Young with Tinnitus

Greetings my new tinnitus-friends!

I'm a girl aged 22 this month, who as of late (approx the 15th of august) developed tinnitus.
On both ears there a semmi consistant ringing tone, and on left the loudest and a bit darker tone.
Last year I started clubbing, and specifically I played at clubs as a DJ. Oh dear this starts well..
Compared to the lot of my collegues, I've hardly been exposed to the amounts of loud music, yet .. Here I am!

In the late of September I read a facebook post from a dear collegue, asking advice on hearing protection regarding her severe tinnitus.
Since I was a child, I've dealt with some psychological pickles, specifically an anxiety of becoming ill/dying (a beautiful thing my mind made up, which based on pure fear, rendered me ill in different ways lol).
It has been less prevalent in these late years, yet the moment I read about my collegue, ofc I had to start sensing symptoms and worry.
In October I had 3 gigs, the last one being at the 11th. The past days after that I had no ringing or what so ever.
At the 15th my family found out my brother and I involuntarily had rats beneath our floors , hence I currently have a rat trap beneath a heavy box in my room, with a drilled hole in the floor. Two years ago we had gone through the same woho!
Up until the 16th 'it was all great', that day the ringing began.

In my fear of this new invassive sound, I wore earplugs as protection in desperation, using them a bit roughly I guess. The rough use led to a slight irritation of the ear, leaving me with the hopes of a infection as the cause, 'sadly' this doesnt seem to be the case.
My doctor told me based on the description of 1: I have some pain in my ears 2. As of late there's been tinnitus a couple of days in the left ear: "THERE IS NO CURE FOR THAT, LEARN 2 ABSTRACT FROM IT, GET ON WITH IT". Planning on getting a new doctor ..

So I actively sought up an ent and audiologist, who told me that there were no signs of too much earwax, and I had no hearing loss at all, just normal hearing.
Yet this leaves me with so many questions. I don't know what's worst, the sound, or the fears surrounding it. One thing is getting used to a stable sound, but when I twist and bend my necks in certain directions it changes, sometimes to a much louder version if I keep it in an outer position. I do have neck problems, and seemingly yay so much for searching the web, I might have some symptoms of TMJ. When I open my jaw to an outer position, the t intensifies, I have a little superhero-sized chin/cheek, and when I open my mouth wide open, it goes slightly to the left and then right back into the joint when I close it. But honestly I've never experienced any pain or problems with my jaws.
Anyway.. I'm even afraid of stretching out at this point. One thing is dealing with something stable, another is fluctuations and the thoughts of it might worsening to the sounds of the outer positions.

I don't even know what to say or think anymore, I've been sick from school several days, but being alone with your own thoughts at home is almost worse =(

*I'm fantastic at sleeping, but I do feel like going to bed a lot earlier as of late, thus waking up even earlier to an even longer day...
Also previous to this I wasn't exactly happy, but not as stressed as in the moment of first t
Another thing is I find my my t to be somewhat fluctuating, might be my focus, but I've felt both some tone changes on left and right (not sure if for the better or worse)

Any hope providers out there?
it would mean a Lot

 

Tenna,
Welcome. I'm fairly new here. I didn't find much support from my ENT either. Because of that I started my search to help myself. There are some really supportive, knowledgeable people here. Look around and see others stories and tips for coping. I am very lucky, my sound is a very high pitched that doesn't fluctuate too much at this point. I have been focusing on other things in my life so as not to obsess to much, which I did the first 2 weeks I discovered I had T. I had myself so stressed and it was making things so much worse. Try to find your comfort zone. If being with other people keeps you focused and less worrisome then do that. If playing music takes your mind off of the T then do that. Easier Said than done I know but a lot of us have hobbies or things to keep us grounded or sane. Stay positive. There is a lot of info here and people who want to help.

