New and Scared for My Life

Hello. So this morning around 2 pm I woke up with a high pitched ringing in my ears almost like the high pitch sound the old TV's used to make. Throughout the day at times I thought it was gone because music, the shower and outdoors drowned it out. I am now lying in bed trying to nap and I can't seem to fall asleep. I'm so nervous and my anxiety is through the roof. I went to a doctor who said he can hear that I have a sinus infection some upper respiratory bug. He gave me a Z-Pack and said I should be fine and that the ringing will go away soon. I'm going crazy I can't take this I feel like I'd rather be deaf then have this obnoxious sound in my ears. Please tell me it's not going to take months or years or never go away. I can barely eat and I'm depressed now and just want to die. This is awful. It sounds like a straight ring 24/7. Sometimes it gets jumpy sounding like the ringing pauses for a second and continues. I'm not sure how to describe it. Please please tell me it will be okay I feel like it's giving me a headache. It's not loud until I try to sleep. Honestly sometimes I have to really listen for it but it seems to be there. It was so random I just happen to wake up and hear it this afternoon.

 

Its been one day ? Am I getting that right ?

First and foremost ... relax.
In fact if you relax you will increase your chances of this going away by about 250%.
Seriously , stop reading about T on the internet.
Take it easy and lets hope its just an infection

 

Believe me, your T seems low and it just appeared, so you will be quickly habituated to it ( if it don't disappear).

So don't say such things...

 

Try to take a few deep breaths and chill out. It will be ok.
It should subside when your sinus infection clears but in any case it might be a good idea to get checked out by an ENT
Did you read the guide found here:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/
Also on the home page use the player and find some masking sounds:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/
It's good that you don't hear it during normal activities and only at night, play some masking tracks to help you distract from the sound. If you find a good masking track you can search YouTube to find similar longer tracks. I personally Like the shower sounds.

 

Thanks guys it really means a lot to know people are here to help support me on my possible new path of dealing with Tinnitus. I hope it isn't permanent and I'm going to really focus on donation money and time to help others with Tinnitus, I've been through a real lot but man this is the scariest worst thing especially because I love silence while sleeping, reading and doing homework. And yes today at 2 pm it just started. Please please all of you keep in touch!!

 

You have to relax. If you get all worked up with fear and anxiety it gets worst. From what you mentioned chances are you will get better. Dont dwell on negative thoughts, it just makes it worst. Count backwards from 100 everytime you do. Even if you hear it you have to relax your body and your mind. Think happy thoughts. Use calming techniques if you have to. The more you believe you will get better the better chances of getting better. Dont give it any attention. Continue with your life and ignore it as much as possible. You can take two paths right now:
Keep thinking about it and worrying and getting more anxiety and depression and it will get louder and louder and louder. After a couple weeks it will get so loud you could end up with H which makes it even louder. You will take months and months to get better. or....
Get it out of your head. Start ignoring it now. Think of it as your friend. Do things to take your mind off of it no matter how loud. The quicker you begin down this path, the quicker you get better. It sounds like you want to get better. Take this path.

I think claratin is good for a sinus infection as it dries up your whole system. Take care of the sinus infection. You dont want it to get worst and aggrevate the situation.

 

what is H?

 

It's nothing you should concern yourself with. Do yourself a favor and don't scour the Internet, the mind is a powerful thing. Just distract yourself and listen to masking tracks when going to sleep. You should be fine.

 

By your description, your tinnitus seems mild. T is not an end game even for loud and high pitch T. I have an ultra high pitch dog whistle T plus severe hyperacusis since 6 years ago, and I am living a normal, productive and enjoyable life now. Your reaction is quite normal though. I was where you are. Many members here were where you are. Things will improve and your mild T will be just fine. Stress and anxiety are no good for T. Try to stay calm and more positive. Read the success stories and you will have some comfort that you will be just fine.

