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I've suffered from tinnitus now for 22 months. How bad did I have it? Well I thought of putting a gun to my head in the early days of tinnitus. Does it get better over time I would say no? The sensation of tinnitus is the same today as the day it started. It was my awareness of tinnitus that controlled my every day. The more I thought about tinnitus the harder it was to be rid of it. Now when my mind is occupied with other things the tinnitus is gone. It’s really still there I've just blocked it out of my thoughts and I can go about my every day.
What caused my tinnitus who knows, I was on asid, ibuprofen, antibiotics, muscle relaxants, and I was subjected to loud noise. Also I have sinus problems, headaches, facial pain, teeth hurt and a sore neck. Had a neck injury 3 months before the tinnitus started. Did one or more of these thing contribute to my tinnitus, only god knows. The doctors from every field of medicine have come up empty with a cause.
SO,
Here is my answer. Stop thinking about tinnitus and go about your everyday life. You can’t let the tinnitus stop you from enjoying the things you use to do before it started. If you have pain with the tinnitus look in that direction for a cure. Like neck pain, maybe you injured your neck or it could be many different ailments. Teeth, sinus, migraines, food, allergies, the list goes on. It may just be the fact you injured your ears. If that’s the case you may have to deal with it the rest of your life.
I still drink alcohol, coffee, eat chocolate, I still take drugs that cause tinnitus when I'm sick (only way to get better) and I try to live a normal life. I get plenty of rest and try to stay calm. THe more you put yourself in a happy place the better off you'll be with tinnitus. I still search for the cause and maybe one day I’ll find it, but I won’t let it control my life any more. I never did get the gun.
Tonyf
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Hi TonyF,
I am into tinnitus myself for 4+ months now. I understand the "mental component" and I experience it myself everyday. At work, where I am focussed on other stuff, during a conversation or in moderately noisy environments I manage to blend it out and not to think about it for most of the time. But what still is a big issue for me is my sleeping pattern. My biggest issue with it is waking up with "the noise" everyday, it still gives me the creeps.
Fans and backround noises help me fall asleep really quickly.. But when waking up, my TT seems just to adjust and is still very perceivable.
How to you cope with that?
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Hi ccrrxx,
Its good to hear that during the day you're able to put the noise aside. Yes, I would agree its not nice to wake up every morning with that noise or in my case buzzing of the head. By the way I still wake up every morning to the buzzing. T is still the same through out the day. When I start my morning I make a choice I either let the buzzing effect me or take a big stretch and go about my day.
The more you can control yourself the less the T will bother you. At one time I cut out all the things people said would increase T. Well I noticed it didn't matter T was there if I didn't drink coffee or I did. Drinking coffee made me feel better since that's what I did every morning before T hit me. To this day I still drink 3 to 4 cups of coffee every day.
Over the past 22 months I've researched T, I've also had 3 MRI's, 3 CT scans, & several x-rays. The doctors have been from oral dental surgeons, psychiatrist, GP, 3 ENT's, TMJ dentist, rheumatologist, neurologist, allergist, sport doctor, doctor of audiology and a orthopedic surgeon.
The only thing that has come back positive is the fact that I have a sinus issue. Two of the three ENT's told me to live with it. I've now pushed the 3 ENT to treat my sinus problem until it is resolved. After several X-rays he has discovered that antibiotics don't clear up the infection in my sinus. I've had this infection for over two years now (what were the other ENT"S thinking). Is this the reason I have T? I'll find out once I have the surgery to correct my sinuses.
In the mean time I control my T, no I'm not a Vulcan like Spock on Star Trek. LOL I just try to change the subject of the sound in my mind. T is in the head and its caused by neurons misfiring or something to that effect. The level of sound it causes is the same all the time. Its how you interpret the sound in your awareness. That's why when your doing something you enjoy you don't notice it. Imagine if you could do that 24/7 you would be cured.
As for your sleeping what I found to help is getting a good sleep in the first place. If you find it difficult to fall asleep I suggest you see your GP and get the drug ELAVIL. This drug is a antidepressant when taken at the 150 mg dose. It act more like a sleeping pill at 50 mg. The drug is non addictive and can be taken for long periods. The doctor will start you at 10 mg and work you up to 50 mg over a few weeks. If you wake up in the middle of the night remind yourself its to early to get up so close your eyes and blank out your mind. It takes time but you can do it. I don't use any noise masking I found it only reminded me I have T. The T would compete with the masking.
