One Month In, Don't Lose Hope!

Hey everyone, today is one month since the onset of my tinnitus, so I thought I should write something, very long, of course (sorry about my English!)

So I got T on february 12th after a syringing procedure to remove earwax (don't ever do this, please). Anyways, so as everyone in here, first two weeks were complete bullshit. I couldn't sleep, eat, study, I cried all day. I was a mess, thoughts of killing myself were in my head 24/7 because I thought I couldn't live with a high pitched noise inside my head. My mum had to come here and take care of me for 15 days until I was fine enough to function. I am lucky enough to have a good healthcare plan and got an appointment with an ENT on day 4th since the onset, he prescribed me prednisone and I started a 12 day high dose course on oral steroids. I obviously panicked a lot, and went to another ENT who gave me a second opinion. Both of them told me that it would probably go away and if it didn't that i would grow accustomed to. Of course, thinking about my future and the T made my anxiety reach unexpected levels and althought my T was never intrusive, stress and obsessive thoughts made it worse. I started to reach out everyone I knew, asking them if they knew people with the same issue. Fortunately, I have a few friends in the emo/post metal/hardcore scene (you know, LOUD music) that told me that they had T, and at first it could be an awful and stressful symptom but that in the end one gets accustomed to and it doesn't bother them anymore. This gave me some kind of relief, but OF COURSE I was in denial, I wanted to be gone FOREVER!

In my desperation I tried to get help in any form. Please, never stop searching for help. I went for homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, conventional medicine and prayer. Acupuncture helped me to relieve stress and my jaw was so tense that my ear was physically hurting and after an anxiety attack I clenched so hard my jaw that it hurt on the two or three days after it happened. After one session of acupuncture, the pain was gone and the fullness went away (now it has come back again-mildly-, with a cracking sound on my ears when I swallow but I will go to the ENT and have it checked. I believe is tension and stress again). I started praying and told everyone I knew to send good vibes my way, to pray for me and light candles on my name. After 15 days, my mood was much better, I was thinking less and less about tinnitus, made a comeback at Uni, payed attention on my classes, started going to yoga, therapy with my psychiatrist three times a week, reiki and laying on of hands, I even went to tarotology to get my cards read and know if this would go away (yes, it will, and I am confident in this), everything you can think of. It actually made me think less and less about T, going through hours and hours without paying attention to it (although it was mild, as in I couldn't hear it that much, I still checked my ears). After that week, and ending my treatment with prednisone, my T got lower and a static-buzzing sound appeard. This didn't preocuppied me, as the static was much easier to manage than the ringing. Talked to a few people who got T after ototoxic medications and a syringing ear wax removal and they both told me that the T went away after a few months (6 and 3, and another one who got it for a month), and that got my hopes up. I truly believe the mind is a powerful thing, and that if i believe it, it will go away and i will get habituated.

A tip that my mum gave me, and I believe is very important is: try living each day. don't think about the future. think about what you want to do today, get it done and live through the day. tomorrow will be another day, take it as it comes, but don't worry about tomorrow. It may sound dumb, but I think it's what got me through this month. I can't believe that it's been a month already. I don't have patience AT ALL. I thought that it was going to feel eternal.

I love music. It means a lot to me and it's a big part of my life. During the first three weeks I didn't listened to ONE song. Nothing. I think I was punishing myself for this, and depriving myself of something I enjoy so much made me really sad. One day I thought "enough" and connected a speaker, put it on really low volume and started listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. That song means a lot to me, and it made me tear up. I was so happy that night.

Anyways, the ringing is really low now. I don't know if i should say it's 95% gone because it was never really that intrusive. If I plug my ears with my fingers I can't hear it, but if I plug them with some foam earplugs it's there, but really quiet, almost inaudible. The buzzing sound still remains, but it's definitely lower than it was a week ago, or even two days ago. I hope it goes away, I really do.

This is not a success story (but I hope to post one soon!), but I know how dark the first days or weeks seem, and how slowly the time seems to pass by. It does get better. I can laugh, I can enjoy life, I can go out with my friends and have fun. Don't let this stop you, you are so much stronger than this.

Tips?
-Get help, from anyone.
-If you are early, give prednisone a shot. Talk to your ENT.
-Use earplugs whenever you are outside. I used them on public transportation, and while walking the streets.
-Distract yourself. Go outside, do yoga, bake, cook, take a cooking class, anything that takes your mind off of it.
-Read only succes stories (can't stress this enough)
-Believe in you
-Repeat yourself "i'm gonna get better, this will heal"

I took some supplements (chelated zinc, gingko biloba, magnesium twice a day, vitamin c) and the second and third week my psychiatrist prescribed me 25mg of quetiapin for sleeping, but i'm not taking it anymore.

