6 Months Into Tinnitus: I Dread to Think How Bad It Will Be When I'm Older

6 months ago my ear went deaf for a few seconds, my hearing came back but tinnitus came along with it. I have many different sounds, a droning noise around 2 kHz, buzzing at 9 kHz, CRT TV whine around 15 kHz and by far the worst noises are these insufferable very high pitch chirping/oscillating sounds that are impossible for me to tune out. And to top it all off, the chirping is reactive and becomes louder over things such as white noise and music.

I'm 30 and I dread to think how bad this will be by the time I am 50. I'm trying to stay positive in the hope that one day the chirping noises will at least go away but it's proving to be very difficult, suicide is constantly on my mind.

I will be seeing an ENT soon but I am aware there's very little that can be done about it.

Sorry that this is such a grim post.

 

I am sorry your in a low place right now. I prayed for you and I hope your tinnitus gets better. Hopefully the ENT will have some answers. Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and push for more testing if you feel like you want/ need it. Remember you are not alone in this and all of us on here suffering along side you care for you and what your going through. Just take it day by day.

 

My tinnitus is new- 2 mos. During these 2 mos. my emotions have been all over the place. I just wanted to say- Hang in there- you are not alone. I hope the Vets on this site respond to your post soon to give you some advice. I met with 2 ENTs, 3 audiologists, had a CT scan. It helps to at least have professionals look at your case and look at treatment options. Best Wishes

 

I am hearing this ringing sound from last 2 weeks. I am not aware of any cause for it to happen but it shown up one day. I have appointment next week with ENT . I can understand how difficult it is to manage..

based on lot of articles and forums I read so far, sound will fade on its own on majority cases over a period. It seems as per new study it is taking from 6 to 12 months.. Many people are suggesting in their success stories not to monitor Tinnitus sound. Try to get busy and concentrate on other things and sound slowly will go away and disappear one day.

 

I have the high-pitched hissing and chirping sounds too that react to noise and are almost impossible to mask. The frequency is so much higher than ambient sounds. I had an acoustic trauma 19 days ago. It is awful and I am struggling. I feel your pain.

 

I try and hold on to this as hope. Especially as many have mentioned on this forum that the overwhelmingly majority of people end up getting better in time.

I have these same exact sounds. Four months in now and while I’ve had some quieter days here and there, it’s still incredibly intrusive and nothing but a shower masks it. Sorry you’re going through this also.

 

@tbuzz89 I really hope you see some improvements in the next few months. How are you sleeping?

 

Shower is the only thing that masks this monster...

 

Some nights I sleep fine and others not so much. It’s hit or miss.

 

Starting to notice this too. I'm 6.5 months in and only now can I say I'm having really quiet moments throughout the day too. Time is definitely key, here's to hoping real improvement starts now.

 

There are treatments that are coming to fruition in the next 3-10 years so when you are old it will be much better. Tinnitus people have waited for ages but how there is really a critical mass of trials with sufficiently promising features to be positive in a ten years range.

FX-322 hair cell regeneration with reattachment of severed synapses, proved to work in explanted cochleas and in improving word recognition scores. This is our best shot.

OTO-413 and PIPE-505 for synapses.

Hough Ear Institute pill.

XEN-496 in phase 3 is an improved Retigabine. Retigabine was one of the very few medications effective for tinnitus but had horrible side effects and has been withdrawn. XEN-496 should be better and out in a couple of years if phase 3 is successful but there is also a similar drug RL-81 being developed specifically for tinnitus, but only in pre-clinical unfortunately so it will take a while.

Bimodal neuromodulation: Lenire is already out but very much hit and miss. Susan Shore's device could be better and could be out in a couple of years.

The problem is getting there. I'm battling with agony every day and holding on 3-5 years seems impossible, God help us.

 

Mine started 3.5 weeks back. I was little stressed out and slept off around 2 am. Woke up with a clogged ear. From then had 1 Ent and 1 Audiologist appointment. No issues with Ear in both cases. Tinnitus still persist, not even sure what is the next step. Yes , am in my 30's too !

 

Hi Aravind,

There are multiple reasons for Tinnitus to appear. Ringing sound goes away on its own in short period, if you don’t experience hearing loss or dizziness. This is what I heard from ENT specialist. Key is not to focus or monitor sound otherwise sound sticks to brain and you keep hearing as loud..I have Ear ringing from last 2 weeks but I have strong hope that it goes away on its own but it is good to consult ENT specialist..

 

By the time you are 50, there will be either a treatment or cure. Take a look at the Frequency Therapeutics thread in the Research News section of the forum. It's 2 years away at most. Even if it isn't 100% effective, the technology behind that drug will be the cure behind inner ear damage.

 

I take Benadryl. I also work nights as a psychiatric registered nurse so my sleep schedule is a mess.

 

@Ctw

I read that Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) is ptotoxic. Have you had any worsening of symptoms with it?

 

How do we figure out if it's synapse damage or hair cell damage?

 

I'm not sure 100% (and probably medical doctors aren't either) but I would guess synaptopathy does not show in standard audiograms, it has more to do with speech in noise issues (but ear cells damage > 8 kHz does too) while ear cells damage at frequencies up to 8 kHz would be registered in an audiogram, and I'm not sure ear cells damage under 8 kHz could be due to synaptopathy. Implications for tinnitus are not clear either to me. The above may be wrong. I think @FGG, among others, has a much better idea of the difference.