 

Tenna,

Welcome, I am new as well (since this week to the forum and to T since late August).
I understand your anxiety and reaction to it. I had the same. Luckily it became less the last week!
Pls read my introduction (Electric Storm) and some reactions to it. May this help you as well.

Hang in there!

 

tenna,
hi i am kevin ( astronomer ) newcomer as well with tinnitus since april 2013, when you do feel alone or isolated just remember you are really not alone , always feel free to share your ups and downs with all of us , as always i find you should try to dwell on positive thinking, yes, sometimes not easy but life is wonderful , sometimes we just have to deal with curve balls thrown at us ! try to have a nice week ahead, kevin , from ontario,canada, and yep, it is getting colder here

 

thank you all!
Meestijn: I'll definitely check it out thanks! Glad in some odd way others felt what I'm going through, oh as in the anxiety or the tinnitus became less?

Lulubug: Them special doctors.. When going to your gp he tells you to go home and rest for a week, and return if problem persists. When problems persist, he sends you off to a special doctor, who either can do or just does nothing, perhaps even affects you for the worse. Incredible how such short time can be so decisive, those 2 weeks were a horror.
Playing music was a great hobby of mine, but now I hardly even dare listening to music, not knowing how that t will respond eeep =(

astronomer: You're right .. I 'm thinking about the fluctuations in my t that sometimes appear.. it scares me yet it provides me with hope. One thing is getting accostumed to a stable sound, but changes are a constant reminder.
Also the thought of not having a hearloss-related t is both scary and good. The prospects of a cure seems lesser just because of that ;( yet I find consolidation in my hearing being intact (for future potential zombie apocolypses etc, its good to have!)

I'm so troubled guys. I just discovered the value of concerts and cinemas these late years, and without any seeming excessive use I'm going to ireland in half a year, and all future prospects seems almost ruled out. the thought of the tinnitus responding to flying, which ive always loved, and limiting me is unbearable

 

Now searching around on tmj, too many diagnoses to handle in such short notice
I'M A DELICATE FLOWER WHO CANT HANDLE THIS, ah lol this is absurd.
Bear with my venting and crying ;I

 

Has your ringing improved or stayed the same since you got T? If it's improved I would say that's a good sign for you.

Don't give up hope. For all you know you could wake up next week and each day it will be softer and softer until you can only notice it in the quietest of environments or not at all.

Just try to keep your emotions in check and not panic. I mean every does panic, even if they have the slightest tinnitus and I don't blame them (I did). But you need to overcome that panic and get out of fear mode before you can make improvements.

 

Tenna,

Take care of your ears! Do it while you still can and your tinnitus is mild. I have had tinnitus since I was 17, I'm almost 28 now. Just because you're young does not mean that you are immune to tinnitus or hearing issues. If you are a DJ (you aren't the first to post here that is a DJ!) do what you can to protect your hearing. If protection helps and the ringing does not get any worse, I would continue to pursue it as a hobby because staying busy with tinnitus is the key. As time goes by, you will be totally unconcerned by your tinnitus if it does not go away. Hang in there and protect your hearing, it's your best option right now.

 

Neo: One morning as I rised too fast from my bed, I got dizzy but the t dissappeared momentarily, very odd. Else there has only been one point where I walked around for a couple of minutes searching for the sound, uncertain of whether it was there or not, might be placebo but I didn't hear it hm! Once in a while it can suddenly switch on a very loud and clear pitch for 10 seconds, then back to 'normal' t. But really, despite some depression, anxiety and all the lovely sideffects, I'm pretty good at sleeping. It's a rollercoaster but I emain hopeful! and especially keep in mind what you said about you might wake up one week (thats a good start already) and it may have become softer

Hudson: How are you holding up to this point, and how did you get it?:I crossing my fingers for it to get more tolerable indeed.
It troubles me slightly how I can tweak my head probably due to tmj, and in outer positions, yawning or sticking out my tongue it will intensify immensely - just the prospects of the ringing becoming so extensive
ofc I avoid most avoidable loud things but my t doesnt seem to be triggered by them, think it's rather just a psychological sensitivity. Also it's tough with the dj thing, I had my best gig so far the 11th Oct, and the t kicked in the 16th, impossible to know whether that did the trick or not! Such a pickle

 

Tenna,

Myself also quite young and have had T for a few years now. It's recently been much worse as I pushed my luck attending a few concerts this summer. I never gave it a second though prior to a couple months ago as it was so minimal. I even wore ear plugs to these shows too!

