I'm a New Member with a Couple of Questions

Hey all, my name is Jack and I'm 21 with tinnitus (hahaha feels like an intro to an alcoholic anonymous group or something). I'm not sure when I got it but I recall in grade 8 (13yrs old) asking the teacher and some mates if anyone hears a ringing sound when by themselves. They all said no and I just shrugged it off and didn't really think anything of it. Somehow back then not knowing what it was made it easier to deal with; it genuinely did not impact my life whatsoever; however now it seems to. To be honest I don't make accounts on forums, I usually search for my answers through other's questions and go on with it but I guess that's the funny thing about tinnitus... there aren't any answers, there's just tinnitus.

Anyway, I first knew I had tinnitus about a year ago It was mild and not invasive however in the last month I have been able to notice it throughout the whole day and it's now disrupting my sleep. I attributed this worsening to my consumption of Doxycycline. Annoyed and hopeful I went to the GP about 2 weeks ago who confirmed my suspicions by diagnosing my constant high pitched ringing as tinnitus and suggested that I see a ENT. When I heard this I was not phased, just kind of accepted the fact and moved on. Today I saw an ENT and for a lovely $200 for him to tell me everything I already knew and to give me referrals to get an MRI and an Audiogram, even at this point I was accepting of it.

However, it was only when my girlfriend asked what the ENT doc said when reality sort of hit me. This thing is here to stay and there is nothing I can do. And to know that the damage caused by the Doxycycline, which has made my tinnitus go from manageable to unbearable, is irreversible feels like I'm being punished for life for no f**king reason. Luckily, I don't consider myself as a depressed person and would consider myself slightly more anxious than the average person but man... it's a big pill to swallow knowing that I'll never be able to experience comfort in silence.

For whoever is reading this, I've got a couple of concerns that you may be able to answer:

1. Will this cause my hearing to worsen overtime?
2. Will this impact my performance at work?
3. Will this impact my concentration?
4. Does this become easier over time?
5. Can I ever listen to again?
5. Does my favourite colour have to change from Green to Blue?

I know the most likely answer to 1, 2 and 3 is "it will if you let it" but I'm asking if in your experience with tinnitus, has it?

lastly, I am suspicious about the 'success stories' and 'cures for tinnitus' just because I know click-bait when I see it and I hate falling for false hope. Should I even bother trying these? Are they click-bait? Do people actually get rid of this thing?

Cheers everyone Glad to be in such an exclusive group with you all !

Jack.

 

You can change your lifestyle in such a way so as to reduce the chance that it gets even louder.

Also, many people whose T was caused by an ototoxic drug experience their T fading after they discontinue the drug. It might take many months (as in 6 months or more) before this happens. Ears take forever to heal. You might want to check out the posts below
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/2434117/?q=Doxycycline&t=post&o=relevance&c[node]=2
and see whether this is the case for Doxycycline.

T tends to fade for most people. There is a reasonable chance that a year or two after the day when you took your last Doxycycline pill, your T will be quieter and easier to ignore compared to how it is now...

I know how you must feel. I got my T (18 months ago) as a result of a lapse in judgement that lasted for a fraction of a second...

People with mild and moderate T usually habituate within 18 months after onset. People who report having severe T are sometimes able to habituate (see @fishbone 's posts), and sometimes they are experiencing major problems when it comes to habituation...

You might find the studies on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-many-recover-3-studies.21441/
to be interesting. In addition to the studies on the first page of that thread, there are also studies like the one about the fraction of seniors who report their T fading after five years. Many people experience their T fading or even disappearing. Having said this, in many of those cases it is likely the time itself that does the healing. In other words, the person would have recovered no matter what.

You will discover that unfortunately many of the "success" stories are really "successful habituation" stories. They certainly seem to be real. A minority of the posts in that forum are about a supplement (and other things) seemingly helping to get T to fade. Nobody seems to be selling anything (as the URLs do not include a reference/affiliate number). Some of these supplements/methods seem harmless enough to try (as one has nothing to lose). But you will want to research each of these, as the drugs that have been shown to reduce T in some people tend to cause T to get louder in a smaller group of people (e.g., amitriptyline).

Are you using a sound machine (for example
https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Koala-Concentration-Relaxation-Sufferers/dp/B01FRW2WBA/
or machines by Sound Oasis)
when you sleep? You might find it helpful.

Finally, check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
as you might find some of that information to be useful to you.

Speaking of success stories, you can use the Horror stories in the first post in the thread below to learn about the kinds of activities that might be too risky to do now that your ears have been compromised:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/learn-from-others-mistakes.29437/

 

I see that over the past 20 years, only around 200 people had ever reported getting T as a result of taking Doxycycline

https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/Doxycycline/tinnitus/

 

My tinnitus literally blasted my head off on it and now it's on my medical notes never to be given it again.
It was not a spike it was a mega blast and it was so debilitating and due to my inner ears not functioning due to Meniere's it was put as a warning red triangle on my notes.
love glynis

 

Did it end up recovering after a while to what it was prior to taking it?

 

HI @Jackm

The most common cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise/sounds. Do you use headphones or headsets regularly? If you do or go to clubs, concerts anywhere they're loud noise present, most likely this is the cause of your tinnitus. Please click on the links below and read my posts.

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/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Yes It did as stopped meds after 3 days it was to much.
love glynis

 

Hey Michael, thank you so much! That New to tinnitus what to do thread is super informative! I really like the idea of sounds while sleeping, I have just been coping with no sound at night thinking that was the best thing to do but now I will use sounds at night!

A quick question, I need a job at the moment and my mate said he was able to get me one at a call centre, do you think working at a call centre would be unsuitable considering my tinnitus? Would love you hear your opinion, obviously I will not be solely relying on your advise in my decision making.

 

@Jackm Sorry, have you seen my post I made at 10:49 pm today? It is the second post in your/this thread. If you have seen it, please ignore this post. I got a feeling that you only saw the short post with that link, and didn't see the longer post.

 

Oh wow no I did not see that sorry! Wow you just answered so many of my questions, thank you so much! Really helpful

 

HI Jack

I am sorry to say that I don't think it's a good idea for you to work in a call centre wearing a headset even at low volume. Many people have contacted me to say, they have developed tinnitus due to wearing headset, for long hours in a call centre.
Hope this helps
Michael

 

Ahhhhhh man that's pretty annoying, thanks for the heads up though. Maybe I'll quit university and become a farmer instead so i can get away from the sounds ahahhah (joking). Crazy how intrusive this is.

 

Bill you are one of a kind

Your posts, are very educational.....