Tinnitus and Anxiety

Hello, I am writing this with tears in my eyes hopelessley. I have had tinnitus for a while but for some reason this past Friday it hit my anxiety like no other.

All my brain does is fixate on it every second of every day and it's caused severe anxiety and depression. The worst feeling I have ever felt.

I feel hopeless especially since I've gone and seen the ENT specialist today. I'm just trying to find out how people who have anxiety and tinnitus get through this horrible patch. I'm scared I might settle for suicide when I don't even want to do that.

But this tinnitus and the fact that it's always haunting me isn't making me feel good at all.

Any feedback helps to ease my mind. Thnank you all.

 

Did your tinnitus come back this Friday (meaning you have had it for less than a week), or did it come back earlier and only began bothering you on Friday?

There are several things you need to know about tinnitus. First of all, most people find that their tinnitus keeps changing. What this means is that the sound you are hearing right now is most likely NOT the sound you will be stuck with. T fades for most people, so it will most likely get easier to ignore.

Have you tried sound enrichment to give you something else to listen to besides T? Nature sounds (e.g., the sounds of crickets) work well.

 

Our fear and anxiety about T has a lot to do with our mental state. Sometimes it is not the tinnitus that bothers us. It is our negative reaction towards T when our nerves are in highly stressed out state that can get us stuck on T. How I know? I am someone with decades of anxiety and panic disorder. Sometimes the body would go through a weakened mental state due to the disorder. I have found that in that weakened state, T seems much more bothersome and harder to shake. So I turn my focus away from from T, but to focus on ways to deal with stress and anxiety instead. Things like CBT, mindfulness meditation and doing something interesting can help to stabilize the nerves. Going outdoor and enjoying my hobbies have also helped to calm the nerves and in turn it makes T a lot less intrusive.

 

HI @Arod_13119996

The advice given by the two members above is very good so there is no point me repeating it. Please click on the links below and read my articles that you might find helpful. Try to read them in full.

Hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael


https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-mental-health.21978/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-answers.22554/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

 

I had it back in 2011 and it went away. When I say it came back meaning on Friday I had to be taken to the hospital because how bothersome the noise is. And I appreciate your feed back. I woke up this morning ok, but as the day progresses I just find it harder and harder to ignore.

 

It might take 3-6 months for it to fade. Try to be patient.....

 

@Arod_13119996 ,
Tinnitus comes from the part of the bain as our emotions come from the Limbic system so ealsy to see why we have a big wobble with unwanted emotions.
We are here around the clock to support you.
Love glynis

 

Patience is the key Bill and many people at this forum don't want to do that. They want to recover in a few weeks or couple of months and it isn't going to happen. I wonder sometimes how they would cope if they had to wait 4 years to habituate, as I did for the 2nd time. Or like others that have endured some difficult times with tinnitus but managed to stay focused and are here today and able to look back to see how far they have come.

Michael

 

@Bill Bauer, @billie48, @Michael Leigh, and @glynis are correct, it takes time to recover and/or habituate. Also, anxiety is very often triggered by tinnitus, and suicidal thoughts (unfortunately) are common as well. All I can say is hang in there, and please do not harm yourself. It will get better, and it will get easier to deal with, but it does take time.

 

Hello,

Sorry to read that you got Tinnitus...

This is very new for you so I am sure that you will get used to it... Or at the very least, you will have your anxiety less important...

 

Thank you all for the reply. I occasionally forget about it, but it comes back morewhen im in a relaxed state and enjoying time with family. If anyone has any hints on how to relax and take it off your mind I'd highly appreciate it.

 

I am in sort of a down mood today. Kept busy with projects around my house outside in nice weather listening to the sound of the ocean waves and the distance seagull cries. It is rather beautiful here on the ocean side.

But, after all these years and staying away from internet support and working on myself and various issues....I read the desperation in the new and some older tinnitus people. The amount of younger ones astounds me. Not sure how many are over the age of 40.

I am just sad.

However addressing the issue of anxiety is so very important. It isn't the type of anxiety most people get. It is a real symptom caused by the continuing NOISE of various loudness degrees and different sounds. High shrills. Low tones. Screeching metal sounds. So many different types of NOISE.

People with diabetes have to stay on medication to regulate blood sugar.

My belief is that if someone is suffering from tinnitus induced anxiety that is the first symptom to treat with various methods and medications. But the stigma and scare tactics of addiction often make me mad. Because this medication saved my life. Carefully monitored by my doctor and never over medicating or mixing alcohol or other street drugs.

Used correctly it saved my life and still does. Never once had to up the dose. I know I cannot just stop it without careful reduction. But a diabetic cannot do that either.

Sometimes it is just needed for short term depending on the individual's situation. And sometimes with nerve damage that cannot be repaired it is necessary to continue a normal life of some sort.

I had been involved with the ATA back in 2002 - 2007 or so. Then involved with OHSU in Portland Oregon with their wonderful tinnitus clinic and Dr. Billy Martin. A few years ago the university closed down the clinic and he moved to Singapore with his wife to start the very first tinnitus clinic in that area of the world. And to teach at the university there.

Tinnitus experts simply do not exist. And the one who claims such a title with a lot of internet involvement was the reason I left everything to do with tinnitus for a very long time.

And then when Tinnitus Talk became free of that I started seeing a lot of good things happening. Sure we still have no answers or real treatments but there are techniques discussed by Micheal Leigh and others that can help many people. But that is on the other side of the world from the USA.

Arod not sure why I digressed but you wrote about not being able to stop the fixation on the tinnitus and the associated anxiety. Please understand you can do things to help with the anxiety symptom. It is real and keeps us from being able to function normally. But it takes time and effort and sometimes the right medication. I don't believe ADs are the right choice for the one symptom of anxiety. And those are often prescribed way to often rather than an anxiety medication.

For me it was the anxiety that contributed to the depression.

Those who abuse medications and use drinking and other substances take away the ability for those like us who need this type of medicine.

I used other forms to treat the anxiety like hypnosis, guided meditation and other forms of body relaxation.

Once I got a handle on that and it took me some time because of the severity and nerve damage I got my life back.
I do have restrictions that I like to follow. I don't go to movies or loud places. I live here by the ocean and spend my time in more nature. I run everyday and use music therapy that I simple found myself by listening to certain songs and finding the ones that had a certain tone and harmony or whatever.

Work on stuff like that if possible.

I wish you success and dedication towards finding a solution for your issues. Trial and error sometimes. But it is possible.

 

Thanks a lot for your words starthrower. It gives me a lot of hope. May I ask what medication is the one you were taking exactly? Right now I am on Zoloft due to my over thinking and anxiety. I have a bit of trouble with tinnitus at the moment in bed, but I'm fighting through it. Seems to be getting louder for some reason but I don't know if it's just me.