Help Me

I'm new to to this forum. I don't know anything about it. My wife signed me up, and I haven't read any of the the FAQ's or rules and regs, so if I'm doing something wrong forgive me.

My tinnitus officially started on August 23rd, when I heard crickets during the day. It's gotten worse every day since then. I've been to 8 doctors, been diagnosed with high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, given anti-anxiety pills, suffered through 9 different Rx's, had CT Scans, MRI's, hearing tests, visited the ER twice, have been fitted with top of the line hearing aids with tinnitus programs (my $4,000 ear buds), but am at the end of my rope.

I am a very successful person. I run several companies, employ about 75 people, work my butt off, am very good at what I do. I am not a wilting lily. One of my my motto's is that there is no such thing as a two person job. I can do anything.

But between the ringing of the tinnitus, the white, pink, and brown noises, the water noises which calm me down, and all the other crap, I just want some silence. I want to hear nothing. I want to stop sobbing whenever I'm left alone. I'm grateful that I don't own a gun.

That's my rant. That's what I've got. I'm going nuts. I don't know what to do.

Help?

 

which ear buds did you get?

honestly, you're still really early stages. give it some time. Nobody wants to hear that - especially a type A person.... but there is little you can do save for a few experimental treatments that I'm sure you've already read about if you've been digging through this site.

seems you have the funds to do so, so your options that people see vary levels of success with include
CBT
TRT
HBOT
LLLT
Supplements
Stem Cell treatments
Chiropractor
Accupuncture

I did see some help from seeing a cranial osteopath / chiropractor (not cranial sacral therapy). I attribute most of my improvements to being diligent with filtered earplugs in noisy places and getting some good sleep though.

 

Hey Martin,

You just gotta hang in there for a little while, I know it sucks right now but it will get better. I've had tinnitus for a little over 2 years now and just like everyone else the first few months were really bad. I didn't believe anything I read about people saying its going to get better, all I could think of was how miserable I was, how I couldn't live without silence. But as time went on, sure enough things got better. Slowly but surely the noise started bothering me less and less.

Eventually I hit a point where I really didn't care much about the noise at all anymore, this was probably somewhere in the 8 month range. Ever since then I've only cared less and less. At this point 2 years in, I'm sitting here and my ears are ringing as we speak but I really couldn't care less. And when you are at the point that I am at now (and don't worry you will get here) you basically don't even hear it unless you are actively thinking about it.

PS: Tip here from experience, as amazing and supportive as this forum is I do recommend to limit your exposure to it. You are bound to run into horror stories even here and it literally does nothing but bring you down and give your tinnitus more power.

Definitely visit from time to time, but try not to make this place your home.

 

Hi Martin,

Welcome aboard.

The best advice I can offer you is to stop fighting tinnitus. I know it's a natural reaction that everyone has (including me), but the best thing to do is to let it win. As time goes on, your nervous system will think less and less of it and your anxiety to it will lessen. The technical term for it is called "habituation".

A quick question for you: were you exposed to loud music or some other noise trauma prior to the onset of tinnitus? Or it just appeared "out of thin air" for you?

 

What do these tests show?
Do you have good doctors? It may sound ridiculous, but it took half a dozen doctors (yes, I am that tenacious) to figure out what I had.

I don't personally subscribe to the "let Tinnitus win" philosophy, but clearly there are some people who feel it's a reasonable approach. As a high performing individual, I'm not sure you will feel satisfied by it (I know I'm not).

Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer more 1-1.

Good luck.

 

Thank you all for your responses and support. I'm too new to this to know what all of this means - the abbreviations, the "letting tinnitus win" (yeah, probably not), etc. The hearing aids I got are Siemens Sigmas 5's. I can set white, pink, and brown noises on them, controlled through my phone for best precision. I have some high frequency hearing loss which the aids correct (and which I never knew I had), but meh.

I'm used to working a minimum of 10 hours a day 7 days a week with a day off once in a couple of weeks. My last stint was 66 days without a day off and over 700 hours. Yeah, I'm bragging. Now I'm finding it hard to work through a solid 7 hours without a breakdown.

There was no event that caused my tinnitus - no gun shot, big crash, or loud hair-band reunion. I'm a chef, and I work under the contestant drone of exhaust fans, but it's not a big clangy chop shop they make it look on TV. I run a very peaceful kitchen.

I wish someone could help me.

 

There are many causes which can trigger or aggravate tinnitus including drug reaction or side-effects, ear or Eustachian tube infection, ear drum injury, ear wax build up, fluid build-up feeling pressured, TMJ, high blood pressure or blood circulation problem, loud noise exposure or acoustic trauma, neck muscle problems, hearing loss, Meniere's, barotrauma from flight, grief for the loss of love ones, untreated sleep apnea, elevated stress, anxiety & panic disorder, etc.

