Two Months, Feeling Slightly Better

I got tinnitus two weeks before my 21 birthday and that was when my life took a different path.
I'm no native speaker of English, but after reading so many of you guys' stories, I really want to share mine.
Such support forum does not exist in China, where i live, unfortunately.

It might be quite boring and nagging, but I want to describe some details, as i think they might be the reason why i got T. (Doctor could not tell me what was wrong cuz i don't have any noticeable hearing loss or any other symptoms)

I remember clearly it was a Monday. I got up early as usual to go to work. Nothing was wrong in the morning or I was too busy to notice anything. I still can not forgive myself for doing that one stupid thing - I somehow chose to wear a short skirt with bare legs on an unusual chilly day. I already started to shake when I walked out of my dorm room. On the bus to where I walk, I played loud music as always to cover the noise from the bus engine and leaned my head towards the window to take a nap. I was frozen the whole time and when I woke up, my neck started to sore a little bit. During the day, sitting in the office, at some point i started to have a headache, it felt like I had a fever. And looking back, I did at that point start to hear some electronic sound in my head, and my ears felt like covered with something, but it was pretty much masked by other noises and i did not pay attention.

The night when I went to bed, when I put on my earplugs, T was there waiting for me and it never missed a day since then. My T fluctuates and for most of the time it's a electronic sound. Going to bed starts to become a torture and one thing I fear most. I tried to put on some music or white noise to help, but i was so used to sleep in complete silence with earplugs, so the music did help mask my T but kept me awake at the same time. I panicked, went to see different doctors, cried almost everyday and finally decided to go home for two weeks(I'm a full time college student with an internship job).

Things got a little bit better at home. With my family around, I was able to sleep but i still woke up a few times in the night. Then I started to try traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture treatment. All the doctors I've seen did not take me seriously, they said i was just too stressed, once i got some rest, i would be ok. But it was not the case. I admit i went through something extremely stressful the month before T stroke me and I had some health issue which i could not take care of because of being too busy at that time(a fever in the afternoon and stomach flu for a month and was super tired with a headache sometimes even when i just woke up). Rest didn't help much with my T or maybe it was not enough rest. I went back to school after this short break and started again to have sleepless night.

Here I am, stopped taking medicines except vitamin B, still have no clue how I'm gonna fix this. Some people say by changing their lifestyle, doing things like exercising regularly and eating healthily help, but I have been working out on a daily basis and playing in a volleyball team for almost three years with a very well rounded healthy diet (maybe lack of some carbs cuz I'm trying to maintain low body fat) with a good sleeping schedule form 11 to 7. I don't know why T happened to me. Maybe what the docs said is true ? I should not put myself into that much pressure?


Now it has been exact 2 months, the volume of my T stay almost unchanged (although indeed sometimes i feel it's lower and sometimes higher ), but I'm finally able to talk about it without burst into tears in the next second and sometimes even with T, i could fall asleep really quick (only occasionally, most of the time i still struggle a little bit and going to bed is still not something joyful for me like it use to be), i start to live my life again, studying for my thesis, hanging out with friends, and surprisingly, there is time in the day i can stop thinking about the T completely when I'm around friends or concentrate on other stuffs (but of course, when there is noises to mask my T). Now I'm looking forward to the coming school break at the beginning of next year when i can go home for two month. I miss my families more than ever and sometimes I even think my T is a sign telling me to not be so self-obsorbed, to stop being a perfectionist, to appreciate those small good things in life and to be thankful of what I already have.

 

Hello @Iris and welcome!
You have a wonderful command of the english language! I am not fluid in multiple languages so I am always impressed by the many members here who live in countries where english is not their native language.
I am not sure that wearing a short skirt on a cold day contributed to your tinnitus. I would be more suspicious of the loud music you used to cover the noise of your commute. Have you been to an audiologist or had your hearing tested?
I think it is good that you have a break from school coming up. Being with your family and away from stress might be very helpful.

 

Hey Iris,

Sorry to hear about your struggles. T can really be a pain sometimes. It seems like you're doing a lot better now, in terms of managing your emotional response to it. I think the key thing with improvement is realizing that it's perfectly okay to have both good days and bad days, but to strive towards increasing the number of good days you have . I'm in a similar stage of life as you (23 years old, recently graduated from university, just started working) so you're definitely not alone in this battle!

Another thing that helps is being thankful that otherwise we're both healthy, and to not let this consume our lives.

Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to chat!

Ethan

 

I'ms sorry you have this evil. You young like me. in this age we must work a lot and think about our future but with this illness it's hard think about future. I wish you will be better soon.

 

You are doing great for only being 2 months in. Keep up the good attitude and you will be fully habituated in no time. Tinnitus sucks, but if you keep a strong mind and do not let it break you, then you will be fine. A year from now you will not even notice the ringing 95% of the time.

 

Iris,
You have the perfect storm of tinnitus pre conditions.
High stress + loud music + fever/illiness can equal tinnitus even in someone as young as yourself as testimony by so many young people here.

Excuse me for saying this but your doctors are full of BS. We understand however.

Moving forward, this is a wake up call Iris to change your lifestyle. Stay away from headphone usage...that is from somebody who always listened to headphones. Guard your health. Yes exercise which will help your sleep. Don't drink too much alcohol but importantly stay away from loud music...invest in ear plugs to knock 20-30 dB off of listening levels.

Stay hopeful. Because of your age, your tinnitus may subside and possibly stop completely.

Here is the good news. My grandmother who never listened to headphones developed intrusive tinnitus the last half of here life she struggled with and led a long life until almost 90 years old. The rest of her body had worn out by then. She was beautiful btw throughout her entire life. For you things will be different...much different. Technology and super computers will change the trajectory of cures for disorders like tinnitus. You will have relief in probably your young life time and not struggle with tinnitus for much of life like my grandmother did.

