Ace

I used to use Sony WH-1000XM4's before getting tinnitus and they are pretty great in my opinion. Has a noise cancelling and a background ambient sound option it picks up from the microphone.

6 Moderna shots for me to date - never a problem. I don't think I've ever had COVID illness, either.

On US news, just saw only 40% of people have gotten the flu shot and only 17% of people have gotten the covid shot. Wow.

RunningMan yeah it's certainly a problem. Especially sad after I just watched Hbomberguy's video about vaccines

2022, tinnitus was unpredictable. There were many days I didn't pay it much mind, but it was rare that I could go more than a week without T annoying the hell outta me.. Maybe more than half the days of last year were crap.

2023 I ain't frequently bothered by T. A day or some hours here n there.. July, some bad weeks. But mostly I'm chillin. T is there, but rarely intrusive enough for me to pay it much mind, if any.

I use times like these as a compass to look back on when sh*t gets bad. So many times my T has spiked bad for a while, and I would think the worst, and subsequently got through it. With all that experience I'm becoming more resilient during the spikes. I guess that's all I can say for now. I'll check in from time to time.

Update- this seems to have resolved itself but it took a few hours. I'm in the urgent care just to make sure my ear drum didn't pop or something, but I the waiting room my hearing seemed to come back to normal so now I'm just paying out of pocket to say hi to a doctor smh but I'm glad im seemingly good now. Gonna rest up after this

That day the doc confirmed that there was fluid build up, which is common when you get on the plane too soon after having a cold.

They improved as in I don't hear them at all. Occasionally, some frequencies of my hearing are extra sensitive and this might be considered somewhat of a distortion effect as well, but these are infrequent occurrences that resolve before long, maybe a month.

I can't say my H is fully resolved. I am shaken by >80db sounds if they come without warning, and don't like to expose myself to near 90db even for a few seconds. I wear earplugs where most people wouldn't, but mostly with low
-attenuation filters and not fully inserted. If i were to rely on high-attenuation filters too much, I think i would not have been able to improve at all.

I had a novavax booster a few weeks back after 3 doses of pre-tinnitus pfizer. No change in my T or H

There's barely any sound to it at all, I'd say? If there is it's very low, at a very low frequencies. I just kinda feel a thump.

Does it sound like a rumble?

The rumble is a different sound that I've been able to make since i was young. This is just a quick twitch

Some times it sticks out quite prominently and intrusively while driving on the highway even without earplugs, but sometimes I barely notice it even in a quiet room.

Hallelujah!

And then you go to a quiet room where no one sees you, plug your ears and monitor your T to check for changes. True story lol.

So hard to find any correlations to explain what makes it get better and worse; after all this time, though, being well hydrated seems to have *some* positive effect, as simplistic as that sounds.

@SamRosemary very true. The fact that it gets quiet at all gives me faith that I have a low baseline to eventually return to, which is why I am able to manage my stress better on days where it's bad.

Today is better than yesterday, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. @Joe Cuber LMAO a forecast would be quite handy, wouldn't it?

@Keith Handy It just feels like there's no rhyme or reason to it half the time. Avoid loud sounds. Aside from that, I try to have a diet and lifestyle which isn't TOO unhealthy but I'm not too strict with myself. Several days in a row a few months ago I had a bunch of ice cream and other garbage but my T was low the whole time.

Yup, I stopped masking a long time ago. I now find that masking is more annoying than sitting with my actual T. Getting used to the sound helps a lot. Eventually, it becomes your new norm or “silence”. Disclaimer: obviously I know this is not an option for everyone, especially those with catastrophic T, but for us who can do this, then it’s a good step.

I haven't truly pquit masking fully. There is always some ambience going on around me. I think there is still a fear of the noise by itself. Not the fight or fight fear but the upset stomach slow anxiety building kind.

It's hard to fully forego masking it around here, as there is always the slightest bit of noise that will come from the highway or the breeze or noises made by ventilation or computers or whatever. When I put on earmuffs and really hear how bad it is, it's a bit of a shocker LOL but that's not a practical assessment of how T affects me moment-to-moment. In life, there is almost always a bit of background noise.

On the blasting my ears bit, i avoid it best i can. Occasionally it's bound to happen hear and there on accident but i try to get myself out of those situations to mitigate the effects. I'm glad to hear that you're pretty much fully habituated Steph1710

@Ace thank you. :) it’s been a difficult road, but honestly, trying to live as normally as possible and keeping busy, is the best way to habituate.

@Wrfortiscue I wouldn’t call my tinnitus severe. It is multi tonal and reactive, but the volume never reaches over a 4/5 anymore. Most times I sit at a 2/3. :) or perhaps it’s louder but my perception of it has changed. You get me.

Sleep is fine. Now and then tinnitus affects my dreams, but i haven't felt much need to try to mask my T for sleep since it first became chronic 6 years ago. Yesterday i was just having one of those down in the dumps days, but i managed to find some relative peace later in the evening.

Do not, and I repeat, do not under any circumstances allow him to do a microsuction, no matter how "safe" he claims it to be. People have gotten T and H and catastrophic worsenings from that.

Thanks @AnthonyMcDonald . I have no intention of getting Microsuction, no irrigation either. I am asking for manual removal only. I have been applying olive oil drops as well.

I didn't last too long. My T had been relatively low for 10 days, and today i swear it's better than it's been in a while.

tried the demo.I liked what I played so far. They should definitely look into making more 3D Kirby. Nightmare in dreamland (GBA) is my fav

@ZFire I think stylistically NIDL isn't as good as Adventure (which it is a remake of), but it's still lovely. Still, try Adventure on Switch Online or get the 3DS eShop version which runs a little smoother than the NES emulation which sometimes drops inputs. It might be my favorite Kirby game.

Will do thx. One reason why I’m a big fan of NIDL was due in large part to Meta Knight being a playable character once unlocked. You have to beat the game with him in one sitting. I thought it was really neat at the time.

Gotta try to keep living my life!

I didn't know sugar can do such a thing! Is it related to inflammation perhaps? So far, I haven't had a spike from sugary drinks and the like

It seems to be general consensus that sugar temporarily heightens T for a lot of people, and I'm sure that's true although I don't know the science behind it. For me, I don't think it has an effect or at least not for a long time.

Don’t blow your nose too hard