I Can't Tolerate Tinnitus Anymore

It's been over 3 weeks now. I thought my T was due to ear wax. I got my wax removed a week ago but no change occured.

How it began:
On Dec 29 2017, I went to the walk in clinic because my right ear was blocked and there was some pain and leakage of fluid and some blood (probably since I scratched my ear too much). The doctor Could not have a good look because of the wax, pus and blood in my ear. Doctor put me on amoxicillin and ciprodex ( I did not use ciprodex because of the bad reviews). I continued on amoxicillin for 8 days then stopped because thats when my tinnitus began. I went back to the doctor who told me that the ringing (tinnitus) is possibly due to ear wax, as it was covering my drum. ( i used cotton buds to push the wax to my ear drums). He told me to use oil to soften the wax and couple days later the nurse tried syringing but it did not work as the wax was still too hard. I applied olive oil for a week and went back to get my ear syringed again.
Finally after the second syringing the wax disappeared but the tinnitus remained!

I feel so hopeless now as I cannot focus on my studies. The ringing in my ears worries me all day. I also think I have some hearing loss on my right ear because it is sensitive to loud noise.
The ringing:
My tinnitus is on my right ear as I have mentioned earlier. The ringing is thin piercing noise that is very annoying. My Ent appointment is on March! I don't know how I can wait that long.
Please I need help as I'm getting to a point where I have suicidal thoughts.

 

Everyone's situation is different. I'm not sure why you have it but I can give you some advice to help. Sensitivity to loud noise is hyperacusis. You might have it because you have gotton yourself so worked up that your senses are heightened and not necessarily because you have hearing loss. That happened to me and it will stay with you until you get control of the situation.
First thing you have to do is calm down. Tinnitus feeds on anxiety. It may or may not go away, but if you keep worrying it only gets louder. You are at a critical stage right now and its best to try and not think about it. Keep yourself entertained. Do exercise to get some endorphins going(treadmill one hour a day). Make sure you are sleeping well. Eat healthy. Stay away from nicotine. If you look through the threads you can find the things that will make it worst and the things that make it better.
By paying attention to it you are making it worst and it is in turn getting louder. It is important in the first few weeks to try and get better quicker so that it doesnt become permanent. You can spend the next 9 months with crazy loud tinnitus or you can start to get better now. Once you do all the things I mentioned it will quiet down and possibly go away. If it doesn't go away and you still have good hearing worst case is it fades into the back of your mind and you will notice it almost never.
If you want meds Clonazapam helped me at first. It calmed me down and dropped the volume. That will definitely help if you are thinking about suicide as well. Look over my posts on the advice I have given people. They are much more detailed than this but it will definitely help you out. Good luck.

 

All of us at 8 days did not tolerate tinnitus. It takes a good 6 months+ to even get a grip on this horrible matter. Our lives change from silence to non-stop ringing, hissing, chirping, electric noises. It can rattle the nerves very easily, it will take lots of time and patience to adjust to this.

T + S + R/D = is my formula for tinnitus.

Time = you will need time to adjust to tinnitus. Time can slowly heal things and adjust things. It will take time and patience.

Support = talk things out with those that you love and trust, gain positive feedback. Talking things out and vocing our concerns can be quite helpful. This forum will always show support, so seek and gain it .

Relaxation/Distraction = do whatever you can to take your mind of the ringing. Try not to focus on it or dwell on it. It's not easy but it can happen.

All of us have been in your shoes and we know how you feel. So do know that you are never alone in this

 

Hi Ardwordin,

RB2014 and fishbone have given you great advice. I had ear wax impacted tinnitus and ETD. It took good 6 months to go away. May be I got lucky. I was in total hell in the first 2 months. Your tinnitus is so new, hang in there. It will take at least 3 months to see some improvement. It will take time, very long time either to fade away or to get to the point where you won't notice it. Get ready for the ride.

 

Distraction is the best thing for me, without a doubt. If I am busy, I'm not dwelling on T.

 

Try sound enrichment to give yourself something else to listen to (i.e., nature sounds) besides your T. The sound of crickets works well when your T is high pitched.

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/

 

It's probably an issue with your eardrums. They can take a while to heal. Keep them safe and avoid putting things in your ears. This includes earplugs, and stay away from loud noises.

unhelpful.

 

I have both types of Tinnitus, It started about 7 years ago , Just hissing and tinkling with the occasional gun shot noise then developed into what I believe is Pulsatile Tinnitus, To describe it, A thumping pounding inside my head that becomes a terrible screech if I move or stand up, It affects my eyes for a few seconds making them seem to jump and making me feel dizzy, I've tried speaking to my GP but she does'n't seem to know what i'm talking about, I've done some research and it seems PulsatileTinnitus is an off shoot of an underlying health problem and I do have Rheumatoid Arthritus and Osteoporosis, I can go weeks without a flare up then it comes back with a vengeance, It's not so much the thumping in my skull as that terrible screeching like nails down a blackboard and the dizziness, I too am at the end of my tether and dont know what to do, I really cant stand much more it never stops, If anyone has any suggestions i'd be more than grateful to hear them

 

My advice was unhelpful, but your advice of don't put things in your ears was helpful..... Ok. I guess I should have started with the basics.

 

In his case it's good idea, and It was much more helpful than your comment. You just said what's been said a million times here.

 

I wasn't sure how much he had read on the forums. Hope he gets better.

 

Alright. Sorry for throwing your comment under the bus so quickly. Thanks for trying to help, but there's already a million comments just like this. dumping water in the ocean isn't helping it at all.

 

No worries. We're all in this together.

 

I think this is very helpful, not everyone has time to browse the whole forum!

 

IMHO, it really sucks when people here attack other sufferers for no good reason. I hope we can all keep in mind who we are talking to - they are suffering from T! They have a good excuse to sometimes make posts that some other people might judge as being imperfect. It is possible that unkind comments would make those people feel horrible, and that is unfortunate, as those people already have enough on their plate...

 

I know, but it really wasn't good advice. You'll notice I'm surprisingly consistant on these remarks. This user was nice so I let him off, but OP had tinnitus that will most likely go away. We should be giving him advice on how to get there, not how to get used to it.

 

The vast majority of people with tinnitus habituate to the condition. This is an important message to get out to those that are new and suffering. Granted it's not what a person in a highly panicked and anxious state wants to hear. I know from my own experience the first six months or so I didn't want habituation, I just wanted it gone.

It's true some people don't habituate. These tend to be the more severe cases from my experience on this forum. Unmaskable tinnitus along with hyperacusis is a big ask of anyone. If I found myself in that situation I too think i'd be on the habituation is a myth train.

Cure is a long way off, treatment more realistic within our lifetimes. Sadly "getting used to it" as some members like to point out is the best we have.