Cheers from the US and be well.

 

Hey Lorac.
I did went to audiologist, actually twice in different hospitals, one at the very beginning of T happened, one recently. I have no noticeable hearing loss according to the audiologist.

I also think the loud music could be a cause of my T
Around 6 months ago after a night at club I also had T ( high pitching ringing in my right ear) for a few days and then it went away. I know perfectly well it was because of the loud music and someone shouted to my right ear, i could even feel the sound wave beating my eardrum and i had some hearing loss the next morning. But as i said, T went away after a few days and my hearing returned to normal only after 2 days.
My only concern is this time my T is a total different sound from last time and different ear (i can hear T in both years, i even feel T comes from my brain but left ear hears T more clearly)

 

Thanks ! We just need to keep fighting! How do you feel now? I hope you're doing Ok.
I was extremely depressed the first a few days when T happened to me, because I didn't think there could be a future for me anymore and I hated the word habituation so much cuz for me habituation sounded like giving up. But until recently, when i started to be able to get some more sleep and life goes back to almost normal again( I still have moments of frustration and being afraid of being alone or staying at quite places), I feel there indeed is a future for us.
My therapist asked me " If T is voice in ur head talking to you, what do you think he's trying to say?" Think about this. And immediately I have this feeling, my T is trying to tell me to stop being a perfectionist and stop freaking out when I'm not in absolute control!!! Ease down!! We young people sometimes put ourselves through too much.
Take me for instance, months before T, I ended my study in Sweden and came back to China. I took 35 hours classes every week, I got myself a perfect internship job at danish embassy and work for 20 hours a week, I went to the gym 5 times a week, I had volleyball training three times a week and I still went out with my friends, even had time to went on some dates. Well, life seemed to be fulfilling and perfect, but now looking back, my temper was getting worse and worse, I freaked out for small things, I had bad relationship with my family, my health situation started to go down..... all of these, I wasn't able to notice cuz i was busy living in the perfect bubble i created for myself and it blinded me from seeing things. AND BOOM, T STROKE ME. It's like a wakening alarm. I woke up with panic and frustration but then when i calmed down, I found out there is so much more in life!!!!And it's time for me to take good care of my body, to learn to be grateful and learn to enjoy what I already have.

Living with T is not easy but we definitely have a future, maybe a slightly different one from what we use to picture, but trust me this new one can even be better.

 

Stophiss,
Thanks for your support !!
I'm never a drinker (only occasionally), so this won't bother me much. But am i allowed to drink coffee? A lot of people told me not to but it's killing me when I smelled the scent of coffee...

How do you feel now? Does ur T bother u much?

 

Thanks Tyler !!!
I really appreciate your kind words.
May I ask how you feel these days? Have you habituated to T?

 

Hey Ethan,
yeah we are in a quire similar situation and it means so much for me knowing I'm not fighting this alone !!
How do you feel right now? Are you able to control ur stress level and keep it down now? I hope you're doing great.

And how on earth do people send PM here ... No clue ..

 

Coffee and alcohol do not increase my t, I drink my fair share of coffee and alcohol pretty much every day. No change.
Alcohol actually reduces the t for me.

 

clubs in China play music extremely loud..I went there a few times..beyond insanely loud, even with earplugs you WILL have some damage

don't go to clubs and of course don't use earphones at all..use earplugs when its loud in train or bus etc.. to protect your ears or even better use sound blocking earmuffs (Peltor x series) its easy to put it on and off..you are still young you can recover

 

Thats atrocious.. China must have immense Tinnitus issues then.

 

Hi @Iris
I am sorry to know of the discomfort that you are in with tinnitus at the moment. I believe your tinnitus has been coming on for some time and the clue is in your post. "played loud music as always" If you have been playing loud music through headphones often then this is the likely cause of your tinnitus. My advice is to stop listening to music through headphones even at low volume. This also includes not listening to white noise. I know some people listen to white noise through headphones without any problems but I do not recommend it.

Please click on the link below and read my post: Tinnitus, A Personal View. It covers tinnitus, hyperacusis and different treatments and also coping methods; such as using a sound machine at night in preference to sleeping in a quiet room.
Hope things improve for you soon.
Michael
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

I just know I'm not guy like before.

 

Hi Iris,
Cool you aren't a drinker. I am a social drinker only as well and even then I sometimes don't drink. America has severe drunk driving laws..bad news if caught with high alcohol level in blood stream.

I am a self admitted coffee-aholic. Having a cup right now after my bike ride in fact.
Honestly if your system is acclimated to caffeine...withdrawal from caffeine can be bad for tinnitus so consider that if you like to drink a few cups a coffee a day. So in my case, going off coffee would cause more harm than good.

I don't put much stock in alcohol or coffee consumption affecting T or H much. My personal opinion if you don't go to extreme. In fact, I believe diet provided it is generally health with fruit and vegetables and little red meat etc...has little or no effect on tinnitus. Stress is a big deal however...how you manage it and what your brain chemistry is.

At to my tinnitus...I rate it mild to moderate depending on what day or even hour it is. It is quite variable. I try not to let it affect my life in the least but I more reluctant to be in loud environments because of H as well.

Iris, I believe you will be OK if treat your health with respect and stay out of loud venues.

Good luck!

 

Hi Iris,

You will be fine!!

You expressed yourself eloquently in your post and in due time, tinnitus will be a non-issue for you. You are doing the right things and have the right presence of mind to sweep it under the rug! Good luck!!