Cry for Help

Hi
In the past I was someone who enjoyed helping out others and never thought that I would be in such desperate need of help. After a second lot of major hearing damage (as a result of hospital I think) I now have about six T noises, several of which are too loud or high pitched to be masked. At night, I put on the televion and the CD player and a little radio and still the noises roar and mix and take turns. I'm in a constant state of anxiety and panic, trying hopelessly to get a few minutes break from the metalic screaching and other noises. I cant imagine a life with these constant loud noises. I'm deeply depressed and find it hard to any longer do the basics, such as cooking, and have come to rely on family. Not long ago I was very happy, married, and doing legal campiagn work I loved and which I think mattered.
Can someone with loud and unmaskable T please let me know how you coped and whether it is posisble to carve out any kind of happiness and life. I am sorry to be so negative and hope that this does not get others down. But I am someone who has never been depressed and now literally feel on the edge and am constantly trying to work out how to end it all. This is not the me I know and I am scared beyond belief. I know there are wise and kind heads on TT and hope that someone can give me some guidance. Thanks in advance. And wishing evryone luck.

 

Personally, I think that severe tinnitus is more or less impossible to habituate to. But, this forum does have two members who have managed to overcome the impossible (and who live good lives despite severe tinnitus):

• @caffclifton
• @billie48

In addition, there is @Dr. Hubbard who is part of the doctor's corner - and - he has also written about how he overcame tinnitus (see his introduction). So it can be done (by some, at least).

And yes, all three folks - for sure @caffclifton - have severe tinnitus (I have seen her audiogram...). And... I have also seen her Facebook news feed, and, for sure she is busy as bee going about her work activities and doing plenty of stuff in her free time. Pretty inspiring.

 

Thanks @attheedgeofscience! I truly am loving life at the moment, such a busy person but loving it.

@barnacle feel free to reach out if you would like to talk

 

My T this time last years was unmaskable, I could perceive it spinning around and around on either side of my head, I cried everyday. Mine is as a result of medical error.
I'm cutting this very short, but I was taught hypnotherapy and on occasions after using what I was taught in bed I could stop it fora short while. Sadly after that the H crept in and changed everything.
So to cut things very short I increased slightly my antidepressants, got a low dose of melatonin for sleep, I gave up trying to mask as it simply drove me more crazy. I got a little clock and focus on that intently if I cant fall alseep.
I started getting into moderate noise everyday, I will never brave loud places again. I read about EBV and started eating healing cleansing foods and taking supplements. i looked for ways to be calm, believe me i am not a calm person, it kills me honest it does.
I do adult colouring, light candles and lots of deep breathing also lately I started mindfullness, just a few minutes per day.
I will not say anything about my present state, I dare not, but, lets say I'm telling you because I think its worth a try and I am keeping it up for a good reason.

 

@barnacle,
I could hear my T over the jet noise in my last few flights and I could hear it over the roaring raging rapids of the salmon river I fish. Most mornings I wake up with my loud and swirling high pitch T greeting me, resonating in my whole head. When T was new, I also had severe H on top of that, making all normal sounds so loud and piercingly hurtful. A few year back I often thought I would not be able to survive nor handle all these.

But I used guiding lights to help me believe that it is possible to get used to bad T, especially the case of Zoe Cartwright who was completely deaf at young 15 and developed loud &%$#*@ but unmaskable T. Now that is tough for any body not to say a pretty young lady. Being dealt with sudden deafness is bad enough for any super-humans, and you add the &^%$#@ loud T that you can't block. Gosh! But with positivity and determination, she proves to all T is survivable if irritable.

Melody Gardot is another example of a young girl with severe T & H and then just like Zoe something really bad happened on top of all that - she was hit by a SUV resulting in massive damage to her body with constant pain and being hospitalized over a year. Yet with a positive attitude, she focused on her music and singing, and she has since become a distinguished jazz singer performing all over the world, even on David Letterman show.

I learn something from these guiding-light ladies. T and good life can co-exist. That is the only thing that matters to me, knowing that with the right approach, life can be lived with purpose and satisfaction, even with enjoyable moments. So I adopt their positivity, choosing the approach of 'finding joy amid the pain', and living life abundantly to compensate for T suffering. I talk about these ladies, my guiding lights in my success story. If you have time, check them out here. Hope you find some hope from these inspiring ladies:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light-how-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

I definitely think you should go to a hearing aid place, get a free hearing test and you have hearing loss ask to try a good pair with extended frequency range (if needed) and maskers built in. If your hearing loss is corrected that can help lessen tinnitus. In addition if you are still suffering you could look into supplements for depression or go to a psychiatrist that is knowledgeable and ask about medication to help you deal with anxiety and/or depression or something that might reduce the tinnitus. For me, klonopin seemed to reduce my tinnitus and helped me deal with tinnitus for a couple of years and then stopped working. Now tinnitus seems louder than it did before but I'm not sure. Also, put big fountains in all the rooms of your house if needed to reduce the quietness of the house. Running water can help mask many people's tinnitus. I am truly sorry to hear what you are going through.