Please Guide Me, I'm Going Insane and I Need Help

Greetings everyone,


I've had tinnitus for many years, I never knew what it was or gave it any attention whatsoever, the only time I could ever hear it is when I plug my ears I hear a faint EEEEEE and say to myself, wow the sound of the inner body is awkward.

fast forward to late December 2017, after a dramatic incident I started to experience tremendous amount of stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, all sorts of things, and that lasted for at least a month, during this dark time, the following (suspected) triggers occurred;

1. I attended a very loud club and was close to the speakers.
2. I was prescribed Xanax (used it 4 times 0.5 each) then was prescribed Lexapro 10mg (used it for a week)
3. anxiety and stress were still present most of the time.
4. I've been grinding my teeth a lot from stress.


one night my dad called me and asked me to call mom because she was sick, I asked her what was wrong and she said she has been hearing a loud noise in her ear.

a few days later I notice my tinnitus loud and clear, it sounds like it's coming mostly from my right ear and central head, it sounds like a high pitch hissing/teapot and it is very loud, i rate it 6/10 sometimes it spikes and gets louder to 8/10.

I have no idea of this is a trick my brain played on me or if i was actually experiencing a real spike and it was pure coincidence that I noticed it a couple of days after my mom has mentioned it.

it has been a month since i've noticed a crazy spike on my tinnitus.

there's no absolutely no way that I had this crazy noise in my head all these years without noticing it, just impossible.

since I don't know what exactly triggered my tinnitus, is there hope that it can calm down and go back to a fainter level?

is it ok to use Xanax during this spike? (if it turns out to be a spike that is)

is masking ok or does it make it worse since it keeps reminding me that i have tinnitus?

i've been extremely scared and terrified about this being permanent, it is too damn louuudddd.

please, any help will be greatly appreciated, I wrote while having so much anxiety, I hope it makes sense.

 

It was most likely caused by the loud music at that club.

Yes, for most people, tinnitus tends to fade (assuming you won't get a secondary exposure to noise or ototoxic medication). Having said that, ears take forever to heal (i.e., 3-6-12-24 months).

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (27 tips) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 12 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Hi @bshar

As @Bill Bauer rightly said, the increase in tinnitus likely caused by the loud sounds at the club you went to. Hopefully it will calm down with time. Keep taking the medication that you have been prescribed. If it is possible, get a referral to see a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist, that is trained in the treatment and management of tinnitus. Please click on the links below and read my posts on tinnitus that you might find helpful.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...why-has-tinnitus-hyperacusis-increased.19091/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

 

As I learned from @micheal Leigh I started masking a bit below my tinnitus. Where I can still hear my T but there is white noise below T.

For 1nhalf month I completely masked it but for last 1month am masking below T level -apparently that is called sound enrichment and have chances to reduce T (brain loses its interest) This is my understanding.

Be hopeful. I know its hard when the sound is continuous. I am sure your panic, anxiousness with decrease after few months. For me the more I try to hear and stress the more the sound increases and panic.

I am drinking ACV and doing breathing exercises and meditation.

Also, Julian Cowan Hills youtube channel has got a positive outlook for me. I was fretting crying and complaining panicking what not.... Even now I do that but I give myself just 5-10mins time to vent out not 24hours. I decided I will have a timetable to vent out my frustration about T. Try CBT, practise mindfulness, yoga.... being calm is extremely important when we have T. The below youtube channel definitely can help you and some of the experts in the forum.

 

Hey, sorry for this late reply for some reason I am unable to reply to my inbox. Anywho your tinnitus is relatively new and I believe it will definitely fade away...I didn’t mention how many people I came across in real life who had gotten tinnitus and had it disappear....so the first was two of my mothers friends had it for 4-6 months after a strep at different times in their life. My cousin had it for 8 months due to medication and my uncle had it for 2 years after serving in the military....
I like you think that it is a neurological problem rather than damage to the ear itself in some cases...I have done multiple hearing test and I have exceptional hearing and in all frequency’s.
You will get over this and it will fade...just live life as you normally would and try to be as stress free as possible and I promise you your tinnitus will back off
In fact stay off this form!!!
I know it’s hard to not think about tinnitus it’s always there, but don’t feed into it either... I used to be on here 25/8 and all it did was heighten my anxiety and make me more depressed