Starting to get really worried that my tinnitu... - Tinnitus UK

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Starting to get really worried that my tinnitus increase is permanent.

SausageMan profile image
18 Replies

I have posted a few times about about my most recent tinnitus spike that has been caused by a cold.It's been 7 days now since the beginning and I have kept on living my life and had sort of gotten over the negative emotions but since the spike began it's been so high pitched that I can hear it anywhere if I try and focus on it. I even went to an ent 2 days ago because I was afraid that there could be an ear infection from the cold thst could cause some hearing loss and he told me I am ok but I am still worried . My only hope of living with this was that it was mild since I had given up a cure but now I am back to being depressed. What do I do ?

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18 Replies
rabbits65 profile image
rabbits65

I’m sorry your feeling like this . Colds can be depressing . Have you done a lateral flow test ( Covid) just to make sure. ….. I think when your cold eases you will feel better and your tinnitus will get a bit better. Stay positive and have a Happy Christmas. 😊 xxx

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to rabbits65

Thanks for the response. I have had a lateral flow test because the government has made it mandatory for schools to test their students( me included) in my country . All of them have been negative so far. Hopefully the T gets better once the cold has completely dissappeared. Merry Christmas to you too!!

Dpd1 profile image
Dpd1

Mine was the same bad cold or flu but today it seems to have subsided compared to how it was. Hang in there I hope yours subsides as well.

Sorry you are feeling this way. Do you have support at home? You are young and I applaud you for coping with school and all the pressures young people are facing.

I don't like to pry but hope you felt a bit reassured after going to ENT.

Because I just know you on here and I'm not sure of your circumstances, I don't want to say the wrong thing or give you poor advice.

I would say everyone's emotions are up and down at the moment with all the uncertainty etc. However I am worried about how your health is affecting your mood.

I think you would benefit from a one to one chat with your doctor/GP over how you're feeling in general and everything that is going on with your hearing, sinuses and infections.

It is good for doctors to see you, they can guage your mood much better. When they look at you they can take in a lot of information and make judgements more easily .

If you are using the NHS ' and a face-to-face appointment may not available quickly - then I'd ask for an urgent phone appointment and tell them in detail how much this is affecting you.

Take care. Lindsay xx

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to

Thanks for the response. The only one from the people in my life that know that I am dealing with this is my mom and I try not to worry her with my circumstances because its not like she can fix my situation and I don't want to make her worry about my emotional state. I don't think the doctors will take me seriously . They'll just tell me to stop worrying or to learn to live with it or something like that. That's at least what my ent told me at the end of my treatment for a sinusitis. It's bearable right now and I'll just try not to think about ehat I'll do if it gets worse.

in reply to SausageMan

You look after yourself. I'm guessing you are in the USA?

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to

Nope. From Romania.

in reply to SausageMan

Aw lovely 🇷🇴 🎄 Keep us posted ☃️ ⛪

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to

Will do!

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2

hi - I had a spike a few weeks ago and even though the volume has eased off a bit, I cannot sleep through it and back on sleeping pills , becasue the T has gones sort of fuzzy hissing- Are u able to sleep through this current spike?

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to Suz_2

Kind of.

SausageMan profile image
SausageMan in reply to Suz_2

I try to go to bed super tired and my TV emits a a sound that masks my tinnitus a bit.

Sparklylady67 profile image
Sparklylady67

Sorry to hear that your T has spiked and is causing you some distress. It’s part of T to hear it more when we notice it. Have you tired to give your brain something else to connect with rather than the T. I was thinking different sounds, like sound therapy, music / radio , becoming active so that your focus goes to the activity. There are lots of good ideas in the BTA website. I’ve found gentle exercise helps me- lots of stuff on you tube. Going for a walk in woods too, listening to birdsong. At the mo, whilst I’m typing, mine is trying to dominate but I acknowledge it, say hi and then tell it I’m too busy at the mo. I’ve done mindfulness too, i imaging the texture of it and then do a physical action to smooth it out and calm it down . I’ve found that the more I stress about it the louder / intrusive my T becomes. I hope if begins to lessen for your soon. You are not alone.

Ana20 profile image
Ana20

Hi! I suggest you shouldn’t worry too much. It has happened to me many times. Check your blood pressure, listen to your favourite music, have some walks or take even some natural medicines to calm you down.

Now think of the blessed Christmas!

Good health!

msspinner profile image
msspinner

You could be feeling depressed independently of the tinnitus. Be kind to yourself, try to do things you like and relax, get outside for fresh air etc - the usual recommendations when you're feeling down.

I think the sounds we on here all hear change and no doubt the ones you hear will become more 'palatable' soon.

elsieadams profile image
elsieadams

Six years ago mine began after a bad ear infection and was not given any antibiotics. I lost hearing in the right ear for about a week then it came back with the high pitch ringing. It came and went but over the last few years it is constant. Trying not to let it take over my life and accepting that this is something that has no cure is the first step in helping one deal with this. I hope you are feeling better soon and that the tinnitus goes away. Merry Christmas

surreycccfan profile image
surreycccfan

Hi SausageMan, I think a lot of us go through this type of 'hopelessness' when we first get T as it totally turns our world upside down (I know I felt like this). I think as has been mentioned in previous posts our fight/flight emotional response to this perceived threat of our T put us in a heightened emotional state that can cause significant anxiety. This anxiety keeps us aware of our T and it is hard to recapture our lives prior to our T.

