Starting Tomorrow, I'm Going to Take a Break from Tinnitus Forums...

Well, I'm very new here, but I feel like I've already read everything I could possibly read about tinnitus (obviously an exaggeration). I've only had tinnitus for 11 days now, mine is personally a high pitched "EEEEE" sound which I'm sure many of you are familiar with, very annoying. It came out of the blue, was out with a few friends playing pool and having a few beers, came home and hopped into bed and turned on TV and noticed that I could hear ringing above the TV. I thought "eh no biggie, it'll be gone in the morning", obviously it wasn't gone and the first few days I couldn't mask it at all, I could hear it over my headphones, over the TV, over everything honestly. Now I've noticed that I can mask it fairly well, just playing music very quietly through headphones (50-60DB) which im thankful for. I don't know if its because the ringing is actually quieting down, or if its just because I'm just overall a little bit calmer about the situation.

I've seen two ENT's, the first said I had a bunch of impacted earwax and cleaned it out and said, wait a week, should get better. My overall opinion was that he did quite a bad job evaluating my situation, so I made a second appointment right away for a second opinion. Saw that ENT today and she looked at my ears, said the last ENT did a horrible job of cleaning my left ear and she pulled out a decent chunk of wax, this didn't calm the tinnitus any, but at least the wax is gone. Tomorrow I have an appointment with an audiologist for a hearing test, however I doubt I have any trouble with my hearing, as I really haven't had that much exposure to noise, not a big concert, or club guy. The only thing that comes to mind that could of caused damage is the few time that I listened to ear buds loudly, or from riding my motorcycle without ear protection. But I can't imagine those being that cause, as exposure was fairly limited.

Anyways, this post ended up being a lot more long winded than I had expected. I'm going to take a break from anything tinnitus related on the internet for a month or two. It's not going to be easy, but I think it's really going to help get my mind off this whole situation. I've definitely noticed that when I'm busy and not thinking about it, it's as if it isn't there. Even being only 11 days in, I've already had moments where I'd be busy with the family eating dinner, or watching a movie where I'd be like "Wait, where is the ringing....Oh yea there it is". As awesome and supporting as this forum is, all it does, at least for me is make me concentrate on the damn tinnitus.

I'm going to do my best to stay positive and active. I'm not going to lie, I'm still hopeful my tinnitus will fade as it's only been 11 days, but obviously no one knows. I'll definitely be back with an update, even if a miracle happens and it disappears. I want to thank everyone for the wealth of information and support I've been given in this short time. Stay strong everyone and see you guys in a couple of months.

TL;DR - Taking a break from tinnitus related forums, and just trying to stay positive and hoping for best.

 

Each person is different, @AntonR. Some people draw strength and get good advic from others on good online forums, like this one. But for others, it keeps them focused on their T. You were not here long but if leaving feels like what you need to do, best wishes. You always can come back if you need to.

 

Oh I'll definitely be back in the future LadyDi, I just think I need to keep my mind of this tinnitus thing for a little bit. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.