Disclaimer: if you are experiencing tinnitus, this may be triggering. Hello everyone, I could use some advice. I developed tinnitus when I was very young. It started out very mild, but the intensity of the ringing has slowly increased over the years. I don't know what the culprit is for this, maybe loud music, maybe ear infections, maybe the Zoloft I took for 8 years. I will never now. The tinnitus is a recurring OCD topic for me. My biggest fear is that the tinnitus will become worse, and that I will also develop hyperacusis and hearing loss and that I won't be able to take it anymore. Recently my worries about tinnitus resurfaced when I switched my antidepressants from Zoloft to Clomipramine (Zoloft stopped working for me after 8 years). I read that (increased) tinnitus is a possible side effect of clomipramine. I've been taking it for a couple of weeks now and I'm afraid that my tinnitus has worsened, but I'm not 100% sure. It could also seem worse because I'm so focused on it. Not knowing the answer is fuel for my OCD. My compulsions involve googling, doing online hearing tests, asking for reassurance and continuously listening to the tinnitus to see if it has gotten worse. Now the first things I mentioned I can try to stop doing when doing ERP sessions. But I just can't stop listening to the tinnitus, because it's always there. Trying to ignore it only makes it worse. What also doesn't help is that I feel like I still have a choice to stop with the medicine. I feel like I have to constantly check the tinnitus in order to decide if I should stop taking the meds. Does anyone know how to deal with this? What exercises would be helpful for me?

Fluffy Bunny

Date posted: 5y

Thank you for your reply. :) What makes this so challenging compared to my other OCD topics, is that I can't walk away from it. So usually during ERP you would expose yourself to your fear, and then refrain from doing any compulsions. But listening to the tinnitus is a compulsion for me, but I can't stop it because the noise is always there. Which is annoying because there are times when I completely forget about the tinnitus, but at the moment that's really difficult for me. But I will try to treat it as OCD and try to stop focusing on it.

Soph

Date posted: 5y

Also some good ERP wouldn’t necessarily be listening and attending to the noises your tinnitus causes, but exposing yourself to the potential that yes, your hearing could get worse? It’s possible; but your fear is sticking because you’re convinced that hear loss and other such ear issues are terrifying and you wouldn’t be able to cope. The reality is you would be able to cope, maybe some good ERP would be watching videos on people who’ve lost their hearing. This isn’t you accepting that you’re going to lose your hearing, but realising that there’s no reason to fear it.

Fluffy Bunny

Date posted: 5y

@Soph Thank you for your advice, I hadn't thought of that. The idea of losing my hearing is very daunting to me, so I'll try to focus more on that during ERP. Watching video's of people who've lost their hearing sounds really scary, but I think I can handle it. I might try it tonight if I feel well enough.

The mind is ...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

YES. Going through this atm. Black and white.

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