My Past Year's Tinnitus Experience. It Has Gotten Better.

I still have no explanation from the medical people as to what or why this very invasive and upsetting noise happened to me last February 2015. I still have it, but I can live with it. Of course, I hope for the best and have to believe that it won't get worse. To have silence again, would probably be a miracle.

On a scale of 1 to 10, last year it was a 10!

Very gradually, over the months, it calmed down.

Today, the worse it gets is about 3.

Most days, it is about a 2. I had an MRI, CT scan, saw two ENTs and had a hearing test done. All of that only assured me I did not have a tumor. Otherwise, I was left to my own devices. How sad. My GP wanted me to purchase hearing aids. I did not! I continue to try to diagnose myself by reading all the information I can. In the beginning, I put a heating pad on my ear with the horrible noise. I just felt comfort from the heat.

I took lorazepam, an anti anxiety med, of which I already had for insomnia. I took a pill in the beginning when I was freaking out, 1 mg. E

ventually, I took only a pill to sleep, and later on a half a pill. In combination with the pill, I listened to meditation music at night to try to calm down to sleep. I noticed in the beginning, certain foods would set off the noise.

I was careful not to drink coffee, avoid sugar, Chinese food was the worst, drank lots of water. The water seems to always calm down the turmoil, and don't ask me why. I don't know. Chamomile tea helped. Now there is a predictable pattern to the T. By the way, one ENT diagnosed me with PT. But, I would argue I had PT in the beginning as I had heart beats in my head. Now I think it is just T. I was very sensitive to certain noises in the beginning like pots and pans clanging together, glass bottles hitting each other, etc. That has gone away too. Once I felt a little pain, but that only lasted about a day.

The noise itself was constantly changing. Now, I believe that has to do with blood flow and it may be possible I have a pinched nerve somewhere in my back, neck. I am leaning more and more towards this possibility. I went from a roaring noise sound, to a brook with flowing water, to air coming out of a punctured tire, to high pitch, to a spitting sound, light bells clinging, and even bagpipes. It was intense and then could be very light.

The pattern presently is this. Getting up in the morning, I have the same noise. It is still there, but is much calmer than it was a year ago. It is like a light electrical sound. Usually I blow my nose in the morning, the noise almost goes away.

As I go on with my day, I drink coffee again, and the noise may increase slightly, but it is not bad. If it does, I just drink a glass of water, and it calms way down again. I don't ever eat much sugar, but if I have a cookie with chocolate chips in it, I notice a difference in my noise intensity. Sitting on the couch or in my computer chair ALWAYS increases the volume and intensity. As soon as I get up it dissipates. I had a body massage and when I was home again, for a short while there was NO noise at all. Interestingly, a few nights ago, for the first time in months, I had a spike. The only thing I was doing differently was I was carrying wood into the house to burn in the stove. I was wondering if that is a piece of the puzzle in regards to this T I have.

My mind now keeps going back to last winter when before I came down with the T, I twisted in bed very fast because I was cold and wonder if I messed up my back, neck or spine in some way. I don't think it is a coincidence that when I sit too long, and in certain chairs, the T gets louder. Something is wrong, I now believe with a vascular connection, in some way.

I am trying to figure out what my next move will be. I am exhausted from this last year of hitting walls with these professional people. This experience left me with more than I imagined. Without a doubt, when describing this to someone who has no idea what Tinnitus is, all I can say is that it is a hellish experience!

I am just now starting to mentally get back to a place I was before the invasion of T. It can and does rob us of our lives, hopefully, only temporarily. I can get up now in the morning and not be consumed with T.

I still hope that I can figure out what went wrong, as you all do. Maybe I will find some answers, but today I have decided to get back into the game of life. I don't know what the future will bring, but I have to believe better days are ahead for all of us.

 

Great post! I can relate to your experience a lot... Thanks for sharing... I always knew deep inside there was a light at the end of the tunnel:.. Although at the beginning I just could not believe it... It was horrible... Good luck and I hope that your t continues to lower and be more and more manageable ... Thanks again!!!

 

I'm the opposite. Standing up almost always makes it worse.

Interesting about the water. Seems like I tried drinking more water a few months back and it didn't make any difference, but maybe it's time to try again. Sure wish I had tinnitus that was only a 2 or 3. That would be a major blessing.