Hi everyone, I'm really hoping someone can help me. I'm new to this site & this may be a long post so please bear with me.
When I first experienced tinnitus, I had no idea what it was. I used to cry in the night, telling my mum I could hear a noise, trying to explain it was hard. My mum took me to the dr & they did loads of tests, I went to the hospital, various scans & testing was done but they couldn't find a cause & I can still remember the dr saying the words "learn to live with it"...I was 7 or 8 years old.
That was 25 years ago & over the years my tinnitus has stayed the same level & tone. I have slept with a fan on, every night for 25 years to mask the sound & have got along fine. I struggled in my teens & tried various in ear masking devices from hearing clinics but nothing did much so I always reverted back to the good old fan.
If I sit in silence then my tinnitus is on a continuous loop of "spikes"
It gets louder, louder, higher pitched, louder, like going up a rollercoaster. Then just when it reaches a deafening level, (takes about 10 seconds to do so) it drops back down & the process starts again. I avoid silence at all costs to prevent myself from tuning into this & I've been successful at that up until this point.
In the back of my mind, I've aways worried about the future. Mainly of losing my hearing because then "how will I disguise the tinnitus?" Anyway, last night I woke up to what I believed was an alarm. A constant beep that sounded in the distance, but loud enough to hear over my fan... after a few minutes I realised it was my tinnitus. It seems to have completely changed both pitch & volume suddenly. I sat for an hour just listening to it, completely numb. I feel like my life has changed in 1 night-I know that sounds dramatic, but I've heard the tinnitus al day, over the sound of the tv, radio, outside noise & my 2 year old. I don't know what to do if this is my new reality. It's unbearable.
I must add, I am under stress but I've been MUCH MORE stressed in the past after a bereavement & this has never happened. Can anyone offer any advice? Is it worth going back to the drs? I mentioned my tinnitus at an appointment a while back & my dr said there were no new treatments currently available to try & was very dismissive.
I just don't know how to go on like this, I feel like a different person. My partner is struggling to understand as he's never had tinnitus & it's hard to explain to a non sufferer. I feel so alone & distraught inside.
When I first experienced tinnitus, I had no idea what it was. I used to cry in the night, telling my mum I could hear a noise, trying to explain it was hard. My mum took me to the dr & they did loads of tests, I went to the hospital, various scans & testing was done but they couldn't find a cause & I can still remember the dr saying the words "learn to live with it"...I was 7 or 8 years old.
That was 25 years ago & over the years my tinnitus has stayed the same level & tone. I have slept with a fan on, every night for 25 years to mask the sound & have got along fine. I struggled in my teens & tried various in ear masking devices from hearing clinics but nothing did much so I always reverted back to the good old fan.
If I sit in silence then my tinnitus is on a continuous loop of "spikes"
It gets louder, louder, higher pitched, louder, like going up a rollercoaster. Then just when it reaches a deafening level, (takes about 10 seconds to do so) it drops back down & the process starts again. I avoid silence at all costs to prevent myself from tuning into this & I've been successful at that up until this point.
In the back of my mind, I've aways worried about the future. Mainly of losing my hearing because then "how will I disguise the tinnitus?" Anyway, last night I woke up to what I believed was an alarm. A constant beep that sounded in the distance, but loud enough to hear over my fan... after a few minutes I realised it was my tinnitus. It seems to have completely changed both pitch & volume suddenly. I sat for an hour just listening to it, completely numb. I feel like my life has changed in 1 night-I know that sounds dramatic, but I've heard the tinnitus al day, over the sound of the tv, radio, outside noise & my 2 year old. I don't know what to do if this is my new reality. It's unbearable.
I must add, I am under stress but I've been MUCH MORE stressed in the past after a bereavement & this has never happened. Can anyone offer any advice? Is it worth going back to the drs? I mentioned my tinnitus at an appointment a while back & my dr said there were no new treatments currently available to try & was very dismissive.
I just don't know how to go on like this, I feel like a different person. My partner is struggling to understand as he's never had tinnitus & it's hard to explain to a non sufferer. I feel so alone & distraught inside.
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