlie , can this artery problem be the cause of my tinnitus?
One more thing, everynight my mom gives me head massage and after the massage, my tinnitus is gone for some time and I achieve near silence which helps me sleep. But if I wake up in the middle of night, my T is ragging and its very difficult to go back to sleep. I try to mask it with different sounds but in vain. Even sounds of crickets and bells cannot mask my tinnitus.

Thank you

 

Harry My comment would be the same as billie48 .Hang in there you have support on here.
(Uncle Vikin)

 

Hello !
Could be a viral or vascular problem triggered by stress but as for many of us you will probably never find out ! Have your hearing checked (with oto-acoustic-emissions if possible) and try to keep the stress level low (I know it is hard in this period but it could prevent chronicity or worsening).
Most probably it will get better with some time...
Stay positive !

 

Hi @Harry

Firstly, I am so sorry that you are going through this. Like others have mentioned, Tinnitus can and is very unnerving in the early stages. Like most humans, we are desperate to find cures to conditions that afflict us and return to a balanced or baseline state. With Tinnitus, the causes aren't always clear (if ever really known) and so the solutions evade us for quite some time. The early advice you got about seeing an ENT and getting on a steroid is a good suggestion. You should also consider plenty of fluids, anti-anxiety medications (like Ativan at 1 mg, which works well if you haven't been on these sorts of meds before), and trying to reach at least 8 hours of sleep a night, if you can.

That said, you have discovered a possible cause of your tinnitus. @Fish shared an extremely useful chart outlining the usual suspects and how to narrow down the possible causes and if your symptoms match and align with your MRI study findings, you may have been fortunate and found a cause. For most of us, no cause will ever present as the real culprit -- or in some cases, it will be multi-factorial. Even so, it is worthwhile trying to find a treatment.

My recommendation is that you see a neurologist, especially following your diagnosis. They will be able to evaluate your scan results and give you recommendations for next steps.

Please keep us posted on your condition and your search for a cure. You have come to the right place.

Best always,
K.