Can the Phantom Noise by Noise-Induced Tinnitus Be Lowered?

I've had tinnitus for 7 years now and it's gotten so bad to the point where I can't focus and live a sane life. Does anyone have any treatments, diets, or home remedies that have helped you lower the phantom noise if your tinnitus was caused by a loud noise?

 

Heh If there was anything that did what you ask for, don't you think we'd all be doing it? There isn't. Let's suffer together.

 

You aren't helpful. I asked if there is anything that can help lower the noise? not cure it or heal it. I've had it for 7 years now, you dont know what its like to suffer with it for that long based on your response and profile. I can do with more positive people, even if the answers aren't. Im new to this website and new to the new treatments as I've never met anyone that has had tinnitus until I met this community, Im just trying to stay updated.

 

No there isn't anything like that. We are all going to have to wait some 10 years to get a reduction of the noise. Research isn't quick.

 

well, I am personally doing a trial with a drug called Retigabine or Trobalt.
You can find a large thread on that on this forum .
Nothing else has worked for me so far.

Did your T get progressively worse ? Did you protect your ears etc ?

 

You have no way of knowing that , therefore its not a very supporting thing to say , seeing this is a support forum

 

@RaZaH Yes, my tinnitus got worse over time and its gotten extremely bad in the last 5 months. I do protect my ears when the noise level gets high in my environment but sometimes its hard as a loud noises have to occur as a cue for me to wear them. I recently became paranoid about going out and Im slowly losing my social life. My relationship with someone that helped support me at the time ended about 6 months ago as well, it ended in bad terms and caused me a lot of stress. Its been really bad the last 5 months and I really cant bear the though of living this way. Im 25 and Im scared of what this will do to me in my 30's, 40's...I hope I dont live that long, I feel I only have 2 years left of strength to endure this

 

Stress can definitely be a factor in worsening T , personally I would focus on reducing stress.
Actually there is a lot happening in regards to Tinnitus research these days , quite a few companies realising that its a huge market , capitalism might save our ass after all

 

Im heading to class shortly, going to school and striving for my degree is the only thing keeping me together right now, and its becoming very hard to keep up with. I hope to continue meeting new people. This website and community has helped greatly and Im anxious check back in a couple of hours. Thanks to a member, I recently found out about masking audios and have been playing them since I joined the website.

 

Why are you awake this late? Isn't it late in Iceland??

 

Yeah, a bit late over here , Netflix ....

 

The standard things are to make sure you get enough sleep, eat healthy foods (for example, try to limit salt), try to reduce stress, and get some exercise. (When you think about it - the things we should all be doing anyway...) Basically anything to calm the nervous system.

From there it just depends. Some people find that certain foods make things worse. for a start, you might want to try keeping sugar low, no smoking, limited alcohol, etc.

Taking benzos lowered things for me, but then you have to deal with stopping them which can create its own problems so I would only take them for a short period of time if at all. Beyond that, some drugs (for example, antidepressants) help some people and make some people worse. Other people try anti-epileptics. Again, they seem to work for some people and not for others.

Aside from trying to reduce the noise, the other part is to try to reduce your reaction to the noise. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps some people. Basic mindfulness helps others. I'm sure others will chime in with more ideas.

Good luck.

 

I am guessing it was not all that bad for the first 5-6 years then ? Bearable until last few months ?

 

Did they lower things permanently or just while on them

 

It was better while on them. The challenge is getting off them because stopping too quickly can *cause* tinnitus in people who don't have it and presumably make it worse for people who do. (see benzobuddies for information and horror stories) If used, best used for a short period of time (1-2 weeks) or possibly occasionally to help with sleep or a really bad day.

 

@Carlos,

You can give Vinpocetine and NAC a try. It helps soften my T somewhat. Salt and particularly sugar is my worst enemy. Red wine for me, tends to lessen my T for awhile also. Many find it a trigger. Everyone has to test stuff on their own, to find what works and doesn't work.

 

No they don't have a permanent effect.

