I've suffered from tinnitus for as long as I can remember, so perhaps my perspective will be a little different, since I've always had it, but try these things:

1. Always have background noise, even when sleeping. Invest in a good fan or white noise machine if you don't like the air movement. During the day shouldn't be an issue, usually something as low as a computer fan or the sound of traffic outside is more than enough to mask it.

2. Don't focus on it. I know that it is startling to have a new symptom. The more you stress on it, the worse it gets. Hopefully it will go away - not all tinnitus is permanent.

3. Avoid things that can trigger worse episodes - loud noises, stress, too much salt/caffiene/sugar/MSG.

Hopefully yours will subside as it seems that many cases do. But if it doesn't, if it is any consolation, I have never been impacted by it in a substantial way my whole life - it is only mildy annoying when trying to read or concentrate in a quiet place.

mrsmith,

The best treatment for tinnitus is learning to ignore it. The PCS can cause anxiety that makes it worse and causes you to focus on it. Even in the dead quiet of night you can learn to ignore it. I have horrible tinnitus and did not even notice how loud it is right now until this subject came up.

It is annoying but since there is nothing you can do about it, you need to learn to not worry about it. The Quietus supplements sold on TV are worthless. As mentioned, avoid loud noises and especially intense bang type of noises.

Background noise can help some people but that is a crutch. Learning to ignore it gives you a skill you can use anywhere.

I have matched the pitch of my tinnitus on the piano keyboard to just above C#6/Db6. That is about 1108 hertz (vibrations per second). Some times, it sounds like a decibel level of about 70 dB or louder.

I have had it for decades. My mother has lived with tinnitus since she was a little girl and had a high fever. She lost most of her hearing in that same ear at that time. All she hears in that ear is the ringing.

Ah okay, I guess I will just learn to deal with it. Is it normal to feel like you do not want to do anything ever? I seem to be feeling this way most of the time.

This is an awkward question as well but can masturbating heighten symptoms?

Elevating blood pressure can cause symptoms to increase. Physical exertion can also cause symptoms to increase.

When I complained to my physical therapist about the ringing in my ears, she said, "well, if that ends up being the only symptom that remains, you'll learn to live with it." I had to admit she was right. It's not that bad. I've gotten good at ignoring it!

Lethargy is part of the package and is the symptom I'm most frustrated with at the moment. I do find that there are ways to fight it, once you get further along in your recovery, but right now, maybe it's just your brain's way of telling you to rest?

If you have a neck injury, you might want to find out if there's a physical therapist specializing in the mulligan technique in your area. It involves very gentle corrections, as well as strength building exercises, that really helped me recover from my neck injury. Whenever I felt nervous about an exercise, I would just tell my therapist, and she would modify the exercise to something I felt confident I could do without hurting myself. I had a good therapist, but I am sure there are more like her out there!