See if you have any of the above. But even none above, the highly stressful work environment without enough rest can definitely aggravate T. When I took my first vacation after T to Hawaii, T was much distracted and wasn't as loud. But once I got back to my stressful IT job, it came back with a vengeance. Perhaps it is time to look at your life style to see if you can include more rest and recreation to it. Also try to mask your T so you won't be so traumatized by it. Be sure to read up the success stories as they contain many helpful strategies and insights. I wrote mine too after suffering ultra high pitch T and then severe hyperacusis. I was in a mess and suffered much like most folks, but today I live a normal and absolutely enjoyable life. I provide the link if you like to read about the strategies I used. Take care. God bless.

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

 

Hi @Martin Bleck Although you have been to ENT and seen various doctors which is a good thing, you might find the post below helpful
Hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael

New to tinnitus what to do?

The onset of loud intrusive tinnitus can be very traumatic for most people. I use the words loud and intrusive, because tinnitus comes in many forms and intensities. When it is mild, moderate or occasionally heard in quiet surroundings it is usually not too bothersome and a person can go about their daily affairs quite happily and unperturbed by this anomaly. This type of tinnitus usually comes on gradually and in some cases it’s associated with hearing loss, as we get older and the usual treatment is the wearing of hearing aid/s.

Tinnitus can be caused by other things: an underlining medical problem, build up of ear wax (cerumen). Jaw problems. Some medications and even irregular blood flow through the body causing Pulsatile tinnitus. There are a plethora of other conditions that can be responsible. However, the most common cause is exposure to loud noise or music that has been played at high levels causing some damage to the cochlear in the inner ear.

This type of tinnitus can be loud, intrusive and very debilitating. Often leaving a person at a loss and not knowing which way to turn to escape the nightmare that has suddenly come upon them. Your Dr has probably told you, it’s tinnitus and nothing can be done, you’ll just have to learn to live with it. I remember those words as if it were yesterday resonating through my mind and thinking, live with this for the rest of my life, impossible. So I fully understand how difficult it can be for someone new to this condition to take this in and believe it to be factual.

If you are having difficulty sleeping you might have been advised to try a night time sedation or an ant-depressant to help cope with the stress and anxiety that often accompanies tinnitus. These medications can be helpful especially in the early stages and they don’t have to be taken long term, so it’s something to consider. They can act as a safety net so you don’t become too down.

A referral to ENT will usually be recommended. In the mean time try to keep occupied with something you like doing, as it helps to distract the brain from focusing on the tinnitus. Avoiding quiet rooms during the day by playing low level non intrusive music such as classical in the background can be helpful.

At night a sound machine placed by the bedside playing nature sounds or listening to favourite mp3 tracks or Cds are good. Keeping the volume just below the tinnitus is ideal and set to play throughout the night until morning. It takes time to get used to sound therapy so please stay with it. Whilst in a deep sleep it supplies the brain and auditory system with sound enrichment. Over time the tinnitus is pushed further into the background helping to make its perception less noticeable during waking hours.

In the early stages of tinnitus, if one chooses not to use sound enrichment sleeping can sometimes be difficult and there’s also the chance of the tinnitus becoming more intrusive as sleeping in a quiet room can allow the brain to increase it’s own background activity. In doing so it will also increase the tinnitus making it more intrusive during waking hours.

There is a tendency for newbies to try and cure their tinnitus which is quite understandable. There are many remedies, treatments and concoctions out there. Some affordable others quite expensive. I am not adverse to trying to help myself but want to say, there are charlatans and con artists eager to relieve someone in distress of their money so please be careful. Even tried and tested treatments I wouldn’t recommend a person try until they have been seen at ENT. Often a person after been seen at ENT is advised to wait a while.

The reason being. Many people habituate to tinnitus within six months sometimes a little longer and it has been known to go away. The ear is a very delicate organ and many Drs prefer to wait before investigating further and then suggesting a treatment. If other problems are experienced such as: pain in the ears, deafness, dizziness or balance problems this is of more concern and a person will usually been seen quicker.

It is best to have a word with your GP if you’re feeling stressed or depressed in any way, as previously mentioned there are treatments available. Leaving things alone until ENT advise you of the next step is the best thing to do in my opinion. Don’t try to fix anything or throw large sums of money at treatments that you have no way of knowing whether you’ll get any relief.

It is not advisable to listen to audio through headphones even at low volume and keep away from loud sounds. By all means go out but anywhere that plays loud music then wear noise reducing earplugs.
Take things slowly and one day at a time. Read some of the positivity threads and ask other members for advice. Many people eventually habituate to their tinnitus and go on to lead a happy and fulfilling life even though it may take a little time.

