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Hi Eilleor,
Sorry to hear about your grandfather. My commiserations. Year hearing loss may be a reaction to this. It is called 'Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss' (ISSHL). It is not uncommon to occur together with tinnitus, but in many cases it disappears again after a short while. But in any case, you should see your doctor as soon as possible about this. There are some treatments for it (like cortisone tablets or infusions) which may help your hearing to recover more quickly.
Thomas
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Thank you so much for your answer. The strange thing however is that my hearing is almost back to normal, but now I am having a very bad sound sensitivity on BOTH ears, which makes me so anxious that I was to afraid to go outside my house without earplugs. I know it is stupid, but I feel like being back to day one again.
I know it is only less than 4 month ago that my tinnitus started and a couple of weeks later the soundsensitivity, but with this step backwards I have problems to believe that it ever will be allright again and what is life worth with this horrible problem in my head/ears.
It is good to live alone in silence, but I have all the time in the world to be aware of any sound....
Eilleor
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Eilleor,
It will definitely get better, but it can be a slow process. For many people it takes around 6 months for a noticeable improvement. So you may have to cope with it for another couple of months.
You have to remind yourself that this is nothing dangerous but merely a nervous irritation, and it just tales time until this irritation gradually settles down again.
Thomas
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Thomas, do you mean that having hyperacusis on my good ear is also part of the process? I was afraid it was another new thing, just starting and with which I had to learn to live as well. This ear did not have tinnitus, but now it has a soft hiss and it is very very oversensitive and reacting on any sound..
Eilleor
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Eilleor,
I wasn't aware that your tinnitus was only in one ear. Anyway, it is quite common that it goes to the other ear as well (most people have it both sided from the start). I think it is actually a good sign as it shows that things are starting to level out. The fact that you don't have a 'good' ear and a 'bad' ear anymore will also help you to not focus so much on one particular ear, so you will habituate more easily.
Thomas
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Thomas,
It is so great that you are willing to make time to answer people like me, because all I do is complain...
My tinnitus is still much more severe in my 'bad' ear and it is still horrible screaming. I was so shocked when my other ear started to react, may be thats why it is still very bad....
After the funeral I was called by a relative who said that he noticed that I was doing well and that he wanted me to visit him, but when I told him that I had a setback, he did not understand it all, he said : "how is that possible, once you are doing well that means it is over..." Very difficult conversations.
Still I am rather anxious and sad that after my one and a half best days since this all started, that I am again suffering so much from the loudness in my head that I have to fight my self not to lock myself up in my apartment and give up. It is that I know that my family loves me...but thinking of the worse, never being normal again...
I am not even 40 years.....
Eilleor
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Eilleor,
Many people feel the same like you do (including myself in the first few months). It is all too understandable given the unusual experience of having these noises in your ear without being able to switch them off. You have to accept that this will still be with you for a while, but it will definitely not stay forever. Usually, when you have some illness, you know from experience that after a certain time it will be OK again. Well, if you have tinnitus for the first time, you don't have this experience, so you tend to assume that this whole situation is irreversible. This is not so. You just have to give it more time. I know it is a bit of a challenge sometimes, but you have to accept this and try to cope with it as best as you can. Don't feel sorry for yourself. There is no reason for it, and it only makes matters worse. Try to take encouragement from the good periods and don't led the bad periods let you get down. They will still be around for a while but eventually get less.
Thomas
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Hi again,
Still going very very bad....very very sound sensitive, even own breath is almost too much, T is sooo very loud also.
This is the worse setback I ever had....only thing I can do is sit with earplugs and wait for better times, but that is hard to believe now.
Sometimes I want to scream and smash things around and listen to loud music, because it seems it does not matter what I do or don't.
But I am too afraid to do that. For 2 days I did not speak with my family, because I can not handle my own voice. Is this normal already a whole week being so bad? My audiologist said that most people are going to do better after 3 -4 month, but I am in my 4th month now and don't see improvements....
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Eilleor,
These bad phases can sometimes last a couple of weeks. I usually managed to cut this short by taking some painkillers for a couple of days or by drinking alcohol-free beer.
If nothing seems to work and you feel you can't cope anymore, you should ask your doctor to prescribe you some tranquilizers for a couple of weeks. It should help you to calm your nerves down again and kickstart your recovery.
Thomas
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Elavil, 50mgs it will help you sleep and with migraine. Your doctor will start you off at 10mgs and work you up to 50mgs over a few weeks. This drug can be taken over a long preiod without side effects.
I was on it for months and it sure helped me cope. Most importain thing is to get a good night sleep. This drug will do that for you. Good luck.
Tonyf
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