Struggling a bit at the moment and desperate for health and advice. I have just joined here and am fairly new to T after 4 months. It did not seem so bad to begin with. A buzzing around my ears and a kind of engine sound, that somehow seemed to be above me at times. However it has got a lot worse as has my anxiety. The buzzing is constant and is like a kind of tingling static that travels around my head, sometimes in my ears, sometimes in the back and top of my head. I feel it as well as hear it. When it travels to my ears it is exceptionally bad. I feel as if I have electric in my head 24/7. I have acquired other tones, including a constant high tone in one ear, and the continuing engine one.
Struggling to sleep more than 3 hours, trying various anti-depressants to help, at the moment nortriptyline. I have always slept at least 8 hours a night and never had to take this kind of medication before T onset.
Very depressed at the moment and taking it out on my poor partner and sister. I have given up all social activities as I can't bear explaining this to people. The last time they saw me I was a different person, I feel I have become a new me in a space of a few months. I have lost the will to do any activities I enjoyed before.
I am doing an online CBT course, try to do relaxation exercises and online yoga. I do try and meditate but find it difficult.
Wondering if it will ever be able to habituate, especially to this 'head static'.
Thank you for reading this, I know it must be difficult for everyone.
Written by
Mumbelina
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So sorry, Mumbelina, that you are suffering. Clearly you’re doing the right sort of things and I’d like to make a recommendation.
The British Tinnitus Association website has a module called “Take on Tinnitus” . You can go through this module to confirm that you’ve done or are doing the right things, and it might give you pointers elsewhere too.
This charity’s helpline is open M to F from 9 to 5 if you want to give them a call or have a web chat.
You are not alone - you may well find if you do talk to people a bit more that they, too, have tinnitus and have found ways to deal with it, and are sympathetic.
Meditation is not easy, as you’ve found out, but don’t tell yourself off if and when your mind wanders off - it’s what minds do!
Finally, I reinforce what you know already - there are no magic cures whatever you might see on the internet.
Hi Mumbelina A warm welcome 🙂 I'm sorry you're struggling . Tinnitus is tough in the early days with the fear , anxiety & sleepless nights but things do generally get better over time. I didn't know myself at first . Tinnitus changed everything. You're in the right place here. Only other people with T truly understand. Be kind to yourself . Take small steps toward recovery . You'll get to a much better place .
I was pretty much where you are at the moment nearly a year ago now. I too have that static feeling, which sometimes feels like its buzzing around the whole of my head and not just in my left ear. Most of the time it just tends to be my ear, but if it really ramps up then I feel it everywhere in my head. I also have a high pitched tone which is just heard in my left ear. That can be very loud at times or hardly noticeable. I think it depends on what mood it's in on that particular day. I tend to treat T like that annoying friend that just won't leave you alone.
Nigh time was just the worst for me in the beginning. I would have all manor of noises going through Alexa from babbling brooks to thunder and lightning to help me get to sleep. I even went to my GP and he prescribed me an Anti-depressant, which I never bothered collecting because I just didn't want to go down that route. One night I decided to give poor Alexa a break and just switched my fan on instead. That night I actually slept. I think I was actually making my T louder with all the background noise I was trying to achieve to drown out the T. Maybe you have tried a fan at night, but if you haven't...give it a go. It's worth a try, as it might help you as it has done for me. I don't actually notice the fan now, but I still have it on and I still sleep at night. I think what has helped me the most is that I don't fear T anymore. I was just feeding T with negative thoughts night after night. The feeling of dread as soon as my head hit the pillow. I don't dread going to sleep now. I just embrace the T...I'm stuck with it, so I might as well just let it be.
I just take each day as it comes now. I have good days and bad days. My life is different now and I have had to adapt to that. I used to love going to Rock Concerts, but I know I can't do that anymore. I just can't take the risk and I need to look after my ears as much as possible.
Obviously this is my take on T and my journey and how I am able to manage it. It's different for everyone and everyone adapts to it differently. This is more me letting you know that you will learn to manage it and you will eventually accept it, as I think acceptance is the bit that people struggle with the most. Habituation I feel is a long way off for me, but it's something I'm sure will come in time.
Hi MOLKO1972 Thank you so much for your long answer. It is so much appreciated. I will definitely give the fan a go. I have bought really good ear plugs as I don't want things to get any worse than they are seeing bands etc. I realise it is probably permanent on my rational, realistic level but then there is that other part of me that hopes it goes away...... Night times are a disaster. I succumbed to anti-depressants for insomnia, nortriptyline, but it isn't actually making me tired, so I will probably stop. Only getting 2 or 3 hours at the moment. The static is worse at night for some reason. There are 3 ways I may have got this. I had quite a lot of anxiety about another health issue, I had a lot of ear wax removed and I had some Eustachian tube dysfunction. Any one of these or perhaps all three...
I've got a list as long as my arm of all the reasons why I could have T, but the frustrating part is I'll never know which one of them possibly caused it. The only thing I know for sure is that it's going nowhere and I've got to live with it and manage it the best way I can.
Take comfort in knowing you are not alone in this and we are all on this forum for the same reason
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