Michael

 

Again, thank you all for your replies. You all speak of an inevitable light at the end of the tunnel, but to me it feels like a feels like that light is actually an oncoming freight train. One thing that really amazes me is that you are all here giving support. I just want to crawl under my bed and hide with my dog. You all have more gracious souls than I.

I will continue the fight, I hope you are all right about the beginning stages of this being the most difficult. All of my tests have come back clear, so I'm not dealing with a tumor or anything along those lines. It just seems to be caused by gradual degenerative hearing loss that wants to tighten its screws in my head. If I could have two wishes, one would be silence, and the other my ability to stay productive at the level I thrive at.

Thank you all.

 

Martin,

I (we) are glad you are here. Early stages of tinnitus (T) completely suck!! Folks here on TT have already shared with you some great advice!! Heed it.Habituation takes time, and dare I say effort. Sleep management and emotional/psychological regulation are key. I went thru the eact same thing as you are now. It is horrible!! BUT.... you will get thru!!! Stay connected, don't be afraid to cry, but be willing to fight!!! Focus on the positive in your life!! You got this kid!!!

Best and rest,

Jeff

 

Well, I'm afraid you're giving an answer to yourself in your posts..You work your butt off ..you work sick amount of hours..and maybe you're proud of it, but your body surely isn't. Start by changing the way of life. You're very probably abusing your body and its strenghts. You have to slow down cause if not tinnitus , other ilnessess caused by this lifestyle will catch you. You've been diagnosed with a few serious ilnesses ( high blood preassure and hypothyroidism are really vicious and can damge any cell in your body ) each of which can be a cause of tinnitus, so treat them, be a bit patient and you might observe improvement once the meds kick in. I'd suggest that for the beginning. We all just want to hear the silence and we don't , that's why we're here. Slow down, change lifestyle, focus on other things than work and money making, focus on treating your disorders, which may include changing of diet for example..for some people this kind of change is already enough to see tinnitus go away.

 

You've said in previous posts that when you notice your T you can hear it over everything. How did you get to a point where you didn't notice it for weeks? Do you sleep with any sound machines or anything?
I've had mine for almost 7 months now and I only hear mine when it's very quiet, and just like you the first few months sucked so badly.

I'm only posting on positive threads as I know how much of an effect these horror stories are.

 

David,

I tried noise machines, music, air conditioners pretty much everything, It really didn't do anything early on for me so I just gave up on them and slept in silence (or what all of us here know as silence), eventually I could fall asleep even with the ringing.

Your second question is a bit more tough to answer, I can't really pin-point a time frame where all of the sudden I wasn't noticing it for weeks. It was a very, very slow process which started out as not noticing it for an hour, then eventually that hour turned into two hours then three hours, days and so on. Eventually, after many months I stopped noticing it for pretty extended periods of time.

Don't get me wrong, 3 years in I can still hear it as I'm typing right now but thats only because I'm thinking about it. At this point in time though, T never bothers me any longer. I definitely notice spikes from time to time, for example if I go out drinking, my ears will be screaming (booze make my T a lot louder) but I just know in my head that its the norm and itll be back to normal by morning and even in those situations when I have that mindset, its as if its not even there.

Habituation is really hard to explain, especially to someone still going through the hell stages of T. No matter how many times you tell someone that "you'll just get use to it" they'll just think its BS, I know I did in the beginning. But its crazy what your brain can do, once you are habituated it truly is like tinnitus is no longer there.

 

I know habituation is now possible, because around the 3rd or 4th month range I was out of the panic mode, but some days (Like today) it gets me down. Probably fearing for the future, as I read all the horror stories about people's T getting worse over the years, which certainly didn't help.

My type of T is a constant hissing in the centre of my head which a fan is what almost drowns it out at night. I've had my hearing checked twice and it's flawless, 1st at the ENT and 2nd at a TRT clinic, and the therapist said it will get to a point where it won't bother me anymore. But there have been times when I don't notice it even in a silent room.

But thanks for your post!

 

Definitely, like I said just hang in there. Mine is also in the middle of my head and its a constant extremely high pitched "EEEEE" type of sound. As mentioned in my previous post, I do have some days where its louder than others but I'll be honest I really do not have anymore days where it directly bothers me. My reaction is more like "Oh yeah, its still there" and then I forget about it, rather than freaking out and being stuck on the thought.

The more time that goes on, the less you will care, especially since you are falling into habituation already.

 

Thanks for the advice!

When my grandfather passed in December I found out that he was a chronic worrier, and so was my mother. I didn't realise that I was a stressed person until I got T, so I guess this worry gene runs in the family.