So Here We Go...

Not really sure where to start but, here's something...

I'm currently a 22 graphic design student from NZ into my final year of study. I honestly haven't a clue how I developed what may be Tinnitus, but after a trip to the doctor's today they believe that may be what it is. A high pitch drone that has haunted me the last couple of days. Couple this with my tendency to overthink and get anxious over the most harmless of muscle twitches, does not make for a fun time, and it is hard to concentrate at times.

I have been able to sleep the last couple of nights, but fear that may not be the case tonight. I start on some anti-anxiety medication tomorrow. I have been able to make it through the days if I'm engaged in something like a video game or my drawing and eventually forget about the hiss altogether and usually when I'm out walking in the sun or what was a pretty horrid day out, it doesn't bother me and I don't notice it. But silence does seem to make it kick back in.

I guess i'm still in that panic stage as I am shivering a bit (though it is pretty chilly here). The music player on the front page helps a bit, but yea I realize part of it is learning to accept it and to some extent ignore it, but here the struggle begins.

 

Hey @TheUntitled1 and welcome to TT..

I am sorry you developed T, but luckily from what you say it sounds kind of mild.. So you should be able to habituated fast.. Sleeping is the worst moment and I suggest you to use some masking sounds to cover up your T and start working on your reactions to the sound you hear, try to accept it and at the same time ignore it as much as you can by being busy and in no time it will be just a background sound which will not bother you as much...

Do try and see an ENT maybe since the first few days are the most critical to get T away if it came for an infection or something..

I hope it will go away soon, or at least a fast habituation..

Take care of yourself and your ears!!

 

Thanks for that feedback and advice!

Surprisingly, I did manage to sleep perfectly fine last night, I didn't even use any sort of masking sounds. It was just a good sleep from 12-8 (I'm not a night owl). Even now as I type this having just woken up, it's only with focus that I can really notice it so... I duhno, I guess it is a really mild form of T? They did do a checkup on my ears and found no issue so...

There's an update after day 1, I guess. either i've adapt REALLY fast, or it's not as threatening as my anxious mind made it to be?

 

Good to hear you are coping well... By the sound of it it could even go away as it came, so do protect your ears from now on and best of luck!!!

 

I agree with Lorenzo. It seems your T is mild. If it takes focus to listen the ringing, then your T is already showing sign of fading. So it is likely it may disappear over time or at least not noticeable. This plus the natural tendency of the body to habituate to the minor ringing should help you over time. If you don't react negatively to the ringing, then the brain will not treat T as a threat and it won't zoom in on it at the slightest ringing.

Take care & God bless.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words.

Last night's sleep was kinda scattered, I still can't tell if I actually slept or not. I'm going to try leaving some of the audio therapy music on tonight.

More information I can describe on mine. I can't actually tell which ear it's in. It sounds like both, but if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say left. I can say it fades into a lot of background noise easily, say walking around town with the cars and crowds, or something like a microwave going. Though there are times when I guess I perceive it to jump in volume? The audio player seems to do a good job of masking it when I'm working on my computer.

The only real question mark I'm having right now is how I came about getting it in the first place. I purposely keep my volume low and am not really hammered by loud noises daily. The last prescription medication I finished was a month ago which my GP believes to be a bit delayed and I didn't experience any problems while taking, but still. I plan on seeing an audiologist this week to at least get some advice and work something out.

Still a bit panicky but I'm doing my best.