Hello, Everyone, I am new to all of this....

[ElaineL]

Hello, everyone. I am new to tinnitus (12/2015) and also new to online forums. Am a little overwhelmed by all the new information (pink noise, purple noise, habituation, hyperacusis ..) but I love what I am reading in this forum. So good to know that I am not alone. Really thought I was losing my mind. My tinnitus - which sounds like a wall of sizzling cicadas - began (I think) from several weeks of high dose ibuprofen prescribed by a doctor for leg pain. Gradually became aware that there were cicadas in the living room, cicadas in my bedroom, cicadas everywhere - no they were in my head.

I have not wanted to face this noise but have gathered from the threads that I have read that I need to go to an Audiologist and see what is what. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom at the beginning of my journey.

 

[billie48]

Welcome @ElaineL. Being a member here, you are never alone to face the battle with T. I understand what you are going through as most of us have been where you are now. Your T is so new that it may just fade or disappear over time. Even if it doesn't, you can still live a normal life. Many members are just that, recovering and writing their success stories to confirm to the new sufferers that good life can still return. Don't lose heart and don't panic. Give it some time and learn & apply the strategies, the words of wisdom if you will, so that over time you will get better like others.

If your T is a wall of cicadas, then you have high pitch T. Like you my T hit me a few years back with an ultra high pitched dog whistle. As if that wasn't enough suffering, severe T soon joined in the misery. It turned all normal sounds piercingly hurtful, as if the ears got drilled by every normal sound out there. Both T & H also triggered relentless anxiety and panic attacks as I was a victim of anxiety and panic disorder prior to T & H. Life was very difficult and dark and I thought I would never survive this. But never say never. Today, I live a normal and absolutely enjoyable life. I don't have words of wisdom but I have my success story written a while ago, where I listed many important points to help me turn around, 'from darkness to light'. If you like to read it, I list the link below, and I also highly recommend you read the success story of 'Back to Silence' from IWLM. Take good care of yourself and may God bless you with speedy recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

The most read success story 'Back to Silence' with a simple effective strategy:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

Also there is a very good thread from TT with tips for newer sufferers. Try to follow it step by step. It also comes with an audio player with many excellent masking sounds. When T is new and high pitched, the best is to try to mask it so you won't be too panicky. Here are some links for you with masking suggestions:

TT tips for new T sufferers: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/
TT audio player: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/
more free masking aire freshener: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html
soothing rain generator: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php

If you need Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation (ACRN):
http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/acoustic-cr-neuromodulation
http://www.generalfuzz.net/acrn/