 

You were smart enough to post your story and get some advice. Dont keep searching for the sound in your head, you will probably find it. Stop thinking about it and it probably goes away. We were all where you are now, the question is do you get better or do you get worst.
Think of it this way. You started a small fire by having the sinus infection. Do you get depressed, anxious, scared, have negative thoughts, etc and add fuel to the fire until its raging on and on for months, or do you go with the advice here and put it out. The fact that its not loud and you have to look for it are good signs. Many people here including myself have other conditions that make this a tougher battle to fight. If you get this under control, you have a good chance of having this go away with your sinus infection.
We are here for you.

 

The replies ongoing are spot on. So there is nothing I can add to your thread; just do as they say and I'm sure your be fine.

 

@Rube is totally right. Please stop surfing the web in search of stuff about Tinnitus, drink plenty of water, take a hot shower, get plenty of sleep. If it's still here in 7 days, come back to us for more advice.

 

Any idea on how it all started?

 

Hi guys,
So today is day a little over 2 days with a high pitch low ringing in my ear (sounds like after a concert ringing). I woke up randomly at 2 pm on Wednesday and realized I had this annoying ringing. I literally cannot deal with this forever. My doctor said its because of a sinus infection and that it should go away and my mom, family and friends say I'll be okay too. Truth be told I refuse to live like this or habituate and try to ignore it which is impossible because of my OCD, depression and anxiety. I try distracting myself but I just want to be normal again. I just keep thinking how beautiful things were before this. Not to alarm anyone but I plan on stopping it permanently after a month if it's not gone, if you catch my drift. Please let me know what you think if it will go away?!

 

I think just about everyone on this board has entertained feelings of ending their tinnitus permanently in one way or another, especially at the very early stages when faced with the thoughts that it wont go.

Here's the bad news. No one here, or on the planet, can tell you if it will go away. The longer you have it though the more likely it is to stick around.

Here's the good news. You'll habituate in time if it's permanent. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, it certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear when I first found this site last August. I wanted a magic pill to make the noise go. Alas this is not an option, unless you want to dabble in acquiring potentially dangerous medicine that some people will tell you has improved the condition for them.

As you are only 2 days in, anxiety is your biggest problem at the moment. Not to be flippant, but you just need to calm down. I know from my own personal experience looking back at my early Tinnitus months it was the anxiety that was crippling me, not my new found whistling head.

Good luck. You'll make it.

 

This kind of catastrophic thinking isn't overly helpful.

It's been two days. For me, it's been over nine months since I developed a noticeable ringing in my ears. During that time I've done everything the same as I had done before; I've gone to my job, I've travelled overseas and interstate, I've had fun with my girlfriend, I've patted my cat. The only thing that is different from a year ago is that when I go to bed at night, I think, "well, there's that ringing in my ears" and when I wake up, I say "still there!"... and then I get on with my day.

No one wants to live with ringing in their ears. It sucks. But then, so do a million other things... and people don't necessarily formulate a plan to take their life over it.

 

How do you sleep with an obnoxious noise in your ears!?

 

But it'll always be there and I'll always notice it.

 

My GP prescribed me Mirtazapine. An SSRI is obviously not for everyone, but I've never slept better in my life.

 

I heard that caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes and loud noises will affect my T but is that true? I miss smoking cigarettes and having a few drinks socially and I love Starbucks and I get my hair blown out 1ce a week which requires a blow dryer close to my ears for a bit. Is that okay?

 

I take xanax

 

Xanax is different, as it's a benzodiazepine. I take Valium from time to time when the ringing in my ears is particularly loud, but I don't take it regularly and it's not an SSRI like Mirtazapine.

 

What's the difference? I feel like Xanax helps more.

 

You should talk to your doctor about what the difference is. That would be the first step I would take if I was in your shoes.

 

I second Eldudebro, its very important to calm down. The panicking is whats causing the negative thoughts of "not able to do this". As ive said via private channels, the first few days are the worse but it will gradually get better.

 

Thanks so much Karen. The hardest thing is noises when sleeping bothers me I love complete silence or it's hard for me to sleep. ):

 

What about smoking cigarettes, alcohol, using a blow dryer and coffee?

 

Mike82,

do you experience hyperacusis, reactive tinnitus and/or spikes?