Thank you to everyone who answered me, and gave me hope. You guys are truly awesome.

 

You are in the very early stages of your T, and in 6 months your T will probably be much improved. It may take a long time, (maybe even 1-2 years), but it most likely will fade, maybe even fade to zero. I have recovered 2 times from horrible T (both times acoustic trauma) 1st time it took 18 months, this time I am 17 months in and I am 80-90% faded. It can happen

 

Thanks for sharing! You will recover totally. Looking forward to your success story.

 

I'm positive it will go away. It has faded a lot since i got it. Now the pitch is almost gone, can't even hear it when I plug my ears with fingers, it has to be on a quiet room with foam earplugs. Your first time, did it fade to zero as well?

 

try living each day. don't think about the future. think about what you want to do today

hola! queria comentar algo en algun aporte tuyo, y ya que hablas español me siento libre de poder expresarlo con mayor claridad jaja
el consejo que te dio tu madre es el mas oportuno. asi es como vivo yo, y te aseguro que mi condicion es mucho peor que la tuya (mi problema comenzo en 2012 por razones desconocidas y empeoro en 2016 por haber trabajado en un laboratorio de armamento, debido a los disparos). incluso estudio cine aunque claramente no me dedicaria al sonido, asi que creo que no hay excusa para no vivir o dejar de hacer las cosas que nos gustan por un problema, incluso de esta naturaleza.
El mejor consejo que puedo dar, por mi parte, es no dejar que la ansiedad te aprese. La ansiedad puede ser incluso peor que el problema en si mismo
Saludos y espero que te encuentres muy bien este proximo tiempo. Quien dice, a lo mejor el problema desaparece! Pero si no, ya sabes

 

Jaja! Estoy tratando de tener esperanzas. Ahora mis oídos suenan cada vez que trago saliva, no sé si sea una disfunción de los tubos eustaqueos o algo, o si tal vez es tensión en la mandíbula. Gracias por los buenos deseos, yo estoy muy mentalizada en que se va a ir y en que voy a estar bien, y siento que esa energía buena me hace bien.

 

Yes, it took 18 months (maybe longer), but it faded to zero. I could not hear any T even with foam earplugs in.

 

That's quite amazing.

 

that is amazing

 

I also have that noise
Everytime Im chewing or swallow I hear noise...

Do you have news?

 

I only hear it swallowing saliva, not chewing or anything. My useless ENT said my ears were fine. The thing is I have TMJD and since I got T (a month ago) I've been under a lot of stress that has worsened my bruxism and my TMJD, so right now I can't put three fingers inside my mouth, and speaking and chewing really hurt. Apparently that can cause ETD, so I'm waiting for my splint to arrive and start using it, see if I see some improvement. I found that by swallowing with a certain form, I don't hear the crack and my ears have been popping less.

 

your story is so similar to mine. the first 2/3 weeks i cried constantly, had constant panic. i wouldn’t leave my mom’s side. so scared. i literally slept with my mom every night. i’m still dealing with it, i still break down and cry every now and then. but i’m trying my best to recover. i actually remember making it louder on PURPOSE when i was younger. i remember hearing it mainly in the bathroom which was a very quiet room. what caused it all, i was laying down at the beginning of the month and heard it and decided to make it louder for fun like i used to. and it’s been hell ever since. but i do believe it can get better. i just need to learn how. i do wish i could just go back and forget but sadly i can’t! sleeping is the hardest thing.

 

Thank you so much for this. I'm going on my third week now, and I very much appreciate the positivity.
I'm wishing you all the best on your journey to overcome this, especially the day you write and finish your success story!

 

Hearing you gives me hope... I am only 4 months in and I don't Hear any improvement in my tinnitus... I am really frustrated...It even gets louder sometimes.... I will wait 6 months...

 

paganismus, thank you so much for your inspiring post! & i'm sufe it will go away!
i'm in tje same situation for a bit over a month now, the cause of my tinnitus was a flu, followed by an ear infection and sinus infection. my doctor gave me prednisolon an well and it helped a lot! i was a bit hesitant to take it, reading a lot on the internet but gave it a shot and it reduced my tinnitus to just a little sound, noticable mostly in quiet rooms. it still bothers me, i am writing my thesis an the uni so it is of no help at all but i try to do everything i can to get better and some results are there.

you said that prednisolon helped you, so i'm curious, how much did you get?

i had 100mg for 5 days (took 100 each early morning, then full stop, no tappering off)

do you consider taking it again? (as you say it was benefitial for you as it was for me) can one get it twice, with lets say, a month in between? ...

i don't know if i should just wait and relax, sleep good, ginko and other over the counter stuff which i do take from the begining (magnesium, ginko, l arginin, b-group vitamins, zink) - mitht have helped as well -
or should i go to the doctors again and ask for more meds.

i have no hearing loss, my ears preformed better than normal on the tests

 

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I feel a lot more optimistic. I pray that things get better for you as well.

