Hi,
I've just signed up to this forum, and i'm glad and relieved to see that there is somewhere to share some of my thoughts/feelings on this topic. So I wanted to introduce myself and share my recent experience with tinnitus, as i am told its quite a common condition however, I really have never as alone in my life as I do now.
I'm a healthy 32 year old guy, trying to make the most of life, I've always suffered from slight hearing problems in my left ear ever since i remember, but it was never something that bothered me too much. Except about 2 years ago when i noticed an acute difference in my ability to hear. For example, I sometimes hear a balance difference when listening with headphones, I struggle to pinpoint sound especially when someone calls me from a distance, and I've overslept alarms purely because i was unknowingly sleeping on my right ear and therefore couldn't hear very much. However i can live with these things, they are not overly bothersome.
Last May i decided to get my hearing checked again and since that day i have been back and forth with the NHS as it was diagnosed that I had moderate conductive hearing loss. I was refereed to have a CAT scan in February of which I find the results of next week, the process really has been slow so far, and in between that i have been to see a private doctor but the cost here is really racking up. It was last December that I was heading home from work when I randomly started hearing a sharp whistling sound in my head, i would associate the sound to be very similar to that of a whistle you'd use for dogs and i couldn't work out where the sound was coming from, whether it was in my left ear or right ear. For the days and weeks following this I wasn't in a very good place as it made me extremely anxious, however it did improve as the months progressed and in February/March/April i was in a pretty good place, recently however it seems to be more bothersome again and makes me very anxious. I have no idea where it compares with others, and I couldn't tell you if it was acute or mild. Its also very apparent its in my left ear now, and sporadically comes and goes throughout the day depending on what i'm doing/focusing on. I usually get a short amount of time when waking up where the tinnitus is very low or almost non existent, and then as the day progresses it starts up and from there it could be any sound. Sometimes its a sharp piercing sound (this is the most annoying) and sometimes its a low ringing, loud enough to be noticed and bothering, but easier to drown out in certain situations. There are also times when its more of a hissing sound, i compare this to a pressure cooker and there are also times where its almost unnoticeable. I can get all of this in the space of 1 day, and generally when its at its worst i look forward to going to sleep.
I also experience pulsatile tinnitus from time to time, where i can hear my heart beat in my ear. This comes and goes infrequently and I cant quite figure out what triggers this but its a lot less annoying than the relentless tinnitus.
I haven't really spoken to anyone that has similar issues but i would be keen to, is it the same for everyone or are there differences? Has anyone had conductive hearing loss like me, which has caused this tinnitus? Does the tinnitus improve if your hearing improves? These are all things that are pretty grey with me right now...
Any advice would be welcomed, and thanks for taking the time to read my post.
Ben
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