Hi there!
I developed tinnitus 10 years ago after a childhood plagued with otitis and a life of abusing loud music through headphones, along with an acoustic trauma. I have a 60 dB loss at 8 kHz. I navigated these 10 years reasonably well, with some spikes here and there that always resolved after 3 or 4 weeks.
I started Lexapro 10 mg 5 years ago to help me through a rough patch related to tinnitus-induced moderate depression. I've always been very careful with my hearing, always wearing NRR 33 dB foam earplugs when in louder-than-normal environments, although these have been only occasional situations.
This past July, about 4 months ago, I had gone through several months of inconsistent sleep along with a brief stressful event at work. After that, I felt like my tinnitus had increased in volume. It was not a different tone, just a louder version of the previous one.
Since then, I've fallen into a cycle of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations. I increased my Lexapro dosage to 15 mg 5 weeks ago, but I don't feel that it is helping me much. I swing between days in which my tinnitus sounds like a loud unmaskable angle grinder inside my head, and other days in which I hear 2 much quieter and easier to ignore beeping sounds in my ears. I'm at my wits' end.
People tell me it's due to my anxiety and that it's going to settle back to baseline, which previously allowed me to feel happy and joyful. After 4 months, I'm afraid it won't, and I can't help but feel frightened.
Any input?
I developed tinnitus 10 years ago after a childhood plagued with otitis and a life of abusing loud music through headphones, along with an acoustic trauma. I have a 60 dB loss at 8 kHz. I navigated these 10 years reasonably well, with some spikes here and there that always resolved after 3 or 4 weeks.
I started Lexapro 10 mg 5 years ago to help me through a rough patch related to tinnitus-induced moderate depression. I've always been very careful with my hearing, always wearing NRR 33 dB foam earplugs when in louder-than-normal environments, although these have been only occasional situations.
This past July, about 4 months ago, I had gone through several months of inconsistent sleep along with a brief stressful event at work. After that, I felt like my tinnitus had increased in volume. It was not a different tone, just a louder version of the previous one.
Since then, I've fallen into a cycle of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideations. I increased my Lexapro dosage to 15 mg 5 weeks ago, but I don't feel that it is helping me much. I swing between days in which my tinnitus sounds like a loud unmaskable angle grinder inside my head, and other days in which I hear 2 much quieter and easier to ignore beeping sounds in my ears. I'm at my wits' end.
People tell me it's due to my anxiety and that it's going to settle back to baseline, which previously allowed me to feel happy and joyful. After 4 months, I'm afraid it won't, and I can't help but feel frightened.
Any input?
