Slight/Mild Tinnitus

Hi folks,

Does anyone here have slight to mild tinnitus? By that, I mean tinnitus that is only heard in a quiet environment that is easily masked. You may even have silence at times.

In which case, does it cause you great anxiety and fear even though you may only here it at night or in bed and not outdoors? Is it holding up your life?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

Exactly.
For a few reasons.

First: That I have because of my own fault, while it could've been avoided.. While I knew what it was..
Second: That I'll make it worse, or potentially jeopardize any recovery. (I only have it two months and pray that it will just go away.)
Third: It changed how I stand in life or what is important to me.
Fourth: I look at everything post and pre-t. "Ow look, I didn't have T then"
Fifth: I am afraid to go in silent area's or to sleep without talking to myself, and putting on the fan.

 

I have mild-moderate T and I'm 100% fine with it. Hated it at first but now it doesn't bother me at all, even in silent environments. It's really very, very common. I worry slightly that it'll get worse with age but figure there are lots of bad things that can happen in life - worrying about them in advance is pretty counter-productive.

 

This sums it up how it is for me.

 

I'm dealing with this now. The worst part is not knowing exactly how I got here and how it is going to be two months from now. But overall from the start of it, it has lessened. Even as in typing now I don't hear it. (I will if i plug my ears but I've been good about not doing that)

I sleep ok but wake up with panic attacks I can be ok with this but the anxiety/panic is very hard. It takes me so long to get out of bed. Taking little by little steps to force myself back into my old life but cautious at the same time.

 

I have moderate T which I'm fine with right now. I even went to a couple of parties and concerts again and no changes. With earplugs, watching where I stand and magnesium and vitaminpills that is. I'm still nervous when I go, but I just love live music too much to not go. When I just got it, I was devastated. I never imagined that I would be able to be ever be OK with it. Thats the good news.

The bad news is that I worry about the future. If the universe guarenteed me that T doesnt get worse, I would be totally ok. I just don't how I'll cope if the noise gets worse. The condition can influence your personal life in a terrible way and I'm afraid that it will if it gets worse. I'm not an optimistic person and I'm easily discouraged. My GF and I are thinking about having children for example. I'm very excited about this, but at the same time I'm worried that my T will get worse from some reason and I'll become a terrible and depressed father who is occupied with himself. This is only speculation of course but it worries me none the less.

A minor other thing is that I miss complete silence. I will always miss this. Last summer I was all by myself in a field in the English countryside at night. It was perfectly quiet. Except for the noises in my head which weren't there before. I still remember it not being there and I feel nostalgic about it sometimes.

 

I *had* that type of tinnitus for 10+ years, where you'd hear it if you really listened for it, or if you were trying to go to sleep in a quiet environment. Absolutely zero fear or anxiety, just minor annoyance once in a while. Back then, I thought that *was* tinnitus, little did I know how crazy it could really be. Protect your ears when you should, ie, at very loud restaurants, clubs, concerts, etc.

 

Mine is mild now. It's there when in a quiet room. When I go to sleep since I'm a side sleeper it gets louder for the ear that's on the pillow. Probably because the pillow blocks sound. Not bothered by it since I don't hear it that often. I would be very bothered if it was much louder.

 

I thought you said it was like a vacuum cleaner a few feet away from you?

 

I'm in a similar situation, however my T is not so mild. Modarate I'd say.

1) I don't know if I'll be able to handle an increase. I'm genuinely bothered by something masked by my ol' big fridge, I don't have the 'mental resources' to deal with severe tinnitus.

2) On the other hand I don't want to be stuck at home and give up on social life all together because of that fear. But every party or event has some risk of worsening associated with it. See 1)

 

No way. I said that T in general can get just as loud as a vacuum cleaner if behavior (such as listening to loud music) isn't changed.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/loud-concert-magnesium-helped.20373/#post-235660

 

I would have to call mine pretty mild. Oh I hear it in the right ear, but doesn't bother me emotionally or any other way. Since getting it a week/1 day ago, it hasn't really affected my sleep. Since wife and I are both in our later 60's, anything can bother sleep. My hearing seems to be descent, for my age anyway.
We'll see how my 10-day prescription of Prednisone 20mg goes. My try a product called Stop Whistling. When wife and I go to listen to a live band now, we wear foam ear plugs. We are going to continue going to a pistol and rifle target range we're members of. I now have a nice/new pair of high-end Electronic Ear Muffs to wear there.
If the med doesn't work or, if I decide to try it, the Stop Whistling doesn't work, we will see about a hearing aid for me.
OTT, it's pretty tolerable for me.