A Success Story — And a Warning

Hello everyone.

If you were active on this site a month ago, you would have seen me fretting in the support thread about having developed terribly intrusive tinnitus from a concert. I was inconsolable, worried that I would never hear silence again.

Looking back now, it's all but a bad dream. Thank God, my tinnitus is now gone. Or if not gone, has returned to the level it was before, so I'd consider myself cured.

I wanted to come back to give the new sufferers some hope. In most cases, tinnitus improves and disappears. You'll likely be okay. And if not, you will almost certainly habituate, and it'll be like it's left because your brain won't pay attention to it. Either way, it won't bother you any more, and you can go on and keep living your life as you were.

But, be warned.

This onset was my second one, after loud noise exposure. My ears are, without a doubt, compromised. I don't use earphones anymore. I carry ear protection with me when going out. I wear it on the train, and even at noisy restaurants. And since I have hearing loss, I've found that wearing my hearing aids have helped.

This is a warning to you and to myself. If you recover, which you most likely will, don't ever take your ears for granted again. Learn to think of noise as something that has the potential to be hazardous in high intensity and durations.

Don't think tinnitus won't come back, because it can and will. Don't get complacent. And enjoy every moment of silence you can experience. I enjoy the silence a lot more these days.

Thank you to everyone who supported me at the height of my anxiety. And to those who are new to tinnitus, it does get better. You'll be okay.

Respect your ears

Optigirl19

 

Thanks for sharing hope.

If you could, can you recall any details as to the fading process?

How would you describe your sounds as they healed?

I'm assuming it was a slow process and not the flick of an off switch.

Descriptions on how the character of your sounds changed are what I'm trying to collect from those who are cured.

 

I'm glad you got better. So you have hearing loss, but without tinnitus? I mean, other than the tinnitus you're saying went away? That's very interesting. How did you obtain the hearing loss and when?

I really wish mine would go away, but it's been two years and it's actually gotten worse even though my hearing loss is very mild and hasn't gotten any worse since the tinnitus first started. Maybe you can send some healing vibes my way since you've had so much luck with recovering!

 

@Optigirl19 So now you can’t hear anything when you plug your ears??

I’m so happy for you, feels like a beautiful miracle.

 

Thank you so much for the update. I went back and read your other posts about how your Tinnitus evolved. Mine is behaving in the same way.. Except it's taking twice as long.. But I'm twice your age and then some. I've gone from a very loud tone, to a lesser tone.. To weird musical beeps and echos. You've given me great hope that I will make a full recovery on another month or two. It's already improved to the point that I can live me life again.

 

Glad to hear you are recovered. I hope you stay that way and never have to deal with the hell of tinnitus again.

Mine just started a week ago, I'm thinking it was from taking paracetamol, I absolutely miss the silence so badly.

 

I think it would take a very long time for paracetamol to give you tinnitus, my wife takes that stuff like candy and has excellent hearing levels

 

I only say this because I cant think of anything else that could have caused it. I diddnt go anywhere loud or change my diet or have any head trauma. I did read somewhere that codeine was ototoxic, but I dont remember where I read it

 

The one she takes is just paracetamol and caffine mixed together. No codine in it. Not sure if that is a problem. Most drug induced Tinnitus goes away a few months (at least from mild drugs), You will probably be ok . Seems to me most cases are caused by juat a few thinds and maybe a combination of them, Stress, low magnesium levels when in loud sounds, jaw and neck problems.

 

Today I just found a few posts on tinnitus sufferers on fb saying they got their tinnitus from paracetamol. Also theres peer reviwed research to show it causes hearing loss and may very well be ototoxic! I will avoid paracetamol from now on.

 

At what dosage and duration was it found to cause hearing loss?

If you could provide a link to the study, it would be great too.

 

Yeah.. problem is people get tinnitus everyday from stress, gut problems and getting old, and people happen to be taking paracetamol quite often too. I have a list of like.. 50 things I think might has caused my tinnitus and in the end.. It was probably a combination of all 50 at once rather than just one thing. It's a lot harder to get tinnitus that you think.. But you only have to unlock that magic combination one time in your life and you get it. 15% of people manage to make the combination at one stage or another. Mine is fading now to the point I can barely hear it but I have a great struggle in front of me with the brain problems I've got with the somatic side of things.

 

I knew it would get better, and I am really happy for you