How Do People Deal with Tinnitus?

I started having ringing in my ears in the beginning of December. It was minor but enough to bother me.

Since then it’s increased and I’ve developed slight hearing loss, fullness of ears and sensitivity to sounds.

I’ve been to see doctors a few times. They gave me Augmentin, Flonase, Prednisone, Sudafed and nothing has helped.

They just said I possibly have ETD. I feel like things are getting worse. I’m beyond stressed and feeling hopeless.

I don’t know how people live like this. I also have anxiety, I don’t know if it’s at all related or amplifying symptoms but I’m miserable.

 

Ravera i am in the same situation as you. Mine started out of nowhere beginning December as well. If you read enough posts here you will eventually come to the realization you and I are still in the how did i get this, how can i fix this stage....which is the worst. there are no real answers to be honest. Ive been to my doctor 3x, ENT 2x and audiologist 2x in the last 4 weeks. Only time will tell.........And I too suffered from severe and anxiety and depression before ever getting tinnitus for over a decade. One thing i DEFINITELY have learned through all my research. Is basically tinnitus is related to your central nervous system. (stress). Tinnitus is basically the unwanted ability to hear the chaos of your brain and central nervous system from what i've found. Anxiety and tinnitus seemed to be definitely linked. I would try to get a 100% confirmation you have EDT. That's what i though mine was. But they said i was all clear. I do have some hearing loss in my left ear which is where i mostly hear the ringing. I actually am going to try acupuncture for the first time in my life tmrw. I'm trying everything. YouTube tinnitus masking/sound videos help a lot when ur struggling. Big time. im listening to one right now actually. My doc did prescribe me Xanax for when it gets real bad. Seems a lot of people take Xanax to cope from what ive read.

 

A good question. I just started my month 3 with tinnitus today. Still the accute phase they say. Mine too started exactly as you described, minor ringing until it got to the point where it was unbearable and I couldn't sleep at nights. Now it's somewhat better, just can't tell if it's really improved or if I just habituated to it thanks to all the meds I'm taking. I get setbacks and tinnitus spikes occasionally.

Only time will tell, but from what I've heard from far more experienced tinnitus sufferrers - it does get better over time. There is hope.

 

Your hearing loss is a very likely cause for your Tinnitus.

 

Curious...what meds are you taking?

 

Hi @Ravera

Many things can cause tinnitus although exposure to loud noise is the most common. Typically, it is headphone use and going to places where loud music is played that causes it. In the early stages of tinnitus which you are in, the best treatment for it is to do nothing. If you just have straight forward tinnitus without additional problems: ear pain, dizziness, balance problems or deafness then to do nothing is the way to go. Under these circumstances, one shouldn't really see an ENT doctor too early, preferably 4 to 6 months is ideal. Please click on the links below and read my posts on tinnitus that you might find helpful. Try to read them in full and not skim through them.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

We don't choose, what comes our way. We simply deal with things and move forward. Life throws us tons of lemons and for sure I'll be opening multiple lemonade shops.

 

I take Xanax as well. I was on Zoloft up until a few months ago when I took myself off. Something I wish I hadn’t done. Like I said, I don’t know if this is all anxiety related or what but it’s like a living hell.

 

the hearing loss started after the ringing in my ears though. And nothing happened to cause the T. It was a random onset

 

I was replying to @Barry33 - It's hearing loss (or damage to the auditory apparatus) that causes T, not the other way around: T is just a symptom for an underlying cause.

What seems like a random onset does have a cause though. For example, a virus wreaking havoc on an inner ear can cause hearing loss and then tinnitus. To the sufferer, it looks like it came out of nowhere, and can be diagnosed as "idiopathic tinnitus". It is not uncommon to be unable to find root causes for T (and for hearing loss), unfortunately.

It would be useful to do a hearing test to check whether or not you have any sensorineural losses, if you haven't done that already.

 

@Ravera use http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf to see whether any of the medications you have been taking are ototoxic.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

But, how do you know that the hearing loss started around the time of your t onset? did you have a pre t audiogram - extended?

btw, something has happened to your auditory pathways. t doesnt 'just happen...'

 

Anxiety, get some CBT counselling....once you have anxiety under control you'll deal with it..
I focus on my T see how bad it really can be at times with no panic...leaning to ignore it again...had it 35 years, really badly as a teenager.. you'll do it just focus on mindfulness

 

Try to keep yourself busy and do the things you enjoy doing. That's what life is all about and that's what will get you through the rough days. It does for me.

 

I could be wrong, but do you think it started very soon after you came off of your Zoloft? Also, how long did it take you to come off the drug?

 

Well said @DebInAustralia

Michael

 

Possibly. Why? I weened myself off for about a week or 2. During the time I had what I call brain surges from withdrawals

 

It’s hard. My ears have become really sensitive to noises and it’s miserable.

 

Developing tinnitus is a possibility from tapering off antidepressants (certainly cold-turkey):

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357564

 

But what about the fullness in ears and sensitivity to sounds?

 

It's possible coming off an SSRI too fast can cause tinnitus. Hopefully, it will go down but you may want to ask a doctor.

 

I have t for 4 months , first 2 was a living hell, cry a lot . Anxiety, panic depression... Doing better now . Hopefully I will do much better at time goes on. Hang in there , it it a tough thing to deal with . Have to be strong ,hope one day there is a cure we all can experience silence again.

 

I do get that sensitivity to sound also, especially if a crowd of ppl in a room , make my ringing worse.

 

Many people have the over sensitivity to sound in the beginning. I did. It eventually gets better for most.

 

Patient history is the way to go if you want to try to diagnose the cause of your tinnitus (this includes medication used in the past, noise exposure, and (childhood) illnesses). An audiogram can sometimes be helpful - testing for hidden hearing loss would be especially useful for those with a past history of noise exposure (recreational or industrial noise).

I don't know why you have a sensation of fullness or sensitivity to sound, but the likely culprit is noise exposure (simply because that is the most common cause).

 

Yes that how , I got T . From my job . My work Truck hit 90 to 95 dB wile moving . I now put a ear plug but not all the way in . Just to knock it down to hope 70 to 75 . It that safe.

 

From what ive noticed and read you brain after 1 - 2 months starts to acclimate/habituate to it. It still sucks, but it isnt as gut wrenching as the first month. First month is hell on earth cuz ur mind is like wt* is this??? You have to find a way to keep it together somehow. Get FMLA or TDI from work. I did

 

I've had no choice but to deal with it, nothing I can do until a treatment comes out.

I was depressed at first, managed to recover from that after a few months. Use a sound machine at night but not as much as I used to.

It got easier with time for me in terms of accepting it and I don't get too down about it now.

Hope in terms of the high prevalence of the condition and millions of us that will inevitably (hopefully) a treatment will be available one day to escape it.

 

One day at a time

 

As others have said, one day by the time. I can have good days where it can go some hours where I don't hear it (unless if I activly try to listen to it, then its always there). Then I can have bad days where im able to hear it 24/7 unless I listen to music at a moderate volume.

First months I had the hope that it would disapear but since its gone 10 months that hope has disapeared, and now I have realized that I'll have to live with this forever.

Short story: Some days its easy to deal with, others not so much. When you have bad days try to think that there's always a hope that it'll go down in volume or you'll get so used to it that it wont bother you that much.