I already have T , had it for 20 months. I always try to avoid noisy situations but its very hard living in a country and indeed a world where everythying involves loud obtrusive noise everywhere you go, to me its a living hell. Today i hit an all time low. I also suffer with severe anxiety and panic attacks related to my T and today i was in cash generator,went in to ask about selling some stuff, then saw a dvd i wanted so went over to pay for it. just at that moment- i swear these people do it on purpose sometimes, a man in the little ajoining room starts drilling. i covered my ears,not that that will have done any good, i couldnt move becauss the cashier had my money and was sorting my change very slowly and getting a bag for the item so i was forced to stand there. then behind me a couple walks in and turns on a stereo system, one the ones with the huge bass speakers and cranks that up. it may have only been for a few seconds, and the drilling about 5 mins tops but it was enough to cause me immense distress and panic. when i left the shop i went into one of my 'hot/cold shiver shocks' which basically means i get very hot really uncomfortable, then followed by very cold shivers that last all day. I then proceeded to vomi.then on the bus on the way home a baby was screaming and it pierced right through me.now i am a gibbering wreck. I feel every time i walk outside my door its a battle with noise and making my T get worse every time im scared its getting to a point i will not be able to hear at all or that i will nto be able to go outside the house or i might harm myself. I would just like to be able to do normal everyday things without this constant worry. i already lead a limited life and this is just the end for me

Firstly and most importantly you need to calm down. Secondly, you've been living a long time with the Tinnitus affecting you this way. It doesn't seem as if it really is the Tinnitus at all but the anxiety and stress and panic that is caused by worrying so much about your Tinnitus.

I don't know if you've been offered counselling and Tinnitus re-training therapy but those would be perfect places to start...you can get help not to live like this and turn your Tinnitus into an obsession, sometimes you've just got to go to your GP and tell him or her just *how much* it bothers you.

thanks Rio, so far i've experienced really unhelpful GPs who dont seem to think tinnitus is serious enough to warrant councelling and their answer to everything is pills pills and more pills.I think i will start to push things more though as i need support to break this cycle. do you think that this 'spike' of increased T due to the noise will be temporary? i would give anything for my T to just return to the volume it used to be

Halo83 are you in London. If so please insist your GP refer you immediately to the Royal National ENT hospital's tinnitus clinic where they will give you MCBT or TRT. You cannot be expected to carry on like this. With the right help things WILL get better.

tj, i live in cheshire in north west england where help is extremely limited

Out of interest what originally caused your tinnitus? Do you have any hearing loss?

Is there no help up north? Can you asked to be referred to London and then come down here for a TRT course or something like that? You can't carry on how you are. I can completely understand what you are going through. I was exactly the same. I didn't take TRT but did get good advice from my ENT.

Halo83,

I think it's great that you know that you're trapped in a cycle, that you can and will, in time break. There are online TRT programme. This one is brilliant, I have done it myself and is run by a fully trained NHS nurse and best of all it's free.
www.tinnituseprogramme.org/

However, I really think that from what you post one to one counselling might be a better way to go to start with or I guess you could do both at the same time. Either way, you must go back to your GP and just explain everything. All the worries and fears that you've posted here. Sometimes it's like getting through to a brick wall but don't give because the help is there. Maybe suggest you'd like to try a different approach than pills?

To be honest, not to belittle you but do you think there's a chance that bcause you are having a bit of a panic about your Tinnitus and you're thinking "this will make the volume increase, this is bound to" then you'll believe that it has? I mean stress and worry are dreadful for Tinnitus as your nerves are all over the place, so no wonder your T is loud...it doesn't mean you've done any more damage at all.

I mean, granted it's probably not a great idea to stand in a room with someone drilling for ages but you've posted that the man was in the next room and you were in the shop for maybe a few minutes...which can feel like a lifetime but you'll probably be fine...I used to worry about things like that when I first got Tinnitus but recently I was on holiday in the city and there was loads of construction going on...it was noisy but you just walk past it...granted you're not at that stage yet but you will get your life back to normal.

thanks guys for your help.i will try these options. iv had a lot of personal trauma recently also which hasnt helped me. thanks for reasruing me i think stress does make my T go louder. My T btw was noise induced from a one off event at a loud concert. thanks Rio you have helped me a great deal, i would love to get to the stage u are at. believe me it wasnt always liek this. last year i habituated i went on holidays, went on a road trip round europe and was getting my life back but this year i started with blocked eustachian tubes and everything went worse esp with the panic attacks. iwas only worried about the drill coz the door to the room was open (i think i forgot to mention that)and oz it was mega loud, although iw a sstill able to converse with the cashier and i ran out quickly. i will just be careful in future

Hi Halo83,

I'm glad I was able to help you, even a little. Wow, it seems you've done lots to get your life back on track. I get blocked eustachian tubes quite a bit, in fact i'm going to go to the doctors as i'm pretty certain mine don't work properly and that can make the Tinnitus seem worse...it isn't in reality though. I'm just sick of cracking open the Olbas Oil I find it helps to use swimmer's ear plugs when washing your hair...it lets less water in, that way...the fluid can block up your tubes..if it happens too much though (like once a month) ask to go to ENT...because they might be able to sort it...either way, don't let it get you down. Blocked eustachian tubes and Tinnitus are sort of two seperate issues. Out of interest, what concert did you see? I like quite a range of music (from metal onwards) and so would be good to know what gave you Tinnitus.

Hi Rio,
I don't agree that blocked eustachian tubes and tinnitus are seperate issues, there are so many on here that have both. I have found that traveling in a car or bus or anything can help to clear the tubes with the vibration, also bananas make mucus thicker so it's best to avoid them if you have blocked tubes.