Extreme Anxiety & Bad Suicidal Ideations — In Desperate Need of Help

It’s truly ignorant and makes me wish they get tinnitus since it’s so easy to deal and cope with! Exactly, unless you’re affected with the same condition, then you may advice. Thank you Vicki, I hope so :/ Tinnitus keeps getting louder and louder for no known reason. I really hope things improve for you also, hugs.

 

Can you elaborate? But please on the following link:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitology-and-dr-abraham-shulman.28392/

@just1morething See you in the other room.
Once

 

Thank you for your kind words Jenny, I truly appreciate them. Awee, I’m glad I helped you through a difficult day when you were having troubles, now you’re helping me through my hard days with kind words and encouragements. I think I’m being convinced to not be afraid of medications. I’ve been feeling terrible feelings and it gets so exhausting and terrifying... do you have any advice on what type of teas help calm you down??

 

Yes, it helps relax your muscles. Fill your tube with hot water and add 1 0r 2 cups of Epsom salts. I buy it with lavender scent because it also helps you relax. Get some really nice wood-wick candles ( the crackling sound helps me) https://www.amazon.com/Scented-Soy-...ick+candles&qid=1549590586&sr=8-4-spons&psc=1
and a nice head pillow for the bath. Just make it as nice and comfy as you can and soak for about 20 minutes.

Then take Sleepytime tea and yes I add about a teaspoon of magnesium.
This is the one I use: https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-tranquility-magnesium-supplement-lemon
Or this one: https://www.vitacost.com/natural-factors-stress-relax-magnesium-citrate-drink-mix-natural-berry

Once I started taking Ativan the headaches stopped. (Remember, I only took it for a short time)

That's so sweet, thank you sooo much for your prayers. I know He hears us.
1 Peter 3:12 - "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..."

Praying for you!
Once

 

Hi @Striveon -- I'm sorry to hear what a difficult time you're going through. Someone mentioned epsom salts baths, and I can attest to them being quite relaxing. I've also done castor oil packs, and would rate them a notch above epsom salts baths. -- Regarding your broken sleep, I've discovered that a spiritual mantra that I've used for the past 30+ years helps me "transmute" my tinnitus.

Often during the night, I can get the tinnitus to shift (within a matter of seconds) from a sense of it drilling into my head and neurological system, to it just "standing by" without being so aggressive. Don't know if this simple exercise would be of interest to you, but here's a LINK to a 3-MIN video on it if you'd like to check it out. -- I sincerely hope you can find something (soon) to help you relax and sleep!

 

Passion flower comes in drops with a teat pipette. Tastes pretty good. I have it on standby if I am going through a rough patch with sleeping. It does chill things out.

I took xanax for a couple of weeks around 2 years ago for panic attacks. It was an absolute life saver. It helped get me through wave after wave of panic and the most awful depersonalisation. It didn't help that much for the insomnia as it wears off so quickly. But it did turn down the T volume that the panic turned up like crazy. My doctor said anything longer than 2 weeks then it can become habit forming and requires tapering. That year I took it occasionally with no probs.

Your nervous system being on high alert could be one of the reasons for your T seeming to get worse...anxiety/panic/stress are gonna jack it up. Eventually it can calm down.

 

You are under a lot of stress and anxiety is crippling you. This is totally understandable under the circumstances and is something that almost everybody here has been through or are currently going through. Unfortunately, there’s not much anyone can write here that can turn this off for you; although I really wish there was.

I can only restate the things that helped me:

• Exercise
• Find new engaging hobbies that can take your mind elsewhere
• Improve your diet
• Stop reading about tinnitus altogether and leave this forum for a while if you have to.
• Help others and you may find that you help yourself in return.
• Meditation (I haven’t tried this myself but it has helped many others)

Ultimately, you need to stop focusing on your tinnitus because it has now taken over your life. Take a step back and try to detach your emotions from it. I know how incredibly hard this can be, but over time it is possible to achieve and it’s all we have until a cure is discovered.

It is always incredibly saddening to see all of the suffering on here but take stock in the fact that you are not alone. There are people fighting to advance the treatments of tinnitus as we speak.

