Tinnitus Induced by Shock and Stress

how many of us were overwhelmed or had a major traumatic event occur that set off T?

For those with normal audiograms I'm beginning to believe that T triggers under high stress scenarios.

How we retreat from this state? some say cranial sacral therapy, massage, and just a total body shutdown (no friends, no internet, no work, no nothing for a few weeks).

 

I think mindfulness, meditation etc relaxation techniques are they key for us...

 

My ent told me that i have 20 db hearingloss at 4khz bu also said that its normal for my age (42). So i dont know if it's sound related or stress. The strange thing with me is that in the morning the T is the loudest and the rest of the day very low but on bad days i hear different sounds like crickets, hissing etc. all day long.

Days that i dont hear it but only in the mornings en days that i hear it al day. I always thought that if you have a damage that the sound is always the same en not like mine. So mayby its stress related.

 

I am usually a stressful and overly anxious person. I have OCD and some form of bipolar disorder as I am always severely depressed and moody. I never sought any treatment for it. The trauma to my head made the bad worse. I am not sure if its stress related as I read somewhere that stress can make your already present tinnitus worse but it doesn't "cause tinnitus". I don't know how much of this is true. I had concussion and sensitivity to bright lights and sound so maybe its something physical in my case. I maybe wrong who knows

 

I don't know much about any of your conditions, but it seems you ought to seek some treatment. Who knows, treating your other disorders might help your T as well.

 

I believe my tinnitus was caused by pumping me full of beta blockers when I had an attack of atrial fibrilation over a year ago now, and also I was given 2 injections of blood thinner, although it was a traumatic experience at the time I not sure if it was the shock that caused my tinnitus, pretty sure it was the meds, my hearing is fine

 

@sandra72 Do you grind your teeth during night? Typically T is quiet in the night and mornings and not the opposite.

 

yes i think i do. a few years ago when i woke up in the morning my tooth was broken to the root and I clench my jaw a lot. My T is not that loud in the night but waking up the sounds goes louder and louder.

 

Try muscle relaxants a couple of night and see if they help. Getting a splint is also a good idea.

 

how do i do that the muscle relaxants?

 

They are drugs for which you probably need a prescription. Ask from your dentist / GP.

 

Yes, although anesthetic triggered my t, I do believe that stress was building like a pressure cooker to create a vulnerability in my auditory central nervous system. The central auditory cortex, where many believe the overfiring neurons for us occur, joins at various junctions with our whole central nervous system. Therefore calming of the CNS seems key. Low stress, body based exercises i.e. yoga, meditation, plus bubble baths, walks in nature, plenty of sleep, relaxing music, doing things we love and spending time with good people. These all help t for me.

 

very interesting. i think there is a direct correlation between onset of Tinnitus, trauma and stress. The hearing loss just isn't always a fair argument cause who does not have hearing loss after age 50?

 

@Lisa88

Has your tinnitus gone down after that traumatic experience with cranial therapist?

 

My T has changed from a tonal, to crickets to a hissing type over the last year. It started four days after a car accident, and a period of very very stressful six months before the accident. Grind my teeth and always have a stiff neck. I have some degenerative disc in the neck which I have been told are fairly normal for my age. Being out in nature and listening to bird sounds on youtube helps a great deal.

 

Is that how it is for most people ?

I'm not sure mine is. But then I haven't worked out how to sleep yet so I dont have much distinction between day and night :-( a lot if the time us spent collapsed in a heap on the bed, day or night.

I think that stress makes tinnitus worse, which is ironic as it causes so much stress. But I though hearing loss, noise exposure and med conditions like sinusitis and infection were more likely causes. Seems like ever post you read people have different ideas as to what may have caused theirs

 

I belive its both hearing loss AND traumatic event/stress.
When your brain loses hearing abruptly, there is a sudden void, if at this time the brain is put under stress then it will not be able to compensate the hearing loss and will break down the gating mechanism allowing T signal to filter to the cortex. Old people with hearing loss had their hearing loss develop very slowly over many years of a happy and fullfilling life. Many of them are deaf as door knobs without any inkling of tinnitus.

 

Although I am kind of arguing against stress induced tinnitus I was under a lot if stress when mine set in. So I suppose a sudden loss of hearing in say your early fifties plus stress could make the brain take over. My poor dad is 93 blind and bedridden he also has some hearing loss but doesn't haVe thank God. I guess his hearing loss was gradual and he wasn't a major stresser either

 

I lost hearing quickly due to ototoxic drugs. I believe the stress from the lost hearing and minor T resulted in major T in the end. No sleep for weeks on end, no recovery time at all couldn't have helped my situation at the time. At onset I didn't sleep for more than 10 min at a time and then waking up with adrenaline raging through me. This lasted for weeks before I was able to get a hour a night, this then lasted for months. I'm sure this made the tinnitus worse than it would have been if I didn't panic. I should have come here for advise, I didn't know what was happening to me. Thought I would go completely deaf as things got worse daily, I just didn't know and the doctors didn't seem to have a clue either, I was on my own.

I was shaking scared and in a state of pure panic for around 6 months straight. I don't think it's normal to experience this kind of panic unless you are at war or someone is trying to murder you. I was in complete and total shock 24 7. I am pretty sure that this is one of the reasons my T sits at catastrophic levels even now that I have reached calm and am able to sleep.

Advise for anyone new....please chill!!!! Get some sleep so your body can recover, I think this is the best way to heal before permanent damage creeps in.

 

Yep, same here , stopped Benzo cold turkey and my body freaked out, hearing dropped severely and I panicked. 2 weeks after that , massive T.

 

Same here. Before T, was totally exhausted (work, private). For years, I had to manage everything and it took me 16-18 hours per day. I was totally exhausted, slept during the day, got vertigo, migraines, stomach issues.
All those symptoms caused anxiety in me. I was totally out of control. And in that moment, my brain started T like crazy. It was like a sirene. So besides all the symptoms I already had, catastrophic T joined the game.
I am still recovering from the symptoms. Unfortunately, T stayed. Once you have it, you cannot get rid of it.

 

My concern is another noise or physical trauma can make things worse.

 

But how, I just can't sleep with it, it's too loud ( hope I am not sounding pathetic ).
I can't nap in the day a good night for me is maybe 3 hours sleep a bad one is virtually none, and that is with meds.

I agree it will make it worse but I can't break the cycle

 

I was stuck with a new bad employer and a stressful job for weeks before my head injury. Not sure if I have a physical cause or stress induced T. Though my GP told me that my concussion could have been a trigger for T after years of severe depression and anxiety. My guess would be that it's physical as I had painful and blocked ears for months soon after my T started. Also I have H which makes me think I have some physical cause

 

I agree with rest and relaxing but I feel personally too much of "nothing" makes everything worse. That said, I could be wrong or it could be right only for me in my case. I suppose it's the case with everyone that balance is the key and difficult to find.

 

I think you have a good point about chilling, I had T for 3 months and didn't panic as I knew nothing about it and assumed it would go. Month 4 to 6 when it ca,e to both ears it never let up, I went psychotic.


I was the same as you describe massive anxiety no sleep etc etc but I can't stop the panic so I'm thinking it's gonna get worse. It's a vicious circle

 

Will they ever find a cure

 

Agree with you but first part only. Perhaps not universal but it seems like most of the accounts on this forum suggest that tinnitus is a stress event. But here is the problem. Hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. At least acedotally, once tinnitus takes hold, this insidious disorder is almost impossible to reverse. So I don't believe your cold turkey approach is a viable therapy. My personal opinion. Hard to un-sail the ship in the case of tinnitus as reported here.