Tinnitus for a month

Hey Everyone,

My tinnitus began a month ago, right ear only. I did some playing around with tones today and it seems to be mostly at 16.2 kHz frequency, although there's like 2 smaller ones that are only noticeable if I really look hard for them.

It happened after my sister begged me to go to a night club with her while I was visiting. My usual nature was to avoid loud noises because I preferred quiet but she asked repeatedly. I was unaware how much danger I was in since everyone seemed fine and probably been clubbing for a long time. I only spent 50 minutes at a relatively (still too loud) quiet table and 10 minutes at the dance floor (way too loud!) to satisfy my sister. There was one point in the song where the crowd started shouting along and the music cranked up and was probably the point where damage was done since it felt painful. Still new to this sensation but starting to get a handle on it. Hard time forgiving my sister for it, but I found out after she's had tinnitus since she was 13 after a school dance and doesn't think anything of it. I really do hate that there weren't earplugs available on site and no warnings given. My family all tells me it's a fact of life.

I've mostly lost hope that it will go away since it's so constant. I first noticed it a week afterwards when I had a quiet weekend. I was watching a show and kept wondering what that annoying sound was till i quickly figured out it was in my head. Not sure if it was there all week or some hairs finally died that day. It was really hard on me for the next 4 weeks as my sleep deprivation began to take a toll and anxiety mounted till my heart felt like it would burst. I just really wanted to hear silence again, and constantly felt like I was under attack and couldn't fight or run away. Nothing I did could calm me down, and lost my will to live for awhile. I used to enjoy perfect silence a lot and have a hard time in general accepting flaws in my senses. By far it's been the worst experience of my life.

Tried visiting two ENT's, one a week and half after the night club and another 5 weeks. Both told me no visible problems with my ears and that nothing could be done about the ringing.

I'm handling it better now and have moments where I forget about it completely. Playing some white noise and light meds helped me get a decent night sleep again which improved my mood tremendously. I just wanted to write down my story since I feel unique in my experience, I didn't think I could get noticeable damage after just one hour at a night club. Just started trying some notched sound therapy, but not sure it'll help since its so high pitch and quite mild. I think this has probably gotten too long but I didn't want to miss anything.

Thanks for listening.

 

Welcome to the board, James. We do understand your struggle as most members have been where you are now. Not too many can exempt from the initial struggle of anxiety, stress, depression and sleepness. Yes, many also report having trouble with suicidal thoughts It is quite common symptoms of the initial T struggle. Glad to know that you are already doing something to treat your condition. If you are already having moments you are not aware of your T, that is a very good sign. Your T being so new may fade or disappear. So don't worry about it much. Even if it stays,if you are already having moments you are not aware of your T, then this can only get better with time and you may habituate to the ringing sooner than you know. The success stories forum are full of such examples of people habituating to their T after some time with various approaches. So you may want to read them to learn some insights and to have hope that you will get there too in time. Take care and God bless.

 

Your T looks mild, so it will happen the same as wearing glasses. At some point you will listen to it but you will not notice.When we use glasses, we know they are there but we don't think about it.

 

Thanks, it really is mild. It only really bothers me so much because it's something I never experienced before and feels like I've lost something that was flawless and never could happen, and constantly reminded of it. Would've rather got warned about this than constantly warned of std's growing up to be honest. Although I did have one class in grade 6 a man came in, gave a talk about how he got it from a car crash and how it sucks. Really appreciate that talk now.

I am sure I'll get better with time but I still lament that it could have been prevented.

 

Agreed.

Depending on your location (in the world) and your willingness to explore new options, you could attempt to enrol in a clinical trial such as AM-101 (and possibly others that will become more widely available later on eg. AUT-63, OTO-311). A course of steroids is sometimes deemed helpful right after onset, but it seems you missed that opportunity at this point. For what it is worth, the clinical trials have high standards and I would not hesitate to join one myself if I had the opportunity.

 

Yeah I asked about steroids at the week and a half mark but he said no to it, and not sure where to find any trials really. My location is Halifax, Canada. I am a bit wary about doing anything that could possibly make it worse since it really is mild now.

 

@James P

James,

be careful as hell from now on. Your tinnitus is on a level you should be able to live with. But once your stucked with it, it might not take much to screw it up. Use earplugs in any noisy situation, and don't hesistate to turn down events if you feel worried. I'll even turn down Christmas next year, because of certain enviromental issues at my dads house. If anyone starts argue with you about it or play the blame game, just tell them a guy on the Internet told you to stand firm no mather what.

I am just like you someone who needs things to be calm, and my T is four of five times yours. Believe me, you don't want to end up where I am now.

 

James
my T can be calm for days and then POW out of the blue off the charts loud and extremely annoying. I listen to white noise all day and night sometimes just to keep calm and mask the high pitch ringing I hear in my both ears/head. Sometimes I just get so tired dealing with this T,,,I just pray for silence to return at some point soon,,God Bless and good luck

 

Thanks for your advice and stories Vincent and joviona, I hope it gets better for everyone. Mine feels like it's always the same volume and rhythm everyday but my perception of it differs at times. I feel I'm past the crippling fear associated with the sound but just want it to be less annoying.