Newbie

Hello everyone,
Only found this site recently and believe me I have spent many hours online looking at tinnitus and possible cures. I will get around to reading more posts that I'm hoping will give me much needed support at this time.
I have had tinnitus for several years,but, at a level that was more easily masked. However, in last 2 years it has ramped up and now in last few months it is so intrusive and constant that I feel I'm losing my mind. I'm currently off work. 4 weeks now. I am at the point where I wasn't sleeping and also could not concentrate or focus on tasks. I believe stress has contributed to the new level I'm experiencing. I have been to ent. My hearing is very good considering the constant high pitched white noise. I had MRI scan and it was clear of any physical damage. I've only recently been to audiologist and all he can provide is digital sounds to play at night and I have to return for hearing aids. My doctor gave me medication for depression,but, I stopped taking these as I'm not depressed at this time and they were making me feel worse. So, here I sit typing with this condition that is changing me from a very positive outgoing person to someone who is losing interest in life and uncertain about my QOL going forward. Thanks for reading and again I hope to seek some solace and solutions from this forum. I don't feel like I'm suffering alone.

 

Welcome Gary. Yes you are definitely not alone here. We understand what you are going through with the T shrill. Did you get some masking for you new level of intrusive T? Masking is not the ultimate solution, but it helps to have some break from the oppressing T shrill. If you haven't, then try some sounds from this link. If you need more sounds, you can try download 'aire freshener' to PC for free or search youtube for tinnitus masking sounds :

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


Regarding the new intrusive level of T, try to not panic. It may just be a temporary spike due to whatever, perhaps diet, perhaps stress or other medical causes. Hope you will be just fine shortly. T is known to be unpredictable. It may settle back to baseline soon. A few months ago my already ultra high pitched, loud dog whistle T shot up through the roof too. It is an ultra high pitch shrill packed with so much condensed energy, like a laser beam against a dark sky, resonating in my whole head. I could hear it cutting through the jet noise in my last 2 flights. That is some nasty T shrill.

A few years back I would have caved in automatically into anxiety & panic attacks. I remember also I said no wait I could live with this ringing. No longer. Instead of panicking I went about living my life. Despite the ringing, I still went fishing (I posted this on the Positivity Thread) to catch some salmon. The T was so loud and piercing that I even heard it distinctly above all the raging water of the rapids around me. But I am committed to not react to T high or low and live my life as normally and enjoyably. I am not super human. It took a few years and adopting the positivity approach to get to there. With a history of suffering anxiety and panic disorders, I never thought it possible to be normal again but I am now. So don't panic and worry about it. It may be just a spike. If a panic prone person like me can recover after some time even with my T raging, have no worry about the temporary setback. Try read up the success stories to give you some comfort that people do get better even with loud T. Take good care and God bless your recovery.

 

Thanks for reading and replying to my first post. I was doing some further reading yesterday. This time on the medication I'm taking. It's possible that Allopurinol may contribute to T and I was taken aback by the negative feedback on Omezrapole side effects. Long term use of any drugs could contribute to the bodies well being. Meantime. I'm going to try and get out and on with my day carrying my albatross T with me.