Dehabituated Myself Into Getting Tinnitus

Hi, all. I'm new here and i was feeling a bit scared and freaked out but i talked to the good folks at https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.snoonet.org/#tinnitus and am feeling a bit calmed down.

I've listened to loud music on over the ear headphones all the time as a teen and young adult. I did notice that if i shut my ears or listened hard in a quiet room that i could hear a faint ringing. But it never was present in my daily life and never bothered me. Normal stuff that everyone faces.

Flash forward to the night of February 12th 2017. I read something online on reddit about that everyone should protect their ears otherwise they might get hearing damage or even tinnitus! I then thought to myself "yeah i've heard that ringing before!" And ever since then i think i have been focusing on that ringing and driving myself crazy over it. I'm glad i'm protecting my ears and hearing now, but i really feel that as the sound damage had come to my ears, my unknowing self had just learned to drown it out. Ever since reading that post i've overly focused on it. I was just in my bed that night, no music, no illness, no injury, no nothing! It might be just some dumb theory, but i think me focusing on the sound made me "develop tinnitus". (i know the cochlear damage is there whether i pay attention to it or not). Heck maybe it was some trauma catching up with me from the day before...

Anyways since i am in the acute phase, i hope it will fade away. I initially had it in both ears (now it is only in one) and it was like tv static. I went on a trip to a foreign country for a few weeks and i could notice the T, but most times i just forgot it was there. Now that i'm back in America and doing the same old same old and alone in my apartment all i can focus on is the sound. I have not been able to soundly sleep for the past 5 nights. Waking up numerous times. I feel so stressed out. Should i take some nyquil?

I've been trying to get more exercise (been jogging), eating healthy and getting magnesium (i heard that was good). The kale shakes are bad, but i'm willing to have them if it means my well-being improves.

I think i can either beat this or learn to live with this. It's not too bad. I think the anxiety is just what's killing me. My body feels like i'm just about to have a major major job interview or give a presentation or i just had some other emotional trauma. Hearing an annoying noise 24/7 that you did not hear before in your life just suddenly and being told that it may be permanent is just very shocking. I need to calm down i know.

I know i should protect my ears now. I've heard musicians earbuds were good. Any recommendations on noise-protection earbuds?

I'm sorry if anything i've said is rude, or dumb, or non-sensical. I didn't know tinnitus was a thing until i had gotten. I'm trying to learn about the situation i'm in now by reading forums and watching videos and talking to other people with this dilemma.

I do have to say i'm glad we all have each other. It makes me feel a million times better knowing we are there for each other.

 

Do you have anxiety?
The more you think about it the louder it gets for most of us.

It's really just a matter of habituating again, realising it won't hurt you.

But yeah of course be careful around loud sounds.
Use headphones at low volumes and all that.

Try youtubing White noise to mask it if you're having trouble.

I used rain sounds when Im having a bad day.

 

My T was caused by lots of headphone usuage. Focusing on your T will only make it worse. I had to be prescribed a sleeping aid to get some sleep. (4 days insomnia) it's tough now, but a good night's rest will ease you back to your baseline T. Stay positive!

 

I think a lot of people get in your situation. They suddenly realize they have T. Apparently somewhere around 80 - 90 % of the population has T to some extent, but just don't notice it unless they're in a very silent environment such as an augiology room.

The same thing happened to me. I cannot pinpoint when mine started. I just noticed that I had it one day back in 2006. So that's just when I became aware of it, I could have had it years before that being unaware. I knew exactly what it was when I noticed it though and it really freaked me out too. However, I kind of forgot about it and it didn't really bother me much until a few years later. This is how I've lived with it most of the time, on and off periods. There are times where I don't pay attention to it and it's basically non-existent in my life, and times where it bothers and upsets me.

One thing we all tell each othere here is, do not lisen to it. The more you focus on it the louder it will seem. Our brains are funny that way, they can filter the surroundings out, and you certainly don't want your T ot be the center of attention. I should also add that a lot of us experience that stress and anxiety temporary increases the volume, so if you are anxious about it that might be the reason why it's more prominent now.

