Competing with Sound

My tinnitus started about 7 years ago. I'm a contractor, so going out of town to work was part of the job. Two months was alright being away from the family, but one particular job was going to require about 7 months.

The stress from thinking about this caused me to wake up one morning to this god awful noise in my ear. My wife's boss at the time was a neurosurgeon and when I asked her about it her first question was "Is it in one ear, or does it move." I told her it has a tendency to move, and she said it was stress related.

Several things I have noticed about my tinnitus. One is for a split second in the morning when I wake up, I don't hear it, then it feels like it comes crashing in.

Also, it seemed like it would compete with outside noise, so when I sleep at night I would wear earplugs.

I took my son in for a sleep study once, and one of the things the doctor said is that your ears still work at night when you are sleeping, so I tried the earplugs to see what that would do. It was hard at first going to sleep because you really hear your heartbeat, but when I finally fell asleep, I slept like a baby. now I actually like sleeping with them in.

 

Welcome to the forum. It seems that you are doing well despite your T as you can sleep well. Many members here are still struggling with sleep. Lack of REM sleep is one big reason T can spike. So being able to sleep soundly is a big help. Your T competing with other sounds is sometimes called 'reactive T' by members. It may be the result of mild hyperacusis. How long you have this 'reactive' issue with other sounds? If it is only recent, and if it is due to mild H, then it is a good sign as H tends to fade with time as many members have reported. I used to have severe H and quite reactive T but it did fade over time like others. Take care. God bless.