Please Give Me Hope

Hello all i have read countless articles on here which led me to register. Im a 26 year old male, live in the united states (tennessee). About 2 months ago while working out i noticed i would hear a slight bell like ringing sound in my ear then it stopped. Everyday it would come for a few seconds then go. Then suddenly it started and never stopped. Now i have a very high pitched ring in both my ears. It will fluctuate and be louder in one ear, then go to the other, but the sound is always constant in both ears. When i got to reading about tinnitus, i freaked out. When i read that there is no cure and nothing they could do for it, i went into pannic. The ringing is so loud that its all i hear, over the tv, people talking, etc. I cannot concentrate on anything because its all i hear and think about.
First off i am on no medication. I do not do drugs. And do not intake caffine, alcohol, etc. I went to a ent and they checked my ears and said they couldnt see anything wrong. They said there was nothing they could do for me. This made my aneixty and depression even worse. Ive been to several doctors and physcologist and they say i have aniexty/depression, and want me to go on meds, but after reading everything on here and people saying it made it worse, i dont want to go on them. I was on them as a child from age 11-18 but when insurance ran out i stopped taking them. See as a child i had ringing in the ears but was to little to remember why it happen, and what ever made it stop.
Just after reading what can make it worse im scared to do and try anything. I wont even take advil/aleve when i get a headache because those kinds of meds can make your ears ring. im scared to eat food now because i think everything will have msg/glut in it and make it worse. Its just hard to even live anymore in that everything will make it worse, and that it wont go away, and what if the ringing gets even louder.
I am able to sleep when i get tired enough i will listen to water running on youtube and can relax enough to sleep and if i wake up to pee and im tired enough i will fall back to sleep. But its just so hard to live throughout the day cause its all i think about because its all i hear. I havent been exposed to any severe loud sounds or explosions, and my hearing test showed i had great hearing, almost above avg even at higher frequences between 6-8k. Almost like my hearing is heighten because my neverous system is in a hightend state of awareness. I will notice if a tv is buzzing or if a light is putting off a high pitch sound and ask others if they hear it and they will stop and strain and be like year i hear it but wouldnt of never noticed it if you wouldnt of said anything. At times i can hear up to 4 differnt sounds in my ears. I loud high pitch ring is always there, then sometimes ill hear bells ringing, a constant hum like a fan running, a thump thump thump like my ear drum is having a muscle spasim, etc. These sounds last a few seconds or minuets then normally leave, but the ringing is always there. but when these other sounds come my heart races and i freak out because im like oh gosh another sound what if it doesnt ever stop like the ringing.

Im just praying that some of you can give me hope/advice. Just reading so much negative stuff makes me feel like im not going to ever make it. Ive lost my job because irregular sleep patterns, and not being able to focus well cause i worry so much about the ringing. I know it will probley never go away, but after time will i learn to cope with it and sorta not hear it and pay it less attention. Its been 2 months since its been loud and in both ears constant. I do not want to take any mind altering medication like ssri's, benzo's, etc. I know im very stressed in life and hope that i can manage it on my own. Also i have tmj which causes jaw pain and headaches, and i notice if i clinch down with my jaw that while my jaw is clenched it makes the ringing sky rocket then when i relax my jaw it subsides. Any input would be very greatful. Thank you and godbless

 

@Tattoosteve1987 , hi sorry to hear about your t. Beginning months are very tough...gradually it will lower and you'll feel better. In the beginning of my t I took
Zinc, lipoflavanoid, gingko biloba ( look for supplements which are plant based and as much natural as possible ) few months ago I started taking magnesium , niacin, b12,
And my t has decreased a lot. I also eat as healthy as possible, no caffeine , soda, alcohol, sugar, salt.

To sleep I take camomile tea ( night blend ) I also take black cohosh and some Chinese
Herbal pills.


Hang in there, it'll get better.

 

wont tea make it worse because of cafffine. And i read that ginko doesnt do anything, and when i took b12 and bcomplex it hyped me up and i couldnt sleep pierod because b vitamins give u energy, i took them in the mornirng. I also eat healthy as well.