Find some comfort in knowing you're not the only young person dealing with this constant annoyance. I will say though that it's taken nearly a month and a half since the last concert I've attended to obtain noticeable improvement and reduction in ringing. There is a lot of negative sentiment on the internet about T.....However while I am no doctor, I am confident that the body is capable of healing significantly given enough time. You just need to let it do so and try to respect what your body is telling you, at least that's my theory.

I have made a commitment not to go to clubs / concerts now and have stopped producing electronic music which is a huge passion of mine (at least for the time being). Sounds awful, but there could be worse things in life then ringing in the ears.

I will one trick I've discovered is that when going to bed if I put ear plugs in and lay still, the ringing after a minute or so will almost completely cease. Therefor I've never been bothered when trying to sleep. Just an interesting trick I've learned.

Anyway...It's such a bizarre annoying problem and so difficult because other people can't understand what you're going through. I am new to this forum as well. I hope you find some relief soon, I would recommend taking it easy on the DJ gigs though....and if you can't, look into getting professional molded ear plugs by an ENT which I'm told can block out the higher frequencies.

Cheers,
Max

 

Aloha tenna, hope you fing great comport with the TT forum, i know it helped me alot when my T first began july 2013 , take care and wish you the best .. we are all in this together,,

 

it's horrible other have to go through it, yet knowing that others have it is a comfort sure. My body is telling me to isolate me from everything my hobbies have always rendered me crippled, (damn you electronic music and videogames)
honestly music is not the greatest achilles heel to me.. rather the uncertainty of not knowing what you can and the anxiety is the tip of the weightscale. The last 6 years I've been dealing with physical pain from an impressive computergaming-injury colliding with psychological issues, last night I called the suicide hotline for the first time, just to have their voicemail telling me they were too busy doh
Add to that, the newfound tinnitus.
6/22 years I've spent completely sad, at this point I'm envious of you with only t I don't know what to do, no worries though im too big of a wuss to do anything drastic

 

I'm sorry you're having a difficult time at the moment. At times it can feel totally unfair to get this tinnitus on top of all the other problems in life. Especially in the beginning can be very stressful which adds up to all the other stress in life.

It is sad to have to give up some hobbies. I had to give up to sports hobbies due to joint pain. It was quite hard, as I used to go to the sports training 2-3 times a week and had done it for several years. It also makes you realize that even at young age we are not immortal and with age there can come more restrictions or diseases. I am also still saddened by the fact that I will probably have to give up going to gigs or clubs, as I can't risk my T becoming any worse.

You just have to give yourself time to adapt to everything that has happened to you. You have to accept that as the tinnitus for you has just started, you will probably feel miserable for a month, maybe half a year. But after a while you will certainly feel much better and you will remember the bad times only vaguely.

 

I really hope you're right!;( Things were just starting to get slightly better -.- Went to my gp yesterday telling her that I was troubled, psychologically, physically and on the tinnitus front. she responded that I looked fine and healthy, and I just had to learn to 'seize the day' ......
puts things into a perspective making me appreciate this forum even more!
really feeling you on the part of being unable to go to gigs/clubs, its quite a hobby to cope with other things and enjoy.

 

Hey Tenna, how are you doing now? Any improvements or progress?

 

Well I have some physical issues and psychological issues which aren't going so well, but I had a surprisingly good t day = ) Yesterday I was watching a movie, lying on my left side so my left ear (worst one) was muffled into a pillow. Either my ear totally shut off in a good way or then I had what seems to be 1 second free of tinnitus in it, woo! The second after order was restored. It might be because I have bigger issues than t to attend to but here a bit after my 1 month t anniversary, it's less of a worry!

