Horrible Tinnitus

Hello All,

On 3rd Feb 2018, my right ear suddenly became muffled while having a shower.
2 days later, I realised a buzzing in my ‘head’
and came to know about tinnitus.
2 nights before, I slept late (3-4am for 2 days straight) working on my computer.
Posture/ neck strained related ?

Went to see the GP and was told it’s Eustachian Dysfunction Tube and was prescribed a steroid nasal spray and advised to finish its course (6weeks).

To date, my ear/head is still buzzing.
On the 28 Feb 2018, went to do a MRI scan.
Results will be posted to my GP which I will see on the 12th of March to discuss.

Hearing test appointment will be this Monday 5th.
I dread the worse. I hope the tinnitus is not going to be permanent. It’s been a month now and it looks like it’s going to stay.

I am 48 years old. I used to do a lot of clubbing in my 20s. Maybe that’s the reason for the tinnitus.

I started on Atorvastatin on sept 2017 and I suspect it may have also been the cause.

I miss having silence in my life!

I am glad I found this forum where I can share and learn more about this horrible T.

Regards,
Roland

 

There is still hope:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

I got T on February 2, 2017, a year and a day before you got your T. You can imagine how much I miss silence... Having said that - it does get better with time. The first two months or so are the hardest. That is when people (myself included) often react by crying uncontrollably every day, for a couple of weeks...

 

Welcome to the forum. This dreaded feeling is one of the main reasons T is such a challenge when it is new. But you can never rule out the T will fade because your T is so new and many success stories have people reporting their T faded. Not all success stories are from habituation. Many actually have their T gone or faded to such a level that is no longer an issue and people can't hear their T unless they try in quiet room or being reminded of it.

But when T is new as yours, being so scared or anxious of T initially is a very normal reaction of the body trying to protect us from harm and danger. We are often very scared when T is new because T is both an alien sensation and a new ailment to your body. Our brain doesn't understand T and doesn't know what to expect. Failing to shake T and after hearing it is no cure, the brain just reacts in trauma and shock. Your limbic nervous system kicks in over-drive and overriding the normal parasympathetic nervous system and you function in fight or flight mode, the defensive mechanism for a human in face of a danger. The fight or flight center or the Amygdala is in control now making every sensation quite acute and intense and you easily succumb to fear and worry as that is how the body tries to protect you. It tends to tell you to be aware of the threatening object which in this case is the new T. That is why we tend to monitor T non-stop initially and can't seem to help it.

Try remaining calm and positive as humanly possible as you can. By being calm and positive, and be more accepting of the new normal, by educating ourselves more about T (like what you are learning by joining this forum), and by doing some relaxing or interesting activities or by going back to living life again, our brain will have a better chance to restore the normal parasympathetic nervous system, and the pre-frontal cortex will take over processing the T ringing stimulus from the scare-crow center, the Amygdala. One of the functions of pre-frontal cortex is to suppress the fear reaction. It will also let you handle other negative reactions/emotions more normally.

This process is similar to a child being afraid of the dark because of not understanding what it is all about. Fear sets in and stress builds up and the child cries to get help and to relieve the stress. Later on and growing up the child learns more about the dark and the fear fades and no stress/fear will be forth coming to trigger the limbic system. Likewise with our tinnitus experience, our brain needs to take time to understand T more and be more hardened to it so the fear reaction will subside. But this process takes time and may take learning some good strategies. I mention some helpful strategies in my success story dealing with both severe T & H. Perhaps you can benefit by checking it out below. Don't panic nor despair. Good life can be back. Believe it. Take good care. God bless your recovery.

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

 

Stress, meds, tons of different things can bring on tinnitus and make it even more horrible. I remember getting tinnitus for the first time and I was hearing some odd noises, I was asking my mom if she heard that noise. She'd say no. I thought maybe it was my light or the electric generators making those noises. I was thinking maybe my fridge was making those noises. I kept listening, I kept dwelling. I kept saying "what the hell is this". I'd get frustrated, I'd get sad, I'd get overwhelmed.

All of this started over 30+ years ago and I still remember those vivid images and the rooms I was in when I was asking questions and trying so hard to get an answer. The sad part was that everyone mocked me and called me crazy, my folks would even mock me. The most glorified DRs would even laugh at me. There was no movement for tinnitus 30 years ago, there were no videos of other people suffering.

I was educating Drs and Clinics back then and even they would not take me seriously. So do understand that 30 years later YOU are at least understood, people have compassion for you and believe you in your suffering.

Tinnitus can be a grind, I cannot lie. I started my journey with the low hiss/tone and I took it for granted and I was not educated on just how loud it could get and just how bad it can get. You, on the other hand are fortunate to have found this forum and to have found mentors that have walked in the darkness of tinnitus before you. Listen to them, learn from them and do what you can to not make the same mistakes they made (Myself included)

Tinnitus will take time and lots of effort to get a grip on, but it can be done. You may have to adjust and modify your lifestyle, but that's how tinnitus is. Protect your ears but don't overprotect. Don't scan and try to listen for the noise, it will only get you more mental and worked up.

Gain support and love for all outlets that give it to you. There are many coping techniques listed on this site, read and see which one fits you best. Last but not least, DON'T become negative because you have tinnitus. Negativity feeds the tinnitus and it can become even more horrible.... Positivity is the way and it can carry you..believe it or not.

take care and never give up!!!

 

Same here. I have vivid memories of the minutes just before and just after I got an acoustic trauma, as well as the minutes following the onset of T, as well as me screaming in sheer terror And horror at 3 in the morning a couple of days later. (I had been screaming at the top of my lungs - not realizing that by doing that I was probably making my T worse.)

Are you in your forties, like me?

Feel free not to answer, if you think that it is none of my business.