New Spanish Guy Here

Hello everyone,

I'm a Spanish guy, 33 years old (although I am not living there right now) who has had tinnitus since around 8 weeks. I hope that my English is understandable, and sorry in advance for my mistakes.

Probably I got tinnitus because I was using in-ear headphones a lot in the past (even if I was taking a lot of care with the sound levels and mostly I used to listen to podcasts and not music). Now I stopped using the in-ear headphones of course.

Sometimes I think my tinnitus could also have been triggered by some stress situation that I had (not very important, job related), as my back and my neck often get muscular tension, but it´s just a theory. My father has also tinnitus due to an acoustic trauma, and as far as I know the genetic factors can also increase the chances of getting tinnitus. In any case, the fact is that I just woke up one day with the high pitched sound.

To be honest I didn´t pay so much attention to it at the beginning and continued on with my life without any problems. But at some point it got louder and afterwards I became very concerned about it.

My tinnitus is a bit crazy, as sometimes I hear it only in one ear, or both of them, or sometimes it is just like a "shhhh" sound coming from the brain. When trying to sleep I also hear some kind of roaring, that seems to be linked with my breathing and heartbeat. If I am focusing on it, sometimes I feel that the pitch disappears totally. Ironically, I can manage it better during the night than during the day. Luckily so far I can sleep quite good.

I also have hyperacusis, but I am not even sure if it is more like phonophobia, fact is that I became very sensitive and afraid of loud noises.

Since I have tinnitus I have had some panic days, thinking...

What if it increases permanently because I am doing sports?
What if the traffic noise affects me while going to work with a bike?
What if the noise in the office doesn´t allow me to focus?
What if I have to change my social life forever?
I still have to use headphones for calls at work, and I don´t know if that could make it worse. The possibility of using the phone in the regular way is also very uncomfortable for my ear.
I have a wedding in one month, I want to go but I still have many concerns. For sure I will go with ear protection.

I have also not been lucky with doctors so far. I saw a doctor a week after my tinnitus onset who just said: "wait and relax". The ENT was not better, he just told me to not pay attention to it. Of course I have a new appointment with another one, who seems to be an expert in tinnitus.

Thank you for reading.

I am right now in moderately good mood after a couple of panic days and I am quite optimistic.

For me, what really helps is not take the sound as a negative thing that leads to bad feelings: panic, distress... but accept it instead. And of course, keep the mind busy with other tasks.

The only concerns that I have right now is to be sure that from now on I am doing the right things in order to not make it worse. The best case scenario could be that it will go away, but I really don´t know the odds, so for me it is better to think that I will be able to manage it in the future, as the other scenario will bring anxiety if nothing happens.

If someone has experienced the same concerns or has my type of tinnitus and could bring some light to it, I would appreciate it very much. If someone could give me a couple of hints on how to treat the hyperacusis that would be also great.

Regards,

Jota.

 

To help with that goal, check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Thanks @Bill Bauer for your comments. For sure they will help me to deal with tinnitus.