u/RealTampico

It's been about a month and a half since I got T and a month since my last post on here and I was hopeful that it would eventually disappear. Thankfully, it has gotten quieter most likely due to habituation but I'm now starting to accept that this will be with me for the rest of my life and I'm only 20 years old. I haven't yet gone to an ENT, but when I do go I'm anticipating that they'll find what's causing it just to then pull out the usual "just live with it." I don't think my T is a jaw or neck issue and I don't take any meds.

While having T, I've read many many stories of people with it, from people with successful lives to people who are constantly in a crisis. It's given me a weird sense of ambition on studying and finding permanent cures for T covering everything that causes it, and extending into finding ways solutions for hyperacusis and other conditions. I'm curious if anyone here has felt this way before, and have brainstormed any ideas on what permanent solutions there could be? No wrong answers! Fire away! This invisible monster must go eventually.

Since May 12th, I've had temporary spikes in my left ear which I shrugged off because I've had my ears ring before but they always lasted 10 seconds, common stuff. Then it became a daily thing where it would ring once a day, along with my right ear on one day until that Sunday when all of a sudden I woke up to my left ear feeling muffled and barely hearing out of that ear. I sprung up and my hearing instantaneously came back but at that point I knew something was up. Worse, I now heard constant ringing on both ears that I couldn't ignore. After reading about the condition, my brain started spiraling and I became extremely anxious to where I couldn't go back to sleep, and I also became constipated.

I went to seek medical treatment the next day on Monday where the doctor did find some earwax on my left ear but that was it. I was given eardrops and a referral to seek CBT. Eardrops didn't help and my constipation was affecting my diet. It was the same story on Tuesday, continuous ringing and diarrhea. Despite this, I found peace in chatting on the phone with my friends. On Wednesday, I went to the emergancy room out of pure desparation and for a second opinion. They gave me a referral for me to see an ENT since they found nothing. Fortunately my constipation was easing up. Thursday, the ringing was becoming less noticeble, and then on Friday I had barely noticed it. I've been eating well again ever since. The weekend came and I thought this hell was over. I was wrong. I went to Six Flags on the 26th and had a blast. I wore my AirPods on that day as well. As you may have guessed, the ringing returned. Not only that, but now I started experiencing mild headaches. I ceased AirPod usage again, haven't used them since. Honestly, the ringing was probably never gone, it was just fading.

Last Sunday I felt very fatigued, and the constant ringing was more noticeable again. The next day, I now had a cold which I had dealt with for half of this week while at the same time enduring the constant ringing. My left ear had it's loudest spike on June 2nd which happened after a shower, it lasted 20 seconds approx. My cold started to clear up on the 3rd and again, I had a temporary spike on my left ear which wasn't as loud but I still had constant ringing in the background. That was also the last time I've had a temporary spike. Today, I still hear constant ringing, I still feel fatigued at times throughout the day and now I'm hearing popping sounds on my left ear whenever I swallow or open my jaw. The only positives is that I'm able to sleep well again, even though I always feel a migraine before and after I sleep. I just feel as if life is throwing every possible illness at me all at once, I haven't felt 100% in almost a month. Any advice tips or similar stories even? And please, please protect your ears.