T has changed me as a person,my darling wife has to tak e the brunt of my behaviour and foul moods,due to T.

[Woodentop99]

I have had T for over forty years,as a young man i dev eloped an ear infection in Ibiza and when eventually treated and infection cleared up I was l eft with T,it eventually toned down but was always there in the back ground.about 9 weeks ago I was sat in the chair and all of a sudden T was switched from volume 2-10 to 1000-10,yes,a thousand,I couldn’t understand what was happening and this event started several weeks of mayhem and sleepless nights,even walking the streets to hear traffic noise at all hours of the early mornings,no way could I get any respite,I attended a+e they thought I was a “ nut” job,sent me packing,gp,and saw a guy privately who used a modern technique to clear some really hard wax way down in my ear,,all to no avail.I now see an audiologist who specialises in T,he have me x2 hearing aids “ maskers” which initially was a miracle within my ears but now I feel ,one noise is just replaced by another,lesser of two evils so to speak.I have T in both ears ears,roughly 70% in my right ear and 30% in left,but it is driving me INSANE and my behaviour is not good the gp has stuck me on a.d. and they are zombifying me,I am not me,sounds crackers,don’t I know,the reason for my post is I just want someone to tell me that there is light at the end of the tunnel,,though I am a million miles away from the tunnel right now,I am 100- focused on my T and no matter what,cannot move offit,even though I have had it to a degree for well over forty years,it’s my birthday in a few days and then Xmas,to say I am dreading both is an understatement.If you have read this many thanks but any advice of any kind would beincredbyappreciated,thanks for reading this drivell.

[JohnJopp]

Hi Woodentop99. Sorry to hear you're having a bad time of it right now. Although you say you've had mild T for 40 years you've only had loud intrusive T for 9 weeks. This isn't very long at all. We can all associate with how it feels in these early stages. You are still in "fight or flight" mode. I know it's hard to see the way forward right now with your T at the forefront of everything but nearly all of us who have been there are now much less bothered by it and can lead a relatively normal and happy life. It takes time though. The first step is acceptance. Stop googling for tinnitus and stop searching for cures or treatments. Once you have accepted your T you can spend less time thinking about it and more time doing all the things you enjoy. Habituation is a very slow process and you won't really notice any difference day to day but soon you will realise that perhaps for the last 10 mins you didn't really notice your T. Of course you will then listen for it and it will be there as loud as ever. But when this happens for you you will realise that it is possible for your brain to adjust to this noise and to filter it out. Over time these periods when you don't notice it will get longer and longer. Your birthday and xmas coming up is a good thing as you need all the distractions you can get to divert your attention away from your T. I bet that in 6 months time you will be in a better place than you are now. Not fully habituated but you will know that you are on your way. 6 months on from then and you will have made even more progress.

I hope this at least gives you a bit of light the end of your tunnel.

John

[HayleyStephens]

I'm no expert having only had T for 8 weeks, although I completely agree with johnjopp. Your emotional state is key to how T will settle down. I believe that's why my T hasn't got worse and why I appear to have habituated so quickly. I had severe debilitating anxiety for many years, and got better in the same way as johnjoppp describes. I've applied this to my T and I am living comfortably. Please have faith. I would try prayer too, even if you don't believe.

[Wringing1212]

Hello woodenTop,

It's sounds terrible and probably feels terrible as well. The numbers you use to compare your sound are quite frightening. I would describe mine in terms of 3 to 4 times as loud but perhaps they actually are 2 times. This is common within the realm of sound engineering. It is a sense and the measure of such is a subjective, individual perception.

With that said, what part of this perception is within your control? I've put up with an annoying level of T for twenty years, but about three months ago, had an experience that put my t through the roof as well as inflicting me with the other goodies we associate with ear or hearing problems. It can be hard to functions and at times, overwhelm your brain and corresponding bodily function. Is this what madness is? Of course not. You are telling folks that the world is round and they have no context for such an alien idea.

I'm a painter, and have found although difficult, I still manage to eak them out with a renewed passion or resolve. I'm not sure how long this ability will last or if my faculties will eventually fail me, but for now, it's all I've got and even more important to me.

Hang in there, pray and hope, for there is much hope that things will improve one way or the other. You are a decent wordsmith so I suspect you have a strong mind and the potential to work this out.

My deepest respect for your situation and Godspeed! You've got a challenge ahead of you.

[Wringing1212]

Hello woodentop,

I couldn’t stop thinking of your post. It seemed to me to be an important perspective on the severity tinnitus.

How are you feeling today?

Have you found any hopeful suggestions yet, from this platform or others?

Best wishes for you,

Wringing1212

[Photoboy]

Hi

Your story is almost a carbon copy of mine except for the walking around at night. I had T for forty plus year as well and after an ear infection 2 years ago it started to go up,just this last 2 months have been hell, I hope that you find some answers to yours as I an still looking.

All th best

Photoboy

[Mille23]

Sorry to hear your tinnitus story, know exactly how you feel. Tinnitus makes you another person. I got tinnitus after an Ear syringe , got an Ear infection afterwards. Had a throat infection at the same time. I have read on this site, that we are many who got tinnitus after an Ear infection. I wish that our doctors would give this problem attention. Could the Ear infection leave a virus infection in the ears ?

[Electric_Gnome]

Sorry to hear your plight Woodentop99. I am in a similar situation but my volume has halved recently though still impacting on my life as I am not the same person. I was shocked at the lack of help and understanding from the medical profession the first GP I saw clearly had no idea how bad my T was. When I told him I just wanted it to end he looked at my like I was mad! Thank god I went back the following day and the staff refused to let me leave the surgery feeling so low without seeing a different GP who has literally saved my life. After taking meds to catch up with some well needed sleep I was much stronger and now have hope. Stick with it and stay strong, eventually as others have said the volume will go down and you will see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Electric_Gnome

[Woodentop99]

Hi folks,thanks for all your responses,had a right old struggle since my original post, not felt up to posting since, I have sadly developed severe anxiety and most days are a struggle,I have a pair of opticon maskers in from audiologist which do help but mot brilliant I could not sleep without them, though saw a private guy yesterday who supposedly is an expert in T, however he wants to sell me a pair of widex zen 440 hearing aids for over 3k will give me a free 14 day trial if I want??? He had a demo pair there and put them in for a while, anyone else know about these but 3k wow,but how do you put a price on this curse!! My mrs has been brilliant stuck with me 100% even when had no sleep, sadly right now I cannot laugh or enjoy or look forward to anything , medication is playing a part and my Gp has been great but limited knowledge of T,, had one session with highly recommended counsellor who wants me to do CBT but I am not ready for this right now, I do do the meditation for anxiety with Adrienne on YouTube at least x3 per day which focuses on breathing as my anxiety is not good right now, I am prepared to face the fight but just have x2 questions for you guys if you can help,,,as previously mentioned anyone had any experience with these widex zen maskers, are they effective or not? And with the nhs maskers that I have is the best way to set them so I CAN hear the T as some say if you have them to high to completely mask the T it WILL stop you from habituating??? Thanks to all once again won’t leave as long to post again.