PennyCat

Logically I know I’ll be okay. But my anxiety says otherwise

Some of my own T sounds sometimes become less loud and turn into a hiss. When it becomes loud again, it turns into a pure tone. I think that getting a hiss is a better sign than a pure tone.

Mine cycles between single tone squeal, hiss, and even a broken staticy hiss every day or two. it's been doing this for 18 months - can't say anything has changed over time with the tinnitus, just the more recent developments of hyperacusis and TTTS. The piercing squeal is the worst of the tinnitus sounds.

Absolutely! I think when you hit 18 months or so it will start to even itself out. I've seen severe habituate. As long as you protect your hearing or you're not taking anything that could stop your body from healing. It should even out for you. ❤️

I'm almost 8 months in. Right there with you.

18 months after first distressing tinnitus is when I first I suddenly started experiencing hyperacusis - and TTTS not long before that. No improvement in the tinnitus, still cycling through the same sounds.

Hang in there Penny. ❤️

Sorry to hear @PennyCat.

I'm getting more and more by the minute too. Hang in there. Keep pushing!

So sorry to hear that @PennyCat keep on keeping on! :)

Hopefully you'll get some answers @PennyCat.

@tpj Hopefully! I talked to someone in the PT group on FB who saw the same doctor as me. After the venogram he immediately moved to stent her the same day and she is cured of her PT. That’s my ideal scenario. But trying not to get hopes up too high

How about cautiously optimistic?

My parents seem skeptical about all of this. I’m sure part of it is financial concerns. I hope insurance will cover a stent, should I be a candidate. I really hope I will be

@Joe Cuber Sorry to hear that :( How’s your trip been?

@sakrt I haven’t, but I might have to give that a shot if it doesn’t settle back down soon. Thanks for the suggestion!

@PennyCat I'm trying this strategy myself and it seems to help somewhat. (Ongoing experimenting).

TTTS is very annoying and disturbing. I often describe the sound and sensation alike gears in my ear trying to calibrate, but are instead slipping -repeatedly- trying to reset itself.

Maybe it's the anxiety? Anxiety can make everything 10 times worse! I'm a nervous person too. Trying to control it better. I hope things start to look up for you

Cause it's never ending. Keep hangin' on, one day at a time.

What program?

@Ryan Scott A local program I’ve been doing since late April. The model they use is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), so if you’re looking for something similar near you, you could look into that :)

Thank you!! :)

Hang in there Penny!!! One moment at a time, love.

@Joe Cuber Thanks, Joe. Anissa (my dog) is doing well, Penny is still having some medical issues though

@SarahMLFlemmer Thank you :,)

@SarahMLFlemmer With the way things are right now, I’m not sure I can hang on that long ;( Though I am trying. Glad your mentality is better!

You are so young @PennyCat and 6 months is such a short amount of time. Please, try to be patient.

@tpj Thank you, I’ll try :,)

Thank you, @SarahMLFlemmer @eagerUser @Joe Cuber :,)

@Mo8409 I am on an antidepressant and doing an outpatient anxiety program, but they can only do so much ;(

@PennyCat That's true. Trusting in God's Word gives me peace with it. Right now my left ear is hurting so bad. I hope you can make peace with it soon. Love always!

The ttts seems to come and go. The good thing is the anxiety and panic because of it gets less and less as time goes on.

For a couple of months I was able to trigger TTTS episodes by _burping_. They would last _an entire fucking day_, independent muscle twitching without any sound trigger.

I've had ttts in my left ear for aslong as I can remember when certain sounds happen. I assumed it was normal with noise. Doesn't bother me anymore. You'll get there @PennyCat :)

Easier said then done! Don't let the anxiety get to you! Anxiety makes everything worse. *Hugs*

I read about Penny. Poor thing! Glad she's ok. And I'm proud of you. You had to wait there a long time. Hope it wasn't too bad for you.

Hi there. <3 hope you're hanging in there okay.

@tpj Thank you! Yeah, it was pretty rough for a variety of reasons.
@SarahMLFlemmer Thanks, I’m struggling a bit again with my TTTS but I hope it passes. Hope you’re hanging in there too!
@Joe Cuber Hello hello, Joe :)

I had this happen on one occasion back in Feb/Mar 2022 when one of my co-workers to my left would speak to a group of us in a room, my left ear fluttered. Maybe 20 minutes before I left. Never happened again until yesterday, over 1 yr later, and it happened while listening to a podcast here but not until I had been listening for quite a while. Same thing - speaking on padcast made left ear flutter. Weird.

I don't normally sit and listen to podcasts at my computer, so that was unusual. No unusual noise exposure or unusual earplug use. My anxiety and depression levels are up recently, though - maybe a factor.

@RunningMan Mine seems to come and go. I know that anxiety and TTTS are closely associated, and for me I think it’s probably the cause or a huge contributor. So that may be the case for you too. I know other people develop it from ear trauma though, but stress can definitely exacerbate it.

@PennyCat, are you still taking Zoloft? If so, I would be cautious about using these drugs together. Perhaps you could talk to your doctor about it first.

@sakrt That's true about dementia, even the over the counter ones, not sure about the newer DORA sleep meds. ADs can do the same. Of course, lack of sleep is associated with dementia also.

@tpj I am. An old psych prescribed it while I was on ADs in the past, and my new psych also mentioned prescribing it to me, but at the time I hesitated because of my past experience with it making me sick. So I’m pretty sure it’s safe to take on top of most ADs. But I’ll definitely bring it up at my next appointment

@Damocles No, at least not that I’ve experienced. But I’m worried the loudness of the scans will, especially with how sensitive my ears are and with TTTS. But I don’t even have scans scheduled so I’m worrying over a hypothetical scenario at this point

Then I'd say your risk for worsening from MRI/V/A is closer to that of a normal person's. If you wear good (double) protection for it (MRI safe ear defenders + foam plugs) then you'll probably be okay.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/mri-safe-earmuffs.27412/page-2#post-675221

Of course avoiding scans like these is the best thing a tinnitus sufferer (of any type/severity) can do, if possible.

Maybe give it to the end of the year and see if things don't improve by themselves(?).

I already do Flonase every day & take Zyrtec, so not sure what else I can do for that

Not sure to be honest @PennyCat, but resist the urge to keep popping your ears (if your doing that at all)

@makeyourownluck Thanks :,) If I’m not mistaken, do you also have pulsatile T, or did at one point? How do you cope??

Yeah still got it, right ear, I manage ok but it impacts me more than my regular T now since it’s variable.

In terms of coping, I was a hot mess for months, then I just veey slowly got used to it. Still shit, and always will be, but it doesn’t impact my life too badly anymore.

Hope that helps

As someone that dealt with these thoughts and anxiety long before T became an issue, it's really important to try and keep busy/distracted with things you like to do to not fixate on it and get through the bad days. Take it easy Penny, you're going to be okay.

Still struggling and freaking out about my pulsatile T. I hope it settles back to how it used to be soon. I can’t live like this

Sorry to hear you're struggling lately Penny, did it suddenly just get worse without anything affecting it? As for sleep, melatonin and chamomile tea might help a bit. I have the latter every night before bed.

@TheCapybara Yep, got worse out of nowhere, I can’t pinpoint any reason. I’ve had one or two periods of time where it’s gotten worse and eventually reset, so that’s my hope, but the uncertainty is scary. I take melatonin, hydroxyzine, and magnesium every night but still struggling w/ sleep

@PennyCat from my personal experience hydroxzyine was spiking the shit out of mine @PennyCat

Lol @makeyourownluck!

;)

Haha :P Thank you both !! <3 @Damocles @makeyourownluck