How about you?

 

It's my 1 year and one month "T anniversary"! Wohoo! So some sort of morbid celebration is in order

I'm new to the forum and was looking through the Introduce Yourself section (which I still need to do I guess), for similar cases to mine.

I used to Dj occasionally, but nothing serious. Lots of gaming. Have also been a victim of my own thoughts from my late teens, always thinking about dying and the array of illnesses I could or might have. Went through quite a bad bout of anxiety problems.

When my ears started ringing it wasn't after loud exposure.. I just noticed it one day. Went to a bunch of ENTs and specialists - the diagnosis, "your hearing is perfect". I was devastated.

I've spent most of my life wanting to go back a few years and do things over, maybe even have a normal life, why does everyone else have such a hassle free and normal existence? And then add Tinnitus onto it all!?!

Somehow, I stumbled onto a book called Full Catastrophy Living by John Kabat-Zinn. It's probably, in retrospect, the book that's had the most profound effect on my life.

...oh boy I've realised i'm starting to hash out my whole life story..

err, so to cut pages and pages down to a paragraph before I get carried away;

Have you ever given Mindfulness any consideration? Not the crystal waving chakra aligning type, just the "I'm going to sit here and focus on my breathing for a while. I was amazed to see how busy my mind was with thoughts.. And bad thoughts! Millions of thoughts! Holy sh@t my mind was full of unnecessary and more than often negative thinking. Which made me begin to realise that my whole life narrative, the sad story I tell myself again and again, was mostly an acumulation of all this unconcious type thinking.. And all very much subjective rather than objective.

BUT my sad story is not who I am, it's rather something I use to identify with. I thought that was Caleb. It's kinda like when you see a beautiful sunset and the thoughts melt away for a few seconds - in that moment life is so profoundly beautiful and there's no voice telling you "you're suffering". So getting tinnitus and reaching a new record low actually kickstarted this whole process, and when you asked how I'm doing it was quite weird to realise that I'm actually in a better space now than before I got the T. This must sound crazy!

I must stop, but last thing . The tinnitus at first made it very difficult to meditate, and I got quite anxious I'd make it worse. But did some reseach and googled "mindfulness tinnitus". Check it out.

Then I did an 8 week MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction) course at the end of last year and have managed to keep it up. I have started to live again

Look into it and decide for yourself obviously.

Wow that must be the longest answer to the shortest question

 

Tenna you got so much living to do yet!

 

@Caleb

God damnit
How old are you btw?
And yea it was quite a good question it seems ^^

It's "fun" to read what you're describing. I myself have for 1½ year been dj'ing occasionally. Gaming since I was a kid on a serious lvl. Since around 2002 when I watched a program on anthrax acid (oh dear sounds like a dragon from skyrim) well I've been haunted by the anxiety of becoming ill, which basically made me ill as mentioned. The thought of me and all the Presidents as anthrax targets... The anxiety still haunts me in a lesser extent to this date so I know exactly what you're describing, unfortunately.
physically and psychologically I had a meltdown at age 16, semmi computer-gaming related too, which I hope is the physical manifestation of those psychological fears ;\ or something to be excersized away eventually! experts I've seen so far just didn't do the trick hm.
T is overwhelming in itself, but this piling up T_T
I've always felt slightly sceptical towards mindfulness/yoga etc, I like kicking things and running around in a circle but I really consider trying it out.

Yes give a piece of music to the noise induced t sufferer I definitely hear you, it has just been looking hopeless for years, but hey I'm still here = ) Wicked song!

 

Oh btw I'm 48 and new to tinnitus and an avid fan of RPG's your not alone! Did you know the last time I checked my Steam account I spent 1332 hours in Skyrim. Well the game is beauty personified....only enhanced by 120 active mods!