I know when I first had my T I felt like this but after putting in place behavioral and distraction techniques I now live very well with my T (this took time and effort). After struggling for quite some time I discovered the BTA, and I realised if I wanted to move forward towards acceptance and habituation, I needed to put in place these techniques if I was to manage my T rather than managing me (this was my plan).

The behavioral techniques require constant practice but for most folks these types of techniques help shift how we think about our T which helps eventually to push it into the background as your brain starts to stop seeing it as a threat.

There are some excellent resources available on the BTA website about these techniques. To give you some examples of these techniques please see below some of things I used (you need to find what works for you and for some of them you need to stick at it as it takes time to shift how our brain sees your T, brain plasticity):

Used distraction and behavioural techniques

• Sound therapy - I used a sound generator app to help me sleep (sound of waves and rain) plus I used positive reframing while listening to these sounds (I thought of really nice beach holidays I had spent with the family; this was not only distraction but also helped enforce positive thinking while I was anxious)

• CBT - Although I was sceptical of counselling, I found it very helpful and helped me see what types of negative thoughts I was having and how this was affecting my feelings. I found tools such as the APPLE model very helpful as allowed me to – pause, reflect, and reframe negative thoughts. CBT also helped me understand our natural negative bias and gave me tools to manage my thoughts and feelings which ultimately took a lot of power away from my T

• Exercise – Not only does this release endorphins but even if I was just going for a walk I would not only exercise but use behavioural techniques such as active listening where I would listen 'through' my T (this is where you listen for 20 seconds to something in the distance e.g. car or planes and then listen to something close up for 20 seconds e.g. your footsteps, this helped my brain to focus on something other than the sound of my T and help 'practice' listening to the world around me. I also found Swimming really useful as I could not hear my T while I was splashing up and down the swimming lane ;-)

• Body scans - This type of mindfulness exercise was great to being me into the moment and away from negative thoughts and/or away from focusing on my T

• Video Gaming – Finding a hobby or activity that really makes you focus on something was really useful. I found online gaming really helped me as I was so engrossed in playing the game, I would have periods where I didn't 'hear' my T as my brain was focused on something I was enjoying. Most folks find hobby’s they really enjoy has this effect

• Affirmations – I had a list of sayings I would use to help me stay centred and grounded when I was struggling e.g. 'this will be pass', 'my plan is to manage my T not manage me'

• Avoid avoidance – Often we want to hide from our T and this is impossible so I made sure I lived my life by trying to avoid my T, I would use the distraction and behavioural techniques to ensure I was working a plan which would ultimately allow me to manage my T. One thing I found as I became more comfortable with my T was to say hello to my T before I went to sleep so I had acknowledged it and this allowed my brain to 'move on' to think about something other than my T

• Don’t mourn my old life - It’s very easy for our lives to shrink when we get T and we wish for things we had in our lives before T. I found this quite negative so I always tried to reframe my thoughts in a way where I was trying to effect the future with T rather than wishing for my life before/without T

• Empathy - I attended BTA virtual support groups, at these groups not only did I learn more about the condition, I learnt behavioural/distraction techniques but also by sharing and listening to others with the condition I felt a great sense of empathy and support which again helped with anxiety and worry knowing I was not alone plus there was hope that I could habituate and live well with my T

• Support Network - I realised that having a good support network was important as not only did this help my stay positive but by also having folks to talk to allowed me to decompress. The BTA virtual support groups were excellent but I also made sure my family and closest friends understood what I was going through and this helped me feel safe and positive which encouraged me in sticking to my T management plan

• Understand that the more I give my T focus the more I am feeding the T and the anxiety - This was important as when we first get T it takes over our lives but this constant focusing on the perceived noise of our T just made me focus more on it and made me feel down. To try and arrest this focus I would use a combination of distraction and behavioural techniques to take the power away from my T

• Kindness - Having T is tough and it’s not your fault you have so it BE KIND to yourself, beating yourself up will only feed worry and anxiety. I grounded myself when I said be kind to myself by telling myself I was following this plan of distraction and behavioural techniques which I know had worked for others with the condition so if I just stuck to the plan things would get better.

For complete transparency, I know when I first heard others on the BTA virtual support groups about how they were living well with their T and how they habituated i thought 'You don't know how bad MY T is' but after attending a few sessions I realised these folks had T that was the same (or worse) than mine and they had managed to live well with their T by following a similar plan. So, there is hope and however tough it feels now things can get better

Hope this helps in some small way. Stay safe

NaiveGreen profile image
NaiveGreen in reply to surreycccfan

Wow, really good post - I agree 100% and I'm using most of those myself.

Fun fact - I bought new monitor online and just after buying I reminisced about contrast. I spend many hours reading the internet "oh no! the contrast! the contrast!!!"... and i didn't 'hear' my T at that time :)

The worst part for me is "This is my fault" (because it kinda is - I didn't volume down my headphones ("no need for those 15 minutes" ... it dragged for hours). I try to talk with myself - 'look, you don't like concerts - your fiends listened much more and much louder music than you and they are ok.' This means that I have slightly weaker genes = not my fault :P:P

What I would like to add (but please this is only MY OBSERVATION - i don't endorse it strongly to other T sufferers) that I love to read.... in complete silence.... - right now this means with REALLY LOUD T.

Somehow, if the book is interesting I'm able to read it anyway and I think it tells my mind "look, it was LOUD and I didn't care" as I would exercise this. It somehow helps me to cope with T during day. I don't know how it works - but I have read that one guy meditate with T and he associated it with peace :) I can buy that (similar to my book reading).

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