Learning to Live with Tinnitus

Hi my name is Sue and in May, 2013 I woke up to ringing in my right ear and hearing loss. As the day progressed I had full blown vertigo with it. I didn't understand what was going on and thought once the vertigo went away so would the hearing loss and tinnitus. A little over 2 months later, still have the ringing and hearing loss. I saw an ENT immediately and have had the MRI and CT scan and was told a "virus" caused the hearing loss. I am learning to live with both but the problem I am having is short term memory loss, confusion and seem to not be able to multi-task any longer. Things at work take me double the time, I can read something but cannot really process it. Does anyone else have this with their T? If so, what can I do to try to get back to normal. I am 45, married and the mother of 3 active boys and I just can't do what I used to and it is frustrating I just want to cry.

 

MRI showed nothing amiss?
Could anxiety/depression be compromising your abilities lately?

 

MRI/CT scan clear. I don't think the anxiety is affecting the memory, confusion, but can't say for sure since I have never had this before. I feel off if it makes any sense. I get my words confused, have a hard time explaining myself. I never had these issues before. I have my game face on and am trying my best not to let it negatively affect me. I have been doing a lot of reading on this board to see what helps and what doesn't so I can give it a shot.

 

Anxiety/depression mimic other things and fool you. I suspect you've got a touch of both. You need to treat them and get your head screwed back on ASAP. Don't fear meds if a counselor suggests them. They can nudge your T to the back burner just enough.

 

Karen,

Thank you! It makes me feel better to know I am not crazy! All these tests that don't show anything drives me nuts. People don't understand what I am going through no matter how much I try to explain I'm trying to learn how to accept all these changes but it's very hard. This is a big adjustment for my husband and kids to get used to as well. How did you deal with the hearing loss? Going out to eat in a loud crowded room makes me crazy, food shopping, etc takes me forever to get done now. I hate saying "what did you say". I'm hoping with time the T will calm down, the hearing loss I can live with, the T is what makes me want to jump out of my skin!

Sue

 

Remember, folk like Karen and I are veterans who began equally shaken and lost. You feel handicapped, damaged, defective etc. All nonsense. There is no disease here. Just a new flaw and related short-term anxiety about it.

 

Sue,

I'm not a doctor, but I think you can feel assured that the things you are experiencing with the onset of your tinniuts are not atypical. It will take time, but the odds are very much in your favor that your ability to function as you did before T, will return The hearing loss is about the only thing that you cannot expect to return to normal, but the anxiety, and concentration issues will get better if they are related to T.

I would, however, speak to your internist or a neurologist about the one issue you mentioned regarding getting your words confused and having difficulty explaining yourself. I certainly don't want to scare you, but depending on the severity of those symptoms, they could be symptoms of a mini-stroke. Almost everyone over the age of 40 begins to have mini-strokes - the vast majority of which are inconsequential. Occassionaly, a mini stroke can effect an area of the brain that can cause such symptoms. Because of neural plasicity, people recover from such events pretty easily. The biggest reason to discuss it with a doctor though is that perhaps there could be something systemic going on that should be addressed to make sure something more severe does not happen.

Take care and I hope you return to normal quickly.

mick

 

Karen,

I LOVE YOUR POST immensely!
What a light in my T tunnel you have given me, thank you just what I needed this morning
Have had T full on for the last 5 days and its getting so overwhelming for me and I am just about to board a plane home from work early to get it looked at ( and diagnosed) as I am not sleeping and that combined with my anxiety are really doing a number on me, I feel like I'm having a meltdown...... however reading your post makes me feel like there is some hope out there that this T might get better or subside,

Thank you and have a great day!

 

Dear Sue:
As I think others have mentioned here: I think you need a complete neurological workup, if you havent had one already, beyond the routine CTs and MRIs. Are you seeing a neurologist? Or did the ENT order the scans? As Mick said, the word confusion issue makes this worth looking into.

And our T developed about the same time... so we can travel this road together.
Blessings

 

Thank you everyone for your input. I am seeing a neuro and had an EEG and need to have a MRA. I'm hoping and think everything will be negative for any type of stroke. I'm a fast paced person so maybe my words are faster then my brain at the moment. I can say from this site and all the ways to help cope I started melatonin to sleep which has helped and last night was the 1st night since this journey began that the loudness of the T was less. I was ecstatic when I told my husband I couldn't believe what I was experiencing. I'm hoping that I will have more good days then bad once my brain adjusts to all these changes. Thank you all again for you input and words of wisdom.

 

You control the volume knob, and even the power button. When you stop worrying, it stops nagging.

 

No offense but according to what you have under your name you have only had Tinnitus since 2012 so you hardly as a veteran do you? The way you seem to trivialise someones suffering in a number of posts is eerily familiar of the asinine tone of that idiot Dr Stephen Nagler and his brain dead zombie followers.

 

This post is even stranger I mean who has the volume or power button to their Tinnitus and stress levels? if it was this easy then everything in life would simply be judge 'hey don't worry it's all fine' and everything would be easily solved. Since life doesn't work this way for the majority such advice is not helpful to say the least and trivialises peoples suffering in a 'blame the victim' mentality. Not exactly helpful IMHO.

