Can't Figure Out What It's From. Losing Sanity.

I'm losing my mind.

I have no idea what this tinnitus is from, and it's terrifying to think that my ENT was wrong. So very wrong.

I'm going to try and get in to see a neurologist, but maybe the people here can help me to narrow down what my tinnitus is from.

A year or so ago, I got tinnitus from e-cigarettes. So I stopped those. But the tinnitus just moved in and stayed. It gets louder and louder as time goes on. Some days its low, but most days its loud enough to drive me insane.

My ENT said it was from blood pressure, but I take atenolol. So it's not that.

I have TMJ, as well. When I move my jaw or when I turn my neck enough, the sound changes in loudness. When I smoke cigarettes it goes crazy loud. So I don't smoke very often.

I went to see a chiropractor the other day, and apparently my neck and lower back is all out of whack. Has anyone experienced this as their cause of tinnitus? One of my neck vertebrae is all wonky.

I'm losing my sanity. It's getting hard to work. And nothing seems to really make any lasting changes.

 

Stop the cigarettes, they can attribute or to or make Tinnitus worse.
As for TMJ yes TMJ can cause Tinnitus and I'm sure you might have always had TMJ you just hadn't notice it.
Get the TMJ fixed and the Tinnitus will most likely go away, also no cigarettes I don't want to sound inconsiderate or mean but you shouldn't really smoke.
E cigarettes are actually worse, the chemicals in that thing, some of them are toilet cleaners.
Just stop the cigarettes and get the TMJ fixed after that it will lower and stop going higher if not go away completely.
The most important thing is don't get depressed or stressed that only makes the Tinnitus worse.
Try weed, no otoxic drugs to make your Tinnitus worse, should calm you down.
Best of luck

 

Thanks Ilija. Cool name .

Yea, I'm on the road to quitting smoking. It's been a bit of a trek. Apparently, one of the chemicals in e-cigs, Propelyne Glycol, has been known to cause tinnitus. So I think that's where this may have came from.

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I'll work on the stress deal. It definitely makes it louder.

 

If you got tinnitus last year, why do you have 10/1/2014 as your "Tinnitus Since" date?

Leaving that aside, I've had some success from chiropractic adjustments, but my pure tone tinnitus has not resolved. Basically, your tinnitus may be from smoking, may be from blood pressure, may be from subluxations, may be from TMJ, but ultimately it doesn't matter. If you're a typical case, whatever started your tinnitus, it's now in your brain. Neurons in your brain are firing abnormally and it's a self-perpetuating cycle. It's like a brain scar.

You should by all means stop your bad habits, get your back and jaw fixed, etc. But none of it will make your tinnitus go away. Look on the treatment forum for the Retigabine thread and the Research forum for the Autifony thread. These are about drug treatments that may return your neurons to their proper state. It's all still experimental.

In the meantime, look at the good things in your life, don't obsess, and learn to appreciate hope. We're all in this together...hopefully for not too much longer!

 

Do NOTTT try weed, it will only enhance and make his tinnitus louder!!!! Talk to your doctor about getting on an actual "calming" drug. They help with anxiety, weed does not.

 

rtwombly, I really like your 'brain scar' description! It fits.

 

I smoke weed (helps me, doesn't make my T louder) and now (since tinnitus) smoke cigarettes as well. I worry more about the ototoxic chemicals in the cigarettes than anything else. Not so worried about the weed, and my personal belief is it's better you (less harmful, less addictive) than taking ADs or benzos....I'm sure many here would disagree!

Although I do agree, it can make anxiety worse for some people.

 

If you have days that are low, that is a good sign that your new T can go back to that level. Perhaps you can consider the loud days as spiky days. Do you have any hearing loss as checked out by ENT? Also, remember that T at the new stage is always the toughest, because the body is trying to reject this alien sound it doesn't understand. So it considers it a threat and by doing so your body kicks in the fight & flight mode under the limbic system. In this stage every thing appears much worse than it is and with sensitized sensation about the alien ringing which you consider a threat, it appears much louder too. At the new stage we are also flooded and floored by many distorted thoughts. They call these cognitive distortions in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). These distorted thoughts cause much stress and negative emotions.

Stress and negative emotions are bad for T management. Try to get some masking so you are not so stressed out. Get the doctor to give you meds to help out if the nerves are a bit overwhelmed. In the first few months of my ultra high pitch T & severe hyperacusis a few years back, nothing helped except meds and some partial masking by high pitch nature sounds. I was on survival mode. But reading the success stories had helped me greatly to know that given time and some proper strategy(s), many people do recover. I also read Dr. Nagler's "Letter to a Tinnitus Sufferer" which helped me to begin some form of self CBT by challenging my distorted thought process. Take care and God bless your recovery.