Tinnitus spikes all day.

I start most days it T in one ear, just about bearable, but without warning, it gets louder and in both ears. It's making me so depressed and makes everything so hard to cope with. I literally don't know how I'm going to live with this for the rest of my life. This has been 2 months of pure hell. Is there any hope. All i see is doom stories on every fourm. Is there any hope. Super loud T is the worst thing I've ever dealt with. I really don't know how much foght i got left. And iv tried everything calling the Samaritans my GP seeing an audiologist. Whats next.

[rabbits65]

try and be patient and calm your little self down. The more stressed you get the more the tinnitus will play you up. If you read all the posts on this forum going back some months you will pick up a lot of interesting tips and facts. You will definitely improve but you must keep busy and take yourself out for long walks . In the end the brain will adapt to these weird sounds. After all we are all coping , you are not the only one, To know your not alone is a comfort in itself.

[Hidden in reply to rabbits65]

Little self! Don't patronise me please

[elsieadams]

I have had tinnitus for about seven years now. At first taking a drive outside the city helps give some relief but since I GOT MY BOOSTER shot for covid the ringing has become constant and no relief what so ever and lately has been extremely loud. I am very frustrated as well but trying to relax in my sauna and hydromassage tub does give me a time to relax as well as playing some nature music to go to sleep does help some what. It is definitely a terrible condition which is at times unbearable but the best we can do is to concentrate on the other sounds around us. The last time I was time I was at my gp he prescribed some antianxiety pills which do help abit. Hang in there and try to keep yourself busy there still may be some help or new developments in the future.

[Hidden in reply to elsieadams]

I hope there is real help in the near future.

[Karlos99]

sorry to hear you’re going through such a tough time. Your tinnitus will improve over time. You can’t control your tinnitus but you can control how you react to it. This is extremely important to habituation. If you freak out and have a big reaction every day your brain will interpret that as your tinnitus is important. I know this next step will seem impossible at the minute but you must try and stay calm and just keep saying to yourself that your tinnitus is irrelevant. Try and keep yourself busy. Use hearing devices and try distraction methods. One thing which I did was think of my tinnitus as the sound of a ticking clock. I’d imagine the hands of the clock going around. By correlating tinnitus with something so mundane I think it helped my brain to put it at the back of my mind. At one stage my tinnitus was about 9 out of 10. I have multiple sounds but there are long periods now where I don’t even notice it. Yes I have bad days but I’d say I’ve got it down to about a 3 out of 10 now. All the best with your journey and and if you need any more info or help feel free to ask.

[RockyB88 in reply to Karlos99]

this is sound advice. The first weeks and months of bad T are the absolute worst part I feel. It seems impossible that you could get used to it or that everyday it seems to be worse than the day before. But the overwhelming majority of people (over 97% some say) habituate. You may still have the T but it won’t make you feel depressed or shy away from life.

[Hidden in reply to Karlos99]

Sounds like good advice it's very positive, making me feel a bit better, thanks

[RockyB88]

hi Utdmad89. I would take comfort from the fact your day starts with your T in one ear and bearable. That makes me sure that in hopefully not too distant future that’ll be the normal worst case for you. I think because it’s new to you and you’re clearly having a challenging time adapting that your brain has gone in to fight or flight mode. That feedback loop in the brain makes you monitor your T more and then you hear more of it (everybody has noises but most can’t hear them). Maybe that’s why during the day you find it has got worse. But in time if you are able to distract yourself, try not to “listen” to or monitor the sound of your T, use some tinnitus masking or listen to podcast etc when going to sleep, soon you will be noticing it less and feeling better. How soon is different for everyone. But the key is to be kind to yourself, keep busy and reach out if you are struggling.

[Hidden in reply to RockyB88]

I will tey and take comfort thanks RockyB88. It can sometimes last half a day or sometimes 10 minutes, i think, depending on how I've slept or how stressed i feel. I did use to get T at night after taking sertraline for years, but it wasn't as loud and would always go after sleeping. Hopefully, i haven't made it worse. I stupidly was listening to music full blast on headphones for years, i never thought T could be permanent.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Utdmad89

When our mood is low, we often gravitate towards ideas or stories which reflect this state of mind. A lot of people new to tinnitus are firmly in crisis mode and may view tinnitus as something which is unlikely to improve.

This, to be clear, is anxiety and panic calling the shots. Being in a heightened state of anxiety makes us see lots of things as risky or having the potential to make a new health condition worse. It is not representative of anything more than someone's emotions telling them that tinnitus is catastrophic and their nervous system reinforcing this by responding to what it perceives as being dangerous.

Tinnitus often follows something called the Habituation model - you're at the outset of it. Tinnitus seems uncontrolled, fluctuates a great deal, feels impossible to live with.

For the majority of people, tinnitus doesn't stay like this. It gets quieter, it becomes less noticeable to the point that people may try to actively seek it out to confirm that it has gone away (not something I recommend). It may only flare up when we're stressed or anxious about something.

Try not to view tinnitus as catastrophic - and try to be neutral in how you think about it. If you can treat it purely as a sound - not a sound which threatens you - the intensity level of tinnitus often becomes much less difficult to deal with.

[Hidden in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

I'm really trying to do this. The fluctuations are hard to deal with. And it's loud i don't hear it if other sounds are really loud, thought like the shower, and then it can get even louder. I want to relax it just feels impossible at this time.

[Renault67]

Hi, I am an elderly man of 78 and I have had T for over 17 years and even though I consider that I have habituated at times when I am feeling low and depressed my T can still get to me, that's if, and this is the key, if I LET it. When you have T we must learn to accept it for what it is and also you must learn how to Master it and not to let it Master you so my advice to you is to get all the advice you can and above all else Listen to the advice and you could not do any better than to turn to the BTA, The British Tinnitus Association, call them, talk to them and ask them for all the leaflets that they provide, they are BRILLIANT. I send you my sincere and very best wishes.