New To Tinnitus for a Month Now

Hello All,
My name is Todd. I am a 58 year old male living in the State of Utah. I started hearing a faint hissing about two months ago and thought to myself, this might be tinnitus? About a month later at 1:30 am I woke up to a siren ringing sound in the middle of my head and went into a full fledged panic attack when it wouldn't go away and I couldn't rest. This lead to doctors visits, a hearing exam. A visit to my ENT who saw sinus infection so went to tackle that, first with amoxicillin, then another, and then Augmentin, topping it off with a strong oral steroid. Nothing worked. Ringing is always different each day. Later he suggested an IPhone app (not Android) called Tinnitus Pro. It actually seems to be helping some? The app costs $20 to download. I immediately jumped into the herbs supposedly for Tinnitus. Watch out for those gimmicks! I've been taking some really good vitamins lately and have been for the better part, learning how to get to sleep. I can't seem to take Melatonin, as it tends to excite anxiety and I dealt with that and depression for the first couple weeks. I lost about 15 lbs from stressing out. Seemed anytime I took Melatonin or a prescribed sleeping pill, I felt like I had instantly become Bi-Polar over night. Up and down like a Yo-Yo in my case. So I stay away from that. I have been told Valerian Root might help in loud stressful ringing nights. I have found fasting for 24 hours (eat dinner Saturday and don't eat or drink until the same time Sunday) really seems to help reset things right. Seems almost every Sunday I do that I am almost free of ringing or at least much quieter. As I believe in Jesus Christ and a Heavenly Father and am a member of the LDS faith, I have also leaned towards that more than ever and it has definitely been a saving factor! This is a good forum. I enjoy the positive comments by all who have learned to deal with this. I still have hopes that one day it will go way, but if not, I figure there is something I must need to learn in this life from it. My heartfelt sincere prayers and best wishes to all who get to deal with this challenge in life! May we find the answers one day soon, and until then, let's keep helping each other! Stay positive and don't close yourself off! Pray, use this forum and talk with loved ones that care. Watch out what you read on the Internet too. It is an awesome tool, but you will feel so confused if you try putting together everything you read. Most of all as I've said earlier, Be Real Careful not to waste money on gimmicks.

 

Welcome to the forum, brother. It is nice to feel your positive spirit and some words of wisdom considering you are so new with T. Most new members would have a much harder time in 2 months while you seem to be ahead. Most Christians find solace in the words of the scripture in regard to the meaning of sufferings in this life. I would say Romans 5:3-4 will help us who believe in Christ that sufferings do have a positive side in our growth of character. Good on you to rely on prayer and your faith to help strengthen you through this T 'hell'.

Your experience is quite similar to most members when T is new, the panic, anxiety, sleeplessness, loss of appetite and losing weight. Since you are quite new with T, here are some info I have prepared, hopefully some aspects of that will help you recover more. Take good care and may Heavenly Father and the perfect love of Christ speak peace to you during the tough times. Take good care brother.


Here is my success story if it may help:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

TT masking sounds and step-by-step instructions for newbies:

Excellent TT thread for new visitors to the site, with audio player for masking & links to ATA & BTA sites:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/


Masking to help with anxiety and step-by-step instructions from TT:

When tinnitus is new or at a new irritating level, and the ringing is causing much anxiety and panic, it is advisable to get masking going so you won’t be so anxious and fearful. Stress and anxiety are toxic to T. So try masking if you haven’t done so. I used to mask all day just to prevent panic attacks from hearing my ultra high pitch loud dog whistle T. Try these if you haven't yet:

1) Mask at bed time so you can sleep better. Find whatever sounds/music that are soothing to you. You can use a sound machine or sound pillow for this, or a computer with speakers.

2) If you need masking on the go, try load an ipod with nature sounds or music using itune. If you have a smart phone, you can download free APPs for soothing or T-masking sounds.

3) If you have computer and speakers, you can try these excellent masking sounds too:

TT's audio player: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

or this online sound library, particularly the self-mix nature sounds: http://mynoise.net/

or download free sound generator ‘aire freshener’: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

or search youtube with words like 'tinnitus masking sounds', 'white noise', 'rain sound' etc.

Helping the ears and hearing with supplements:

Members here often recommend some good supplements, such as NAC, Magnesium, Zinc, B12, D3, etc.

Diet or life style change:

Members often advice reducing intake of salt, sugar, MSG, caffeine, alcohol etc. and perhaps do some relaxing exercises or hobbies to ease the stress and anxiety from T.


Helping sleep and calming the nerves:

Sleep deprivation is one sure way to fire up T. Get some bed time masking such as a sound machine or a sound pillow to help fall asleep better. Also, instead of sleep or anti-anxiety meds from the doctor, you can try natural alternatives such as Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava etc. You can google search each of them to know their use and see if you can take them as a supplement. Check out this site on using natural herbs for helping to sleep or to calm the nerves.

http://www.christopherhobbs.com/lib...ealth/herbs-and-natural-remedies-for-insomnia