 

Your story is similar to mine Tattoosteve1987. We are many in the same boat here, so I hope that makes you feel somewhat better. As you have read on this forum people have T from different causes, from what you write your case is somatic. I think you should read up on somatic T and/or stress related T. It's not easy to know what to believe in terms of diagnostics and somatic T cause if ENT's don't identify anything physically wrong or if an audiologist don't identify hearing loss, then it's all thrown in the big common bag called "stress". Don't expect anyone in the traditional ENT environment to know much about this, but there might be some stress specialist in your part of the world that could guide you? I'm trying to stress less myself, but as you know too well it's not easy to alter or change your personality like that. In my case it may also very well be a hidden hearing loss that's not identified in the 250-8000hz range and that kinda freaks me out - then the brain goes high wired and the vicious circle is made.

You are the best one to evaluate your situation right now Tattoosteve1987, if taking drugs makes you feel more anxious then you shouldn't do it. I take sleep meds. and some benzo's. You are writing that you are staying clear of foods etc but I don't know if food is that important in this case, if you start being anxious and skeptical for almost everything then you will only live in constant fear, and we don't want that. You are already doing much by staying clear of caffeine and alcohol. From what I've read substances like that CAN "irritate" the stress center for some. You need to keep on exercising, a higher pulse may cause a louder T for a short while then it will decrease in the time after the work out. A lot of people here share that experience, that includes me.

 

Camomile doesn't have caffeine, it helps relax your nerves and hence you get a good night's sleep, besides giving some relief to stress. Hmmm b12 doesn't hinder my sleep.

 

Tattoosteve1987, I feel your suffering. It sounds like my initial days. In fact when I was so devastated, my ENT dr even told me that the only way he could stop my ringing was to shoot me. What nice comforting words! Go figure.

Dont' give up hope. You are just so new with tinnitus and you are at the worst initial phase of 'shock and trauma' stage when your brain is now in the 'fight or flight' mode controlled by the limbic system. Every bad sensation or emotion is multiplied 10 times (just saying), and things look and sound much worse that they actually are. You can get better over time. I went through my hellish journey with tinnitus a few years back but I am perfectly normal living a good life today. I replied in anther support thread a little bit about my story and I copy that below:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have one of the worst ultra high pitch tinnitus, so much higher than any sirens. Take a dentist drill and multiply that pitch by 10 times or more. It is such a mad scream raging and resonating in my head with such condensed energy, like a high energy laser beam against the dark sky. As I am typing, it is swirling and screaming in my head. A few years back, this mad sound drove me near insane and suicidal. Then severe hyperacusis followed with its own brand of limiting, piercingly hurtful & glassy sensation. I was so fearful of this sound. When I played a youtube clip matching the pitch of my tinnitus to my family, they all instantly screamed, covered their ears and ran away fast. What an unearthly pitched ringing which went on 7/24.

Before tinnitus hit I also suffered decades of anxiety and panic disorders, so much so that a little challenge in life can cause panic attacks. So these two alien beasts of tinnitus and hyperacusis literally opened the flood gate of 'hell' of anxiety and panic attacks. So on top of the T & H horrible sensations, I suffered also severe symptoms of anxiety & panic attacks hourly and daily, things like chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, phobia, profuse sweating, headaches of all kinds, head & skull with pinning sensations, dizziness, feeling disoriented and fearful of the unknown, despair, feeling gloom and doom looming, and of course severe depression and sleeplessness. That is why I needed meds to control these symptoms daily so that I could survive the day and I prayed hard that they could stop the panic attacks.

That was how bad my situation was. Today my brain is hardened to this sound. It doesn't react negatively nor emotionally to the same high pitch sound any more. It ignores it most of the day and the ringing fades into the background. As I am tying on the subject of tinnitus, I can hear it distinctly, as loud and high pitched but it no longer can induce a negative reaction from me and soon it will fade from my consciousness. Life is back to normal. It is doable. If a panic prone person like me can survive and recover from severe tinnitus suffering over time, by keeping a positive attitude and by following the collective wisdom of kind members of support forums, by getting back to living and enjoying what I used to enjoy, why shouldn't you? Try your best to stop worrying about your tinnitus now and don't project a catastrophic future with your current distorted thinking. Don't provide more fuel for the tinnitus bully to perpetuate its control over you. In time you can get better. Never say never. Have a great new year. God speeds your recovery.

