Barry098

That's good. Its not the habituation we wanted... its the habituation we got. Annoying Not Destroying.

Well said @BrOKeN_1. Other than still waking up every morning with my body trembling, I am doing pretty well. Sure wish I could figure out the waking up part though. It’s so uncomfortable feeling like I am being woken each morning with a hot poker!

I have days where it’s loud and Im super happy and it doesn’t bother me at like I can really relax. And some days it’s loud and I just don’t have the time for it and can’t sit still

I get Psoriasis right in the crevices of my ears. Itchy and putrid. My T is not often changed by it but when it is can be strenuous. It goes away at least.

My eczema is only on my fingers and it is super itchy and painful at times

Man I'm so close to trying dome Prednisone. Wish Ida tried it right when I got it. My t is destroying my life I feel. I have a super hot g/f and I am afraid of losing her cause of this. Been with her 5 years.

T is hard on our relationships because friends and family have a hard time understanding the pain that we are experiencing. We look fine on the outside (read my last post for a coping technique I use), so they expect that we should behave like our normal selves.

Look at this as a test of your ability to navigate a real life challenge as a couple. I can tell you that T has seriously tested the bonds of my marriage on many occasions. "For better or for worse," is no joke...

In my opinion, ear plugs that don't create a vacuum seal are worthless...I use solid core custom fit rubber plugs, and I had my ears totally jacked up with those things in because I didn't take the time to get them wet, and create a vacuum seal.

@Travis Henry there is no option other than pushing on through this. Take a picture of yourself smiling and then look at it and ask yourself, is there anything wrong with this person? I will wager that the answer will be no...When things feel really bad, try to step outside of your yourself and see yourself from an outsider's perspective.

It is easy for us to get lost in our own suffering...The more we can see ourselves from the outside, the easier it is to disconnect from the pain we are feeling.

What I have learned about T is that everyone is different…what works for one person doesn’t necessarily help another person. I would say it’s worth a try though…you will need to find what works for you and that will require some experimenting.

Stopped Prednisone today…ears were about as quiet as they’ve been since the August injury. Hyperacusis was also very minimal. Felt a little deaf this past week but it didn’t bother me. Much better feeling than the alternative! All in all, I would say the Prednisone was extremely helpful. Will definitely keep some on hand for future ear trauma events!

Tinnitus was back up to its normal loud levels today. @Rockman and @Steph1710 ...looks like I have a similar reaction that both of you have while on Prednisone. Weird...I wonder what the heck is happening physiologically while on Prednisone that the T is wiped out like that...

Anyway, although it is screaming right now, somehow it's not really bothering me and that is even more bizarre because it is so ridiculously loud right now and yet I totally feel at peace with it. Not going to question it too much though but just hope that I can continue to not be bothered by it. Crossing my fingers right now on this one!

Imagine my T torturing you on a plane filled with snakes:)

@Exit I've told you - I’m tired of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!!

We better call Samuel L Jackson…

@Barry098 it works but If you have hyperacusis you need to be mindful.

Thank you all for your replies. My T is absolutely screaming today. I’m so tired of this roller coaster ride, I want to just get a handle on this. Can you elaborate on your experience @Wrfortiscue ?

@Barry098 it helps with pushing your tinnitus out of your minds focus. Mine varies too much because of my hyperacusis that it was becoming very intrusive because I kept ignoring and not protecting. Just be mindful if you have unstable tinnitus. It’s a good tool for sure

I’m loving @Barry098 attitude.

Thanks @Steph1710 … just trying to follow your advice!

Stop thinking, start drinking!
Best advice ever :))

You are correct @Damocles but the emotional response also triggers an uncontrollable physiological response. I actually don’t care about the ringing itself. I have a ton of visual static so I’m used to sensory things not working well…but I don’t like how it makes me feel nervous much of the time. That said, I’ve been getting better at accepting life as it is…

@Barry098 We're only kidding with ya mate. It's not "all in your head". It's straight up brutal at times - some mind games won't change that.

Lol…you guys had me going there for a minute! I should have known better!

What caused your spike @Damocles ?

Music on YouTube.

I'm able to tolerate sudden loud noises now (to a moderate degree), like doors slamming, plates clanking and dropping objects on a hard wood floor. None of these things gives me a spike anymore.

But one thing that has not improved over time is music giving me spikes (unfortunately).

That’s a bummer…

Funny how those of us who have been dealing with this long enough all seem to arrive at a similar point of acceptance @Steph1710. I had the thought today that my T is something I should actually be proud of because it is a constant reminder of my strength of character.

As I thought about this more I realized that I no longer fear many of the things that I would have in the past because every day I am forced to confront my worst nightmare but every day I somehow muster the strength to over come or at least endure it.

I keep thinking about your comment about accepting T as part of yourself and joking about it. You are so right...@Steph1710! If you don't see it as part of yourself then you will always respond to it like it is an intruder with a fight or flight response. The only way to live with T is total acceptance of it as an extension of who you are.

No he really doesn't. He says it's so loud he can't hear when people talk to him.

Seems like everyone that I know with t it doesn't bother them. But none of them had H and noise doesn't raise the volume

@Rockman I’m also surrounded by many people with objectively loud T who could care less about it and never had an issue with it…WTF? Guess we drew the short straws in terms of having distressed feelings because of it (I assume it bothers you because…you are here!).

1/4 of the initial volume is just grand.

It’s really hard to gauge volume…but it is definitely not as intrusive as it was. It’s also not sending me into flight or fight mode either so I guess I would have to say that it actually feels somewhat manageable.

Same here.

I didn’t really notice anything…felt fine during the day. It just didn’t seem to make me much less anxious though. I also didn’t take it regularly…I found Xanax to be much more effective. But, I’ve been very careful to not overuse that!

@Barry098 this is exactly the same thing i've been experiecing in the past few days. I wrote here about waking up in the morning with my T being 1/10. Incredible.

And the most interesting thing is that it's oscillating between two extremes. It's either very soft or very loud during the same day. Like i don't even know if i should be happy or worried.

@aura it is disconcerting when it can change so quickly and dramatically. I have noticed lately that when it is quiet I can actually forget for a while that I even have a problem. Then wham it comes screaming back and I feel like deer about to get crushed by a semi truck. I suppose I prefer this rollercoaster to always loud though :)

@aura So that is a tricky question. In 2017, it was totally out of control for the first few months. At one point I remember my ears distorting when I heard any sound...almost like I was listening to everything through a guitar amp on high gain. I also had very severe hyperacusis so everything was painful sounding.

But...and this is a big one...after about month 4 or so, My T would disappear when I fell asleep and it would be totally gone in the morning for a few seconds when I woke up. I remember that I could wake up to silence for about 5-10 seconds and then almost on cue the sound would come roaring in.

Now, I am 7 months in and I don't ever get silence in the mornings. Sleep does nothing to reset my T so, I wake up every day to the sound of my T just like I left it when I went to sleep. I am definitely doing better than I was a few months ago but I'm still having a hard time with it and I really don't think it will resolve this time like it did in 2017.

Not yet. I've found nearly every drug makes it worse though! yay!

I don't take much during the day. It can make you very groggy

Took a 100mg pill last night just to see if it would help my new ultra high pitch tone that Covid gave me. Electrical hiss is back, so it's definitely a no-go for me.