It is a very good idea to protect your ears to prevent any further damage. Other than that I'm sure it will settle for you, so hang in there. Do things you enjoy to take your mind off it, and try not to listen to it.

 

@NatureHiker

Welcome to TT. I'm also a new member and understand how you are feeling at the minute. You're not alone.

 

How easily can you mask it?

 

Hi Luke, i do have anxiety. Which i think is making me feel bad and my tinnitus bad at the same time. I feel stressed, my head is tight, my legs are wobbly, no appetite, i can't focus, and worst of all is i can't sleep. Every sleep cycle i wakeup. So that's like waking up 3 to 4 times a night. Therefore i'm not getting REM sleep and i'm feeling terrible.

I always use white noise and sound relief videos from youtube. Getting kinda tired of hearing the same one over and over again. Now instead of that cricket i get to hear R2D2 all the time. Lucky me.

Thank you for your kind words.

 

One night i downed a bunch of nyquil and slept well. And before that i was always so busy and tired my body forced me to get sleep. T was unnoticeable then. I have been trying to get myself to get a full 8 hours. Plus whenever i get good sleep T is gone!

Thanks i will try hard to stay positive.

 

Do you hear it outside? At the supermarket? On the bus? Work/school?

 

@Candy i hear it everywhere. its an extremely high frequency. its tearing me apart.

 

@Alue it depends. but normally just a shower or running faucet. everything else doesnt work. i did play binaural beats and it made me feel better but i still feel it

 

@Dave1 thanks. im here for you too. there seems to be a lot of new people from february. bad month?

 

@Elinor thanks. i hope to habitualize and learn to live with this. i hope it heals or fades though. im so scared now. i feel so alone. i havent slept well in so long. im cracking as i type this

 

@NatureHiker

It did seem to be a bad month for T. Sorry to hear what a bad time you were having yesterday, i hope today is better for you. I'm off to work to pretend I'm ok. If you ever want to private message me feel free.

 

This reminds me of my floater issues. I had floaters as a teen. One brown speck in each eye. Drove me mental as I followed them around in my line of vision all day. By the time I was 20 I was not aware of them. I continued to have floater-free sight until I was 50. I was idly browsing youtube when I came across a video on laser treatment for floaters. For some reason I clicked on the 8 minute video. The moment the video ended I noticed a brown spot sliding down the middle of my line of vision. Over the next few days I noticed many more including the two that had caused me so much grief in my teens. Somehow my brain had removed the floaters from my consciousness for 30 years. But the spell had been broken through watching the vid. I have had them ever since - nearly 5 years now. I think something similar may happen with tinnitus. If we leave it alone over time (perhaps several years) the brain may learn to phase out the signal. However if we keep reminding ourselves mentally about the problem through browsing the web googling articles etc we don't allow the brain to subconciously filter the signal. We are always listening out for it. When my brain filtered out the floaters it was back in the 80s. There were no floater forums or easy ways to find out about the condition. Nowadays we are flooded with info on every condition under the sun. It is much harder to shield oneself and let nature take its admittedly often lengthy course.

 

@volsung37

You're definitely right. I think i might had slight tinnitus before. I could hear ringing if i concentrated in a quiet room, but i thought everyone could. It was only when i learned about tinnitus and freaked myself out about it that it became this permanent bothersome thing. It was like i dropped my brains mental filter on tinnitus.

I've noticed this too throughout reddit, youtube, actionhearingloss, here on tinnitustalk, and other forums. People learn about tinnitus and then immediately scare themselves about tinnitus and drop their mental filter on it. I am conglomerating a bunch of comments from people who did that. It's an interesting thing.

 

stop reading this forum and go read this book https://www.amazon.com/Suggestible-You-Curious-Science-Transform/dp/1426217897

 

Hello linearb, have you read it?
Does it helps with anxiety, tinnitus, etc?
I am planning to buy it, just wanted to know your opinion.

Thank you very much!

 

@NatureHiker, how are you doing?