Hi! Cricket Sounds Started One Month Ago, What Can I Do?

Hi all,

my name is Jack and am and English native, currently living outside of the UK. About one month ago I started hearing a faint clicking sound in my right ear, kind of like the digital click of an internet modem, or indeed, a cricket.

At first I thought it was a sound in my flat and slowly realising that it wasn't I went into a mad panic at the thought I might have tinnitus, possibly my worst nightmare. I suffer from misophonia, a slightly acknowledged but very real mental condition where simple day to day sounds (particularly human sounds such as eating and breathing) can cause immense irritation and distress.

I went to see a doctor here in the country where I now live, and despite the language barrier presenting some issues I was able to convey my problem to the ENT specialist and get referred to other specialists. So far I have had my eyesight, hearing and brain function all cleared, in fact they are all stellar and not problematic.

I was prescribed 2 drugs - nootropil and betahistin dihydrochloride (I might not be translatating that second one correctly) but thus far I think they have had little to no effect on the sound.

Here are my symptoms -

- clicking/chirping in right ear, seems to stop occassionally and cannot be heard throughout the day unless in silence.

- Throbbing/pulsing sensation in one or both ears, not consistent/very often.

- Fluid in both ears, not often (actually only once, lasting two days).

- Occasional ringing accompanying clicking.

So far I have managed to sleep by having the TV on or a rain sound playing on my phone, although neither of these work 100% of the time and even though at a low volume I can make out the clicking above them.

This whole thing is causing me a huge amount of stress and worry, I am completely panicked that I will be stuck with this long term. I understand how important it is to remain calm and and people around me have been very supportive, but I broke down at work today and had to hide in the toilet, and have even harmed myself by punching/headbutting walls, hitting myself in the head and cutting my arm. My tinnitus is probably not nearly as severe as many of the very patient and tolerant people I have read about on this forum, but it's been enough to really upset my life these past 3 weeks.

Does anyone have any guidance/advice for me in this situation? I know I shouldn't panic or despair but I feel like I'm not getting the medical attention I need, no one has even looked in my ear!

Thank you for reading and for your thoughts,

Jack

 

Jack, first of all, welcome on this forum!
Secondly, stop hurting yourself! That doesn't help, I can give you that guarantee!
Try to relax a bit, get yourself together, take drink, listen to some music.., whatever might calm you. Stress feeds the T like a predator on it's prey.
Did the ent say when he will see you again? If no appontment is made, ask for one. He should know if the meds he prescribed helped or not. Then ask the questions you ask us; ask for examinations like a MRI to make sure nothing is wrong..

 

Hello Jack and welcome.

Indeed I am sorry to hear about the chirping issues as well as the other phobia you suffer. It sounds rare but I bet there are many in your shoes who experience this phobia. Do not panic my friend, you are quite normal.

It seems you have had a little success with masking and I would suggest you continue to try different sound tracks including cricket tracks. When masking, it's very important to have the volume just BELOW the volume of your tinnitus/clicking. This allows for distraction and gradual acceptance of this unwanted noise.

Hang tough my friend. Studies and science are heading towards treatments and cures. Keep getting the needed sleep, try not to allow too much stress into your life and enjoy yourself whenever you get a chance. Look for things that make you happy.

There are many free sound tracks available to try. Some can be found in various threads here. People on this site are extremely helpful and caring. Never be afraid to reach out to anyone at anytime.

Regards Mate,

Mike

Post Script: Head butting walls only increases this.

 

Just wait and hope. There is nothing more you can do. It took me 4 months of reading this site day in and day out to accept that.

 

@Jsl

Jack your anxiety is taking over...mask when u can and your awareness will gradually shift to other stuff.
U will hear it over masking if u listen out for it, but stay busy...it will also then help u sleep.

For anxious people the idea of tinnitus is difficult to contemplate, with your type of anxieties/phobias probably very much so. I can see that even having a mild case would cause u to think you won't be able to move your attention from it, causing u constant panic.

However, (this is my opinion, a guess, having done a bit of CBT):

- if it's mild you will stop obsessing over it with some cbt which is useful for obsessions, phobias (even when founded in reality, in this case the clicking). Then you'll carry on. Lots of people live perfectly normal lives with mild t, know several myself.
- if its not mild it will become more of a physical, annoyng condition, unlike your other ones...it will probably be draining...but panic will subside and frustration take over. From then on the journey of habituation will start and things will improve. Again people live full lives with this.