 

Yeah! Exactly. Wonder how their take on it would change then eh?

 

I completely understand what everyone here is saying. I'm new to tinnitus - about 5 to 6 weeks in - I got it randomly, so far family physician has been unhelpful and perhaps made it worse.

Probable initial causes include stress/anxiety, or undiagnosed hearing loss (still awaiting audiologist visit), or a middle ear infection. That last one is the potential cause of worsening of the T. I was experiencing pressure problems and a feeling of fullness/clogged ear and he prescribed Ciprodex ear drops because as he said: "I can't see into your middle ear and your described symptoms sound like it could be that".

The Ciprodex may have helped - or the ear just started to improve on its own - but the downside has been an increase in the volume of the T. I discontinued use of Ciprodex after 8 days. Awaiting whether that will help with the volume increase. I'm very angry that the doc prescribed something that's potentially ototoxic for someone who he knows has T already.

It's frustrating how little is known and how little we can do about T. My girlfriend keeps telling me that "oh, it'll go away on its own or probably if you get on the right medication". I keep telling her "no, that's not how it works - even the doc said there's not much you can do but habituation".

My father has T due to playing in loud bands, but he acts like its 'no big deal'. But I can't imagine its as loud to him as it is to me. Or maybe he's just habituated.

But I feel exhausted, stressed and unfocused at work and life over this. It's debilitating - no doubt about it. And you get those dark thoughts that are hard to put out of your mind. But I hold out hope that this is something we can all overcome in some way. Even if it is just getting used to it.

Thanks for listening.

 

I'm quite familiar with how harmful quinolone class drugs like Ciprodex can be. Though it appears you won't be taking it again for your ears, I just wanted to encourage you to consider any further recommendations for quinolone type drugs with great caution (such as for a sinus infection, etc.). The risk / reward ratio of these drugs is very poor, and there are an abundance of more natural therapies that are not so dangerous, and will work much better besides. A number of people on this forum have used diluted apple cider vinegar ear drops with great success. -- Best...

 

Thank you Once, I truly appreciate your advice. I will definitely try them out as I am feeling terrible thank you for the links provided. I will take your advice and try to find ways to relax. I truly hope he will eventually help us out. I want to try and hang on to the faith. I keep praying but then I see it’s worse and I wonder if he’s hearing me :/

 

What do you do with the castor oils?? Do you put them in your bath? What spiritual mantra do you use? I want to try out things as it’s all getting out of control. I’ll give your exercise a try. Thank you for your helpful tips, I will give those a try.

 

Thank you for your helpful tips and advice Ed. This is a heavy mental burden. I feel like the walking dead. I have isolated myself from friends and only go in and out of school. I will give exercising a try and try to meditate also. I really hope something comes about and save us all.

 

@Striveon With your specific condition, oxygen breathing exercise may help lower your tinnitus by 5%-10%.
Actual Oxygen therapy given under the guidelines of a respiratory doctor will knock the socks off your tinnitus.
Light limb exercise, not to involved.

 

If you are grinding your teeth (bruxism) there is a practice I can recommend.

Other than that, I would suggest trying relaxation through some meditation.
Not easy at first, but it usually gets easier and more effective after you have the technique.

I use just 2 mg Melatonin for longer sleep.

Take care

Dave x

 

Thank you, I’ll defintely try and get actual therapy.
I’m desperate and considering taking steroids, it’s been getting so loud for no known reason. Is there a steroid for people with GERD?

 

Can you please tell me about the techniques you recommend??

 

Why is it getting insanely loud??! I can’t sleep I just don’t understand how I got here..
Should I take steroids??
Any steroids for people with GERD?
I’m losing it! I can’t keep up

 

Hi @Striveon ,
so sorry to hear you are struggling so much just now.
I do take Omeprazol for acid reflux, which looks after that very well.
(just 10 mg night and morning.)
I take 2mg Melatonin to help me sleep longer.

But really for all things medical I would get in touch with @GregSacramento - he is the guy on here with real knowledge and experience.

