4 Years with Tinnitus and Still Not Managed to Habituate — Offer Some Positive Advice?

As of this May it’s will be 4 years since I developed tinnitus. I’ve never quite managed to habituate and as the 4 years have gone by I’ve managed to get by day by day, week by week and so on.

I’ve suffered several permanent spikes over the years and countless temporary spikes. My tinnitus has never been stable and I’ve come to the end of managing to cope with the constant battle of this condition. With that said, I still do have some options available that I’m willing to try. Mirtazapine being the first option.

Is there any hope left to habituate naturally? Do I need some help pharmaceutical help? Has anyone got any positive advice they can give me? All I know is that I wake up and it’s Groundhog Day - go to work - struggle to concentrate - come home - cook dinner - struggle to concentrate on watching tv/read a book etc and go to bed. I need something to help me brake this cycle.

 

I'm nearly 2 years in and this sounds really similar. Honestly I should be asking you for advice. 4 years. You are a trooper. I say go for broke. You've gone this long. Try something new. Within reason. I suppose. None of us really want to give up. This shit is torturous I know. I'll have a couple good days and then a soul crushing one just to remind me I'm not in charge. My habituation thus far is mild at best. I can sleep ok but every waking moment is eeeeeEEE!!! Only if I'm super engaged in something. Or someone can I manage to ignore it. There is no "can only hear it in a quiet room" for this guy. But I have to believe it will be ok. I don't really have a choice. What I leave behind everyday just to go to work (family) is worth the struggle. I mean may be there is a breaking point. I hope I never get there. I hope you find what you need. What have you got to lose?

 

I'm in the exact same boat. 31st of August will be my 4 year mark. I've decided to make some enormous changes to my lifestyle, as I now have a lot of health problems on top of the tinnitus because of my isolation. I've decided to not just get in shape, but to become a picture of health, someone people envy and use as an example of what they would like to do themselves. Since I promised myself 5 years before I'd give up on life, I'm going to take this last year and really, really put the effort in to build myself to fantastic shape. I'll be using a personal trainer at first.

If that doesn't work and Dr. Shore doesn't publish anything in that time period, I think that's it for me. Groundhog day is the exact words I would use about my own life as well. I understand exactly what you mean.

 

Hi, I managed to habituate to tinnitus quite some time ago. It wasn't easy and took quite some time. However, I would say absolutely the most important thing for me was to take careful steps to avoid loud noise exposure as much as possible. Being in quiet environments and avoiding anywhere such as very noisy bars, cinemas, music gigs has been key. Every loud noise exposure will simply set back the habituation process. Clearly it's not always possible to avoid all loud noise absolutely and be able to go out and about. But duration of exposure is also important so if you realise that you have inadvertently been exposed to loud noise moving out of its vicinity as quickly as possible is vital. Hope that this helps you.

 

Let's hope it's not the last year. But damn that sounds good. I need to join you and get my ass in shape.

 

I believe our best hope for a treatment or even a cure will be in stem cells. Diet & exercise, if we can do it regularly, helps to cope better. I have reactive tinnitus & some hyperacusis & hoping that the reactivity part of it will fade away but so far no luck.

 

I think you're right about the stem cells. Or at least something that is very similar such as FX-322. Or maybe even BPC-157.

Everything else is just treating the symptom of the issue. Habituation can definitely work though and also I do think CBT can be very good for most people. The issue is always loud noise though which cause setbacks or worsening. At a certain stage it gets very hard to block out the required level of noise.

But getting to habituation and avoiding loud noise can still lead to a happy life if one manages to habituate decently. Most of the time people do seem to reach this level eventually.

Some people do get better with random things too or even just time.

 

Man I feel the same. And tbh, if you ask me, there is no such thing as habituation, most tinnitus sufferers just naturally get better to the point where tinnitus is mild/non existent in the best case scenario (whether they have done the right things or didn't!) - I did everything right and the volume is unbearable and we know the volume is the sole factor that dictates the level of dysfunction.

I feel you about not being able to concentrate. It's 1000 times worse than ADHD and all we get is just put some background noise lmao, it's just mind numbing this stupid condition - for that reason alone it should be taken seriously. Mirtazapine in my experience can take down a horse which can help if your sleep is affected (for the first month of taking it), other than that it didn't affect the tinnitus volume but it doesn't hurt trying.

I guess we just need to hope that it magically quiets down like it does for the majority of sufferers so we can get a glimpse of normal life back.

 

Hey, welcome back

 

That's the only way... if there is genuine ear damage it will not go away, but in time it will be easier to ignore tinnitus, or focus on other things.

 

It has been over two years for me, and I agree, you go to work and live day to day trying to ignore the tinnitus. A good day is one where you are so occupied with life that it fades out of mind somewhat. Still every night and morning it Is eeeeee.

Just being relaxed seems so hard. Once the other stimulus/distraction is gone, the tinnitus Is always there to make sure you are not too comfortable.

So, it's one day at a time, but it's one mentally busy day after another. Complete chill just doesn't seem possible.

Does anyone on here really experience a calm mental state in spite of tinnitus?