i am so depressed and scared: i got anxiety... - Tinnitus UK

Tinnitus UK

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i am so depressed and scared

Toughmathew profile image
37 Replies

i got anxiety disorder myself but i

got tinnitus for a month, saw gp twice said i dont have underlying

I feel so bad everyday , could anyone share your experience

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Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew
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37 Replies
Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew

sorry also got some sore on back head , is that commom i m going

TinnitusUKPat profile image
TinnitusUKPatPartner

Hello Mathew

Tinnitus is often very challenging for people who have an anxiety disorder - stress, low mood, anxious thinking can make tinnitus more difficult to ignore or to distract ourselves from.

You mention that you've seen a GP and they can't identify any underlying conditions which could be causing the problem? GPs can look at some of the more general causes of tinnitus like ear blockages or some mild respiratory infections and treat those. Anything else probably needs to be explored by a more specialist department.

That can include audiology personnel who have training in supporting people who find tinnitus difficult to cope with. Whether that service is available in your area will depend on the type of support for tinnitus that your local or regional hospitals offer. Your hospital's website listings for audiology usually tell you what kind of help is on offer.

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to TinnitusUKPat

will go spacsaver for a hearing

gp insists its fine probably no other symptom and dont refer me to ent anyway i feel awful

TinnitusUKPat profile image
TinnitusUKPatPartner

You can certainly go to SpecSavers, Amplifon, Boots Hearing Care or your local independent audiology clinic and have your hearing tested. That gives you some information about potential causes of tinnitus or rules others ones out - hopefully that should reassure you as to cause, but your emotional feelings about tinnitus are a different matter.

If you do go to have your hearing checked, it's deemed to be normal and you still have tinnitus, I would strongly recommend getting some help if you can with the anxious thought that you have.

How we think or feel about our health is important - it can have much more of an impact than we are prepared to admit to ourselves, particularly when a condition is like tinnitus, invisible and subjective. That can be isolating, so it's important to be honest about the emotional impact of it with your doctor and try to get some support for that side of the issue.

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew

is it true that most of people with tinnitus dont have any special causes ?if so do they suffer for good?

TinnitusUKPat profile image
TinnitusUKPatPartner in reply to Toughmathew

Two things here, Mathew. 1) Tinnitus is generally a symptom, and it can be linked with a number of different health issues. Identifying what the most likely contributing factors are and treating them can improve tinnitus a great deal. 2) Suffering is not a medical definition - it's a description of how someone feels about an issue - and we have choice in how we think about things or feel about them. We don't have to like tinnitus but neither do we have to view it as something which has come to ruin our life.

Many people can struggle with tinnitus initially. A lot of them will, over time, habituate to the condition and may go on to experience tinnitus distress rarely, if at all. Other people have more difficulties with tinnitus - and a number are able to live lives where their tinnitus (for whatever reason) is not something which ever bothers them.

With every condition there is a spectrum of experience - there isn't one universal type of tinnitus reaction, nor typical person who experiences it. When you ask about 'do they suffer for good?' that's a question which shows that you are worried, and suggests that worry, anxiety and stress are issues which may make your tinnitus all the more noticeable. Those would be the issues that I would look to get support with, with the hope that tinnitus will be less of a problem when your emotional difficulty with it is being supported.

Ernie274 profile image
Ernie274

I know how you are feeling are you getting benefit from music especially at night. It worked for me originally now I am at a loss

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to Ernie274

Who got disorder in anxiety as well

It must be especially difficult dealing with newly arrived tinnitus with an anxiety disorder. You've got to try NOT to give the tinnitus your attention. You can do this by keeping your brain active with other things - throw yourself into practical tasks and when you are quiet/inactive, use relaxing sounds to mask the tinnitus or distract your brain away from it. Different sounds work for different people, but Nature sounds like waves on the shore or a mountain stream can be effective. Your brain will eventually get used to the tinnitus and learn to push it to the background, where you may rarely notice it.