 

Lol thats a funny image but yeah, don't give up kicking things and running in circles!!

I got my T at the age of 29 - so now I've just turned 30. And yeah, pretty much up until 29 I was really skeptical of anything to do with meditation.. I kinda chucked it in there with the whole new age thing. It wasn't until I by chance started reading some scientific papers on the measurable effects of the two and a half thousand year old practice that I started getting interested. Just the practice, not the religious side of it. A year later and I realise that my mind has been on a kinda autopilot for the majority of my life, and the cause of much of my suffering.

Oh and my gaming has died down a bit over the years but I still pick up and get through awesomeness like Skyrim and GtaV. Loved them!

 

Hey there. It's a bit comforting to see I'm not the only 22 year old here, though that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather see you well. I'm in the same boat as you, I loved making EDM, and going to see DJs preform with friends. Over the last year I have had some drastic life altering events (including tinnitus obviously) that have hindered my ability to do anything I used to. I really hope you are doing better, you seem like a pretty fun person! Your positivity is very comforting as well, thanks for that.

 

Heyhey! Oh I believe there are a Lot of us out there. I'm not sure whether mine is noise induced, perhaps due to jaw dysfunction, sure noise cant have helped = ). At festivals there are no awareness of this issue, perhaps small bad earplugs in a corner if you search thoroughly, as you make it with your t to the doctors, they tell you "ITS YOUR OWN FAULT". The treshold for everyone is different but the awareness is generally little. I can hear mine above every daily loud noise, and with only specialists without specialization, I know it's really hard to cope Just on that front.
Like you I have other health issues which prior to this t tip of the weightscale, really put my last 5 years to the test. (quite many percentages out of 22 years ye).
Honestly it's not as much the constant super loud sound which I find troublesome. Cultivating the music was my way of coping on the other fronts, which I now have to find a substitute for.
Trying to find a new focus in spite of all my calamities, then came t But I'm still trying eventhough god is making it VERY uphill

 

Wow, I thought you had mild tinnitus. That sucks it's moderate.

Since you like electronic music have you ever heard of miami nights 1984?

 

Without a balance of food, sleep, exercise, social relations, and work, you end up cracking in unexpected ways. Gaming could be just the thing you were spending life on at the time.

I found that mindfulness thing in the twitter PBS tinnitus chat. It seems legit. Don't know squat about that liberal hippie meditation shenanigans, but count me in if it is any help.

Aircraft cabins are 75-90 db, 100db at take off. Don't sit at the back and wear airplugs, -20db is a good enough protection. If you double with a cheap $10 earmuff, you are super duper safe. Also, the swag of a Neiko Safety Ear Muff is unparalleled.

 

Hi how are you getting on tenna? Iu just had my mri results and they are normal which I kind of knew already
Was going to ask you about the humming you get you said you hadn't heard it for a while, how long is that, weeks or months or longer? I heardine this morning for the first time properly in long time bit tried not to react to it. Hope your other noise isn't troubling you too much at the moment.

 

yeah frohike, it's always a definitely a combination! I've been quite skeptical towards mindfulness but I am not to reject it, gonna try it out asap!
I'll definitely keep that in mind - just came home from the cinema and those loud noises (YEEAHH ENDER'S GAME) has caused no spike or what so ever, will keep the advice in mind for the ride


Lana! That's great, and a little shame no answers to the t were given
Regarding the humming it's something I've had for many years when I think about it (right ear only), it has been more prevalent since the onset though and can appear out of the blue, or sometimes be triggered somatically.
It's there most days on and off, as I've had it for long it hardly troubles me at all, while it's a quite loud (in the forground of all sounds I hear) vibrating hum, ofc I pay more attention to this slight change. But yeah, it has become something that's just there, which I mostly don't hold any hard feelings toward
To be honest then I've tinnitus-wise had Great days. My tinnitus has at no point decreased or anything, just rather in a mood of acceptance not acknowledging it as the biggest issues I have now (is that good? lol). Well, I've gotten used to one t-kin before, it must be possible to do it again!
I hope that hum of yours is being nice to you! Keep on not responding to it, that amount of absense can only be a good sign

 

I'm a 19 year old student with Drug-induced tinnitus. I've had Tinnitus for 6 months now and it has been a massive challenge. It was 2 months into my tinnitus that I was told it was a chronic condition, from that point I fell into a spiral of depression and anxiety. Went through all the similar stages: fear of loud noises, feelings of despair.

