Newbie... Some questions about my experience

Hi all,

First off, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I just found this forum tonight and I hope that my questions are not totally annoying or something you've all answered a billion times before, but my awesome google-fu isn't helping find out the information I'm after

I've always had very sensitive/good hearing in all ranges; I'm in my late 30s and still haven't lost my upper range, for example, and can hear appliances when turned on. In the past two months, I've been experiencing upper-range tonal tinnitus that is most notable at night or in silence, as you'd expect... but I'm noticing a couple of other things that I am wondering about. (Edit: I've had the upper-range tinnitus for a long time, but I guess the word is that it spiked up a couple months ago to the point that it's a huge distraction now.)

- In noisier environments, it becomes extremely hard for me to understand people. I have to look directly at them to be able to understand them.
- White noise machines actually cause a negative reaction in me (my kids both have them in their rooms) -- like, I find the extra noise oppressive. (I will hunch up my shoulders and everything, because it's super irritating to me, somehow! Almost like the constant additional noise is nails on a chalkboard.)
- When I'm tired or not feeling well my symptoms are worse.
- Wearing earplugs increases my exposure to the tinnitus but actually is soothing in that the competitive noise is lessened.
- I am more agitated, having a harder time concentrating in meetings, and my memory seems slightly worse (probably related to the concentration), even though I am not actively noticing or focusing on the ringing.

I finally reached out to my GP today, who gave me a referral to an ENT for early next month (they want a hearing test as well based on the first point). I'm just trying to figure out how much of my experience is normal. I'm totally not opposed to using any device necessary to soothe my symptoms, too.

Thank you all so much!

 

Sleep is a crapshoot for me because I have two small kids that don't believe that Mommy needs to sleep as much as she'd like BUT! It's good to know so much of this is to be expected!

The white noise that I've been using right now is like digitized waves crashing on a shore. I'll check out the other types of noises that you suggest, thank you.

As an aside, I'm really impressed with the overall quality of discussion on this site -- very refreshing for a forum.

 

Oh! Another "is this normal": if my kid touches my face it makes my tinnitus louder! Is that a thing?

 

albiee!! So stoked you sound us!! It's late so I'll be short, stay connected to TT, stay strong and listen to some of the great folks (like Karen) on this site, TONS of support and resources!! You will find help!! Peace!!