Tinnitus for Two Months, I Think I'll Be OK

I'm Zach. I am 17 years old and have had T for almost 2 months now. I don't have any hearing loss and I suspect my T was brought about by either eustachian tube blockage or slight TMJ issues or a combination of both. I have it in both ears, kind of fluctuating tone and volume slightly from day to day and every once in a while I hear a super high pitch in one of my ears and it goes back to normal. With my sinuses clearing up and no huge progress, I'm beginning to think I may have T for a long time. This sucks because I resent our high pitched friend with all my being. At first, I kept my sanity by telling myself that one day soon I'd just wake up and the T would be gone. I think a part of me still believes that or at least wants to believe that, because I don't have hearing damage so it seems possible. When I found out I had T, it felt like a piece of who I am was ripped away from me. I felt like it was going to define me and I would never be the same. I scoured the entire internet for answers and found that next to nobody's T goes away, or at least if it does they don't post about it. I've realized that the more attention, anger, and frustration you feed your T, the bigger it grows and the worse it gets. Earlier today, I was feeling extremely distressed about the fact that nothing I could do would make it go away. Because of this, it only got way louder. I then came across a post on this forum that suggests that whenever you notice your T, acknowledge to yourself that you hear it and how it makes you feel. I have been doing that not even a full day now and it has quieted enormously. The power of the mind is immense my friends. Although getting used to the sound instead of getting rid of the sound isn't ideal, you have to accept that it's all you can do for now and that if you don't notice the sound, its almost as though you don't have T. The worst part of tinnitus isn't that you have to listen to this wretched noise. It's the psychological pain it causes knowing that you may have to deal with it for the rest of your life and never be exactly the same as you once were. I've realized that I need to move on with it, embrace the T and continue doing the things that make me happy. This has been one of the hardest challenges for me to deal with so far in life, but I feel it will make me stronger.

 

@Markku yup that's the one!

 

Hi Zach,
You're 17, eh? When I was 17 I had to sell my drums because of Tinnitus. I was really bummed. That was my senior year. I'm 56 now. And I've spent my life playing music anyway. Not super loud music, and no drums. But I've played a lot of music and done a lot of things in my life. I've had Tinnitus all these years. There were times it really got on my nerves, and times I couldn't do certain activities, but I never went nuts. One time about 10 years ago I was stupid and played some really loud music and even with earplugs I had a bad 2 year spike. The usual T sounds turned into something awful, like horns blowing. I held on and got through it. I wouldn't recommend loud music. I've learned a few lessons about what to do and what not to do.
Recently I posted that thread about measuring response instead of volume. I'm glad you saw it. I hesitated in posting it until I felt like it really was working in eliminating my T. Some people have written wanting to know how it works. I don't know how it works. I just wish they'd try it. Maybe it's hard for some people to measure their response instead of the T volume. I don't know.
Give it a try. Simply turn your thoughts to your feeling when you hear your T. Tell yourself how you feel. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? I did it, and a few days later I indeed noticed that I was having fewer responses. And it got better and better. That's really all you have to do, and see what happens.

 

@I who love music I'm thankful you did post that, it is already positively impacting me! It's inspiring to me how long you have lived through the T. If you can, there's no reason I can't. Still hoping mine goes away but I am prepared for the worst.

 

Welcome! Although I'm new here too. Your attitude is great and will get you through it. Acceptance can go a long way toward keeping your anxiety and stress low. Best wishes to you

 

Well done mate. I'm impressed how you're dealing with it. I'm not doing too bad either. And i'm trying to think practically too. But i don't think i would have coped so well at 17.

 

...they drown out the "T"

 

This is inspiring and so true. The sound itself isn't the problem for me - it's the anxiety that goes along with it. In going to try your sttategy. Thanks for sharing

 

Hey you sound like a success story already!! Good for you. The technique I mentioned isn't just a way of dealing with T, it's a way to destroy it. - In my opinion.

 

The pre-frontal cortex (your conscious mind) does mediate your emotional mind but it's a slow drip drip process of applying very gentle pressure to it; over time though it does add up.

The trick is to tailgate your acceptance on to a positive emotion you may be feeling at the time. Strong emotions create what's called a "transderivational search" where your emotional mind is face to face with the world without mediation from the minds immune system the critical factor. The unconscious mind is very suggestible at this time and information coming into it can leverage your own belief structure that T is harmful.

Attaching an "acceptance" suggestion at this time gets you past the guards at the gate so to speak as the positive emotion is linked to it as a package.

This is the core principle of hypnosis. For example: A hypnotist will suddenly jerk a patients arm and give the suggestion "sleep" and they go into a trance. Basically they are creating the emotion of confusion and the unconscious goes WTF and boots up to deal with it (confusion usually meant danger to your stoneage ancestors) and the conscious mind is relieved of command so you can rely on time and tested emotional heuristic responses to deal with a potential danger. Being a suggestible fellow it follows the command and you do indeed sleep (we think it's to do with following the lead of others who appear to know what's happening and have a strategy to deal with it from experience)

Everytime you have a strong emotion use the open door to your unconscious to accept your T.

 

I get it now.
This is a wonderful explanation. Thank you!!

 

Can it be a positive and negative emotion or only positive emotions??? Thanx for explaining this so well,

@I who love music How are you feeling these days??? Hope all is well.