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I have terrible tinnitus on my ears due to having exposed to gunshots while I was in military.
I have been having it for 6 years.
It has gotten worse this year, as whenever I cough, my ears make sound of two pipes hitting each other.
Because of my tinnitus, I have insomnia and can never sleep comfortably anymore.
I'm always in fear of losing my hearings and having luder noise.
I think I am slowly going mentally insane for my tinnitus.
I'm sure you've already tried this, but just in case, there are masking tones that help some people to be able to not focus on the sounds they are heading in their heads. You may need to try a few to get ones that work for you. There's a place called AudioNotch that for a fee will create customized sound therapy. You may also be able to go to YouTube and find notched sound therapy that matches the Hz of your tinittus. Some people use white noise also.
Good luck--I have tinnitus but I'm usually able to ignore it. When I can't, I use masking tones, which do help.
I've had tinnitus and hearing loss for some time. I read that getting hearing aids helps with the tinnitus but you must wear your aids all the time to train your brain. It is difficult for me to wear my aids as much as necessary. But I'm trying.
I also suffer from insomnia but not sure if the tinnitus has much to do with that. I usually can't stop my brain at night. What does help is I keep my Nexus Tablet in the bed next to me and I choose from several of the sounds on a free app there. Currently I have rain and birds and I switch it out from time to time. I think there are 30-40 different noises and you can mix and match as you like. It's worth a try.
And I just hate it when folks tell me to just ignore it and don't take it so seriously. I want to strangle folks who say that. i can certainly understand your concern about your sanity. Sometimes I want to scream!
I got my tinnitus in Portland, which is the headquarters of the American Tinnitus Association (link below). So I got some good info from them on how to live w/ this and mitigate it (stress, diet, quiet surroundings, etc). But yes, sure, it can drive people crazy. Captain Kirk got it from all the explosions on the sets of Star Trek and said it nearly drove him crazy. I have been to tinnitus groups where people have attempted suicide due to theirs.
The key is to make sure that there is nothing wrong physically that might be causing the tinnitus. If it is not due to a physical problem that could be possibly fixed, then one should read all the available info online and really make an effort to avoid the things that will trigger making it temporarily worse. Over time, habituation does help, along w/ masking devices like a home waterfall or rain (or a recording on youtube), a fan, etc. I found, like some other people, that going to support groups and talking about it just made it worse, as it brought my attention to it.
It sounds like you may have some blockage in your ear canals if it gets worse from coughing. Have a GOOD ear doctor ck you out, one who understands tinnitus. Not all of them do. Sometimes my ears get blocked w/ too much ear wax and the tinnitus gets much louder, but when I clean them w/ a Q-tip it goes down again. It's very important to get your diet together (things that would cause higher blood pressure increase the tinnitus) and keep stress and loud noises out of your life as much as possible. It took me a while to find the right sort of "noise" that helped mask mine.
I also highly recommend learning a simple Buddhist meditation (you don't have to be a Buddhist) where you sit upright in a straight backed chair, focus your eyes (open) about 8' ahead, breathe naturally, and place your attention on your breath. You will notice your thoughts going endlessly all over the place, and whenever you see that you're caught up in them, simply return your attention back to your breath. After about 5-10 minutes you will feel calmer and the tinnitus will be less loud. Start at 10 minutes a day and eventually get up to 2 sessions a day of at least 20 minutes each. Take as long as you need. There are lots of books and youtube videos on this Mindfullness Meditation, and it is even taught in health clinics and hospitals now. It sounds simple, but it requires learning a new discipline, and it does pay off. I use this simple but powerful exercise whenever I am getting stressed by something on a bus, on my bike, in a crowd, anywhere at all. The website below has some very good info on managing tinnitus and describing what we can do about it.
I have terrible tinnitus on my ears due to having exposed to gunshots while I was in military.
I have been having it for 6 years.
It has gotten worse this year, as whenever I cough, my ears make sound of two pipes hitting each other.
Because of my tinnitus, I have insomnia and can never sleep comfortably anymore.
I'm always in fear of losing my hearings and having luder noise.
I think I am slowly going mentally insane for my tinnitus.
I've had a nasty internal ear noise for over 30 years..and yes, It was nearly impossible to fall asleep..(Shift work) ..so reverted to ambient noise ( some call white noise) which allows you to normally block it out. It worked..and basically now only become aware of it when I'm in a very quiet or silent area.. I'm now retired and have TV on constantly in the background..course one could use tunes for the same affect..
If you acknowledge it..you can actually let your brain block it out too.. It isn't 100%..but sure allows you to get some sleep..Once asleep..YOU will NOT hear it..IF you do..There's much more going on than you know..best get some testing then! Also if tinnitus is associated with PAIN ( which it normally isn't) ..then of course there's more to it too..Needs investigation!!
Best of luck..But after over 3 decades..I rarely hear it because I keep ambient noise a constant ( not loud..just there)
Exactly. I sleep w/ a fan on by the bed (tinnitus usually gets louder when we lay our head down) and keep one going in a room where I am if there is not enough background noise to help cover it up. Coffee will really crank it up too, so I limit myself to one cup in the morning.
there are varying degrees of tinnitus. Some of them are more tolerable than others. Good advice here so far. I use this white noise maker (read some of the reviews) and cannot sleep without it.
Has the op done research on eliminating as much as possible the tinnitus. I have it some, not right now, but it does happen. It can lead to hearing loss.
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