The major issue for me was that my lifestyle and my entire life that went with it was no longer possible. I clubbed prolifically in my first year of university so I basically designed my life around that activity, all my relationships centered around it, So it was devastating to find out I couldn't do it anymore.

So I did the sensible thing: I stopped going out to loud environments and plugged up wherever I heard a loud noise.

But it was miserable. I did not want to live a lifestyle where I couldn't go out, chat to beautiful women, have fun with my freinds and live the student life. The alternative was just too depressing.

My resolution is to live life again. I still go clubbing and this is how I do it:

• Before clubbing I take magnesium, NAC and vitamin supplements (this is to protect the hair cells in the ear)
• I limit my alcohol consumption to a few units as it thins the blood and makes it harder for oxygen to get to the hair cells
• Use custom fit full blocking/23db attenuating ear plugs in bars or places where the volume isn't so high you can still talk to people.
• In the club I wear 33db foam ear plugs (They must be fit correctly, if they are not then they are providing no protection and you will receive damage as a result, I had been using ear plugs wrong for a while)
• Take frequent break, half an hour IN 15 mins OUT, repeat until exposure is 1 and a half hours.
• You will have a spike the next morning and this can last up to two days, do not test your ears or measure for an increase as you will become stressed.
• For the next 5 days you should take supplements to protect the ears, magnesium, NAC as this is when the hair cells will decide to die or survive.
• The next time it will be safe to club will be two weeks after your spike as any damage by then will be permanent but before that time noise exposure can make the damage worse.
• Finally, accept that if you do this there is a risk, hearing damage is cumulative so although you don't feel an increase to your tinnitus after following these guidelines you may still be making it worse. Everyone is different it's your decision to make.

I don't beleive I'm being irresponsible here as I'm doing this a safely as possible and I'm not doing it nearly as much as I did before. Concerts are also a no go for me- 120db concert is a different beast from a 100db club.

I see it this way, there will be an effective treatment in 10 years and a cure in 20 years. I need to be able to 'go out' for the next 5 years at least as this is how I will socialise, find a relationship etc. After i turn the need to go into loud environments like bars and clubs is much less important and the desire to do so won't be as high so if my Tinnitus is worse between 25 and 30 I'll take that over crushing depression and not getting to live life.

Stay safe, be smart, weigh up the cost and benefits.

 

Ouu that's risky. I'd be done with clubs and bars with live music. No way I'd risk causing damage to my ears by deliberately exposing myself to extremely loud sounds like that. Especially at 19.
There's nothing to suggest that there will be a cure within the next 20 years. Any estimation on a time frame for a cure is just that; an estimation. It could be that there will be a cure in the next hour, or never. I wouldn't take the gamble.
If your friends won't stand by you because you had to stop "clubbing" for very important health reasons, than perhaps they aren't the best friends? Just my opinion.

 

I'm taking significant and what I believe to be sufficient precautions around the noise exposure. I am fortunate enough to not have any hearing loss so I'm assuming my auditory system isn't damaged or more vulnerable. It is perhaps British university culture that is pushing me to this decision. At this age socialising in bars and clubs is not so much a part of a varied group of hobbies, i think it's a vital social function and the risk does not outweigh the benefit of being able to live life. For me that's just it, don't get me wrong if my guidlines were not enough to keep me safe then I would reevaluate the situation, but with all things considered I see this to be a sustainable state to be in.

What age are you can i ask?