As stated earlier there is a reason you have T. Find the underlining problem and you may cure your T. In the mean time you control it don't let it control you. Go about your every day and enjoy life.
Tonyf
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Hi TonyF,
Thank you for sharing your experience but I have to be honest. I dont know what to make out of your post yet. On the one side I understand that you have found a way to deal with this condition better now than in the beginning. This applies to me as well, comparing myself now to when this shit began. On the other hand I read between the lines that you are still not completely over it after 2 years and that kind of leaves me with a bad vibe.. Honestly, the only thing that keeps my mind in a state of relative tranquility is the hope that this will get better, quitter in time. Its the only thing I got. Only this way I will manage to forget about it for good and will be able to regain my old quality of life. Otherwise I am sure that, although I am only 30, my body will at some point push the self destruct button.This constant state of fight and flight is draining all my energy. I have no trouble falling asleep but I wake up every day feeling wasted and distressed. I ll be taking some time off work in 2 weeks for some serious attempt of relaxation... If the noise does not quiet down after that... well, fortunately I don't own a gun either, but the idea of shooting a bullet through my head, aiming directly at the auditory cortex becomes more and more appealing...
Last edited by ccrrxx (20-06-2013 22:50:43)
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ccrrxx wrote:
Hi TonyF,
Thank you for sharing your experience but I have to be honest. I dont know what to make out of your post yet. On the one side I understand that you have found a way to deal with this condition better now than in the beginning. This applies to me as well, comparing myself now to when this shit began. On the other hand I read between the lines that you are still not completely over it after 2 years and that kind of leaves me with a bad vibe.. Honestly, the only thing that keeps my mind in a state of relative tranquility is the hope that this will get better, quitter in time. Its the only thing I got. Only this way I will manage to forget about it for good and will be able to regain my old quality of life. Otherwise I am sure that, although I am only 30, my body will at some point push the self destruct button.This constant state of fight and flight is draining all my energy. I have no trouble falling asleep but I wake up every day feeling wasted and distressed. I ll be taking some time off work in 2 weeks for some serious attempt of relaxation... If the noise does not quiet down after that... well, fortunately I don't own a gun either, but the idea of shooting a bullet through my head, aiming directly at the auditory cortex becomes more and more appealing...
ccrrxx,
Hi Again, I took the time to read some of your other post. Your thoughts are not in a good place right now. Your thinking to much about a cure for T when one does not exist.
I want to spell it out really clear to you. Tinnitus is a symptom of something that's going wrong in your body or head. It can only be cured if the underling problem is found and fixed. You may never know the answer if doctors are not able to find the cause. If lucky It might just go away on its own.
Over 50 million people in the USA have tinnitus to some degree (that admit to it) (I believe we all have it). Since theirs came on slowly the mind was able to adjust without them knowing they have it. Yours and mine came all of a sudden and we intrepid it as a threat and our head responded with anxiety and depression. This added to our awareness, it brought the tinnitus to the fore front of our mind. What we need to do is to put it back where it belongs deep in our subconscious.
TRT, neuromonics, try to teach the mind to do that, but you can do it yourself it just takes time. TRT is a 2 year course, nuero, claims to help in 6 months. None of these treatments cures your T it only takes your awareness off it. At anytime you can tune your T in just by thinking of it. This is the same for people who don't have T. Everyone's head and body makes noise but in most cases the mind blocks it out. If I think about my T I can make it louder than anything making noise around me. I can block out all other noise and just listen to my T. Try doing the opposite.
Yes I still have T, I still wake up to T, but I don't always notice it. I get up stretch and rush to get off to work. I do all the things I use to do and I don't let the T interfere with that. I put it in the back of my mind where it belongs. It comes back only because I think of it again. Knowing that I can control it give me hope that one day I'll have completely put it back in to my subconscious.
When I use to wake up the first thing I did was see if my T was still there. BAD CHOICE, you thought of T, guess what it said here I am.
