Tinnitus Started This Past Saturday: No Previous Hearing Issues — Scared and Anxious

Any thoughts appreciated!!
Names Drew. Male - 44

First real indication of tinnitus was the Saturday just gone, 3 days ago.

A bit-a history!

Had a barotrauma situation at 15-16 in a landing aircraft, remember it being pretty painful at the time but shock it off, never an issue after that.

Tried getting scuba ticket the next year but couldn’t equalise so did not get it..

No hearing issues ever - and not aware of any hearing loss, and never felt hard of hearing.

Worked for an airline 2012-2014 dispatching aircraft but always wore protection. Other than that was never a real concert or music festival goer - did the nightclub thing but haven’t set foot in one in 10yrs at least..and not had any other exposure to excessive repetitive noise.

Have a pretty significant spine condition and chronic pain been under a mountain of stress with that - Taking Amitriptyline for few years and a few other drugs, and Ramipril for blood pressure for a few months...

Saturday - I wear the soft foam ear plugs to sleep. I took left one out and had a ping sound, faded and went back to sleep. Since then though have had tinnitus come on in form of a high pitch ringing. Made a doc appointment first thing Monday scared out of my brain. Gave me Otodex drops to do for 5 days (1st full day in).

Ringing feels like it may vary in intensity but can’t say for that’s all depending on how occupied I am I guess... If I was to chart it it’d be a “stock market” rather than a static line but it’s early days and possibly too early to really tell...

Again, any thoughts would be welcomed and mainly any ideas on how you sleep with this?

Cheers,
Drew.

 

HI @Drewski

Although tinnitus can appear for no reason this is not usually the case. The most common cause of the condition is exposure to loud noise. Typically, it is caused by listening to music through headphones/earbuds at too high a volume and for long durations. Wearing a headset for computer games, attending clubs or concerts wear loud music is played, or working in a noisy environment can bring it on too. Tinnitus can also be caused by an underlying medical problem within the auditory system and there are many - some are mentioned in my posts in the links below. Please take your time and read them as I think they will be of some help.

If your tinnitus is noise induced, then I advise you not to use headphones even at low volume and be careful of exposure to loud sounds. If you are sensitive to sound you may have a condition known as hyperacusis, that is often associated with NIT, then your tinnitus is almost certainly Noise induced. However, not everyone that has noise induced tinnitus will experience hyperacusis.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Hey Drewski

I think your mind is your biggest enemy at this stage of tinnitus, up until I went to A&E about it two days I was shit scared. I’m only 24 so the thought of this being me for the next 60-odd years was almost unbearable. I’m about 2 weeks in now and I’ve managed to salvage some positivity.

I also had a baratrauma incident going to Australia a few months ago but I totally dismissed it once I returned to normal (maybe a bad idea lol). I don’t think I even had it on the flight back home (I’m UK based)

Because I’m kind of new to this I can’t really offer too much advice, but the A&E doctor prescribed me some zopiclone to help with sleeping. Only 3 nights worth because it’s very addictive and loses effectiveness quickly but enough to get me back to a regular kind of sleep cycle. You could also try Valerian root - its a herbal sleep aid which also might help you sleep. For me it’s like the anxiety prevents me sleeping more than the tinnitus itself, so a natural sleeping aid that helps calm the nerves might benefit you too

Best of luck with your battle and you’re in the right place for support - just try stay away from the dark threads and you’ll come out of this!

 

@Michael Leigh
Thanks for your reply..

Ear phones of any description, isn’t something I’ve done excessively either but maybe has been enough..
Thanks for the info.

 

@RookieReborn
Thanks for your reply!

I’m Australian.. I’m sure you enjoyed your stay!

 

@Drewski I did, I was only in Perth but I can’t wait to go back and see more! Beautiful country you guys got there