 

They worked just while on them for me too, but taking them can save a desperate situation. Clonazepam is the only thing I know that can help me when my T increases to really unbearable levels, when I have an alarm in my head. Who could live with that?
@Carlos if you are that desperate, you can try Clonazepam, a benzo. It helped me survive for more than 7 years. I think it was because of it that my vision lowered so much at such speed -clonazepam is also a muscle relaxer, so it may have relaxed the muscles of my eyes, (vision acuity is based also on the performance of eye muscles)- but it always lowered the T when it got too high to bear. You can worry about getting off of it later. There are ways to stop it, I heard that one method is to replace it with Diazepam/Valium.
I am on Clonazepam even now.
Some people say that after a long time on benzo other things happen that T becomes the least of the problems, but they don't want to say what exactly happened to them.
You can try Clonazepam. Try a little. That won't make you an addict overnight, exposed to danger when you will want to stop it. See what happens.
Clonazepam is the name of the active ingredient. The name of the drug that contains is Klonopin (in US) and Rivotril (in Europe).
I know some members that take a benzo like Clonazepam when in desperate need of some remedy. Some take Lorazepam. I don't know about that.
You may even see that T disappears until Clonazepam wears off.
Clonazepam is prescribed for T all over the world. You need a prescription for it. An ENT could give one to you. Never take more than 2 mg in the evening. Has also a sedative effect, that's why it is taken in the evening. It works because it's an anti-seizure drug, stops the neurons from firing like crazy.

A better route would be to try to change the brain chemistry (the neurotransmitters) for the better doing exercises. Daily. Not for only 2 minutes. I read that exercises increases serotonine levels, very important in a T sufferer. (Some members may have a different opinion about that).

Did you try natural sedatives?

Try natural sedatives for mood and sleep, and exercising. If that doesn't improve your T and mood, you may try some Klonopin for a break, a temporary lowering or even disappearance of T, once in a while. There is a long thread about it on this forum. It's good to know that when in desperate need you can have a diminishing from a med, should Klonopin work for you. I doubt that it won't. I do not want to make an addict on Klonopin out of you and get you into more trouble, just take some when in need. Living in hell is a bit less difficult if we have a break once in a while, from Klonopin.

If somebody is against my advice, please say so.

Only now I noticed Aaron123's message. Take what he says into account.

 

@Carlos On second thought, I want to withdraw my advice re taking Klonopin. I read some horror stories last night and I am having some very tough time myself due to lack of supply.

 

Hi. Would you mind sharing what you learned regarding supply? My latest script was changed back to ' APO' from ' TEVA' ....what's going on? I'll die without this drug.

 

This supply problem is just mine. Due to a problem with the importer of the drug in my UE country, it won't be available in the local pharmacies anymore. Doesn't affect other countries.

I already died. I am writing from hell now using my tablet. Full of "hotspots" here.

 

Hmm..how odd..and that really sucks. Sorry to hear...It's the only drug that keeps me sane...and I'm only half sane at this point..Tks for responding.

 

My Klonopin says MFG Mylan .5mg. Are you on that dose BB? I wonder if who makes it matters?

 

I guess that is what matters. Mine now says Teva-Clonazepam with Teva crossed off and APO written on top. I used to always take APO and then was switched to TEVA .5 same dose but the pills turned smaller (making tapering more of a bitch at the time) now back to APO I guess. .Interestingly I swear the Teva didn't affect me the same..but who knows. .I don't know... except I am probably a lifer on this shit.

 

Hi
For me it is important to get enough sleep but thats not easy and to get some exercise. But best thing has been since have tried not to listen out for the sound and to not worry when I hear it. Have gone through real hell in last few months and often felt on the edge but am starting to get some easier days. Also I am tryig to plan some nice things to do so that I can think about these at night and not gocrazy with the loud tinnitus. Am cryng a lot but not in despair so much now. Dont know if any of this helps. Oh, and if I get drunk, I don notice the T much but cant do that everyday!

 

Go to a hearing aid place that offers a free hearing test. If you have a loss, ask them to program a hearing aid for you and see if it lessens the tinnitus. Ask if they have one with a masker and turn the maskers on. That has helped me. However, due to my depression and mood swing issues (Before T) I am in the process of titrating up on a medication that hopefully will help me be consistent in dealing with tinnitus. (I probably would be if I could mask it but some of my T isn't maskable completely) Most of it is though and if this medication helps and God shows mercy, I will be a lot better.

 

That is really interesting. Years ago, I took TEVA Klonopin which worked but then when they switched manufacturers, the new generic messed me up bad. I have heard others say the same. Did APO work better or worse for you than TEVA?