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew

thx for you guys support, i appreciate it

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew

Is it commom with

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to Toughmathew

headachd

ETHEL103 profile image
ETHEL103

hI I've got very intrusive.I T and get frequent headaches.Got Specsaver hearing test Tues.

dodgery profile image
dodgery

I have been suffering with depression for a few years and tinnitus doesn’t help matters but don’t give in. I have hearing aids that help during the day by blocking it out a little. As you are suffering with anxiety etc your brain is constantly in overdrive going over and over things. I know because I am there with you. The problem is your brain is in overdrive which will lead to tiredness without you even realising which in turn makes you more anxious. Round and round it goes. You must try and get a good long nights sleep every night. I find that helps my tinnitus during the day. This will slow the cycle down. Hang in there and try and see the positives you have. One day there will be a cure.

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to dodgery

i dont have hearing loss but how much is tinntius hearing aid and is it good thx

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to dodgery

hi doggery did any dr find out the causes, is it normal for some without ones , sorry i am too upset for persistant

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to dodgery

Hows your depression now

Persevere99 profile image
Persevere99

Hi

It’s how you view something. I gave my T a super high rating of 50 because I was preoccupied with MY own problems.

Please read my post which explains how I reduced my T rating from 50 to Zero. Took clonazepam to sleep etc when it was at 50.

Then, seeing the problems others have had to deal with, made me realise how LUCKY I was to have just T to deal with.

And, no clonazepam for 5 years now.

All the best!

Persevere99

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina

Hello! I had very loud T for years, with extremely crazy spikes with suicidal thoughts! I began to search frantically on the web because science does not give me any answer.

If you TRY ALL of this, I'm sure in two or three month you’ll be much better!!

1.- Mother tincture of Passinflower plant at night, but you don,t have to take medicine for sleep! 

2.- Magnesium L-Threonate (only this Magnesium works well with T.) in the morning and five hours before sleep.

3.- GABA with Gingko Biloba before breakfast and two green tea Matcha per day but not after 5 pm.

4.- Control your blood pressure and detects if you snore or have cervical problems.

Keep in touch and best wishes!!

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2 in reply to AldoArgentina

hi Aldo - I very much appreciate yr advise on supplements and I hope it can help me as I have very severe multi tone 24/7 tinnitus every day. I think this could be the way forward for me (as I have problem with standard sound therapy pushing up the T)

Can Iask what dose of Gaba do u take ?

Did u have to try these for a while before you had some benefit or do the benefits appear quite soon ?

Have u achieved a reduction in T volume , or does it take away the T completely? ( i would only need a reduction in volume)

Many thnx Aldo

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Suz_2

Hi! I take 750 mg per day. I was gathering information and thinking a lot about what dose i would take. Perhpas is not the best, and you can decide something different for yourself. If you take all I'm taking, you have to wait two month (perhaps less) to see a great difference. I created a chart for measuring the intensity of my T. In the begining I had 7 days per week at peak intensity (4-5) and one or two hours per week at 1 or 2. It began to improve and now, four month later, I have two days intensity 4-5 and five days 1, 2 or 3, with small periods of time with no T at all.

Keep in touch and best wishes!!

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2 in reply to AldoArgentina

thnx Aldo that is proof that it works well for u - "peak intensity of 4-5" , is that out of 10? or out of 5? - just interested to know - many thnx again

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Suz_2

Please forgive me, I didn't clarify!! Is out of 5...

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2 in reply to AldoArgentina

thnx -thats a strong T ( like mine) - i took the L theanine (which u recommended) instead of green tea) for past 2 days and there is a difference to the T. I shall try the formula which u hv described as i hv the other supps as well ( except for Pssn flower )

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Suz_2

Yes, 5 is completely unbearable! Passinflower is very important, because it works with GABA. Keep in touch and best wishes!!

