Needing Help

Hi. I have had tinnitus since I was younger, never really been an issue and something I have got used to over time. Mainly only noticing when it's very quiet. About 5 days ago I noticed it really loud, and started having severe anxiety over it. The doc referred me to get a hearing test which came back fine. I could hear the little buzz in the sound proof room over the very loud tinnitus.

So my question is, what could be causing it so loud in the last 5 days? I feel like I'm going crazy, like it's in my brain and won't go away unless there is lots of noise around me. It's giving me severe anxiety.

My doctor put it down to stress, but I am unsure how stress could cause this. I am having trouble sleeping because of it... Like now, waking up at 6am with anxiety.

Is it me focussing on it more that's making it very loud? Or is it just really loud? I have also been getting sore ears and pressure in my head.

Please help me figure this out.
Joel, 31.

 

Hi Joel,
Tinnitus can spike for a few reasons like wax ,stress and anxiety or a virus and many more.
Stress can ramp up the sound and then panic and sleep loss add to it.
Most spikes settle down over a few days so my advice would to be a relaxing weekend keeping relaxing sound on around you and some nice walks.
Try not to worry and I'm sure your tinnitus will reduce to your base sound .
For now don't panic .
We are here around the clock to support you...lots of love glynis

 

Hi Joel, I understand you are in hard situation right now.

Same as you, I've had Tinnitus since very young, around high school, very normal for me. In college I used to attent alot of concerts and bars so that didnt helped alot. But at the end, it was just my normal life with Tinnitus. I only noticed in quit rooms, and after using my earphones with loud music.

Then, suddenly all changed, and my Tinnitus became louder (apparently) and my problems started, that was like 4 years ago. I ended with a FULL YEAR of anxiety, very deep depression, and my world just turned upside down.

Today I've just learned AGAIN to live with my sound. It is louder enough to be heard everywhere.... is dificult to mask because masking sounds cause me ear irritation. But Tinnitus is not a concern to me right now. I've habituated, or at least accepted it and living a full life with it. I'm a software engineer, need to concentrate 100%, to solve problems, to read technical books... I can do all of that without a problem. Tinnitus is just a background noise.

The MOST important thing that I can share with you is that, in retrospective, trying to figure out a cause of my problems with Tinnitus, I can tell you that, at the time when it all started (4 years ago) I was in a very, VERY, VERY!! stressful situation. I was losing my business, I was losing all my savings, my oldest son was diagnosed with autism, I lost my house, I was losing my wife, and I was COMPLETELY SURE (hypochondriac) that I had a very bad illness like sclerosis (I had the symptoms, but resulted that stress were causing most of them) ... and all that stress started couple of years before the increase of my Tinnitus...

So at the end, my conclusion is this..., yes I've had tinnitus since 12 years old maybe (I'm 34 right now)... yes my Tinnitus could be aggraviated by my college years, my love for loud music in the past.... but at the end, the real culprit was the stress and anxiety. All the problems around money, health, work, made my Tinnitus unmanageable, and started my depression, fulled with anxiety, in a cycle, like a rollercoster without and end.

So, my strategy was to solve most of my problems, my life problems, and accept my condition, start to enjoy my life, my family... and that's it... my life stress went down, and my Tinnitus became completely under control.

So yes, STRESS can affect Tinnitus BIG TIME.

Hope you the best,
Johnny.

 

Thank you both for the very helpful replies! I really appreciate it. You both helped me when I needed it.

I have been to 2x doctors. The first one had a very quick look in both ears, and said it was anxiety related.
I went to another doctor who had a better look in both ears. He said that my left ear drum had small scaring from a perforation... something in the past (I don't know). And my right ear had some fluid. It makes sense to why I am so insanely dizzy, with the middle ear thing. And said I had some virus which is why my ears feel like they are burning. Ear drops, hydration and Stemzine 5mg 3x per day was what he said I needed. He thinks the tinnitus won't be so bad after a month or so. I hope he is right.

It is a very intense feeling, and confusing to say the least. I think I have found it to be worse when I was terrified of it, and thought I was going crazy (Anxious). It must be normal for people to think they are going crazy I guess.

Also, when I feel the pressure thing in my head it also intensifies it. I am praying that it will soon settle down, but until then I need to try and redirect my thoughts. I feel for anyone that has to go through it.

Again, thanks!