Please Help Me Understand

I'm 22 years old and I developed tinnitus about two weeks ago. It's a very high pitched ringing that is constant and has never alleviated. I don't know what is causing it.

I'm rather young and in good physical health. I believe there could be 3 potential things causing it. I would highly appreciate any insights or suggestions.

1. Allergies. I just got back from college and I'm staying at my parents house. I slept on an old dirty carpet and my allergies went wild with the accompanied ringing. I've been taking allergy medication religiously for the past two weeks and my allergies are gone, but the ringing remains.

2. Stress. I was so stressed this last semester that I went to see a shrink. I finished finals and am with my family, but I feel uneasy and stressed still. I remember that first night I spent back at home I was really anxious. I woke up in the middle of that night with ringing. Is this a response to stress? I've been less stressed at different times lately, but the ringing has remained constant.

3. It's all in my head. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just imagining this. If I were to forget I ever had this ringing would I still hear it?

I play the ringing frequency on an app on my phone at about 15,000 hz and for a few second after I stop the sound I hear complete silence. Then the ringing resumes. I never listen to loud music. I don't take aspirine or anti depressants. I don't have ear damage or head trauma. I've never taken drugs or alcohol. I haven't had caffeine in a month. I don't have vertigo or Meniere's disease. I don't have waxy ears. I'm taking ginkgo biloba, Valerian and Claritin every day.

This is very hard on me. I can't sleep at night even with white noise; I can't relax in general. I've scoured the internet for answers but the typical information doesn't help me. I can ignore the sound to a degree, but it still very wearing. Please if you have any insights, similar stories or suggestions, please message me.

Thank you so much!

 

@RedOctober I can only tell you the beginning is the more frustrating period, most who get this learn to live with it. It's possible you won't find the answers you're looking for... You're looking for respite but there isn't any to be had other than time.

That's called "residual inhibition"... many get that.

 

It could be quite a few things, but it often is related to your hearing apparatus. Because of this it may make sense to have a first check by an ENT and do a hearing test (with an audiologist) to rule out obvious hearing issues.

 

@RedOctober ,
If your noise started suddenly and you can not understand the reason, the algorithm of the action is as follows:

1) Visit a hearing therapist / audiologist and conduct audiometry, preferably in an extended frequency range.
If everything is in order, you can exhale - you have the time.
If there are abnormalities, get corticosteroids as soon as possible. In parallel, of course, it is necessary to take care of the moral and psychological state and use sedatives.

2) If the problem is idiopathic - then it is probably worth contacting the therapist and explaining the situation.