Can TRT Work When You Can't Mask Your Tinnitus?

My T is high pitched and loud in my right ear. I have white noise in my bedroom (lots of it, sounds like a jet engine in there ;-) and that doesn't mask it. I sat right in front of my white noise machine the other day and could still hear my T. The only time I don't hear it is when I am in the shower (not just the sound of running water nearby but actually in the shower).

I spoke to my old audiologist who years ago dealt with my hyperacusis. She recommended a white noise in ear product, TRT type therapy. However, I wonder how that can help if my T just seems to "turn itself up" in reaction to noise.

Anyone else, or any experience with TRT or white noise therapy with super loud T?

Thanks

Barri

 

Have you tried crickets? Well, I cured my hyperacusis with keppra, so that's worth looking into. Anyway, here's the video.

Night time Forest Sounds 11 Hours - Forest at...

 

Lol - the crickets might work but are likely to drive me insane. It's interesting that it helped with your hyperacusis. That is the type of noise that would have made me run screaming when mine was at its' worst. Unfortunately I am so adverse to crickets that just a minute of that recording got to me. However, it is certainly possible that it could help if I started listening to it - maybe that's the secret. It is about the right pitch for my T.

Thanks for the idea!

 

I'd get some keppra, if I were you. It's totally cured mine and another member on here called Viking.

 

Have you ever tried to stop Trobalt? I ask because I recall mpt saying his tinnitus remained suppressed even when he stopped. Do you still take keppra?

 

you should stop advertising the keppra like its a miracle cure. you are ONE PERSON, ONE EXPERIENCE.

 

2 people actually. And why not advertise it? People don't read the hyperacusis section. Honestly, I'm only trying to help.

 

I still take keppra yeah. I'm planning to up the dose very soon,

 

Does anyone else have thoughts about this subject and not just the keppra discussion? My original post was to find if others have had any luck with in ear masking when external masking doesn't seem to work?

Thanks

 

I believe it is enough mate to advertise Keppra it in its own thread, rather than hijacking thread after thread about how it cured you and then with the usual follow up of answers to peoples questions about it. Keppra has nothing to do with the original question in this post.

 

Paging @Dr. Nagler to this thread...

 

I used to have two somewhat different high-pitched tones when T started about 9 years ago. Things like bedside maskers and driving a car would mask them enough to get relief. Now, after a 4 month old spike with added sounds and volume, something like riding in a car not only does not pleasingly mask the T, it aggravates it and makes it worse.

I can be having a relatively decent day (i.e., not thinking about an early grave, anyway) and then need to drive somewhere and it all goes out the window. T increases, headaches get worse. Ugh. Reactive much!?

Went to the beach recently b/c wifey thought it would relax me (we love the ocean.) I could still hear the T over the waves. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Bedside maskers have the same story now, no matter which of the environmental choices or white noise options I pick (although I just can't tolerate the "bird" ones or the train one at all, even enough to try past a minute or two). Can turn it way up and still doesn't mask. I mean, turn it up to the point where it's going to blow my wife out of her side of the bed.

I bought the Sound Pillow to try that out, but it' too puffy for me to sleep on. I'm weighting it down with some books for a while to flatten it out a little and then I'll give it another try.

Finally, I'm trying hearing aids with maskers now (past few weeks.) I want them to work, but I'm not too hopeful.

 

The issue is, people don't look at the hyperacusis thread...So seriously, you've got an issue about me trying to help people? Do you think I make money off a generic drug? Don't think so, take a chill pill mate. I'll take 10000% slack if I can treat or cure another person's hyperacusis, as I feel thier agony. So if you think me, trying to get the word out there for a potential treatment is bad then so be it. It's not like keppra is expensive, like £8.50 for a month's supply.

 

In addition to my post above, take a look at post #18 (with attachment) from Doctor Nagler in response to a TRT question I asked in this thread: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...gh-frequency-tonal-tinnitus.9200/#post-108322.

I think you'll see there that TRT isn't really meant to totally mask T for immediate relief. It's set at a particular level to distract the brain enough to (hopefully) enhance your chance of habituation over time without exacerbating T while maskers are in use.

 

You rang?

(Sorry. Couldn't resist!)

Yes. In fact, in TRT you are specifically instructed to set your devices at a volume that does not mask your tinnitus. So the fact that you might actually be unable to mask your tinnitus is irrelevant in TRT.

stephen nagler

 

I think I may try TRT, are there any drugs you could recommend for tinnitus? Did you try any? I mean, after trobalt I may need something...

