New and Confused

Hello I am a new sufferer of t. It has been 3 weeks and I am already an emotional wreck, I have already had thoughts of the big S word but the only thing that keeps me from that is the thought of my 2 kids and the one I am expecting now. I am confused because some posts say don't read things and some say do. Some say mask and others say don't. What is the first step I should take to try to gain control of my life for my kids.

 

I'm sure many people will have advice for you, but one thing I will say is: you in all likelihood WILL get better over time. One thing you'll notice on this group is that many people post and then weeks or months later are never heard from again on this board. The reason is their tinnitus settles down or they simply adapt to it, or some combination of the two. In my case, it was both - I had sudden loss of part of my hearing along with significant tinnitus starting in January. I couldn't sleep or function. The first step was adopting a 'meditative view' - simply recognizing the sound wasn't real and just not focussing on it. That included not reading forums like this! It's easy to scare yourself - that's not productive. Over time, it got better. I still hear it - but it just doesn't bother me. Remember this is a health issue but it's only debilitating if you decide to make it debilitating! Hang in there and don't give up.

 

By the way, I posted this a while back and I still agree with myself. https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-importance-of-ignoring-tinnitus.13213/

 

@Kairamasonmommy Your world has been turned upside down and you're still in transition from before you had this condition and your new life in dealing with it and everything else in your life. Everyone's experience is different but for me I was a complete basket case who could hardly function at all when this first happened. Flash forward to now. I still have it and it has not gotten any better but my coping skills have increased so my mental state has improved so much. You can't hurry the process as your brain/ear is habituating (I think that's the word they use here on this forum) to the new condition. I have, 24/7 Tinnitus, hearing loss, and hyperacusis and I can assure you it's a trio I don't wish on my worst enemy.
Try masking and see if it helps. In some cases it does but others no. Here is a great link for all sorts of masking noises: https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php You'll find your own way with this. I started out masking and it was wonderful but my condition changed and all noise took on a tinny quality and really hurt my ears so I haven't masked in several years.

As a mother you're a caregiver and if you're married or have a partner you've got to ask him to take up the slack and allow you time just to yourself. He won't be able to totally relate to your condition as we look pretty normal but you've got to insist you get down time just for yourself because mentally you're stressed and anxious. We're here for you because we're all rowing the same boat.

 

Welcome to the forum @Kairamasonmommy. Sorry about your suffering with T while being a mother and getting pregnant. I hope members who are mothers or those who are expecting a baby will advise you with their experience. If nothing else, search TT with 'pregnant' and you will get many threads discussing those issues. You may want to message some of the mothers who seem to have good control over their challenges of having kids and expecting babies while having T. Take care. God bless.

Here is an example of a success story related to your situation:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/to-you-—-new-tinnitus-sufferer.15670/