Finding Out the Reason for Your Tinnitus

Hello everyone. First off I'd like to say I symphatise with every single one of you for having to deal with this ... sh*t, for lack of a better word.


I'm a 35 year old male and I've had T for around 3 years and 9 months now. I feel like it makes my life pretty much worthless. Everywhere you go and everything you do, your experiences are accompanied by that unbearable hissing in the background.

I still don't know what caused it. I was just minding my own business one day when I heard a pop in my head. And there it was ever since. Both ears, sometimes loud, sometimes quieter. Mostly loud when I wake up. My hearing is fine, I was never exposed to loud noises; I do have a couple of other problems however.

My health issues in a nutshell: overweight (BMI 36), type II diabetes, high blood pressure & cholesterol, chronic rhinitis, lack of physical activity, poor sleeping patterns, anxiety, depression.

As you can see I'm not a very healthy guy. Being a big fatass helped me being diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago. I read a couple of articles claiming that hyperinsulinemia can affect T. Is this true? I'm managing my blood pressure with pills now (but no changes with T noticed). I severely lack in physical activity as I lead a very sedetary lifestayle (computer work related). I also get very tired during the day, take a nap and then stay awake late into the night like a zombie (yes, my biorhythm is a mess too). I'm an emotional eater, I abuse food as a painkiller for my psychological problems (and there are plenty). Was taking antidepressants several times, tried to commit suicide at 19. Can't handle stress, anxiety problems, not socialising much (I'm an extreme introvert). My ear doctor perscribed Betaserc but then gave up.

The thing is, I am willing to fight and change things about myself. But the fact that I don't know the main cause for my T is driving me crazy. I know I would put all my effort in removing it if I knew what it was.


So I ask you, the good community of TinnitusTalk, for words of wisdom based on your knowledge and experience. Even wild theories and speculations are welcome. If you relate to any of this, please speak out. I want to defeat this beast and then help all the other suffering souls beat it too.

Thank you.


P.S. I forgot to mention lack of sex, but I think that's self-explanatory. I'd also like to apologize for any grammar mistakes, I'm not from an English speaking country.

 

Hi T-Sux: I know I got this dreaded high pitched whistling after I dug into my ear to relieve the itching with a bobby pin. When I did it before the doctor told me I had a perforated ear drum & couldn't hear out of the same ear. I can hear out of it now but right after I got the whistling then vertigo. End of September 2017 but Magnesium helped me for about 4 months. Then, you guessed it, I had the itch and dug into my ear again. the whistling & buzzing came back with the vertigo. Every time it goes away, it itches but I've been scratching with my finger now. However, feel like I'm on a rocking boat & if I look at bright light or glare there's eye vertigo. It all started when I dug into my ear with a bobby pin and it hurt because I no doubt touched a nerve & maybe damaged it.

 

Hey, Doris! Did you maybe hear a pop in your head when the whistling began? Do you have problems with ear infection? I would advise you to ask your doctor for an alternative to scratching for relieving the itch since it's probably doing physical damage.

Do you maybe have any of the health problems I bolded out in the OP?

 

Please don't be shy my friends, I'm really counting on your feedback.

Share your own stories if you're wondering yourself as well!

 

@T-Sux - work with your docs on the diagnostic flowchart.

 

just guessing but it might be related to your general posture. If your sat at a desk hunched over a computer all day for example or something similar, it might also be blood pressure related. The fact you can pin point to an exact moment something went 'pop' doesn't sound good though. If i was you id look at trying to improve your overall health with exercise, diabetes doesn't always have to be permanent i dont think. Its not going to do you any harm either way and its a step in the right direction whether you notice the results straight away or not. I used to have a eating habit that iv managed to get under control. The more you feed your body the more it wants, the less you feed it the less it wants it just takes a few months of will power. Iv recently been struggling with depression and got myself into a bad sleeping habit as well which I'm trying to correct at the moment. It all adds up to me feeling like crap and disconnected from the world. I could shrug it off but i have a choice at the end of the day. My knee has started giving me pain after 3 years of running which is not helping things as i used to run my problems away and now i can't. It might be something you could consider taking up though, i garantee it WILL help you feel better in every way. If your suffering you got to ask yourself if you are infact choosing to suffer because at the end of the day you have a choice. Do nothing or do something?

 

Thank you so much for your replies guys!

@GregCA - this is a great chart. By the looks of this I have a paroxysmally occurring T that requires an EEG/MRI, however my ear doctor does not consider this a standard diagnostic procedure, which seems kind of odd to me. In fact most doctors in my country seem not to do much about T, they just tell you to get used to it. Frustrating. I have another appointment next week, will try to convince him to run the diagnostics.

@john paul - good advice, for a few months now I've been managing my blood pressure, excercised more, ate healthier, took breaks when working. However, none of this seems to have affected my T. I'm getting really worried now some physical damage is preventing recovery. That pop I heard at the onset looks like really bad news. Are there other sufferers that heard a pop when their T began? Does this mean there's some kind of trauma involved? Anyway, are you feeling better now? Sending you a big vote of support, sir.


My T is celebrating its 4th birthday today. Yaaaay! This will be the most depressing birthday party ever.