Tinnitus for 4 months, struggling today

[ILikeToBeBesideTheSea]

I've been better the last few days than I was when it all first started but I'm having a 'spike' and feeling very down that this is it now for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm existing, just going through the motions. I miss hearing nothing/quiet, so much.

Anyone?

Is it in one ear or both? have you been ill recently? Does the ear or ears feel blocked¿

Both ears and head. Not been ill, nothing to see on examination. No hearing loss, just one of those things.....

I've had it for decades, I know what you mean about missing silence. However, I'm very lucky in that I don't usually hear it during the day. I do at night in bed when it's quiet but doesn't stop me sleeping. I'm usually pressing one ear or the other to hear how many different rings, hisses and pulses I have in each ear! I'm sorry it's affecting you so much. Have you tried white noise? I believe you can get machines, or if you have Alexa/dot/echo/etc, you can ask her to play white noise.
I've just had a quick Google and found this:
www.tinnitus.org.uk/find-a-support-group?gclid=CjwKCAiA9vOABhBfEiwATCi7GD-_DxbQCKTYNKvpdP2QC7nQV4r1gw_za7na6yQzIqjOVnpWyATeZRoCSTwQAvD_BwE
Hope it's of some help!

May sound silly and you may have already tried this, but hold your nose and close your mouth and do as if you were blowing out. It May help to pop your ears.

I remember feeling like that, I really struggled especially the first 6months.
But honestly I am used to it now.. I don't notice it so much anymore.
You need to find other ways to find peace.
My peace is the woods, my ears focus on the leaves on the trees moving in the breeze of instead.

Your body takes a while to adapt.
You will get there

I have had it constantly for about 2 years now. I actually have hearing aids that play low level white noise constantly that work really well ( I do have some hearing loss as well)
I play white noise at night and tend to have the radio or tv on if I’m alone. I remember having the same panic a few months in that I would never have proper silence again. I can hand on heart say that although it hasn’t decreased at all it bothers me far less. I often don’t wear the hearing aids and often find I barely notice it now. You do manage to tune it out to a degree after a while

Meh. 24 hours a day for 40 years. You just have to learn to get used to it I am afraid

Mine comes and goes after suffering with BPPV in September 2020. I had a cold and then as a consequence got vertigo/BPPV. I was given exercises to do but I still get dizzy occasionally and after lying in bed all night have to sit up slowly and wait a couple of minutes as I feel dizzy. After 3 telephone consultations, I managed to get the Dr to look down my ears as I felt, and still feel that something isn't right, but was told they were clear. My tinnitus comes and goes and is worse at night and first thing in the morning when I wake up (I swear it wakes me up sometimes 🙄). I hope you can get some relief OP, it's horrible.

I found the first 6 months after seeing my consultant and ruling out any cause of the tinnitus very, very hard. I was helped enormously by some tinnitus counselling. Have you been offered any counselling op?

The noises in my ears are actually quiet enough to not hear in the day and I seem to block them out at night so they don't bother me too much. It's mainly the incessant high pitched electrical hiss that I hear no matter what that bothers me. I honestly think that if it were just the ear noises I wouldn't be particularly bothered.

@InDubiousBattle I've just started counselling this week but it's not tinnitus specific, more just general for anxiety management.

Ive had tinnitus since 2006 after particularly bad tonsillitis and an ear infection. It’s mostly right sided so i’ve had scans etc to rule out things.

Eventually mine changed from a real high pitched whine to white noise, i’m used to it now, once it went away entirely for just a few minutes and it was the strangest thing to not hear it. I found it really difficult to begin with though, couldn’t switch off from it at all.

I also do sometimes wonder if everyone hears what I hear, like is this normal now, do other people have background white noise? I can only hear it in a completely silent room now.

When I’m really stressed its high pitched again but your brain quickly gets used to it.

@CrochetToTheMoon I do feel mine is changing slowly, some days it can be easy to ignore but still mostly it's bothering me. I also keep having random new noises start and stop in my ears which scare me as just when I feel I'm 'coping' with what I've got it throws a new one in on the mix but thankfully they seem to fade away again leaving me with my 'usual' sounds. I'm hoping with more time it'll stabilise and stop trying to panic me!

If you're on FB try Tinnitus Support Group UK - really supportive with some helpful tips. The trick is to become habituated (accept it basically) so that you live with it rather than fight it. I call it my unwelcome lodger! Good luck.

@lifestooshort123 I've heard of habituation, hopefully I can achieve that at some point. How long did it take you out of interest?

It took me about 6 months I suppose. A lot of effort went into it and I can sit in a quiet room and actually listen to my T without it bothering me in the slightest. I know it's not harmful or life-threatening and just accept it's part of me. I've had it for years and don't think it's going anywhere!