Scared of Getting Hearing Checked in a Soundproof Room

I’ve been diagnosed with OCD because of the lengths I go to mask my tinnitus and because they say my fear of the tinnitus is based on ‘intrusive thoughts’. They think stress can cause it and make it worse. I believe stress can make the perception worse but I doubt it can make it permanently higher in volume (it doesn’t damge the haircells, right?)

Anyway I feel like they think I’m crazy. (‘Hearing things’.)

 

I kept pressing the button thinking ‘oh this must be one of the computer beeps’ only to realize it didn’t go away after pressing. Absolute nightmare. At that moment I was convinced this was the worst kind of tinnitus anyone could have & felt really quite alone.

 

What medication have you experienced with in an effort to calm your mind? Please know 100's of thousands of people struggled with the thoughts you have.
You need to work with a mental health professional to change your thinking. The brain works on chemicals. Just like a diabetic needs insulin. Sometimes the body doesn't provide the right chemistry. My opinion of course and we all want you to feel better.

I have written about lack of free will in another thread. Nobody by force of will can 'choose' or will good mental health where you are more relaxed and can objectively make choices or better deal with something perceived as a threat to your sanity like tinnitus. A healthy mind can deal with tinnitus much better than an anxious or depressed mind which makes poor choices.

Get help Lynny which will dramatically improve your quality of life. Getting the right brain chemistry can take some trial and error but you need to reduce the torment you feel.

 

I’ve gotten help but it doesn’t help.

I’ve taken Citalopram but it made it worse. I need xanax to get through the day. I’m very scared to take medication because of the ototoxic side effects.

I just want the tinnitus to lower, then I’ll find peace of mind, not the other way around I’m afraid

Thanks for replying again though, John. Your comments mean a lot

 

@Lynny I'm sorry for what you are going thru. If you do have OCD, it's not your fault. Many with OCD have had emotional and physical pain early in life. From that when anything later goes wrong and sometimes ever so slightly it becomes hard to deal with. They just want the problem, even if not very intrusive to go away as former trauma can program their mind to accept nothing but perfection. Many with tinnitus have extreme thinking, but half the people in the world also do. Most with OCD are very sweet, kind and caring people.

Stress can associate to physical problems. Muscles can tighten up where they can place pressure to nerves, veins, arteries and bones- hard surfaces. Combined with this, neck and forward jaw extension, clenching of teeth is often an issue. Sometimes sinus issues and ETD can also cause problems. I doubt that you have intercranial hypertension or neck arteries issues at your age which can cause multiple tones. You have not mentioned an injury such as hitting your head. Stress can relate to so many physical interactions including any of the 8 body systems.

Stress may be causing you to press your teeth together while sleeping where it may never be noticed. This can cause damage to teeth causing infection and/or nerve reaction to the ears and brain. Often weird other tones are heard as well and this can also be pulsatile tinnitus. If you have any teeth problems, a manual clean and treatment for any infection is needed. Then root canal and restoration on teeth, but any wisdom tooth trauma may need removal. Then a mouth guard may be needed. Also important is to train the mind with correct mouth, jaw and tongue posture. Keeping tongue still and not pressing on teeth, lips closed and not to twist jaw.

From what little that I just discussed, I have over 2000 very long professional research articles saved with sorts of medical terms and conditions. These articles relate to cause or effect - tinnitus. Tinnitus and it's physical natures is involved stuff, but with physical tinnitus, the oral cavity is number one by miles and miles.

 

What I believe you are overlooking is...you believe lowered tinnitus will improve your mental health. You are denying the connection between the two. Nobody can will their tinnitus to go down or will good mental health. There are no known med's to lower tinnitus. But, many have gotten relief from their tinnitus by taking medication to put them in a better frame of mind which can lower tinnitus and/or allow you to live more peacefully with louder tinnitus you presently can't accept.

Finding suitable med's to help you will your mental health can be a journey. Trying a couple of med's and giving up because they don't help isn't a good option. This doesn't mean med's don't help. This means you have not identified the correct med's and dosage to work for you.

Contact Glynis with your list of medication to find out what she suggests for waking hours and getting needed sleep to put you in a calmer frame of mind. Don't give up on seeking med's to help with your mental health.

Pretty clear you are in distress and your brain chemistry isn't putting you in the best frame of mind. So you need to search for what you need….not dismiss the idea that med's won't help. They will. You need to work with a mental health pro that will work with you and you trust.

Please know a brain robbed of serotonin and dopamine and the necessary chemistry of neurotransmitter drugs...a perfectly normal brain like yours as you write lucid and intelligent sentences, needs the right balance of neurotransmitter chemicals to operate correctly. If nature isn't providing it, you need to seek help to find a better balance.

