New to Having Tinnitus

Hi,
I thought I would introduce myself. I have been living with tinnitus for just over a month now. It came on suddenly, one morning i just woke up and it was in my right ear. I have been going through quite a lot of stress during the past 6 or 7 months so just thought it could be that. When it hadn't stopped after a few days I went to the doctor who basically told me to "just hope it goes!" I was left feeling very anxious and overwhelmed, I had heard of people committing suicide because of T and worried that I would become very depressed.

Not long after the high pitched whistling in my right ear, my left ear started whistling too which scared me even more. I also had extremely itchy ears so I went back to the doctor (a different one this time.) I told her how I was feeling and she said not to worry a lot of people have tinnitus and it is very rare that it is something serious underlying. She looked in my ears and said my left one was very hairy (!) and full of wax, and I had otis externa in my right one, probably because I swim two or three times a week. She has given me olive oil drops for my left ear (which makes my tinnitus in that ear sound louder) and an anti bacterial / steroid for my right ear. I thought this would be the cure but when I asked her she said no as it is unrelated. The ringing in my right ear was due to my ET.

So here I am knowing that this is probably something I will just have to live with, and i wanted to speak to others who can empathise with me, as other people i have spoke to do not tend to understand the effect T can have on our lives.

 

There is still hope. Check out the studies mentioned on pages 1, 2, and 4 of
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441

 

Bill, Thank you so much for that! I feel much more hopeful. Do you have any tips for getting to sleep with T please? This has been a real problem for me.

 

I used sound enrichment a lot early on, which helped a lot with sleeping and concentrating at work. Sound machines or a phone app attached to a decent set of speakers can help. I had very high-pitched tinnitus and what worked for me was a mix of pink noise, rain sounds, and crickets --- I used the TMSoft White Noise app which comes with a decent selection of sounds and allows mixing them together. Before I figured that out, I used a loud box fan for a few days. At work, I just left a desk fan running. Experiment with sounds and find something that makes the tinnitus more bearable and less distracting.

There are sound pillows and headbands that could help too. I use a SleepPhones headband though I have to caution about using any sort of headphones as they could make things worse (and always keep the volume level reasonable).

When I was having a rough time sleeping even with sound I would just get up for an hour and find something to do (dishes? cleaning?), take a couple of Benadryl about 30 minutes in, and then go back to bed. I tried to avoid medicating to sleep (didn't want to become dependent). As time went on, my sleep improved and this became unnecessary.

It's early on for you... Tinnitus changes for a lot of people over the first few months, it could still improve or even totally go away. I stopped using sound enrichment so much after seven or eight weeks (though I still sleep with plain "brown noise"). Take it day by day and find the best ways for you to cope.

 

I used white noise for a few weeks while sleeping. Do whatever you need to do to get back to a normal stress and anxiety level. When you are ready you are going to have to face the demon (the T). I find me hiding from and masking it just makes me more anxious and makes me think about it more because I"m always listening for how quiet the room is and looking for masking sources. Its a slow process, but you will improve

 

Thank you. What is Benadryl is it a cough medicine? It would be amazing if it went away but I just need to b able to cope. I can mask the noise but as soon as I hear it again I feel so sick and anxious. I’m so glad there’s forums it’s helpful

 

If you want to sleep better at night try some natural relaxants, there's also vallerian root extract which works really well and it's not a placebo. Also sound enrichment is fundamental for your brain to tune out these auditory excitations.

 

Back when I was in that acute stage, I found that amitriptyline (10 mg) helped me sleep. It is non-addictive and it didn't make me feel drowsy the next morning.

I suggest that you use sound enrichment to provide you with something else to listen to besides your T.
You can use a computer with speakers and access to http://mynoise.net/

or you can use products like
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Oasis-S-5000-Deluxe-Therapy/dp/B018KUVEOM/

https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Koala-Concentration-Relaxation-Sufferers/dp/B01FRW2WBA

 

I have been taking valerian root pills. I have also been drinking valerian tea made by boiling cut non-organic valerian root
https://www.herbco.com/c-133-valerian.aspx

It is very good. It helped me to not get too stressed out. However, I doubt it would be enough to get a new tinnitus sufferer to fall asleep.

By the way, melatonin is also helpful, but again not by itself. Just make sure not to take too much of it.
https://vanwinkles.com/the-dark-side-downsides-side-effects-of-melatonin
"In 2001, researchers at MIT concluded that the correct dosage for melatonin falls between .3 and 1 mg."

 

Yeah I do agree it might not be effective enough for an initial sufferer. It didn't put me to sleep in the first two months.

 

Thank you, I got some herbal nytol and waited until I was exhausted last night and managed to sleep ok only waking up twice. I have to put olive oil drops to get rid of wax but this seems to male my ear ring worse should I stop it?

 

Get sound enrichment machine. I have sound oasis which helps me fall asleep, put the sound below your T. Sound enrichment also helps with H. You got it very recently so it will be loud for a few days then it will go down.