Four Month Update: So Far My Tinnitus Has Only Been Getting Worse

So far my tinnitus has only been getting worse. I suffer from multiple tones, high pitch noises, beeps, mid tones, static, hissing, low hum, roaring. You name it! This is something that I can’t stand anymore. I’m going insane. The level of my tinnitus is hard to predict, because it changes all the time and it turns up the volume and buzzes along with any external sound. In silence it bugs me, obviously. I’m never free and nothing can mask it. This is with me everywhere, all the time.

Some members here are truly helpful and thanks to them I manage to get some hope. Thank you so so much! But right now I feel hopeless. My tinnitus is severe. It actually started out quite mild, but right now I’m stuck with so many tones, maybe around 6-7.

The only thing that slightly improved is the hyperacusis. But everything else is much worse since onset. Music sounds broken, the fan, the tap, the fridge, etc. My ears are still full, and sometimes I can feel a slight pain out of nowhere. Everytime I swallow they make a crackling sound. It’s horrible.

I can’t really see this going away, ever. This is my new life and I hate it. I’m still here because of my daughter. She is my world and I could never leave her. I actually feel more sorry for her then for myself, having a sad mother that can’t function anymore. But I’m trying my best, everyday.

All of this because of a loud jackhammer, 130 dB for 30 seconds, and that’s it!

 

There's a post of a study of people exposed to explosions or machine guns - similar to your trauma and the large majority improved considerably after a year. I think Bill Bauer (spelling?) posted it.

Should also be under my post of noise induced success stories that help you cope.

 

@Mymlan How are you doing now?
Mine started end of May and I am in the same boat... 4+ months in and only getting worse, especially last 2 weeks...

 

Mine took about 6-8 months to turn the corner, and start to consistently get better.

 

Yeah, multiple tones, high pitched and loud. I describe it as loud cicadas in my brain and ears.

I want to sleep. How?!?

 

@marko1103 I’ve noticed some fading of my tinnitus but it’s slow. I hope it continues.
Do you know why you’re getting worse?

 

@Mymlan I dont know. Only thing I can say yes it made it a bit worse was my dentist appointment 1 month ago. But it was gradually getting worse even before that appointment...

However I also hope there will be turning point at some point. Will it be 4 months from now or 1 year I dont know... Hoping for the best. What keeps me going is a lot of users reporting getting better 8+ months in.

Glad you are getting better!

 

Did you try some melatonin at bedtime? That helped me when the T was waking me up.

I also found earplugs at night help quite a bit. While it makes the T more noticeable for the first few minutes, after that it decreases quite a bit, and I can sleep the night. Otherwise, every sound was waking me up, and the more I did not sleep the worse the T got in a bad cycle.

No science, but I also think that a tea of green tea, with some aloe beverage added together reduce the inflammation, and tastes pretty good as well. Try that and see if it helps.

 

This happens to me too. What's that all about?

 

I’m not sure, but I think due to swelling in the inner and middle ear the crackling sound occurs. It’s annoying for sure.

 

@marko1103 My progress is just very slow and I have many setbacks. Sometimes it feels like I’m at square one, but I will wait another six months and hopefully see more improvement. Tinnitus is a waiting game for sure!

I hope you’ll start to notice some fading soon

 

Yes, I think it's indicative of swelling. I think - only a guess - but I think the swelling makes various parts of the inner ear touch each other, and the crackling is them gently rubbing or separating.

Those who are getting worse? How have you been trying to manage your tinnitus these first few months? Do you have a rehabilitation plan? Or are you just hoping time fixes things? Swelling means inflammation, and inflammation needs a combination of rest and exercise to heal. Any other part of the body would require the RICE technique: rest, ice, compression, elevation, followed in turn by physical therapy. There's no such process in place for the ear, but in my mind there's no reason to think the ears need something else: so rest them when they need it, and then exercise them when they can handle it. Just my intuitions, but for details, if interested, see this post:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-hyperacusis-a-rehabilitative-model.35846/#post-470688

 

Hang in there Mymlan, it DOES get better. I might not be the best example by comparison to others here but believe me, it WILL get better with time. Read my other posts. My hearing has slightly improved, according to my audiologist, even if that is barely perceptible to me. At this point I will take any vote of confidence I can get. After being a guitar player for 40 years I am NOT quite ready to give that up! So hang in there kiddo, your situation WILL improve.

 

Most people's tinnitus tends to get better but it hasn't for me. This is not meant to discourage you as much as it's meant to let you know that we can adjust to circumstances beyond our control no matter how bad it is. Acceptance, at least in my case, is key.

 

In April last year I was exposed to two noise traumas. I have only mentioned one of them, which came from walking in a tunnel when of a sudden a loud jackhammer started drilling outside the tunnel (for about 30 seconds). The week before this I got exposed to a loud drilling noise in a stairwell (about 30 seconds). Both times I went with my then nine month old daughter.

My tinnitus started the day after the loud jackhammer. I keep on thinking that I wasn’t careful enough, and that I have to pay for it now. I also did put my baby at a high risk. I kick myself for it everyday.

I believe that maybe my tinnitus never had started if I only got exposed from one trauma, not two of them!

There’s no way my tinnitus will disappear, ever.

 

I think it's very normal to see an increase in the first few months. This is because fear and panic are setting in and they are amplifying your experience of tinnitus. You are getting "better" at listening out for it. It takes a while to learn to stop listening out for it, and when that happens it does start to seem quieter.

Try not to measure or compare the volume. Don't listen out for it or describe to yourself what it sounds like or anything like that. This is the essence of @I who love music's Back to Silence method. I am still working on this but I am very slowly doing better. Read the Back to Silence thread several times and internalise it. This guy is onto something.

Please please stop worrying about whether it's getting worse. Trust me, I have been there. That way lies madness. My T is worse than it used to be but it bothers me less. Many others on here will say the same. I still believe it will fade a little when I finally accept it and chill the f*ck out.

You're in the early stages and your experience is normal. Hang in there and don't panic – trust that it will get easier.

Love to you

Lizzy
Xxx

 

I'm in the same boat too. I'm really struggling today. Such an unproductive day. The ring sounds like a butcher's bandsaw.

 

@Pink Noise I feel sorry for you, and for all of us dealing with this hell. I hope you feel better in time.

 

Thank you for your kind words. Did the reactive aspects of your tinnitus get better?

 

Not all of it. My tinnitus still reacts with many sounds. Music sounds good again though.

 

So happy that music sounds good again for u. Music is my entire life.

 

Thanks. For how long have you had tinnitus? It took a long time for my tinnitus to improve. And still it kills me. Because of hyperacusis I can’t listen too much or at any loud volume. I don’t use ear buds or headphones.

 

Hi @Mymlan, I've had it 4 months now. Just before my sabbatical. Saved up for 2 years so I could take a sabbatical for 6 months to get my music biz off the ground and the 1 week before I left. Boom. Tinnitus.

I feel truly robbed!!

The timing is crazy but I refused to be defeated. Gonna try everyday to work on music.

 

@Pink Noise I was worst four months in.