Trying to Be STRONG… How Do You Cope?

I can remember the first day of my T since it started a little over a month ago. I was out with a friend drinking and having dinner, not necessarily a wild, loud or traumatic evening out; pretty run-of-the-mill, in fact. The next morning I woke up with T, and it hasn't let up since.
It starts from the moment I wake up and seems to intensify throughout the day, and as of the past week I have a sensitivity to loud noises, especially beeps from machines and even things like paper being crinkled, and certain high pitched voices. I also notice I seem to be clenching my jaw, at night and in the day. Don't know if its the stress of everything, or if I have an underlying problem. Only time will tell. Wish me luck.
I've already exhausted all the steroid options, i.e. Prednisone, nasal spray, and the audiologist noted a minimal amount of hearing loss, though I have no professional, recreational, or hereditary reason for it. I'm seeing ENT Dr. this week, but I'm prepared for the big brush off. I guess its the 'not knowing' that stresses me out the worst.
I'm writing in the hopes that just venting about my personal experience will help me cope a little better then Im doing right now, which is pretty hard. Ive always prided myself as being the strong one in my camp, so trying to handle my symptoms alone has been brutal. I feel for people who have an affliction that shows no outwardly obvious signs, as most people will just assume your fine, or exaggerating, or being dramatic if they can't see anything wrong with you. Its been a stressful and humbling thing. I've actually found a lot of comfort reading some of these recent threads. Thanks a lot you guys and gals, and hang in there!

 

Hey Heather,
First of all, I hope you are doing well and rest assured that this shall go away if you only think that " U R GOOD", you have no idea how positive thinking and talking to yourself in a positive way would even heal things you have and overcome a lot of obstacles. The energy that flows in your body controls your body, so make it always positive.

As you mentioned, "Not knowing" the cause is the big stress anyone can take especially when you were all your life good and strong and then all of the sudden something unexpected happens. I know the feeling of waiting results, seeing doctors, Last time I went to my ENT they took my blood pressure and it was high in the sky, my heart beats were racing i was hearing them high in my ear. Our body react to what we tell it, if your convince your self that your palm hurts and its numb and keep thinking of it, then be sure in couple of minutes you will have that feeling.

Once I talked about my problem with people, they thought I am being dramatic and it's something easy, and u know what? I guess maybe they are right and at some points we are weak and become dramatic and it's a phase and will go away!
Wish you good luck with your ENT and keep us posted, you have all our support!

Be Happy, You are Good!

 

Welcome Heather. Your story of how it started is similar to mine, out of the blue, waking up to a loud, ultra high pitch scream, and then starting to have sound sensitivity, severe hyperacusis literally. I don't think I was clenching my jaw but I was having stress too right around that time. Your jaw clenching may suggest some possibility of TMJ. Perhaps ask for a referral to see a TMJ specialist who also know tinnitus. Anyway my ultra high pitch dog whistle T & severe H just turned me into a mess physically and mentally a few years back, with relentless anxiety and panic attacks. Life was simply hell during those dark, dark days. I never thought I could get well and have good life again. But here I am today living a normal and enjoyable life. I wrote my success story like others. I sure hope you read up as many stories as you can to have confidence and hope that you will be well like others do. If a panic prone person like me can get better given time and learning some strategies of positivity and acceptance, have faith that you can too. If you want to know my strategies, for brevity, here is the story link. God bless your recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Thanks so much Enzo312. Sounds like you have 'Pulsatile' T, am I correct? Coincidently, my mother had it a couple years ago, at least. She was fortunate enough in a sense that it stopped eventually, but boy did it stress her out. Poor, Mama. Now that I suffer from T I totally understand how hard it was for her. Hope all continues to be well for you too!

 

Music and tea have been big for me. Not only does music keep my mind off of the noise, it is very cathartic and helps draw me out of the many slumps I've had in the past 2 months from this (as long as it isn't too loud, of course ). Tea does the same for me, it really eases the mind. I highly recommend getting tension tamer from celestial tea. The name speaks for itself! Green tea is great as well

 

Thanks so much for the resources, Billie! Yesterday, during my 1st post, I was really struggling. Now that I feel like I have something of a support group, I slept a full night for the first time in weeks! Its amazing how toxic negativity can be in your body and mind. I'll make sure to check this link out ASAP. Thank you for for turning your pain into something positive for others, its a blessing to me really!

 

Thanks Mike! Yes, I've grown to love herbal/green teas, especially since Doc told me to stay away from too much caffeine-laden drinks (less coffee?!? You might as well tell me to stop breathing! ) Yea, music is huge for me too, in fact I'm pretty sure I'd be lost if it weren't for it. I'm hoping that my hearing loss doesn't progress to the point I can't enjoy it, but I guess thats a bridge I don't need to worry about crossing yet. Random side-note, I looked up celebrities with T and at least 85% were musicians! Talk about suffering for the art