Not new to tinnitus, but new for me and not coping

Hi Amelia,
Sorry to hear what your going through, when I first got tinnitus the first time it was from chronic sinus infection, an it did diminish in time. I still had it slightly from my sinus problem when I had dental trauma this spring that made my tinnitus go crazy, I was beside myself. You need to take some supplements to help your stress level like high dosage of your B vitamins,and C for stress management. I think you will heal in time. It is slow but I believe it will come. watch that you don't take meds that cause tinnitus which lots do. Look up Dr Neil Bauman, he has a book of ototoxic drugs. He also has a book called" when your ears ring", It was helpful to me. There is also PEMF therapy that will help to heal your sinuses quickly without any side effects.

 

Hey Eric: I also don't want to hijack the thread,but wanted to tell you I found your posts here very interesting. I have been trying some guided meditations but none are directed at the objection-acceptance-control issues you address -- which are critical. It echoes a lot of principles in cognitive behavioral therapy, which I also have been doing and which has helped me tremendously. I'll watch for your future mediation posts.

Amelia, I never commented earlier, but I could see that you were in good hands with the others here. Just remember that your father's experience does not need to be -- and won't be -- your experience with T. You can't make tinnitus go away but there are many things you can do to help yourself. And the supportive people here at TT will give you lots of guidance, and support, along the way.

Hope you are feeling a little better/calmer this week, and blessings to all.

 

Amelia,

I truly hope your T goes entirely away, but if it doesn't please know that even with T you can live a normal and entirely enjoyable life again. It mostly just takes time.

I like @Eric's meditation advice and see how it can be effective. For me, however, that sort of thing seems like work. So, if it seems that way to you, I suggest you just focus on staying busy with something you like and that occupies your mind fairly fully. That for me was and remains the key to habituation. I still have spikes, but believe me after 9 months, T's intrusiveness in my life has diminished to a very tolerable level by me just focusing on everything but my T. It does take time - several months for most people.

I too had problems reading at first, so I started listening to audiobooks. I still had some difficulty with that at first, but the fact that the story goes on even without me concentrating made it easier to do and the sound helped mask the tinnitus somewhat. Over a couple of month period the joy of reading returned. I also know for me that simply carrying on a conversation made it much, much easier to direct my attention from my T, so I suggest doing that even though you may not feel like it.

The odds are in your favor that over time you will notice your T less and less, and eventually often will not notice it at all. The thought of not experiencing silence like you used to is a bit scary, but I can assure you that with time, relaxation, and keeping busy that you will find yourself naturally tuning out your T with no effort, and even when you can not tune it out, you will find it not nearly as annoying as you find it to be now. Half the battle is getting over what in many ways amounts to an assault of your very being, on something private and perhaps precious. When T starts it is such a rude, and horrible intrusion that it can really throw one for a loop. Keep the faith that it will get better, and that will help you get over the feeling of loss which is really where much of the anxiety and anger comes from. I think much of what Eric says about acceptance is really just getting past the sense of loss, and whatever works best for you to do that is what you should do.

There are many other things that you can try to help from medical, health perspective, particularly if your T is young. Read the many, many suggestions spread throughout this forum and you may find something that helps your particular case.

mick

 

I just wanted to say thank you all for your replies. I'm so fortunate to have found such a supportive group of people willing to use their time to help others.

I'm trying my best not to think of my T - which is why at the moment I won't reply personally to you all, but please know that I've read every reply and am taking your advice onboard.

I'm keeping busy and taking my iphone from room to room with me so I have something on in the background all the time - usually an audiobook - thank god for Ricky Gervais podcasts! And I'm masking somewhat at night with rainforest sounds - the frogs drive me mad but not as bad at the T

As soon as I hear it I try to focus on something else - which is still quite hard but I know I have to do it. I'm also getting quite anxious leading up to the evening so trying to deal with that. I think because I become much more aware of it when things slow down and become quieter.

So that's where I am. One foot in front of the other trying to forget this is forever

 

Amelia, all of us have different personalities and deal with stress in different ways. But we can all associate with the that fight or flight feeling when we first come down with T. I was very nervous with sleep problems, weight loss and couldnot seem to focus on things. What helped me the most was a supporting wife that I could share my feelings with and I took low doses of xanax and low dose of ambien to get a good nights sleep. Also listen to music dailey and use nature sounds {birds chirping to sleep with] that I found on Youtube. I do accupuncture, workout at a health club and practice relaxing techniques dailey. Eventually when your stress level becomes normal again you can ween yourself off of meds and just take one if you feel you need it. We all get through this with time and believe me can have a normal life again. Its possible your T can go away in time from your sinus problem clearing up. Just remember you are going to be alright believe me..