That's why I said just go about your day like you use to and slowly the T will start to drift back deep into your head where you can't hear it unless you want to. You're only 4 months into it and it does get better in time. You may have days where it comes flying back at you, try some of the things mentioned here like aspirin, or taking a walk in the fresh air. Anything to distract the T.
I'm in a much better place now than I was at 4 months. I have the right state of mind. I hope this give you the strength to live a happy and normal life.
Tonyf
Last edited by Tonyf (21-06-2013 01:58:46)
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Tonyf,
thank you for your supportive advice. The last couple of weeks my perception of TT was getting less during the days and I was somehow looking hopeful into the future. Today I am having a spike again, I woke up and my TT was very present and annoying in my head. And all my bad thoughts and feelings of fear and dispair that I had in the very beginning are back. It s very tough to handle these fallbacks... could this be a symptom of depression? Would it fade away if the depression is cured? I dont know anymore because I feel that it is the symptom itself now that is causing my mind to be in that state.
I have something very similar to ELAVIL already, prescribed from my doc but I have not tried it yet, since one of the side effects listed is "ringing in the ears"... and if you have read my earlier posts then you would know that it was a antidepressant that probably caused my tinnitus in the beginning. Its a deadlock situation and I am afraid of taking any risks.
I truly hope that one day I will be able to look back at it with a moderate smile and to be able to go on with my life as before like you.
Last edited by ccrrxx (22-06-2013 10:12:21)
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My T sound is definately not the same all the time, it used to be 3 good weeks, then one week with higher sharp sounds (this was hell).
Then it changed, I started getting into my routine again, doing everything I used to (and more!) my psychotherapist gave a way to cope with it. Move, Meet, Joining in was the motto...
My tinnitus since then has faded a lot, it's a faint hiss and only once in a while when I get stressed when I have to go to a birthday party, meeting etc I can get the higher frequency tinnitus again, but it only stays for just one day or less, which used to be like a week...
I stopped taking any pills, I got 2 sweet cats to keep me busy at my house also...my home is the only place where I hear it, at work it's no problem (except for the noises that are sometimes loud there).
As for food etc... I do drink one or two cups of coffee after diner. I exercise but I think I really must lower my Sugar intake and eat better. Things I've noticed what people did and made their tinnitus fade away (yes there are people who got cured), is doing medidation every single day since it's a nervous system problem that makes sense. Mindfullness etc can be very helpfull...
Last edited by Xander21 (29-06-2013 23:47:49)
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Hi Xander21,
from what I read, the nature of your tinnitus is pretty similar to mine. I recently started experimenting with audacity in order to identify the exact frequency that I hear in my ears/head. My general tone could be characterized as an electrical buzzing. The main frequency is around 6.8 KHz. I also seem to have gotten a new one, which is a pretty low frequent humming, but I havent pinpointed that one yet (its not easy to find the exact frequencies, since usually they are modulated and not a clean sinus-tone). Anyway, these two sounds are usually manageable during the day, work, meeting friends etc, just as you have recommended.
The one that is killing me though is my third one, the "high frequent hissing/sharp sound", which sounds exactly like the one you describe. It must be around 15 KHz. This one is impossible to mask and on top of that feels to be reactive to other high frequent sounds. Fortunately this one only spikes up occasionally.
I was doing relatively "good" the past month, since my "bad days" where getting less. But now, this past week, I have been experiencing a spike, probably also due to a cold which blocked my ears pretty bad and the high-frequent hissing has come back with a vengeance:
My questions to you:
1.) When you get this high frequent hissing, what do you do? Have you found anything that helps calm it down?
2.) From other posts I get that you have been dealing with this for about half a year now. Has the quality/tone/intensity/volume of your TT changed in any way?
3.) What pills have you been taking (and did they help you with the coping)?
4.) You mentioned in some other post that your mother had this as well for one year in the past and then it dissolved by its own. Was her TT experience comparable to yours or was it just a mild case?
Thank you in advance,
may this tinnitus f$$k off for everyone of us soon!
Last edited by ccrrxx (30-06-2013 12:00:01)
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Just go at it one day at a time. Soon years will go by. You'll then realize when T bugs you again you've already gone through this, and you'll think of something else and go about your day. Waiting for a cure maybe the wrong choice of thinking.
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