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2 in reply to AldoArgentina

many thnx Aldo - i think u have devised a great formula - i think it is the only way forward for me

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew

i almost cry everyday scared and gp seem not to be helpful, first time to have suicidal , its so noisy i cant imagine how u guys say about habituate

my life is ruined

Fridays_Child_62 profile image
Fridays_Child_62 in reply to Toughmathew

Sometimes when I'm going through a tinnitus spike, I wonder how I'm going put up with the noise, but that is based on how I feel at the time and I don't always feel like that. For me it is a combination of loudness and tone/texture that drives me crazy, but I'm sure other people have it worse than me and cope. Habituation seems like a vague promise that your tinnitus will become more tolerable with time but it is based on something you experience every day. If you're having a conversation in a noisy room, you hear the person you're speaking to but your brain is not conscious of the background noise, even though it is there. And if someone else tries to speak to you, you might not even hear them. The brain learns to treat tinnitus in the same way as the background noise in this situation. So, don't think your life is ruined.

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Toughmathew

Hello! I had very loud T for years, with extremely crazy spikes with suicidal thoughts! I began to search frantically on the web because science does not give me any answer.

If you TRY ALL of this, I'm sure in two or three month you’ll be much better!!

1.- Mother tincture of Passinflower plant at night, but you don,t have to take medicine for sleep! 

2.- Magnesium L-Threonate (only this Magnesium works well with T.) in the morning and five hours before sleep.

3.- GABA with Gingko Biloba before breakfast and two green tea Matcha per day but not after 5 pm.

4.- Control your blood pressure and detects if you snore or have cervical problems.

Keep in touch and best wishes!!

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Toughmathew

People who advise you to habituate or to do meditation, they have no idea what it’s like to have a maddening T. I'm sure they have a very low T. I really understand you!! The only thing you can do at this very moment is to try a maskering sound. Look for "OTIN LUCAS" and try to find one sound that fix you on a low volume. Immediately after, start doing everything I told you...

daverussell profile image
daverussell

It's important from here to understand your Tinnitus, even if you can't find the full explaination. Face it having no underlying condition is oddly a better outcome, and at least no waiting list..

Whatever you do don't fall for nonsense remedies claiming to cure this nightmare as it is likely to offer, at bet, a temporary relief; the placebo effect.

I take Sertraline, as prescribed by my doctor - a relatively small dose that I increased recently. It's hasn't stopped the T, but it helps with my anxiety, helps me sleep, and most of all stopped me punching holes in the wall (well previously caused by childhood PTSD).

Acceptance is key . You're anxiety is inevitably making it worse and vice versa, so you have to keep saying to yourself "I won't let this beat me." Easy said than done by all accounts.

You will need to find tools and strategies to help you cope. Relaxation, hearing aids, speaker headband etc . (All strategies for treating your anxiety.) I find often just listening to mine allow acceptance. E.g. before I go to sleep and put on my speaker headband.

Be strong! It's just noise. All the best.

doglover1973 profile image
doglover1973

Hi Matthew. Acceptance is key - as daverussell says. Say to yourself - I have tinnitus today and I'm going to deal with it today. That's what I say to myself. Tinnitus can be loud and scary but it's not going to hurt you. The first step is to relax . Let your whole body relax. The second step is to listen to quiet soothing sounds. You can do these two things together . The third step is to talk to someone you trust. Things will get better . You won't always feel the way you do now.

CLL23 profile image
CLL23

You might want to talk to a specialist.

After a bunch of medical treatments last year, my tinnitus went from occassional white noise to a continuous high frequency tone that never stops.

I was quite surprised to learn from an ENT specialist that chemotherapy, certain kinds of antibiotics, kidney failure, and possibly Covid -- all of which I had last year -- can affect chemical process in the ear and cause or alter tinnitus,

Consult a specialist, and good luck!

doglover1973 profile image
doglover1973 in reply to CLL23

You've been thru a lot CLL23 Hope you're feeling better .

Toughmathew profile image
Toughmathew in reply to CLL23

If gp is willing to refer

Suz_2 profile image
Suz_2

many thnx Aldo - i think u have devised a great formula - i hope others on this forum are trying it as well

AldoArgentina profile image
AldoArgentina in reply to Suz_2

Thank you Suz! When i see someone suffering, I tell him or her about what I'm doing...

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