Hi Everyone! Tinnitus Started Just Under 5 Weeks Ago

Thought I'd officially create an account after lurking for the past two weeks. Hope no one minds if I write a detailed introduction here; it's a relief to be able to write all this down when I've been bottling it up for a while now, and particularly when I know you guys have so much experience with this horrible affliction and understand it so much more than I do at the moment.

I'm 22 and first noticed a low rumbling buzz in my right ear just under 5 weeks ago. Although it seemed to develop out of the blue, I'm guessing it was probably noise-induced, as I (stupidly) used to listen to music at a much too high volume. On top of that, my neighbours were renovating their house at the time and there was more or less constant very loud drilling coming from their side for about a week or so.

I was also in the middle of studying/taking my final college exams, so stress might have contributed a little.

For the first week or so the rumbling in my right ear was so intrusive, it felt like my whole head was vibrating. I have always been prone to headaches, but the headaches I developed this time around were something else. I found that even if I took paracetamol, the effects would last for an hour or so before wearing off. As a result, I was in a considerable amount of distress at the time and could barely get out of bed. I've struggled with recurring bouts of depression on and off since early 2015 and it now came roaring back with a vengeance. It was the first time I've ever entertained the thought (however vaguely and briefly) of suicide, as I couldn't imagine trying to live the rest of my life like this.

Along with the low buzzing, I began to feel pressure around my temples and inside my ears, similar to what I've felt in the past on flights, etc. When the rumbling didn't show signs of abating after a few days, I took myself to the doctor. I was informed that my ears looked to be wax-free and showed no immediate signs of infection, but was given a prescription for a general antiobiotic and a betahistamine just in case it was labyrinthitis. I took the full course and didn't notice an improvement until I was nearing the last few pills, but then it felt like it improved drastically in a very short space of time. The low rumbling seemed to disappear completely and stayed that way for more than a week. In the meantime, a very faint whistling tone developed in my LEFT ear, but it has remained sporadic: it disappears for hours/days at a time, and then reappears again at the same very faint volume + pitch.

Since then, I've noticed that I can go days at a time without really hearing anything. I don't know whether this is because the tinnitus might be fading or whether I'm just slowly getting used to it (although from what I've read, habituation is a much longer process, so I'm not sure what to think). The buzzing came back at a MUCH lower volume/intensity for two days last week, then disappeared again until yesterday. As I sit here and type, it is still very much present but, again, it hasn't returned to its initial volume, which I hope is a good sign. I also occasionally feel a popping sensation in both ears and at times a sharp (but not unbearable) stab of pain, in the same way I sometimes feel earpain during descents on airplanes. Overall (on the days when the buzzing isn't present, which is more often than not), I find that any lingering tones have now faded into a faint hiss/static-y noise.

In general, I feel like my emotional response to this whole thing has improved a lot, and honestly that has been the result of reading what you guys have written on this website. It was such a huge relief in the beginning to find a whole group of people who have also experienced this. Whenever I feel my mood beginning to dip again, I go back to the Success Stories on here and flick through them and they always give me hope. I now know that 5 weeks is a very short time, relatively speaking, and also that I've been extremely lucky to only develop (so far) what I feel is pretty mild tinnitus compared to some.

I just want to end for now on that note and by thanking all of you for helping me so much already, even when you weren't aware of it. I'm deeply grateful.

- Clare x

 

Habituation normally takes months/years to kick in. Your tinnitus IS fading.

It's a great sign.

Even if it stops fading, you should be able to habituate to mild tinnitus and to stop being aware of it being there (except for when you are trying to fall asleep in a quiet room). This will hopefully take place about 18 months after the onset.

 

I really hope this noise induced pain goes away. That in my opinion is worse then tinnitus and hearing loss.

 

Clare,

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like your tinnitus is slowly fading! That’s something very positive to see. But don’t let this take you off guard. In my opinion, you still should be very careful about noise exposure from now on because you don’t want to have to deal with T ever again if yours does indeed fade away completely.

 

Mine began suddenly with extreme plugged feeling in right ear, all kinds of weird popping noises, vertigo, total hearing loss, etc. That was months ago, and now I have settled into a constant hissing static noise like you describe. The popping is gone. Often I will notice some extremely high pitched squeaky whistling noises making a visit, but these fantom noises usually come for a short visit and are not too bothersome. The hissing static stuff is constant and varies in volume according to what kind of ambient sound I am exposed to. I am slowly habituating.