Tinnitus for a Year — Done MRIs and Audiometric Exams — Depressed and Struggling

I have had tinnitus for about a year now. I have visited three ENT's doctors in my area. I have done an MRI and two Audiometric exams. MRI was clean,

Audiometric exams revealed a slight sensorineural hearing loss in left ear.

However, the ringing in my left ear is a high pitch noise and it does not go away nor does it diminish in intensity.

Because of it, this year has been hell for me. I am constantly depressed. I have gone back to the Dr's claiming maybe the MRI missed something and what I really have is a tumor.

They claim that I am over thinking this way too much and that there is no tumor as per MRI report and the best thing to do is to forget about the noise.

How am I supposed to forget to something that is inside my head? I am in a bad shape right now.

Has anyone out there had the same experience? Thinking, that really the source of the noise is a tumor, despite the MRI showing no tumor and going crazy about it. Please help.

 

There are plenty of people on this forum who have the same symptoms as you, who don't have any tumors.

There are some possible cures for tinnitus that ought to be available relatively soon. So there is still hope.

 

Check out https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

@Michael Sola,

Would you be comfortable posting your audiogram? (you can delete any personal info on it)

 

Hi Michael, and welcome!

I have sensorineural hearing loss in one ear, a 100% loss. It happened one day in 2013. I also had the MRI which revealed no tumor. These types of tumors are pretty rare and I trust that my MRI results are correct. Doctors said my hearing loss was probably caused by a virus.

After five years, I still hear my tinnitus, feel my tinnitus, think about my tinnitus daily. The hearing loss has altered my life unfavorably. That's the bad news.
The good news is that I am not feeling trapped and afraid and depressed or suicidal now. I felt all of those emotions during that first year. The tinnitus is annoying and I am always hopeful that it will stop. I just don't have those strong emotional responses anymore. I think about my tinnitus every day but I do forget about it at times, when I am busy focusing, working, creating.

Different people have different volume levels and for some, the condition is debilitating. Many others are actually able to forget about it completely, or the noise goes away (and they go away from the forum). I am just relating my own experience to you. My condition persists but has improved dramatically over time. I hope you also see improvement in the coming months, Michael. We understand what you are going through.

 

Aren't you a good candidate for a cochlear implant? Have you considered going down that path?

 

You can’t treat the stimulus, but you can treat your response to it. I say look into Zoloft or anything else to knock down your hyper-vigilant response. Then wean off it, and you’ll be back to listening “out” instead of “in.”

 

What is sensorineural hearing loss? Is that noise induced hearing loss?

 

I think I asked about that within the first five minutes after diagnosis. Unless there is significant loss in both ears, insurance does not provide for implants in the U.S.

 

I guess almost any hearing loss would be sensorineural because the ear hairs and/ or the eighth cranial nerve sustains damage. Mine was labeled "sudden sensorineural hearing loss" because it was sudden, profound and without any obvious cause. I am doing okay though, despite a very frightening and depressing first year.

 

No, although noise induced hearing loss is almost always of the sensorineural kind. I have SNHL that wasn't noise induced.

For reference: https://www.medel.com/us/hearing-loss/