 

You need different doctors. Find one that can help you work through the flowchart I sent earlier. T isn't psy, it's absolutely physiological (it can even be seen on an fMRI as neuronal activity). You're not imagining things.

 

^^^ This

 

"You're not imagining things."

 

After my post above on mention of teeth, @Lynny I viewed your history. I will mention the most proposed theory from dental sites and advanced study.

The sounds that you are hearing is most likely related to mechanisms of dental and jaw injury. Compressive force to the retrodiskal tissues. From this, pulling of the lateral pterygoid muscle (from bite pressure on wisdom teeth) causing stretching of the posterior attachment - a disk.

Myospasm - sudden involuntary contraction of muscles from emotional/physical stress is most likely cause. In other words, abnormal jaw posture and parafunctional activity. This will cause an internal derangement. This can cause small gaps or pin holes between teeth and gums where infection gathers. Any sequential extension of neck including when using a cell phone with head twisted has been noted in many studies.

Complete X rays and maybe a MRI of oral and facial. A complete exam of mouth by an oral surgeon with experience in TMD. A special mouth guard made by a dentist. Medications will need to be discussed with doctors.

 

Greg,
Based upon your understanding of Lynny's mouth related tinnitus...what you believe....because it is somatic in nature if not origin, do you believe bi-modal stimulation will help her break up the synchronicity of neuron excitement,,this recruitment of neurons unrelated to her otherwise good hearing causing her tinnitus due to her jaw misalignment and muscle tension?

 

Hey girl I noticed you don't have your PM open, is there any way I can message you? We're about the same age and I wanted to talk to you about this!

 

It might help with resetting fusiform cell activity, but lateral pterygoid muscle stretching - myospasm, retrodiskal tissue trauma needs to be controlled. Susan Shore and others had discussed this, saying that jaw trauma needs to be treated.

 

Can you explain the mechanism whereby the region of the brainstem called the dorsal cochlear nucleus, which Dr. Shore is believed to be the root of tinnitus, why this is affected by jaw trauma?

Why the main neurons in this region of the dorsal cochlear nucleus, called fusiform cells you mention, become hyperactive and synchronize with one another, the phantom signal in turn being transmitted into other centers where perception occurs?

Why does the jaw relate to this this area of the brainstem? Can you explain the connective path and modality why neurons get out of sync in this area creating the phantom sound known as tinnitus?

 

@John Mahan

There several theories. One is the ligament that connects the malleus, a middle ear bone, to the jaw. I believe there's two nerves that serve both the jaw and the eardrum. Additionally, there is evidence that a nerve supplied from the TMJ connects to part of the brain associated with hearing. For these reasons, problems with the muscles, cartilage, and ligaments of the TMJ can lead to tinnitus.

When clenching or grinding, retrodiskal tissue pressure is placed on the bony wall that separates the ear canal and the TMJ. This wall is very thin and the theory is that it causes inflammation fluids in the ear which causes the tinnitus.

TMJ disorders may affect the auriculotemporal nerve with disinhibition of the dorsal cochlear nucleus activity, through the serotonergic somatosensory pathway.

 

@Greg Sacramento do you have mild hyperacusis/sound sensitivity as well? Curious whether hyperacusis also accompanies physical tinnitus. Thanks.

 

Thanks!

 

Hi @Lilah - I have distorted hearing, more so to motor type electrical sounds like cars, refrigerator and air conditioner. I'm able to control hyperacusis with a soft bubble brook CD played 12 feet away from me thru 2 speakers. I keep the sound at 25 decibels - very soft. Sometimes, I'm also able to lower a somatic T spike by holding neural temperature water in my mouth. This slows down nerve and muscle reaction from my jaw to ears and brain. Sometimes slowly chewing soft watermelon that makes soft sounds will help with a spike.

 

John, we had an interesting discussion. It's too bad that tinnitus is so complex with so much long worded biology to consider. It's understandable that many newcomers may not understand much of what we say. It's just not as simple as taking an aspirin for a headache.

For many months by PM, I had aided a young lady with screaming several tone tinnitus that had every physical problem imaginable. She received steroids for her jaw, used a mouth guard, other oral treatments, had a serious neck problem, serious sinus, allergy and ETD. Now she is in a much better place. She has gone six weeks without hearing a sound.

 

Hey Greg I had a thread I tried to tag you in a thread to see if you had any advice. I don’t know if you didn’t see it or the tag didn’t work but could you take a look. Thanks in advance

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-markedly-changed-by-a-neck-movement.36256/

 

lack of external sensory stimulation, across the board, calms me down

I think that my meditation practice might have something to do with it. On the other hand, "put that person into a dark, quiet environment" is the usual mantra for getting people through bad acid trips, and chronic health issues are sort of like a bad trip that never ends...

 

Yeah.. it was the least calming experience I’ve ever had. I wanted to die afterwards glad it calms you though