As nobody has any real curative answers to “T” I look for and practice things that make me feel a bit better.
When we meditate, we still hear our “T” of course, but as we begin to feel more comfortable and calmer, we hear it with much less anguish.
We often drift away in a meditative dose.
Then throughout the day that calming reflex can still help us.
It takes a bit of practice, but please let me know if it calms you at all.
—————————————————
**How to stop bruxism and approach deep relaxation.
Sit quietly in your chair,
(Assume the demeanour of a baby.)
With your lips closed, allow your jaw to hang comfortably loose, your teeth apart.
Allow the inside of your mouth to relax and go quite quite soft.
Allow your throat to soften.
Become aware that your tongue is now floating in water.
Just continue with your gentle breathing

*(As a habit for life, try to become aware of where your tongue is - it should always be floating gently in water, never pushed up against the roof of your mouth.
Teeth should close only when eating!)
——————————————————-

** How to approach meditation.
Sit quietly,
(or lay in a nice warm bath)
Breath gently for a few breaths.
Then, take one long deep breath in through the nose - and out through the mouth.
Close the lips with jaws apart.
No more consciously controlled breathing after this point.
Ask your tummy to take over your breathing for you,
“and just wait for that to happen.”
Do not decide to inhale - just wait for it.
Automatic reflexes will do this for you - breath through the nose.
Sit quietly just observing the natural rhythm of your breathing.

With each exhalation just ‘think’ the word deep.
As you inhale think the word -er.
‘deep - er....deep - er...deep - er...deep - er’
as you quietly drift away.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

Hello Striveon,

I can certainly understand how you feel, unfortunately. I have loud non-stop screeching metallic tinnitus which is at an insane level 24/7. It spikes randomly, too, throughout the day. It has ruined my life and I think about death every single day since the last 2.5 years that I've had it. Mine is from head trauma. I've been to so many ENTs who just shrug it off as "some ringing in the ears" and they do not know, or care to know and say to learn to live with it. They are clueless about how devastating this level of tinnitus is. I also have other ear problems of constant fullness, foamy/crackling sounds all day long/ hyperacusis/ear pain, and the tinnitus is in my head on one side. It is in both ears, though, but worse on one side. I've had cervical surgery and am fused C4 through C7, have had jaw surgery, have been on countless medications (including anxiety ones), had a trial myringotomy, and have tried every noise and sound to try to drown out the tinnitus. Nothing has worked to change the tinnitus severity. My sleep is constantly disrupted every night and I have not slept through the night since my injury. I fall asleep out of exhaustion and there is nothing peaceful when I try to go to bed.

I do know how difficult it is to deal with this insanity attacking me constantly. I did find a support tinnitus group, but they are too far for me to travel to them. This forum is a great help in knowing we are not alone in our suffering. My worst time is at bedtime, where I'm exhausted but the screeching is unnerving. I am still trying to get a handle on my life, so I can live life and not have tinnitus, and chronic pain, ruin it, as the last couple of years have been.

What I'm doing to help, and it is slightly helping: I read positive quotes in a book (like Don't Sweat the Small Stuff-even though chronic tinnitus is no small stuff; seeing a counselor; running a room air purifier at night-music hurts my ears, so I need a steady low sound; taking Lyrica for chronic pain but it makes me drowsy. I was on the Xanax and other meds and they just did not help me; reading these forums, talking to a few people on the tinnitus support group which I cannot attend due to distance (The American Tinnitus Association has volunteer phone support people to speak with), I talk to my spouse, and I pray that things may improve in the future. I also take one day at a time, for all we have is to change the present time right now. Additionally, I have started beginner meditation classes just to learn how to quiet my mind from this devastating sound and chronic pain that I have all day, everyday. It seems to be slightly helping, but I'm only just beginning meditation.

The mind is a powerful tool, and you must learn to harness it to live your life without feeling being tortured by tinnitus. I certainly do get it. Good luck and hang in there

 

Hi @Striveon
I have just come across some of your posts, and feel so sorry that you are feeling this low.
So so sad. You deserve so much better.

