Tinnitus... Did You All Get Panic/Anxiety When It First Hit?

Hi All.. New to the world of tinnitus.. Trying not to desparately search the internet for cures, and obsessively dig my way out of this..

I have a history of anxiety and panic, and obsessive thinking (some phobias, etc.) I know this makes the tinnitus worse. It does appear though that most of you have a bit of anxiety and panic when it comes to tinnitus as well, no?

It appears though that most people who get severe tinnitus end up with anxiety, panic and obsess about it as well, am I right? I mean I hear that some of you think about it all day every day.. So I'm just wondering if I'm at a disadvantage because of my anxiety /panic, or if it's just par for the course anyways?

Just trying to develop my "game plan" here.. So far I am finding "acceptance" is really the key.. It's just so hard when something is screaming in your head to accept it.. I imagine over time that gets easier..

I often am coping OK throughout the day, then suddenly it will SPIKE like a hammer and send me spiraling and frantically trying to figure out how to "get out" of the cage..

Anyone relaet?

 

I didnt get a panic attack when it first hit. Probably because it was mild. I dont think ive had a panic attack before

 

It took about 4 years for real panic to hit me. This was a long time ago. Then through the years it would come and go, usually attached to T.

 

I suffered decades of anxiety and panic disorders prior to T & H. So when they it first hit me, they opened the flood gate of hell of relentless anxiety and panic attacks on auto mode the minute I woke up and through out the days. What a tough time and dark dark period of my life. Only meds could help me stay alive back then. I never thought I could recover but here I am living an absolutely enjoyable life. So never say never. You may take some time, but you will be just fine. Try read up the success stories and you will find most people were having a hard time initially, full of panic and despair. I post my success story too 'From Darkness to Night...'. So read them up to get some insights and hope about your future. Take care & God bless.

 

Thank you so much! I've made it a point to ONLY read the positive posts on here, success stories, etc.. Today is probably the first day that I've experienced happiness again. Trying to deeply accept it.

Just wondering a quick question.. When watching TV for example.. The tinnitus is roaring, I say "I accept this, and don't care".. or I who love music's approach, such as "Ah the tinnitus is back, and I feel frustrated. " Then try to share the space with the tinnitus, and focus of watching TV.. But the tinnitus is still screaming. The I start getting anxiety, despair, panic, etc.. Any other tips or mindset to focus on?

 

TV is the only thing that makes my T 'appear.' Weird.
Hey, hang in there with the BTS Method. ... and quit describing your T. It makes it easier to hear if you describe it. Good luck.

 

Today is four months for me.
I was alternating between panic/anxiety attacks and depression for about two months.
I have always been an anxious person, and prone to short bouts of mild depression (though never anything close to being suicidal, thankfully.)
Now, I know what it is like to have a real panic attack.

About five or six weeks ago, though, I stopped having panic caused by the T.
Now, I just feel sad about it.

I take a lot of heart in all the posts of success stories, and knowing that people can overcome T and go on to be happy again. That, along with my family, is the only thing that has held me together.

So, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Good. You don't want one.

 

I definitely had a heightened feeling of panic and anxiety, especially in the first two months. Then in December 2014 the feeling of panic anxiety subsided and was substituted by general depression. After December, the "reactive" side of tinnitus that was giving me so much anxiety and depression (i.e. really big spikes of T in group settings) seemed to subside and now the depression around my T is pretty much gone. I still have days better than others--this past weekend my T was more bothersome on Saturday than it was on Sunday--but for the most part I feel back to "myself" in a way that I couldn't envision when I was really in the throes of it.

 

Hi, @jeffreyjames: My tinnitus sparked rolling panic attacks very soon after my tinnitus onset. As you probably know, tinnitus can feed into the automatic nervous system, which sparks those "flight or fight" reactions. I had rolling attacks; I could feel one start, then it would peak and completely overwhelm me, then gradually subside -- and then, after a brief spell, I would feel another one coming. It was hideous beyond belief. I had no prior history of anxiety or panic although, in retrospect, I had been struggling to deal with a very high stress work situation for awhile prior to my tinnitus.

Like @billie48, I needed meds to get through it -- that and a good cognitive behavioral therapist (that really helped me with the acceptance part). And yes, I did come out on the other side of it, stronger and wiser. Today, I no longer regularly take anxiety medication and have learned how to naturally shut down the anxiety spiral should it rear its ugly head. Besides CBT, you may want to try biofeedback, meditation, mindfulness training, etc. Hang in there. But do get the help you need pronto.

By the way: Research definitely suggests there could be a link between tinnitus and anxiety. But its not known which comes first: does chronic anxiety cause tinnitus or does tinnitus cause anxiety? It probably is different for different people, as it so often is with T.

Good luck and hugs. Only those who have experienced panic can truly understand how physically miserable it is.

 

Try to wear headphones while watching tv - at a low-level volume. It helped me a lot.