I got my T on the 23rd of February after getting my ears syringed. The volume of my T is very low when I wake up in the morning but gets louder through out the day. It’s been exactly a month and 16 days since it started and it seems like it hasn’t got better. I’m a senior in high school, and I’m about to graduate in June. Dealing with Tinnitus at this point in my life feels extremely stressful. I’m just praying that it goes away within a few months or so hopefully.

 

we are in the same boat.

Same cause, same symptoms, same day!

 

It’s been a month and I found that my T has gotten more noticeable in louder rooms but I’ve been able to work through it.


Judging off of this scale it’s about an 6 - 8. It’s extremely loud at night, which gives me headaches.

I’ve been wondering since listening to pink noise at night on my phone if it has made my tinnitus worse.

 

yes listening at noise at night makes mine much worse.

 

also try to take some med to calm your nerves and sleep, I found that very helpfull...

if you still need to use noise to sleep put a counter on it so when you sleep there is no noise to rest the ears.

if you go to an ENT check on this forum the list of procedures to avoid so it won't make your tinnitus worse.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tests-procedures-to-avoid.26681/

 

I'm now 25 days into this mindf-ck.. 2 days ago it got really loud and is staying 75percent above everything.
I'm grateful in knowing that unfortunately i am am not the only one who has it. Think that l am trying to say that l am not alone..
When it is bad l log into this forum and read a few stories of how you good people have coped and not gone over the edge and it does give me a positive view of things. If lm not making sense it's down to the fact that i'm really struggling with it all tonight. Lets hope that tomorrow is a bit better for all of us..
Guess l just wanted to thank everyone who's story l have read and lets hope we can if not get cured then try and find some peace from this illness. x

 

updates?

 

Hi, @dm222

I was planning to write a two months in story but I didn't find the time or the energy to come to this forum –I have been avoiding it for obvious reasons.

I think I wasn't honest with myself on the first post: I was saying I couldn't hear it before when I did, but I do notice a change in the tone now, like it's fading. The tone was always there, sometimes very low and sometimes somewhat loud. I turned two months on the 12th of april, but the past two weeks my T has been much better: during the day the buzzing is not noticeable with earplugs as it was before and the tone disappears for hours a day, but it comes back at night sometimes. I can't really hear it during the day, it's only bothering at night, and I have been accustomed to it, so I'm controlling my reactions to it. Oh yes, I have been wearing a splint for a week already and my ears feel less full, popping less and sometimes I don't hear the crack when swallowing.

I have been going to CBT, and my therapist told me that most tinnitus after ear syringing goes away, and that mine has been progressing. My mood is much much better right now. I am paying attention to my classes and focusing on other things. I can spend almost a whole day without thinking about tinnitus. Had a vacation in another city, went on two flights without an issue, got drunk on various occasions without an issue with my T, went partying three times with normal earplugs, even got high on edibles without a change in perception or volume (it was weird because the next day, getting off high, the tone wasn't there and the buzzing was almost unaudible, it was near silence and I was relaxed as f*ck lmao).

I don't know really... it's not that bothering to me anymore. In the first post i was trying to be positive without being honest with myself. I can say now I'm much better than I was a month ago, and I believe in the progress that has been made. Hopefully I'll write a recovery story soon.

 

Hi
paganismos,
So glad that things are getting better..
My T has gotten really bad along with a headache which l have never experienced before. for 3 days now and it just hasn't stopped. lt's good to know that it's not going to be long before mine starts to begin to get better.. x

 

Hi everyone, I guess I have some good news.

The tone I had... it's not there. It hasn't been there for about a week or so! It has faded and i am left with a buzzing and a static and they're interchangeable. Sometimes it's the static and sometimes it's the buzzing, but it doesn't bother me anymore, not even when I wake up because it's not noticeable unless I plug my ears. I got the cold this past week and was kind of scared something would happen but besides my ears feeling full, nothing else changed. I believe it's the splint that it's working... I'm going to keep wearing it and maybe hope for more changes. I'm quite positive because if the tone went away... that could happen with the other sounds, right? Thinking that I'm just barely three months in!

Things do get better. Thank God.

 

@paganismos wonderful news! What a relief for you. Wishing you a lovely quiet future!

 

Mine is the same cause and is much better, the most improvements were between week 4 and 6 and 8 to now