I have had this ‘thing’ for quite a long time now and still get some fluctuations in distress levels.
But overall I have to say that I am making progress.
The mainstay of my coping method is my morning hot bath and meditation.
A long time ago I realised that trying to ignore ‘T’ simply did not work for me.
I still heard it and it still bothered me badly.

When I lay in my lovely bath I still hear my ‘T’ of course - but I do not ‘listen’ to it, and I do not focus on it.
It is just there.
I ask my tummy to take over my breathing for me and just allow myself to relax deeper and deeper.
I usually drift off into a lovely doze, for twenty or so minutes.
It is a way of acclimatising myself to my sounds in a relaxing setting.

I believe learning to do this takes a bit of practice.
It may be worth realising that meditation is not something we do - rather it is something that we undo.
I imagine you have tried melatonin for better/longer sleep.
Even a very low dose, 1 or 2 mgs works well for me.

Very best wishes
Dave x
Jazzer

 

Striveon, I feel for you, too. Read my intro post - I also have thoughts of suicide but it's too scary for me. I had depression and anxiety before this T but I was never suicidal. It's all from the T - that tortures you so I am empathetic to what you are going through. The T fluctuates for me and I am scared that I had a setback. I had days in which it lowered in volume and went pretty quiet to the point I couldn't notice it. That all changed when I went in a grocery store that had a screeching sound on the intercom. Now, it goes low in volume but there's hardly any quiet moments. I have some hissing once in a while including some time at night which has allowed me to sleep.

But, it was cicadas/crickets noise after the incident and I only slept 2 hrs that night. I can't imagine it getting louder - sometimes, it is hard for me to concentrate reading (never had that problem before) so I don't know if I missed it in this thread but did/does it fluctuate - does it ever get lower in volume or do you percieve it getting louder?

I think others have said but sometimes it seems like it's getting ever louder but it's also spikes that either increase the volume or seem to increase the volume. Imho, this is all related ot the brain and its communication with the auditory system. I think the brain got rewired and is then malfunctioning. I got a static charge at the grocery store (a different one - one I trust!) and I'm not sure but it might have spiked temporarily - I was wearing ear plugs in the store. But, I wonder if it spiked it temporarily. It seemed to do so but sometimes, it's hard to tell because with plugs on, I just hear static and/or buzzing, These days, it sounds like a 'fire alarm' sound in the distance but loud enough to bother me. That reminds me to suggest to avoid loud/high pitched/screeching sounds - sirens, fire alarms, brakes on a truck/tractor trailer etc. - I just tihnk these are likely to spike since they are high frequency sounds that seem to 'talk to our brains' when the T is bad.

You might try wearing hearing protection if you think loud noises could happen - in stores or near locations where there might be some (construction areas, for e.g.). Also, I am looking at diet changes although I think these are long shot attempts to alleviate some of the symptoms - probably not leading to any cure.
I think any potential cure will target the brain and considering the technical language in the research/treatement sections of the forum, I sure hope the studies scientists are figuring this all out and soon.

 

If the tinnitus is intrusive enough, there’s almost no escaping these feelings at onset. It makes you profoundly sad and it completely incapacitates you; it’s a feeling only tinnitus sufferers truly understand. Over time, these feelings start to reduce for most people and you will start to regain some control again, but you have to be really patient. Fluctuating tinnitus is also really common and mine is no different.

Just be careful not to overprotect your ears or to obsess over them too much. This is a lot easier said than done and I think it’s something you learn in your own time. I believe most of us fall into the same traps after we first get it, and this includes certain behavioural adjustments that are not beneficial, such as isolating ourselves.

 

@PeteJ -- Just to mention, it's just as--or even more important--to not underprotect. It can take relatively little sound trauma to cause setbacks, especially in the early days. I always wear earplugs when driving or going into stores, but seldom otherwise.

 

The volume of the noise is the real enemy.

We are already reeling from trauma.

We must not acquire more.

 

This high pitched noise seems too loud. It isn't stopping.
I want suicide. :-(

 

keep you mind occupied! the only time you cant hear the ringing is when you sleep. otherwise, occupy your mind.

 

Lots of young people left here and this thread. Can't preoccupy myself when the tinnitus is excessively loud.