Hello Everyone, Here Is My Story So Far

I'm 22 year old male who suffers from anxiety and stress. since last year before Christmas I was having terrible anxiety, I thought anything and everything was wrong with me. I started calming down in January 2017.

One night I look over at my girlfriend and I tell her my left ear is ringing. It went on for a month non stop Got really worried and went to the emergency room. They cleaned out a big ball of wax blocking my entire ear drum and after that gave me antibiotics to make sure of no infections. Then the Tinnitus stopped. It then started up in my right ear about a week later, I told my doctor and she had me see an ent who said everything looks fine in your ear. I did a hearing test and it came back perfect, but she used a machine in each ear said the left one was perfect and said the right one isn't. Didn't explain how it wasn't.

Said I should see a doctor about tmj and I've now had it in my right ear for a month and it comes and goes and sometimes pulses. 2 days ago it stopped completely and it didn't come back till today. I'm trying to learn to live with it in case it is perminant but I don't know what to do. Sometimes it does drive me crazy, and makes me get all down and depressed. I want to beat this so bad I even started taking b12 vitamins that do help reduce it.

Can anyone please explain why it happened out of the blue, and why it comes and goes? Thank you for taking the time to read this and that's for your support.

 

Welcome to the forum. For some people, T can be traced to a cause. But for many, it just seems to come from no where, or from a combination of causes. There are many causes which can trigger or aggravate tinnitus including but not limited to drug reaction or side-effects from ototoxic drugs, ear wax build-up, ear or Eustachian tube infection or ETD, ear drum injury, fluid build-up feeling pressured, TMJ, TTTS, high blood pressure or blood circulation problem, loud noise exposure, acoustic trauma/shock, head trauma & injury, neck injury or muscle problems, hearing loss, Meniere's, barotrauma from sudden change of air pressure such as flights, slapping of the ears, grief for the loss of loved ones, untreated sleep apnea, elevated stress, anxiety & panic disorder, etc.

Stress and anxiety are known to cause or aggravate T. So do your best to stay positive and calm to stop the limbic system taking over which will make you function in fight or flight mode and T will appear worse. T is also known to be unpredictable. Some people's T come but never go. So positively you can take that as a good sign that your T can go at times. This will happen more and more if you stay calm and positive, and fully engage with life again. Try read the success stories to learn some helpful strategies and insights. Take care. God bless.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read over my story, my tinitus did start out of no where. I don't listen to anything loud and it does sometimes pulse. It will be a few spikes every now and every then kinda like a heart beat but not as constant. I'm keeping op with my doctor and the thing with tinnitus is it will go away on its own or just stay forever. There are people who have had it for years and if I could cure it, I'd do all them first. I am taking anxiety medication which does help me not focus on the tinnitus as much when it's there. I do use a vaporizer With 80/20 juice and have been for over a year now. I don't drink anymore even though I'd like to and I'm trying to eat a lot healthier to make sure my body can heal from any infections that could be causing the problem. I see what people mean to habitiuate to it, because even when it does come back I just say "it's back" and just keep ignoring it. When I first started browsing this site looking for answers and cures and found that there is no cure quite yet, at first I was crushed. I didn't think I could live with it forever but now that I've read a lot of people's posts on how they manage it when it souds like a lawnmower i feel stronger knowing that there are people out there fighting even harder than me to just suppress the noise instead of getting it to go away. I won't give up on trying to ignore it or give in. I just want a few suggestions. Like, in the morning when I wake up my ear is filled with fluid and throughout the day there's Lil fluid here and there. I also noticed that when I do have the tinnitus it's peaking point is in the morning as soon as I wake up. Any suggestions on why the fluid is there and why the noise is louder and how to suppress it? Night time isn't hard since my anxiety medication puts me to sleep. Thank you for your support!

 

I can't explain the fluid being there in the morning as I am not a doctor. You need to get that checked up by an ENT. However, waking up with loud T is a common thing for lots of sufferers because of the so called 'awakening response'. A while back Dr. Nagler has given a more medically oriented explanation on what he thought is happening when we wake up. I have saved a copy of that explanation:

“I have always felt it to be due to the role of the reticular formation in tinnitus perception. The reticular formation is a primitive structure in the brain stem. It's a "vital sign monitor." When you wake up, the RF checks to see whether or not you are alive! It looks for heartbeat, respirations, blood pressure, temperature - basic bodily signs. It does not care whether or not these signs are good or bad - just that they are present. And as far as the RF is concerned, tinnitus is part of "expected" body function in an individual suffering from severe intrusive tinnitus. So when you wake, your RF checks to see whether or not tinnitus is present. And if it doesn't immediately find the tinnitus, the RF seeks it with a vengeance - - especially in the post-nap state, when there has been inadequate REM sleep and when, therefore, the RF is on already "high alert" that something might not be quite right. Theoretically - very theoretically - this RF hyperactivity in seeking tinnitus, which in a person with severe intrusive tinnitus it equates with life, results in temporarily markedly augmented tinnitus perception.”