Becoming a Disability

Introduction
My name's Eric, I am a 24 years old male, and I have high pitched, noise-induced T in both ears. Sometimes I experience noise distortion and mild hyperacusis-like symptoms. It started off very mild from drumming and going to concerts and gradually got more and more intense after listening to loud music through in-ear headphones while working out. It's become so bad that I've sworn to never wear headphones again or go to loud places anymore (loud restaurants, bars, clubs, concerts, etc.). It is ruining my life and becoming a real disability for me. My memory and attention span has suffered greatly, and recently it has been making me so anxious and distraught that I have been crying frequently. Sometimes I get so anxious that it makes me throw up. I got a great job in IT after I graduated from college last year and I worry about my ability to keep working with my intense T, although I have been performing well so far.

Treatment
I was doing relatively well at managing my T on my own up until last month when it intensified. Everyday background noise and running a fan as a source of white noise did a good job at masking the ringing. Years ago I tried taking high-doses of magnesium which seemed to help (perhaps a placebo effect), but it provides no relief now and somewhat distorts my hearing. I have already seen 2 ENTs--the first one who I saw years ago basically wrote me off and told me that I have moderate high-frequency hearing loss and I will get used to the T (it was much less intense then), the second who I saw within the last 6 months said I had no significant hearing loss and referred me to an audiologist that specializes in treating tinnitus patients with TRT and medical devices. A few days ago my primary care physician gave me a short-term, low-dose prescription of xanax to help with the anxiety and referred me to a few different specialists. I am starting to seek the opinion/assistance of a CBT therapist, a psychiatrist, and the audiologist I referenced earlier.

History
My T was initially extremely mild and probably started sometime when I was 16-17 years old. I was playing drums with some protection, but too often would not fully protect my ears because I liked the natural sound of the drums. I also had headphones in so I could play along to music. At this point, I could only hear a soft ringing in my ears at night when it was silent. Very gradually, it got mildly worse over the years through drumming and going to concerts with and without hearing protection.

Most of the damage was done through working out with loud music. I was really into weightlifting from the ages of 20-23. When I was around 21-22, I found a supplement called phenibut that was sold in bodybuilding/supplement stores. I know there are posts about it on this forum, and I believe it has since been banned in the United States. Phenibut seemed like a miracle drug for me. I had suffered with social anxiety disorder for years which it helped me get over completely, I felt euphoric, it initially lowered my tinnitus, I would get amazing workouts on it, and it helped me sleep better. However, taking this drug destroyed my ears. I would listen to music at extremely high levels at the gym, way higher than I would have if I had not taken phenibut, and I was soon dealing with T throughout the day. Ever since then, each gradual worsening of my T seems like an extreme leap in intensity. It got to the level I live with today through not wanting my T to hinder my life--I thought I could go to concerts/clubs if I wore earplugs, I thought I could keep drumming if I protected my ears better, I thought I could listen to music with headphones if I kept the volume low, etc. I've come to realize that these are not possibilities for me anymore and I worry about becoming a recluse just so my T doesn't get any worse.

 

My question to you is, why did you ignore the warning of mild tinnitus? Surely you should've known that something was wrong? Then again, I've got a friend who still listens to headphones loudly even though he has tinnitus. There is hope buddy, as Autifony's new drug is seeing results and should be out within a few years. For now look in the treatment section, if you seek something now.

 

You should read the success stories too. There are many people who get better. The latest is someone who tried Autifony as a quinea pig in their trial and she reports 75% reduction of T loudness in 4 weeks of treatment. So ya, something will be available to help in the horizon. In the mean time, try read the success stories to learn how people get better. You will be amazed that people get better by various means.

 

Does the answer to this question even matter at this point? I could explain it with much more personal detail but, to keep it simple, I liken it to the story of the boiling frog.

I'll do some research about Autifony's trials.