Tinnitus getting louder

[Di01]

Both ears have high pitched buzzing sounds hard to focus on anything when its happening which i have it everyday for hours ive had ct scan but didnt show anything up but read up on it that it can happen in result of menopause & stress is there anything i can take to calm it down ?

[rabbits65]

I’m sorry your suffering , would be best to see your Doctor , there isn’t anything for tinnitus itself but you can get meds to help with the stress , if you can cope without any meds it’s better. Maybe try one of these other therapies that people on here have spoken about . I go out for walks for therapy . I think speak with your GP. 😊

[Di01 in reply to rabbits65]

I agree i read stress and menopause can cause it which i have both conditions plus had inner ear infections a few time atm my body feel so drainned flu like doesnt help that i worry about my health because i never feel well anyway thanks think im going to have to learn to live with it drs just say that to me anyway drown it out easy said than done

[rabbits65 in reply to Di01]

As doglover says below it is our damaged nervous system that’s the issue . This was talked about in that book called living with tinnitus and hyperacusis . It explains a lot about things . It’s very hard for all of us, the only consolation being is that your not alone. I do wish you well. 😊

[daverussell in reply to rabbits65]

Living with Tinnitus and Hyperacusis by Dr McKenna, Dr Baguley and Dr McFerran is an excellent book. The more you understand Tinnitus, then the more you'll be able to cope. As also mentioned tinnitus.org.uk and takeontinnitus.co.uk. I'll leave you to make your own mind up about holistic methods. You'll have your ups and downs. I managed for about 18 months, but last 6 months have been unbearable. I've put it down to stress of a new job and lack of sleep - the vicious circle. I've return to the doctor and now awaiting another review with the audiologist to see if anything underlying has made it worse - needless to say a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes causing extra stress. I'm not putting my hopes on a solution, but piece of mind might help.

[Happyrosie]

As rabbits has said. There’s a lot you can do for yourself to take your mind off this horrible THING. The British Tinnitus association website has lots of good information and guidance. Maybe you can go through their “training module” on the website called Take on Tinnitus to give you some insight.

[Di01 in reply to Happyrosie]

I'l take a look thank u!

[doglover1973]

Hi Di01 It's not so much what you can do to calm T down but what you can do to calm your nervous system down. This will have a positive impact on the T . Anything that makes you feel relaxed is very good news. I didn't believe this at first but it turns out to be effective.

[Di01 in reply to doglover1973]

Think its down to this chemical imbalance i have annoying just started sertraline but early days on it

[1966366]

A side effect of Sertraline is listed on the packaging as 'ringing is the ears'.... Just thought that you would like to know more. Maybe a connection with your tinnitus? I was only on this medication for a very short time because of it; it sent my t rocketing. Hope things improve, best wishes

[Di01 in reply to 1966366]

Oh right i never knew that but I had the ringing b4 i started on.the meds however it could be making it worse because it does seem to be getting louder now more than ever b4 🙄

[surreycccfan]

Hi Di01, as doglover advised the impact on your nervous system and our emotional response to our T is something you can try and focus on to try and help calm yourself and your T. As others have mentioned above there are some great resources on the BTA website which can really help.

I found CBT really helped give me some solid tools to deal with my emotional reaction to my T (and any subsequent negative mental health reactions). Your GP can refer you or you can even self refer here nhs.uk/service-search/menta... . I found the APPLE model really helped me look differently at how I felt about my T (and ultimately calming me down)

Following some sort of mindfulness routine can also help, I know when I first heard this when I got T i was skeptical but things like body scans when stressed or active listening when walking were really helpful in calming me and my reaction to my T down.

Be Kind to yourself as living with T is tough and it takes time to adjust to it.

As 1966366 says, yes sertraline side effect 'may' be ringing in the ears (as well as a multitude of other side effects). All I can say is I took sertraline and it helped my get on top of my depression which ultimately helped me cope much better with my T (oh, and I had no increase in ringing). SSRIs work differently for each person, sounds like you are working closely with your GP on these meds which is always best rather than taking advise from others

Hope this helps in some small way. Stay safe

[Di01 in reply to surreycccfan]

Thank u i have 3 things that it could be because ive suffered in passed with inner ear infections fluid build up also menopause which is a trigger and depression but its never been loud as it is now maybe the meds making it a bit louder than normal i try and ignore it but nights are the worst but i'l have a look on the sites to see if there is anything that can help it during the night and same to u take care

[surreycccfan in reply to Di01]

I have posted the below before on how I managed to sleep well with my T, maybe be some things in there which could help.

I just couldn't sleep for months when I first had T. I can now say I can sleep well and in fact I am managing my T so well I am back to sleeping with ear plugs so the only sound I can hear is my T (I am at point in my management journey that my T no longer invokes a flight/flight emotional reaction, I habituate and can live well with my T).

• I used a sound generator app (I used ReSound Relief but plenty of others out there). I mixed sounds that (1) I found pleasant and (2) mapped well to my T. Audiologists tell us to map the volume of the sound to just below the volume of your T. As time went on and I felt more 'positive' towards my T I slowly reduced volume until I no longer needed the sound generator

• I tried to use positive reinforcement in relation to the sound from the generator app. The sound I had chosen was beach, waves, and rain, when I would go to sleep, I would listen to the sound and think of lovely holidays I have had walking on the beach. As T creates such a negative emotional reaction, these types of thoughts allowed me to calm down and think about something other than my T

• When I was lying in bed if I felt stressed and my mind was focused on my T I would follow a mindfulness body scan. I found this very calming and did take my mind off my T

• I used BTA support group to help me learn more about T and techniques to move towards living well with T. As I learnt more and managed to reduce the negative emotional reaction to my T I would even say 'hello' to my T when I first settled down to sleep. The reason I did this is I found when I was stressed by my T it was always at the forefront of my mind so I found that if I said hello to it then (1) I had acknowledged it and my mind could move on to something else (2) by saying hello I was reducing my fight/flight reaction to it and this helped me to 'normalise' it for me.

• I tried to follow a good sleep hygiene pattern (maintain a regular sleep routine, avoid daytime naps, don't watch TV or use the computer in bed, no caffeine after 18:00 and as I am a clock watcher I put the alarm clock out of sight so I wasn’t constantly looking at it.

• Exercise was also important as this allowed me to be physically tired

It took me quite a while to get into a better sleep pattern but as I said I can now sleep with my new sound of silence. The BTA has some excellent resources on sleep tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an... and has good links to products such as sound pillows, headbands, etc. In the above link the vicious cycle graphic really highlights how the fight/flight reaction to our T inhibits our sleep. I found by practicing other distraction and behavioural techniques in the day I slowly shifted how I thought about my T (I saw it as less of a threat which took its power away) and in combination with the things I did at night I slowly got back to normal sleep patterns.