The worse time is the beginning, in terms of your feelings. It's hard to come to terms with initially.

As far as the medical side of things, you need to see an ENT, get them to check ur ears. How do u know there is fluid, have u had discharge?

Take care, sleep, talk to people...x

 

Hello Jack,

I cannot give you medical advice, but I'm in the same boat. Have had T for 3 weeks now. Needless to say, I have cried my eyes out, also at work. Why me? I am seeing an ENT. We have done tests and currently wait for results. It is completely heartbreaking to even think that maybe this is it? Forever?

But refuse to give in to this. I seem to be one of the "lucky" ones - I can mask mine with white noise, soft music, sounds of traffic or a cafe etc. So this is my first step towards a better attitude and reducing the stress: I will be ok with this. Now, of course my emotions still go up and down all the time. However, today I have two good minutes before one bad one hits. That is better than yesterday and much better than three weeks ago.

I'm working on sleeping better (long hot shower, camomile tea, lavender scent, white noise, deep breathing), because it's my anxiety that's keeping me awake. I have to tell my body that this will be ok. I try to keep busy. I talk with my friends. I pray (suits my personal beliefs). Now I'm also here on this forum. I'm off caffeine and eating healthy. I go for walks. I tell myself OUT LOUD (like a crazy person): "You will be better. You can handle this. You are stronger than this.". I am totally faking it until I make it...

I am also using the technique described in the thread Back To Silence: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/ - after just a week I feel my mood is better. If after 40 years he was able to reach a point where he does not respond to his loud T anymore, surely we can do the same. So maybe it could help you as well? Certainly better than hurting yourself - I hope you don't do that anymore!

I wish both of us the best of luck with this. It has been a hellish three weeks but we will be ok!

 

Hey Jack,

Welcome to the board!

Like the others have said, the key to dealing with this or any other problem in life is to stay calm! Similarly, do not let it feed your anxiety. THAT is the absolute worst thing you can do.

One stat you should know that it is estimated that 1 in 10 Americans alone have tinnitus!! So that is roughly 32 million people. Therefore, like the Michael Jackson song says "you are not alone". Also, these people are living their lives, raising families, going to work, enjoying their social lives, etc. Believe me, I know it is not easy. I went through every normal emotion and I was having stupid thoughts the first couple of weeks back in March, 2016 when I become afflicted with tinnitus. Just stay strong, keep busy, get a good night's rest, and be positive!

 

Hi everyone,

thanks very much for your supportive words and insight. I have just been experiencing extreme lows then feelings of calm - it's up and down.

Last night I was able to sleep without any masking at all, I woke up at 4am and heard the clicking, tried to think of other things and the noise seemed to subside. It's difficult to distract your mind though.

I am scheduled to have an ultrasound of the veins/arteries in my neck to see if blood flow is connected. Following the results of that I have been advised to book an MR scan, which I can either wait for (2 months) to have for free or pay a lot of money for and do soon. I think I'd take option B as I really would like to know the cause behind this.

A strange part of me hopes it's some sort of illness or infection or disease, it's a terrible thing to say but if it's one of these things at least it's clear what it is and a cure is a possibility, rather than just a noise from no where that means nothing. My tinnitus is really not severe though, and I should hold onto that. It's just my mind that latches onto it and sometimes wont let go.

I am new to this form so just had a couple of questions - firstly what is CBT? I stopped taking the drugs I was prescribed as they really seemed to have no effect and have started taking zinc and magnesium. Also, why does everybody refer to tinnitus as T? Is it just because it's short hand and easier to write or do people not want to use the word itself, because of it's connotations?

Thanks again,

Jack

 

I guess "the T" is just a handy way to refer to it. But maybe for some it's also a Voldemort sort of thing .

And well done with falling sleeping! I'm not brave enough to try it without masking yet. But I had my quietest morning since this started, it was almost not there at all, and it was a glorious feeling. And it's also the first day that I didn't cry at all. I'm so happy about that - it's all about the small victories!

Like I said in my other post, mine is mild too, but I completely understand what you mean by your mind still getting fixated on it. It is difficult, especially when we are not sure what is causing it. I also hope that they find "something" which is really strange, because of course I don't want this to be a sign of a serious health problem.

I have also found out that two of my friends and my own mother have tinnitus - I never knew because I never heard them complain about it. Not once!! So stay strong! We can handle this .

 

Hi Jack

Cbt - cognitive behavioural therapy...