My Tinnitus Started After a Friend Mentioned He Has It

I’m not a regular poster here and just found this fantastic page, but I notice regulars tend to attract the most replies, and I kindly ask as many people to reply and give their advice to me as possible as it’s been a struggle …and yet, I’m not even certain I have tinnitus. Or at least a substantial case.

It all started a few weeks back when a friend spoke to me about their tinnitus. When I walked into a silent room shortly after, I heard some faint static hissing. Nothing too loud at all, but I heard something. I only hear it in very quiet rooms, and even then, I have to search to find the sound. But having battled OCD most of my life, I’m now fixated on trying to find the sound in my head and even find myself creating/hallucinating new sounds.

I do hear *something* when trying to sleep or in quiet rooms, but it’s nothing like what most tinnitus sufferers explain. In fact, a specialist I saw recently, who did a lengthy tinnitus sound exam with me, wasn’t convinced I even have it. Personally, I think it may be a mild case I was never aware of because I never knew this was even a THING, and now that I do, I can’t help but obsess over it and constantly ask myself “is it there? Oh Gosh, I think I hear something”

Would sincerely appreciate any advice to overcome this, especially the psychological and mental component. Hearing some of you have real prominent cases of it and mine is mostly fabricated would also be helpful to reaffirm to myself. I’m protecting my ears and have normal hearing, btw. Your advice could be the difference between me getting on with my life vs going down a really destructive path. Thank you all in advance ❤️

 

I was in the exact situation as you when I was a little kid. OCD, Faint static in quiet rooms. It threw me off for a while but in general I was fine for a bit. If you can only hear it in quiet rooms just don't worry about it and you'll be fine honestly. I also suggest avoiding headphones and concerts without ear plugs if you can.

You will be fine, trust me, this stuff passes with time and you'll be back to hearing nothing very soon.

Treat your OCD with a psych and avoid loud things

 

I agree with @AnthonyMcDonald’ post. It seems like your issue of constantly looking for a tinnitus sound in quiet settings is being magnified due to OCD. Have you ever sought treatment for OCD before? Treating that first might be a route worth taking...

 

Someone asked if I have hearing loss. The answer is no, I did a hearing test as well.

 

That was me, sorry, I didn't feel my post was too helpful, so I took it down. My audiologist told me that my slight hearing loss put me at risk for tinnitus, so I'm glad to hear you don't have hearing loss.

 

Hi @Martktoi -- I highly recommend you seriously look at treating your OCD with nutrition. A great starting point is this link to a pretty amazing article on how it originally became clear a simple B vitamin could successfully treat OCD.

LISTENING TO INOSITOL: CLINICAL NOTES

Best of luck to you getting your OCD under control. You can do it!

 

I have OCD and went through two bouts of CBT, in 2014 and then again in 2019. Your OCD will consistently have you looking for danger and threats. I remember when I was in the middle of my OCD when I used to think I was an alcoholic when I only drank 1 beer a week, but my friend had a problem with drinking so I constantly looked for the same threat in me.

As with all the people above, please seek help to manage your OCD better. I totally understand how it can be daunting, but learning to understand and manage intrusive thoughts better will help not only with your perceived tinnitus but the other elements of your OCD as well. "Overcoming OCD" by David Veale and Rob Wilson was an absolute game changer for me and would thoroughly recommend it