Support Needed

Hi all

I woke up this morning and realized that there's another tone in the left ear on top of the usual sound. I can hear it over everything. This website's masking audio that has been masking my months of increased ringing does not work this time.

It is high pitch but if I were to cover my left ear, the tone drops to a lower tone. In my 7 years of T, I have never had it like this before. The only good news is that I am not freaking out... yet. My greatest fear has always been the ringing becoming worst so I hope this is not the realization of it.

I know this is a journey we each must undertake and no one can explain to me why it suddenly went this way. I think I just need some assurance or support. I wonder if anyone has any similar experience.

Shan

 

This happened to me just last week. I had habituated to my T- everything was peachy, then suddenly, I get this mixture of sounds in my ears again. It's been altering every which way for the last week, but I think it's just temporary.
As do I believe your's is temporary.
Has your routine changed at all? Maybe retrace your steps and see if it was something you ate or maybe over exposure to a certain noise. There are all kinds of factors that could be related to this out of no where spike.
But, don't freak out. Remind yourself of your previous accomplishments with tinnitus. Look at how far you've come. Realize it will be okay.
I personally think this is just a temporary thing. Don't give it too much power.
Good luck!

 

@shan

Hi,

You won't know if your new sound is temporary or permanent for quite some time. Tinnitus does change quite a bit, but your new noise may go away.

In the meantime, you should try not to focus on your new sound, like @MaccyDee notes. If you do, it will only make it louder.

Perhaps, you could find new tones to help you mask. There are many maskers in the Apple and Android store. You might need one that's higher pitched than what is currently offered on TT.

I can't mask my tinnitus; it's just too high. But that said, I still find masking sounds soothing as they make my noise less noticeable.

YouTube also has dozens of masking tracks. You might try the insect ones. Also some water sounds--especially running streams--can offer a variety of sounds for your tinnitus.

Just be patient, don't panic, and look for new maskers. And make sure you can sleep well. Not getting enough sleep will increase your noise every time.

Good luck and let us know if you find a sound that works!

 

shan, it isn’t unusual for tinnitus to consist of two or more sounds and for a person to acquire a new sound or lose an old one. When we acquire a new sound, it doesn’t mean tinnitus is getting worse. It is a very good sign that you aren’t freaking out. It really shows you have learned a lot about handling tinnitus and that you can rely on your past experience to help you navigate.

The things that were helpful to you in the past, such as a particular strategy or a particular mindset, may be helpful to you now. Although the masking audio on this website doesn’t help you with the new high-pitched tone, there are many other sources that may provide some comfort when you need it. I no longer use masking CDs, but for a while I took comfort in playing a particular track on a CD called Rain in the Forest from a company called Listening Earth in Australia. I used to play it at bedtime, on nights when I was having a tough time relaxing and falling asleep, and it gave my auditory system something else to focus on.

I know that developing a new tinnitus tone can be disheartening. But I want to reassure you that everything you need to be fine with this change is already inside you. Take a little time and think about the things you have done over the past seven years that have been helpful to you – and repeat them. You will probably find that some of the same things are helpful to you now.

As best you can, try not to monitor the new sound. The less importance you assign to it, the less importance tinnitus will have, no matter how many sounds it has.

Just give yourself some time to get on top of things once again. You will be fine.

here2help

 

Search on Apple or Android (where I have it from) store for "Cricket Sounds".
Put it onto your mobile and select soundtrack "cicadas high pitch".
This is is the only sound that masks my high-pitched T.
It works much better than white noise - at least for me.
Good luck.

 

Thanks all for the response. It feels like there is fluid in the ear as the ear feels slightly clogged and noises sound echo-ish. I just hope it clears away eventually.