 

Not everyone wants to take drugs, especially ones that can cause worse problems than T. This thread has nothing to do with drugs. TRT has nothing to do with drugs. Wil you please stop making every thread about trobalt and keppra? No one wants to talk about that stuff here, there are six other threads for that.

Thanks.

 

My personal experience with TRT therapy didn't help me neither with my T nor with my H. I have done the TRT for four months, expecially at night while sleeping, but I haven't reached any positive result. It's very subjective though, so it's worth to try it because maybe your brain will collaborate!

 

@LifesABeach @mexigrl64
For high-pitched T (mine is around 15 kHz or even above; sometimes covered by the shower, sometimes not), I found white noise not helpful. Better for me is cricket sounds or blue noise. Set it to a volume little bit lower as your T. If you need relief, set it louder masking T or mixing with it. For loud T, this could become very unpleasant and loud.

 

I never recommended trobalt as the side-effects can be too much for most people. Keppra however is only a mild headache, a mild headache for no more hyperacusis that's not so bad...

 

Sorry it didn't work for you. I would recommend some stuff but the thought police might strike my down haha

 

Yeah, that frequency cuts through butter.Horrible, just horrible. How's your efforts with the treatment which shall not be named haha? I can't actually listen to blue noise now, my previous tinnitus would go crazy as it was so reactive, thanks magic beans....

 

Valentina, I am so sorry to hear that TRT didn't help you. You know, as a TRT clinician when somebody posts that TRT didn't help, I like to try to figure out why. It helps me be a better clinician, and sometimes it can help the person for whom TRT didn't work as well.

So when I read your post, three questions came to mind:

(1) You say that you were doing TRT "especially at night while sleeping." Can you tell us exactly what you were doing while sleeping that you are calling TRT?

(2) During the four months that you were doing TRT, how many formal one-to-one TRT counseling sessions did you have with your TRT clinician? Or were you just doing the sound therapy part of TRT?

(3) TRT is a protocol that can take 8-12 months to be effective. You say that you were doing TRT for four months and it didn't help. How can you come to any conclusion about an 8-12 month protocol after four months?

Thanks -

stephen nagler

 

Good afternoon Doctor Nagler, thank you for your comment I didn't expect it!

The San Raffaele hospital, located in Milan, Italy, is well known because of one team of doctors, in charge of Dr. Umberto Veronesi, specialized for the cure of breast cancer. During one of my periodical visits, I met a doctor who suggested me a TRT sound therapy, after he has heard me talking about my tinnitus.

(1) I used a sound equipement called sound ball which generates white noises and similar sounds, able to enrich the sound I have in my head, untill the brain gets habituated. I have been told that at night, while sleeping, the therapy effects are much more effective.

(2) Only once, at the beginning, when the doctor teached me how to use the sound ball and when.

(3) I decided to stop this therapy because my tinnitus was increasing considerably. After only a month my T's volume was almost doubled. The doctor told me that it could have happened so I didn't stop, but I was full of fear. When my T, from static became pulsatile and enriched itself with more hisses, I was really not brave enough to continue. So I gave up and, after a couple of weeks, my T went back to normal.

I have probably used the TRT acronym in the wrong way, I'm sorry.

My best regards Dr. Nagler
Valentina

 

You are kind, Valentina, but there is absolutely nothing to apologize for. You were told you were doing TRT, so quite naturally you thought you were doing TRT. And since what you thought was TRT was not working for you, you said that TRT was not working for you. The fact that it was not really TRT in the first place never dawned on you. Why would it??!!

I wish you well, Valentina. And here's to quiet days ahead for all.

stephen nagler

 

Thanks @Martin69. I've certainly been having a tough time finding the right sounds for sleep, that's for sure. I'm OK with pink noise or even white during the day. I'll check around for something like cricket sounds and give it a try. Sound therapy was so much simpler before my (permanent) spike. Maybe I'm searching for something that just doesn't exist and I'll just have to get used to the fact that sleep is going to be rough until I habituate (rather than thinking - like I do now - that good sleep will make me stronger and able to habituate more quickly.)

 

Interestingly I never had sleep issues with my T. Sleeping is relief from T. I don't listen to any sounds at night.
I guess that more the anxiety and thoughts keep us awake.
Need to admit I am taking 30 mg Remeron at 9 PM. But I was always a robust sleeper.
At 11 PM I am so tired that I can no longer stay awake. And I sleep without interruption until 7-8 AM - where the struggle starts.

 

Wow, you're lucky. I'd kill for good sleep.

 

I have T just like mexigirl here does. Fluctuates in volume, can't easily be masked because it reacts to sound. I normally have no problem sleeping with it, but tonight has been quite bad coping alright sometimes though just so frustrating.