 

You are describing my own experience within the first few months. No amount of will power orstrategies I learned from others could help the brain from freaking out with that T ringing. I had to use many other strategies to minimize the fear of T, to try to use parallel analogy with people working in real loud jobs, to try playing blind and handicapped, to use singing (mentally if I couldn't sing loud) or doing mental maths to get the mind focussed on something else instead of focussing on T. For example, the minute the mind was trying to focus & fear the T, I would first say 'Hey, T is harmless. It is annoying but I will get better over time'. Then I would be singing the words of songs I know loud or in my mind, trying to recall the words so the mind has to work hard. Mental maths was also really nice way to put the brain to work instead of worrying about T. I would start by mentally deducting 17 from 500 to get 483, then deduct that by 17 to get 466 etc. etc. If this is too hard, try some easier ones as long as it can put the mind to work instead of focussing on T. I learn these techniques to deal with anxiety w/o drugs because I had suffered decades of anxiety and panic disorders. See if they can help your anxious mind.

I also did many things to minimize T. For brevity, you can read my success story post for more detail of what I did to minimize T. I also continually countered the distorted thoughts (called cognitive distortions) by writing out my fearful thoughts and countering them and I stored them in WORD documents which I could constantly looked at all the time. Whenever I had a break, I could go through these to get my brain slowly conditioned to think T is not a threat. The body/brain was actually lagging behind my will power. So I also told myself to accept the concept of 'the spirit is strong but the flesh is weak', but that my body would eventually get used and hardened to the T ringing, and so it did. Time is on your side if you stick to some good strategies over time.

 

jeffreyjames
Glad you found TT and didn't get 'scroogled' looking for quick fixes. Good on you not getting anxious about T.

I had extreme anxiety when mine hit; I don't have a history of anxiety / panic disorder; but T brought me to my knees. It didn't need to be that way, though; had I found a site like this I would have received sound guidance and support.

You hit the nail on the head -- acceptance is the antidote to anxiety. Yes, it is very difficult at first; but it's the right road for you to be on. Never give up hope for a cure; however, work on accepting your situation in its entirety right now (you will be far better off). Yes, over time it most definitely gets easier.

Are you able to mask your T?

Mark

 

Yeah I think most people get panic attacks to start, its something you can't control so I think it's natural to feel threatened by something you don't want and can't do anything about.

 

My anxiety was through the roof at first. It's gotten better, not much though.

 

Yes I did

 

I couldn't sleep to start with then I jut got on with it but occasionally I might have mental break downs but not often. Your very right acceptance is the key, if you get obsessed looking for cures you let it control you, just forget about it and live how you want to live just being a bit careful with your hearing.

 

Stayed home from work for 2 weeks when I got it. Thought my life was over. Now I'm much better. Take care of your ears so it doesn't get worse. Now my biggest fear is that it will get worse. Right now I'm doing OK. Good luck

 

Sure did.

 

Not really.
When I first got it, I thought it might go away. Slept nicely, just went on with life.
It took me about a month to realize that it might permanent and then... just started heading for the bottom of the barrel.

 

Yep, a LOT of anxiety, which was an old friend of mine. It went away though, again. You will feel better as well, rest assured!

 

As you will see from most replies your reaction is very normal. Most who don't feel worried had mild T.

 

Typically, I don't suffer from anxiety, but when my T first started, I was scared and panicky. I still have bad days, but I try to stay calm and hopeful.

 

Yep, same here . I think everyone has some form of it. That sucks as well.

 

Sometimes hopeful, occasional despair. Lots of anger at the Specialist Medical profession who basically bill us fully for the privilege of sitting in the presence of their grandeur while they show us they know nothing about it, and would rather we hadn't shown up.

 

Not when it first hit, but after a few weeks when I realized it wasn't going away and didn't get better.

 

For my first year, I handled T pretty well. It was "moderate" in my mind and I could ignore it some of the time when I was having fun/working/etc. The other day it randomly spiked and hasn't gone back down. Every small spike I've had has been permanent. With this new spike came some anxiety as well because the T is screaming without cease. I'm trying to relax and I haven't experienced the anxiety since. Habituation back to hell. Ugh.

 

I've had tinnitus for less than 3 months and now I really have hope to recover from it. I get clogged feeling sometimes and my ears hurt a bit when I'm in noisy places. Yes, I freak out and cry a lot, especially during horrible spikes. At least I used to. Now I think things are going to get better over time.
I'm even going to a concert to see my fav band in October (even bought m&g package, yay! I'm going to hug them and talk to them, finally!) and I don't care about it because my doc said I should just wear earplugs during the concert and stay away from loudspeakers. The funny thing is, I got T from seeing the same band in the same city. XD There was a lot of screaming (yep, I like core music) and I was screaming a lot as well. I didn't think something like this would ever happen to me, because I didn't even know thing like this existed, lol.
I stopped learning to scream for a while (hope not forever but it can damage your hearing from the inside) but now I'm considering learning Chinese as a hobby. So no, I will never stop going to gigs or clubs (with earplugs, of course), but I don't do damage daily, despite going to school... (I'm considering whether to wear earplugs there or not). To tell the truth, I even became more sociable and chatty after I got my T. And I don't worry about things so much- I say f*ck it to almost everything bad that may or have occured.
I still panic a lot about it but my life would be worthless without any social life. Screamo music describes me best and I'm not going to stop listening to it.

 

After a few days or maybe a week I had so much anxiety that I didn't know what to do with myself. But it gets better with time. Nowadays I only feel anxiety when something very loud has happened in school or something like that. It ruins my day, but the next on I'm fit for fight again.

 

Hi All ,
Yes I did too.
Tinnitus comes from the Limbic system and part of the brain that our emotions come from also so the unwanted emotions seem to come with Tinnitus and hard deal with along with the sound the first few month's. ...lol glynis