New to tinnitus

[Vm1967]

Hello all,This is my first post on this forum. I developed Tinnitus few weeks ago after an ear infection. It was difficult to deal with, but I managed to get to grips with it. Then last night, it went up massively and has now been constant for 15 hours. I am really struggling to cope with it, and am in a pretty dark place. I searched for "coping with Tinnitus" and came across this site. I just wanted to say it out loud, rather than bottling it up. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[doglover1973]

Hello   Vm1967 Welcome to the forum. Voicing your fears out loud is the best thing to do. It's the first step on the road to recovery. You're very new to T and so it's completely natural to feel the way you do. Things will settle down in time. Here's my three point plan 1. Join the BTA & forum (which you've done) 2. Read Living with Tinnitus & Hyperacusis by David Baguley & co. 3. Consider CBT . I hope this helps a little. In the meantime try to stay as calm as possible.

[Gloomster]

I think we all know the feeling , my T is now non stop all the time and I am also struggling .

I am not new though and one thing I can tell you is that you can learn to accepts volume levels you would have thought were quite impossible to live with. I now have very high volume non stop but even so thetre are times when it doesn't bother me . I have to work at increasing those times For you its tricky as you cant know what your problem is yet . It may just disappear or reduce but whatever it ends up doing there is a way back to peace ..its jjst a question of how long it takes

[Happyrosie]

just to reinforce what doglover and gloomster say.

The BTA website is the best source of information

All the best!

[Keepfitandhealth]

Hi Vm1967, it is super annoying especially at the start, but it does get better! Focus on other things that give you pleasure and absorb your thoughts. A lot of people have it to varying degrees, but take it one day at at time. My mother for instance gets it occasionally and manages to just ignore it! It may just fade in to the nothingness from where it came, as your brain may be able to relegate the sound. In the meantime check in with your doctors and get some support, have the scans, do the hearing tests, ask for a referral to a local help group and look to get whatever you need to take care of yourself.

[RockyB88]

I’m sure all of us here have or do use sound masking as a coping mechanism. There’s a lot of info about it around but the jist is to find something that is a similar pitch to the sound you hear and have it play at a volume where it “mingles” with your tinnitus rather than cover it completely. For me it’s the sound of crickets chirping that gives me the most comfort. I use this very occasionally during the day but more frequently at night when trying to sleep. As others have said, it’s hardest at the start but the overwhelming majority are then able to get back to a normal sense of self and wellbeing over time.