From Mild To Moderate

My apologies if this topic has already been raised. I realise there are a lot of new and old threads about many related subjects, but I'm posing one that until only recently has related specifically to me.

Has anyone gone from having mild to moderate Tinnitus, seemingly from nothing? That it is say; who here has had Tinnitus that was barely noticeable suddenly develop into a full-blown case of incessant ear-ringing capable of being heard over everything?

Of course, I obviously ask because this is happening to me. But I'm wondering if it's only a 'spike' or if, for no particular reason that I can fathom, this is my new permanent level of Tinnitus. It's been going on for about a month now.

I took 5mg of Valium before bed last night and when that had absolutely no effect, I took half a sleeping tablet as well. Neither offered me the slightest bit of relief or even a wink of sleep.

It strikes me as being extremely difficult not to concentrate on the constant high-pitch ringing in my ear (it's more in my right ear than the left) when it's such a new sound and it dominates over everything else.

So has anyone else gone from mild to moderate Tinnitus like this? How did you manage to get through it?

 

Yes, I've gone from mild to moderate.
Mine started 40 years ago. When I was a kid I'd put cotton in my ears when it was bad because I figured my T could get even worse if loud sounds hit me in the 'moderate' phase. It seems to work. After a few days whether or not the T subsides, I take the cotton out and it's always seemed to go down. It's worked for me for decades.

 

Try not to focus on the new noise. It will probably go away, but focusing on it increases the likelihood it will stick. Also, it helps to keep masking sounds in the background as much as possible. This gives you--and your brain--something to listen to besides the tinnitus noise.

You may also try some supplements, like NAC, for a few weeks. But in general you should be fine. Many people will get temporary spikes, and it will settle back down. I know you are concerned; you have every right to be. That said, the best thing you can do is to remain calm and try to not focus on your new noise.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/n-acetylcysteine-nac.395/page-9​

Instead of Valium, you might also try melatonin for a few weeks. The recommended dosage is 3 mg, sustained release, nightly. Ask your doctor for advice if you are taking other drugs, including antidepressants. I would not take melatonin with Valium.

See this study on melatonin and tinnitus:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21859051​

Good luck! I'm sure you will be fine in a few months.

 

I just posted on the Positivity Thread on having a good day on the river fishing for steelhead. I don't know mine is moderate anymore. I could hear my ultra high pitch T above the raging rapids around me. A few years back when T started, the same sound used to turn me into a mess mentally and physically. No longer. I totally enjoy my fishing day even it is a fishless day with super loud T. Once I was fully focused on my fishing, the brain just fades T out of consciousness. I could also hear my T during my last two flights, one to Florida and one to Asia. I could hear it above the jet noise in the plane. But one I was watching a movie, I couldn't hear T anymore. I guess the brain treats it a harmless sound and so it got tuned out just like it tunes out the jet noise.

My T packs with so much condensed energy that it just cuts through even sounds of rapids and jet noise. It is like a laser beam cutting through a night sky. As I am typing, T is brought forth to consciousness and I can distinctly hear its high energy shrill. But in a minute when I am onto something else, it will be faded out of consciousness. When it is no longer considered a threat, even loud noise can be tuned out by the brain. Perhaps that is how people tune out the loud noise when they live near an airport or a railway track. When the same loud noise repeats often but you don't offer any negative reaction, than the brain can learn to ignore it. I guess this is how habituation can occur over time.

 

Thanks very much for the replies, all.

I'm really hopeful I can get this horrific ringing in my right ear back to some kind of baseline!

At the moment I'm listening to this through an earphone to try and get some relief. How loud should I have it?

 

I had this happen a couple of times, sitting in my chair behind the pc and suddenly my T becoms incredibly loud and it stays that way, sometimes accompanied by a feeling of stuffed ears, it always went back down after some days or after a nights sleep.

Try to get as much distraction as possible and think about something positive, it will go back down again.

 

It's this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwicker_tone

I've had them all my life couple times in a year. Although now when I have T I get "Zwicker tone" more often (once or twice per month) and it doesn't fade away completely like it used. Sometimes it fades but leaves my T a bit louder than baseline for minutes, hours or until I sleep it away.

My "zwicker tone" doesn't match to my T pitch though.

 

I'm guessing mine is not really a 'spike' then, since I've had it for just over a month now.