 

For anyone who has overcome the anxiety and gone back to normal life despite tinnitus -- and there are many of us -- my statement will ring true, no pun intended.

* "You control the volume knob": The intensity drops quite a bit when you no longer worry about it, so your attitude makes it either malignant or benign.
* "You control the power button": It vanishes from the radar completely when you turn your attention to daily life per normal and don't think about it, so you can indeed shut it off just as you shut off annoying music in a department store.

And regarding my veteran status, a short war is still a war, and victory is still victory.

 

The MRA should tell you a lot. By the way, I also am the survivor of a stroke following an aneurysm rupture.
Wishing you more good days like the one you just had.

 

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this at all. People can't just 'not worry' about something because they choose to it's not as simple as that. Everyone's Tinnitus is different as well. Some can have just a single sound in one ear that they can only hear in quiet times while others can have multiple tones in both ears that are so loud they can hear it over anything. Some have noises where they report they can feel their whole head vibrate while others say they forget they even have tinnitus because it's not very noticeable.

I think those people who can still hear their tinnitus screaming whilst at a loud club don't report it vanishing completely when they suddenly turn their attention to daily life just like you say. They can't seem to just shut it off and some have had it many years more than you Robert. I think you are massively oversimplifying something very complex and highly individualised. You are in reality imposing this blame the victim mentality where tinnitus is basically some tiny little inconvenience and people can choose to quite easily make it a non issue in their lives if they want to. It's not and never was that simple for the majority.

I do not wish to have an argument over this but I must point out I don't really appreciate you downplaying people's suffering and putting the blame on them for not magically getting over this thing themselves which is essentially what your comments imply. This condition is not a simple as you are trying to make out. This is not a simple mind over matter issue for most but maybe it is for those with very quiet tinnitus perhaps. Tinnitus noises are not the same for everybody and the volume and type matter a great deal.

 

This site has a ratio of 99 percent commiseration to 1 percent inspiration. Do you agree?

 

No offense, but whilst I understand the concept on how controlling ones anxiety level can very much effect the T level, I also find such a statement often used by those well intending, to be somewhat minimizing and or seemingly dismissive; none the less I see a point in there all the same.

As per my intro, I suffer from anxiety. I have had it most of my life and well and truly before I suffered Tinnitus. Despite its impact on the noise in my head, there are a lot of other things about my health, that contribute to how both my body and mind are effected.

It's far from a switch, and will take some effort before I get to such a stage that I am sure exists for some.

I am interested in the comment about mini strokes.

 

Here's a couple of introductory links - nothing heavy.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mini-stroke/AN01432

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=3699

My knowledge of mini-strokes is limited to my mother's experience and what her doctor told me. No one new she had suffered multiple TIAs until she had a big one.

 

Thanks Mick. I'm just curious about the effects which seem similar to other restricting conditions that cause lack of Oxygen. Having a read now. Thank You.

 

No I don't,

nor do I agree with plucking up random statistics out of thin air. I just don't appreciate you trivialising people's suffering and essentially blaming them for somehow not fixing themselves because of their own inadequacies. You are oversimplifying this whole thing through your own limited experience (You have only had it since 2012). If you had Tinnitus so loud that it couldn't be masked and hyperacusis so bad that most sounds are traumatic to your auditory system I doubt you would be saying things like, it's just a new flaw and you have a little short term anxiety about it and Tinnitus vanishes completely when you turn your attention back to daily life and don't think about it just like shutting off annoying music in a department store.

Frankly I find such a dismissal and oversimplification of people's suffering quite insulting. Anyway I have no wish to continue this exchange but I hope I have made it clear your type of advice is not particularly appreciated by all judging by the people who liked my original comment and Davekyns response to you also.

 

lol

 

I must agree with Samsara on this. T is very individual and when we accept that we must also understand that treatment responses are very different. That's just the way it is. Loud constant severe T is NOT loud and constant just because the sufferer haven't stopped thinking about it.

 

Unfortunately the only cure for loud constant T like I have is probably learning to habituate to it. I find it inspiring to read of others victories in this war. The path there will be different for all of us, but eventually I have accepted that I will probably be hearing this noise the rest of my life, so the only hope is to learn to detach and not think about it.

BTW Sue, I, too, have issues with concentration. Not real memory loss, they are all in there, but sometimes hard to put my finger on a specific memory, like a name, because of the buzzing in my head (I hope). Drives me crazy.

 

I agree, I don't think you can just turn off the buzzing or ringing because you want to. When I am outside or busy doing something I can ignore it. Right now I hear it clearly and it pulsates with my blood pressure. However, it does not go away completely when I do deep breathing for relaxation. Everyone's experience is different but it sure is helpful to read what others are trying and then I'll know what to try- or that there are a few things I can try because my family doctor never broached the subject but I'll bring it up again in this year's wellness exam.

 

Nice.

Stephen Nagler

 

Well unfortunately it's the truth isn't it? Nice to see you have joined Tinnitus talk Dr Nagler. For some reason the term 'rats deserting a sinking ship' springs to mind. Kind of predictable though given that Yuku is virtually dead these days and TT is growing and growing. No audience means no-one to give you any attention right?