3 Year Tinnitus Update: Life Is Good, Folks!

Hey everyone,

I've not posted here or visited in a very long time, but Tinnitus Talk was essential for me coping for the first year of tinnitus I thought it would be good to post an update.

The first year was very bad for me, crippling depression caused by tinnitus, the failure of a relationship, drifting from friends - its all well documented in my post history. I didn't think I was going to get out of this alive. Dropping the S word is a serious statement, but for the first year it was a concurrent thought.

3 years on and life is good folks!

My tinnitus has stayed roughly the same for the past2 years and I can go weeks and weeks without thinking about it. I think I'm fairly lucky in the fact that attention to my tinnitus can decreased by a fan (although not completely masked) , although the first 6 months it was so debilitatingly loud couldn't sleep, study or concentrate. I would hear it over driving and in the shower and now I hardly hear it over a fan and TV in a quiet room,only if I put my attention to it! Over this journey there have been some awful spikes caused by things like, visiting loud bars, car horns, and fire alarms, but I try to remain calm and it usually settles down after 1-2 weeks.

My hyperacusis was so severe at the start that I couldn't have a normal conversation with people without my ears feel like they were being stabbed. Turning on light switches, running water, cutlery clanking, listening to music were all things that were unbearable. At the start I couldn't even mask my tinnitus as it would react and create aloud whistling noise in my ears. Fortunately the hyperacusis has reduced to a 1/10, sometimes clanking plates etc causes a stabbing sensation in my ear but normal sounds like the TV, people talking, passing cars etc do not cause any pain or sensation unless I am experiencing a spike where it will go up to a 3-4/10 for a week but nowhere near the 10/10 it was before. Hyperacusis is by far the worst part of this journey, but it seems to reduce n severity for the majority of people in the first 2 years if sound enrichment and avoiding loud places is adhered to.

I've returned to the normal activities I enjoyed before, working out 4-5 days a week, listening to music through speakers, socialising with friends, going to pubs & bars, eating out at restaurants etc. I've also picked up some new hobbies such as MMA and playing the electric guitar (with musicians earplugs and the amp on a very low volume and never going above the volume of a normal TV). I also went on holiday with my friends this year, where we spent the 3 nights in pubs and bars playing fairly loud music (with earplugs of course), and although I experienced a spike after it settled back down to baseline. Although some people on this forum would discourage some of these activates, with precautions in place I believe even one with tinnitus can enjoy them, just make sure you wear earplugs and take frequent breaks. Although I visit bars and pubs with music, I don't think I would ever step foot in a club again as the noise in there is astronomical and the risk far outweighs the reward.

The only thing I'm missing in comparison to pre tinnitus is going to clubs and listening to music through headphones, but I'm thankful for my progress over the years.

To anybody in the first stages of tinnitus who are scared and pessimistic - although it takes along time, along s you protect your ears it will get better. Even if the sound doesn't decrease, your reaction to the noise and the effect it has on your life will gradually decrease.

To the people who are struggling years on, I'm still praying for you guys.

Thanks.

 

A really wonderful post @orbiter12.

Whenever someone who has suffered with tinnitus greater than circa 2 years returns to this site to update their story with such positive results I'm overjoyed for them. It gives a lot of people a huge amount of hope, especially in trying times like these.

Wishing you well.

 

Brilliant post @orbiter12 Thank you so much for coming back to tell us how you're doing. It is so great to read your story and Congrats!

 

Thank you for this post - people still in the early stages of loud T, like myself, really need to hear this.

 

Wonderful story! As someone else said, it's particularly encouraging when people come back after struggling for a number of years. I suspect there are more stories like this out there but we don't hear them because after that amount of time people have moved on and don't think about this forum.

I love how you said you can go weeks and weeks without thinking about it. That's brilliant. Well done you! And thanks again for coming back and telling us!

 

This is true, I can back this up.

I developed my tinnitus/hyperacusis last year of March and both ringing and hyperacusis were 10/10 and as the months gone by I definitely noticed some progress...

My hyperacusis has gone down from 10/10 to 5/10 and for my ringing I would say from 10/10 down to 6 or 5 /10...

 

Hey @orbiter12!

I hope you’re still doing well. I’ve been reading a lot lately as I’ve had reactive tinnitus for about three months now (And intrusive tinnitus for almost a year). I see a lot of similarities with what you went through and just wondered what you did (if anything) to heal? Was it just time or did you take specific steps?

Thanks.

 

It seems time was the biggest thing for you. I guess the body heals in time.

 

Just time. I avoided clubs and festivals etc but I still went to bars and pubs with earplugs, the gym, on airplanes etc. Just don’t be stupid and hopefully with time it resolves itself.

 

Hey, I’m so glad you improved especially the hyperacusis! It is definitely the worst. I’ve also significantly improved to the point where I can go back to normal things but I’m also weary of clubs/festivals. Do you think you’d ever go to a festival again? They’re open air so I feel like they wouldn’t be as dangerous as clubs. It is a risk but like you I want to enjoy my life as much as possible like it was before.

 

When did you notice that whistling thing stopping? I’m 2 months in and this is the hardest part for me - no masking possible.

 

Great story, and good for you.

Don't you feel concerned though that by going back to doing a lot of noisy things that you are risking a real worsening of your tinnitus? Don't you worry that you might get hit on the ear or choked when doing MMA?
I'm not trying to be a downer.

 

Thanks for the reply. I do worry about how some of the things I’m doing can make it worse for sure. That’s why I’ve avoid nightclubs completely but still try and do everything else... the past weekend I spent hours in loud bars and walking round the streets of London with sirens going past constantly. My tinnitus and hyperacusis have spiked (as they often do after this) but It always returns back down to baseline after a week. If it doesn’t then I would probably refrain from doing it again.

With the MMA the grappling (getting chocked etc) has never been a problem..
Even getting headlocked with pressure across my ears e.g guillotine has never caused a problem. With the striking aspect in classes it’s light sparring and drilling so not enough impact to cause any damage even when hit on the ear and when I do hard sparring I’d wear headgear. I have no desire to fight with 4oz gloves without headgear.

 

Probably around the 1-1.5 year mark.

 

I know I will try a festival again one day for sure, you can pick how far away you stand from the speakers etc, I think it could be fairly safe. A nightclub I highly doubt I’d do again.

 

Funnily enough my reactivity disappeared for about a week last week and the volume of my tinnitus went to almost zero. It’s come back since worth a vengeance however no idea what caused it to go or to come back!