Billie

 

@billie48,

Do you hold a full time job today? And what made your central nervous system less hyperactive - any exercises or special treatment? Or perhaps it was just life enfolding? Do you think your T will ever go away? From what I read in your post it's still loud and clear.

 

Yes, full time as a computer consultant. Life is back to normal for me, travelling, gardening, fishing, tennis playing, dancing, friends socializing and partying, family gathering and eating out, wild life photography, walking, movie going, volunteering in church & charity services like Food Bank here. Living an abundant life to compensate for tinnitus suffering (if any), willing to accept, adapt & co-exist peacefully with tinnitus, and 'Finding Joy Amid the Pain' (Darlene Cohen) is my new motto in life. Don't cave in to tinnitus bully. Re-claim your good life back, if slowly, step by step, event by event. Time is on our side. Don't give up hope. It is doable.

 

@Tattoosteve1987

Listen to all the advice here and take care of your ears. However since there is no obvious reason for it, it may go as quick as it came. My dad woke up one morning with tinnitus and it went 3 months later just like that.

 

Per, do you think with my situation it can be done without going on medicine for aniexty/depression, since I'm scared it could possible make it worse. Also does anyone think that tmj could be the cause or could contribute to it. I just try to remember back to what was going on in my life when the ringing came. I had gotten a flu shot which i never had in my life before. Ive read that some ppl had tinnitus come after getting theres dunno if theres any science behind this. I had my wisdom teeth pull while i was awake top and bottom, and took hydrocodone for the pain for a week after my teeth were pulled. And i was under a lot of stress from g/f and baby at the time. Also lifted weights a lot and might of not been doing that properly. Thats all i can really think of that might of somehow caused it. But i know i felt stress and depression and anxiety building up over the months and wasn't really feeling in my body like just trapped in my head and thoughts then when all of this came on. Also my brother who's like a father had a bad reaction to medicine and i thought he was gonna die and it really scared me at the time.

Thank you guys for your help. Any input and advice is greatly appreciated, and i will do anything to make this go away. I have relatives that have the ringing, but it doesn't bother them at all to talk about it, i would of never known till i told them about me. They said they thought it was normal or learned to live with it and tell me to but i don't think theres is anything like mine. I pray that one day i wake up and it will be gone but i won't get my hopes up. Thank you all again

 

bump

 

I get that bell-sound for a few seconds quite often too, out of nowhere, am I going to get another sound to this mix??? :O

 

Hi Steve
I suspect everybody thinks they are unique when they get tinnitus or the other nasties that often accompany it. I'm also wondering in your case if TMJ has a connection and whether you have sought treatment in the past? I also notice you say you have depression and are stressed and these conditions feed tinnitus and make the cycle of regaining your life so much harder. Although you say you want to avoid medication it may actually help you so don't dismiss it altogether. In the end maybe your tinnitus might not change but that does'nt mean you won't recover and be able to live a normal life. Understand it is reaction and emotions that are a barrier to getting better. The more negative you are the more stressed you will be and the harder it will be. The early days are the hardest but in time you will automatically find that you become less stressed and less aware of the ringing. Use sound/music in the background as a distraction and try to keep busy or keep your mind active hobbies or other interests. Don't purposefully listen to the tinnitus and don't look for miracle cures as they don't exist. Depression and other psychological conditions are listed as a cause of tinnitus. I'm not saying your tinnitus is caused by it but successful treatment can only help you.

cheers

 

I have answered on the job question. I think what helps my nerve is to go back to enjoy what I used to do. The fun and the outdoor help with calming the nerve. The biggest thing is the loss of fear for the T sound. Without that, T cannot rock havoc on my mental stamina any more. I also have 30-40 minutes of treadmill almost daily unless I have an outdoor day. I don't even care if my T will ever go away. If I pay too much attention to this, I will still be monitoring T and be at a bondage to it. My brain has hardened to this round overtime and it finally agrees with me that even loud T is livable. As I am typing now, it is screaming its ultra high pitch shrill as loud as ever. My T hasn't changed much. I have changed. I am committed to not to react negatively to this sound. It takes time to get there and there are many set backs. Habituation is a cumulative thing and not overnight magic for me.

