Tinnitus for 10 Months (Unknown Why/How It Started)

Hi friends,

It has been 10 months with tinnitus. I don't really remember how it started, or what happened. There is no reason for it to happen. I listen to audio at low-moderate levels using noise-cancelling earphones. I live in a very quiet village.

Anyway, the first time I felt of it was when I woke up one day to hear this shhhhhhhh in my head. in the day, I went to college, forgot about it. The next day, the same happened.

I then went to an ENT consultant who said it may be due to ETD. I accepted his opinion because at this time if I do valsalva maneuver, I would silence tinnitus for seconds.

Actually, after using some nasal sprays, I could not feel tinnitus. But, days after, the bothering sensation returned, with much higher. I first attributed it to psychological stress, because I have family problems and medical exams.

But, after finishing nothing improved. Even, the valsalva not working.

I went to the doctor again in February 2019, and he asked for audiogram. I did three, in March, April and May.
All three showed normal hearing.

During the past three months, I was having final medical exams. I could not express how deliberating was this period.

I was very panicked, crying all the time. I - unfortunately - used benzos to sedate myself.
In the past month, I managed - after reading stories in this site - to 'accept' tinnitus as a new visitor in my life.

It was very difficult - as Med student I know the obvious facts about tinnitus.
I quit benzos. I went to another ENT consultant, he gave me 5 days of steroids. It was helpful in alleviating the severity. I told me to relax-physically and psychologically- and to not give it attention, and to wait for up to 12 months. He said either you will adapt to it, or the brain will silence it.

I actually lost hope that it tinnitus would go away. So, I started to 'accept' it, and live upon this fact. But, I found it difficult.

Please, I need your advice and help about acceptance and habituation.
Also, how have you adjusted your life to tinnitus?

 

Don't accept it. Since you are a medical student, put your mind to understanding what is causing it and never stop searching for a way to potentially make it go away. There are a handful of private companies that are testing or are about to test tinnitus and hearing loss drugs. The main tinnitus research organizations aren't really doing anything to help us find a cure. Also, you should join My Posting Place.

Also, noise cancelling headphones can actually generate very high frequencies depending on the type of noise that they are processing. There is a software lag that could actually cause higher frequencies add up when the phase shift is just right. That could be the culprit.

 

Welcome Mohamed
Can you tell us how loud your tinnitus is? Do you hear it all day? Do you hear over your TV, in the shower? Do you have any special symptoms, like tinnitus becoming louder when background noise is present, hyperacusis?

 

In the beginning I have had hyeracusis. But, it is fading away. I really can't specify for specific level of my tinnitus. Yes, TVs comfort me and silence it, but it returns much louder.

 

From the little information I have I estimate your tinnitus to be moderate. In general, from what I've gathered here, people with moderate tinnitus eventually habituate to their tinnitus. It can take however anywhere from 3-24 months. There's a small amount of people who cannot habituate or have a lot of difficulty because of a specific brain malfunction (see here: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/habituation-linked-to-sensory-memory.34226/). I estimate that this happens more frequently with people who have severe tinnitus that is difficult to mask at all.

There's still a moderate possibility that it gets better in the next 1-2 years and even if not, there's many treatment options coming up within the near future (currently Lenire and soon similar devices from University of Michigan and Minnesota).

For stress reduction you should give exercise, yoga and meditation a shot. It helps me cope with anxiety and stress (has diverse causes in my case, mild tinnitus and mild visual snow among them).

 

HI @Mohamed83010

Although you don't know what caused your tinnitus, I believe listening to audio through headphones is the cause. Even though you believe the volume was low it probably wasn't as you thought and most likely used them for too long a duration without giving your ears sufficient rest.

Headphones are the most common cause of "noise induced" tinnitus closely followed by attending places where loud music is played. Clubs, concerts etc. My advice is not to stop using headphones even at low volume as there's a risk of the tinnitus becoming worse but the choice is yours. Please click on the links below and read my articles on habituation and treatments for tinnitus that you might find helpful.

Take your time and read each article in full.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

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

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

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

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

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

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

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/can-tinnitus-counselling-help.22366/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/a-change-of-lifestyle.20643/

 

Hi,

during the past two days, I was crying, depressed. I imagine how my life will be with this suffering.

Really need help.

 

Hi Sevv,

I read a post of yours and it said you have habituated. Wanted to ask how loud your tinnitus is? Where all can you hear it? And by habituation, do you mean you just not notice it anymore or did it actually lower in volume?

Thanks!

 

Mine is relatively quiet, but can be heard usually always when I listen for it (low volume, very high pitch). By habituation I mean not noticing it, although it generally goes down when habituating because there's no stress reaction anymore.

 

Yeah, same is the case with me. But it’s usually not that quiet though, but high pitched as well. How did the habituation process start for you? Right now, i can always hear it when indoors and sometimes outdoors as well if not much is going on and i focus on it. Can you hear it in a quiet street if not much is going on and you focus on it?

 

How are you doing right now, Mohamed?

 

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Right now it's just audible in a quiet room.
I guess habituation was a gradual process for me. Coming to acceptance of having to live with tinnitus for a while (that was awfully difficult). It was important doing other things so tinnitus would be relegated to a lower priority. Doing that I realized that there were still many enjoyable things to do (I enjoyed silence a lot before). So my priorities changed a bit how I enjoy doing things (it's more about doing now). It took me half a year however to get to this point (also because I also developed mild visual snow, though I deal with that the same way, and even enjoy it to some degree now).