Hey I'm New Around These Parts

I found this website while frantically searching for support about a thing that totally ruined my life.

I've had tinnitus for almost 3 months now from a sinus infection that wont go away. I've been to the doctors and they said i have acute sinusitis and it somehow started to affect my ears. Its weird how these things work but now I'm trying to keep healthy and see if my tinnitus will go away but I'm really not keeping my hopes up the tinnitus is so unpredictable.

The only thing the tinnitus is stopping me from doing is getting my 8 hours sleep I used to get, now I only get like 6 hours if I'm lucky. Though the day i never really notice it, the ringing gets louder when I'm in quiet rooms and now I totally gotta change my lifestyle cuz I was a guy who enjoyed the silence.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Sincerely
ChilledJames

 

Hi @ChilledJames

Many things can cause tinnitus including sinusitis. However, the most common cause is exposure to loud noise. Do you listen to music through headphones regularly? Or attend places where loud music is played? If yes to any of these questions then loud sounds could be the likely reason for your tinnitus. If that isn't the cause I advise you not to use headphones for a while. If headphones is the reason I advise to never use them again even at low volume.

Please click on the link below and read my article on tinnitus that you might find helpful: Tinnitus, A Personal View: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/ Try to avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using "sound enrichment" More about this is explained in my article.

All the best
Michael

 

I am sorry about your t and persistent sinus infection.

Have you been tested for chlamydial and mycoplasma pneumoniae? These microorganisms commonly cause sinus biofilms, which are difficult to test for and eradicate. The usual course of treatment are doxycycline and/or azithromicin. Perhaps, ask your gp to do a pcr test for chlamydial (cpn) and mycoplasma (mpn) igg ( past infection) and igm (current infection). These organisms are common coinfections of lyme disease. For natural (herbal) treatments, you can visit Stephen Buhner's site for treating lyme and its coinfections. He has written several books on the topic that you might find helpful. He no longer consults, but his partner does, and her details can be found on his web site.

Your t is very new. It could still eff off or you will habituate. Many of us here, including myself have suffered with very severe and intrusive t and h, and have managed to adapt. You will too. Try not to panic. I know its easier said than done. But it can be done. Promise!

My t always sounds louder when I have blocked sinuses or an ear infection. My t also is more noticeable in quiet environments, but these days, I dont really notice or care as much as i used to = habituation.

Get on top of your sinus issues first, and you might find the t buggars off or backs off.

Next thing to do is improve the quality of your sleep. I was never a fan of using sedatives, but I think sleep is very important, so do what you need to to feel rested. Lots of threads on this so I wont repeat. Mindfulness cbt helped me. In the beginning, I spent a lot of time ( on the advice of others) running away (mentally) from the noise, always trying to stay busy and distracted. I was frightened to stop in case I had to listen to the noise. I realised, that for me, it was the fear and anxiety about my t that was the root cause of my crappy sleep habits. This is where mindfulness helped me. 2 weeks into my t onset, and i thought 'stuff you t, im going to sleep....' and i did.

You are going to be totally fine. There are many of us who have habituated. An uninvited guest perhaps, but nevertheless, can be ignored eventually...

Let us know how you get on with things........

 

Hi @ChilledJames , and welcome.

@Michael Leigh already pointed you towards one of my favorite posts by him (search out ofter by Michael , you will find a wealth of information and great advice).

Another post I think may help you. @Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )

Your tinnitus, as others have said here, is fairly new. Hopefully the above will give you some hope as you learnt o del with this.

 

Hey @Michael Leigh

First of all i never thought of my tinnitus being sound induced due to the fact that I don't listen to anything on the loudest volume. Since the T has started Ive been very cautious around loud environments and I'll take your advice of not using head/earphones maybe that could serve to be beneficial in this fight.

Hey there @DebInAustralia

My sinus has calmed down a fair bit been taking a saline spray just to give my nasal cavities some moisture. The odd thing is that im not discharging any mucus from my nose but I feel a slight pressure on the bridge of the nose. It doesn't cause any problems but do you think I should be worried about it? I've been contemplating wether o should exercise mainly cuz of the threads I read about cardio can make your T worse but today i tried it out absolutely nothing wrong..no spikes at all so im gona continue exercising till i die . I will gladly indulge myself into those websites hopefully become wiser. I hope to see us all in a better place in the near future.

Thank you.

 

Amitriptyline has helped me sleep during the acute stage of my tinnitus. It is non-addictive, and I didn't feel drowsy in the morning.

 

@Michael Leigh Hey, i just wanted to ask why avoid silent rooms? I will read your thread but i haven't slept in a while and feeling tired, but since i got my T I've spent a lot of time in my quiet room, is that a bad thing? I still go outside and talk to people during the day. I just thought silence would help the tinnitus .

 

@MikeB1996 It is important to avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night. When the brain hears silence it will focus on the tinnitus more and it will appear to be louder and more intrusive. Please read my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, for more information on this. Click on my "Started threads" to access my posts on tinnitus, hyperacusis and positivity.

All the best
Michael

 

HI @ChilledJames

You would be surprised at the amount of people in this forum that developed tinnitus caused by headphone use. Many of them also didn't think they listened to music through headphones at "loud volume" including me and that was 21 years ago. If you listened to music regularly through headphones prior to the onset of your tinnitus, I am fairly certain that "headphones" caused it. However, I could be wrong and you are right that it is sinusitis or something else. I have counselled many people with tinnitus and the majority of the time it is Headphone use or going to places such as: clubs, concerts the cinema, where sound levels are high that caused it.

I wish you well and hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael