Worsening Tinnitus After Trying Notch Therapy

Hi, I guess I'm posting this because I'm freaking out, it's been 24 hours since everything got worse. I learned about Notch Therapy on the ATA website and used https://tinnitusnotch.com/ which was suggested by a Tinnitus Talk member to try to match my frequency.

I think it was a huge mistake. I have different frequencies in each ear so I tried my right ear first, I got up to 15,000 Hz and couldn't find a match but after I tried I noticed the pitch had changed, it was higher and louder and I also had a fullness/pressure in that ear as well as a headache brewing on the right side. The left side seems to have a slightly higher pitch as well, it was not subjected to those frequencies though. I'm fairly new to tinnitus (one month or so) and I'm not sure if I've ever experienced a spike before so I'm not sure if this is just a spike or if this change will be permanent. It's definitely much worse than it was before and I miss the monster I knew.

I'm very stressed and mad at myself, asking myself why I did it since it had only been a month and I feel I should not have even tried it but I was looking for anything to help it and now I fear I've just done more damage and made everything much worse. I'm mostly looking for support, anyone who has any advice or tips on tinnitus or how to calm down. I'm kind of a neurotic person, I am easily frustrated when I feel I'm not in control and I think that just adds to the catastrophic thinking and stress.

Does anyone have anything that might help me mentally? How long should I expect a spike to last? I appreciate any advice or help!

 

@CC333, there is no set time for the spike to stay permanently.

From experience, what I advise you is to stay away from stress and anxiety, I discovered today that it can cause cochlear damage, and increase your tinnitu...

When I first got the tinnitus, if I hadn't done anything and had just waited, I wouldn't be as severe a case as I am now.

 

Yes, I feel like if I could have just relaxed and not let it own me then I would be better off right now. It's frustrating and difficult to destress because I feel I caused more problems and am stuck in a why did I do that and mad at myself cycle.

 

I also didn't do well with one of the notch programs i tried. I am also somewhat new to tinnitus, but mine has changed in so many weird ways I try not to worry when something new and particularly alarming happens. I just do the couple things I've found that helps and wait and see. I had some days where i woke up and it was sooooooo loud, but it never stayed that way long.

 

It's nice to know I'm not alone in this thing changing! What have you found that works well for you?

 

Protection from noise early on is key. Notch therapy is the opposite of that, and should be avoided.

 

@Digital Doc, I had been pretty protective of my hearing up to that point. It was definitely a moment of weakness brought on by severe stress and very loud tinnitus. I'm very upset with myself and I just hope I haven't permanently damaged it further.

 

My tinnitus seems to be sound reactive, so I've started wearing earplugs/noise cancel headphones whenever the tinnitus is stressing me out too much. I can still hear it, but it's much less intrusive.

Also, I listened to like 20 of those 'tinnitus music' things on YouTube. Pretty much all of them didn't work, or actually made it worse, but I found 1 that worked for me pretty phenomally. I usually listen to it while I work, and then if I'm stressed out, I might listen as needed later in the day.

 

Let me guess. It is the high frequency tinnitus relief video.

 

Hi @rhwelc -- Could you share a link please? Thanks!

 

Not implying this will work well for anyone else. Like i said, most of the ones I tried were unhelpful.

4 Hours of High Pitched Tinnitus...

 

This is rookie 'high pitch', haha. My tinnitus is 16 kHz and some tones around that.