I didn't have the luck to find any supplement or treatment which turned around my T to make it lower. I just persisted with being positive, being proactive with living my life as abundantly as possible and it works for me. Yes, the loud tinnitus is still around, but my perception of it has changed and the brain is able to push it out of consciousness much of the time, except like right now I am focusing on the subject of tinnitus. But I don't give a dime to T any more and it has very little effect on my life. I feel it is more important for me to contribute to helping others than being reminded that T is still around lurking. The true freedom is when you get to the stage you just don't care about T. During my suffering days, I never thought this possible. Dr. Nagler's advice is true. Our reaction to T determines the intrusiveness of our T. When we get to the stage you don't care, then T is harmless though it may be distracting at times. My humble 2 cents.

 

Hi, when I first got tinnitis I was the same way, I was freaked out that there was no cure and it was bothering me 24/7. But now after about 10 months of having it I don't notice it at all times like before, it has been bothering me a lot lately but I think that's because of stress and because I just had a cold a week or two ago and my ears had fluid in them. After you have it for some more time you will start to get more used to it. I also get the thumping sound in my ear sometimes and it drives me crazy! I think it is stress related and since you seem stressed out that is probably why it is happening more, from increased blood flow in the ear most likely. I hope you start to feel better soon!

 

There's no reason to use benzo's or sleep medication if you can function without. Some function better with meds in a transitional phase, others are less receptive to it. If lack of sleep is creating serious consequences for you, thus making life even harder than it is, then some mild sleep meds could be in order - but I would not do ANYTHING that in fact creates anxiety or stress. If the idea of doing meds makes you anxious then there's no point in taking them, so stick to your own gut feeling and never let any doctor push you into taking anything. In my case I've been taking both benzo's and sleep meds periodically for a very long time cause I know it helps me to get passed mental challenges in my life. I've been struggling with insomnia since I was a kid and anxiety as well, I could be on meds for like 8 months then come off them for a year. It all depends on my life situation, after I got T&H I've been on meds about 4 times a week. T has been a real traumatic experience for me and I'm hoping for some relieve over time, this forum has given me hope that it's possible.

TMJ disorder CAN be the cause of T but how common it is I don't know. You need to get that assessed by a dental specialist, from what I know surgery in case of TMJ disorders is very rare. Lifting weights will not give you T Tattoosteve1987. Personally I don't believe that all those medications that are on the "possible T instigator list" is for real. The list of possible T instigators are now so long that it's almost comical, read more about the list criteria, some countries are obliged to add anything between heaven and earth on lists like that. Potential side effects of coffee is death if you drink 36 large cups of black coffee straight. So if 2 out of 50 dies from that then should death be on the list of potential side effects? I doubt it. Well, this is my personal take on this matter anyhow.

Listen, I tick almost every box myself when it comes to potential causes. When I woke up with a sudden loud T I had been on pain killers with Ibuprofen and Codeine for many months, I had been on antibiotics in the weeks before as well. I was exposed to a fire alarm going off repeatedly and out of control close to my entrance door, it woke me up and scared the hell out of me many times in the week before T onset. I also had huge amounts of stress in my life trying to juggle numerous things simultaneously, I felt scared that important things in my life were about to be destroyed etc. It's a fine mess and almost impossible to pinpoint WHAT caused me to get T&H. All I know is that I didn't have it when I went to bed that day in June and that I woke up with a mad T the day after. My hearing tests (had two) are normal for my age and my audiogram show no signs of severe hearing loss. Perhaps I still have it tough cause it may be in the higher frequencies for what I know, it's all speculations. So we are both in the same boat, we don't really KNOW why we have what we have. All we know is that it's extremely challenging and life altering.

 

Steve,
You mention "ringing in your ears"......and that you now have a very high pitched ring in both of your ears. Well, in my Research over the last two years, I am convinced that this ringing tone is not at all in the ears. It it only perceived to be in the ears. How does that work? Again, the tone is not in the ears, it is in the Audio Cortex reagon of the brain and really does make one think it is generated in the ears. Below a YouTube Video that explains a bit about this subject:

How to Let Go of Tinnitus by Julian Cowan Hill

There is also a good Video in German in case anybody would like to see it.

Anyway, no Need for Panic.....there is a cure. One important tip I can offer is to not think about it at all. Do not say that you can not concentrate on anything.

Bill Hof, Germany

 

Hi Steve, my T reduced 80% and sometimes went to 0.5/10 level after about a year of T. T can get better for sure. Though recently my T bounced back to original level the last few days but i'm optimistic that it will be back to low pretty soon! I know quite a few from online that their T vanished after 1 to 2 years. Even if we aren't the lucky ones like them i believe effective T treatments are very near. Let's keep the faith!

Btw, your T seems quite early. Why don't you try this?
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/26797/

 

I know someone who had islt had gone away after 5 years after a club. Its really weird.

 

Hey Steve, Since you've already had T come and go, there's a good chance it will go again, right? And since you have TMJ, you're probably gritting your teeth at night. You'll never know how much you grind at night. I did years of grinding, now my teeth are flat, I've chipped a few, and I used to wake up sometimes with my jaw stuck shut!! That was freaky. My guess is that you're a grinder too. Before you go to bed, have a small bowl of cereal, without sugar. Then roll up a big towel and put rubber bands around it to keep it round, put a pillowcase over it. Lay on your back and put your head back and go to sleep with your mouth open. The results may surprise you.

 

I grind my teeth during daytime, so I'm probably grinding alot at night as well, sometimes I wake up and feel my jaw is moving like a cow chewing grass. But grinders don't have to have TMJ disorders. Your description seems kinda complicated, is there a picture of that setup? I didn't get get the cereal versus pillow thing. Seems like something I should try too cause I've always wondered how much I grind at night.

 

It's not even an issue of TMJ, you're absolutely right. It's the horrible clenching. Imagine hundreds of pounds of pressure hour after hour through the night. The cereal and milk (without sugar) simply makes me sleep well. I take a big towel, fold it in half the long way, roll it up tight, making a 'tube,' then put a few rubber bands on it to hold it together. I lay on my back and tuck this towel under my neck, which makes my head tilt back. I open my mouth, tell my tinnitus good night and go to sleep. If I don't do this, I wake up with a sore jaw, sore teeth, plugged nose, and tinnitus ringing like a bell. If I drank coffee or pop I would grind even worse.
http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/Images/headnod_tcm75-464488.JPG

 

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about cereal as a part of the experiment. My brain is drained by T. I was thinking of getting a gum of some sort to have in my mouth whilst sleeping so I could have a look at it when I wake up, just to see if I'm grinding or/and pressing my jaw together. Don't know how safe that would be, probably a visit to the dentist is an idea. Thanks for the picture. I don't know if I could manage to hold that position all night as I tend to switch around quite a bit. I have bad shoulders and had surgery again in November, it hurts like hell during night. Anyways, good tip for others here I guess.

 

Please seriously look into your TMJ!!!

My daughter developed terrible T in one ear to the point that she couldnt hear people talking to her. She tried everything, then somebody referred her to a dentist who specializes in TMJ tinnitus. He diagnosed TMJ, said it can come on slowly through the years and finally just go "too far" resulting in T. Anyway he started her wearing a dental appliance ALL THE TIME except when eating. Every 2-3 weeks he would adjust it. After 6 months she realized the T was lowering in volume. Now after 2 years she has no T at all. She is cured, I don't mean she has habituated, it's just gone. She still wears the appliance at night.