Collecting Names of People Who Used to Have Tinnitus

I get really fed up with people believing that tinnitus is incurable and that there is no way out. I understand why this happens because there are a lot of people out there promoting this negative and harmful belief. Would it be possible to set up a list of people who used to have tinntius, create a post where we can all ask friends, family, colleagues etc if they know of people who used to have it, and add them to the list? To state the obvious people who used to have tinnitus won't be talking about it any more or hanging out in tinnitus forums. Its great to see success stories here and people getting better or making a recovery. Is there anyway we can build on this and help convince negative thinking patterns that take root in people's heads that this is true? As a psychotherapist I nkow the hardest thing to change about a person is a fixed belief.

My 20 year old tinnitus symptoms went away completely.
I'm cured.

It got massively better after 6 months of work and then then went away after being on a candida diet.
I know one person who got rid of tinnitus in December completely after 3 hours of work! He had it for 4 months.

 

That is going to be a really short list.

 

On the contrary, it's a far bigger list than those who suffer with it.

The people who use this board are broadly representative of the 1% with tinnitus where it has a serious effect on their daily lives. The rest who have it may be annoyed by it sometimes but they can generally let it fade into the background. And many times it just totally disappears.

Most people stay with this board for around 3 months. Their tinnitus may fade, they may habituate or it may disappear altogether. They seem impossible to you because you are currently suffering but they are a fact. The reason that mostly nobody stays or comes back is that it is a constant reminder of their tinnitus, it isn't a good aid to the psychological battle to have it staring you in the face every day.

 

I can agree with that. Dwelling is not healthy. But what you were looking for by my opinion was being cured .I don't think that anybody is cured they just move on.

 

I actually know 3 people whose tinnitus disappeared
One took 4 months
One took 3 months
One took a year

On the contrary I know 5 people who have had it for years, they still notice it but they are fully habituated

 

just look at profiles of people who have not come back to this forum for a long time say 6 months to 1 year may be.....they have clearly habituated or gotten cured ( i feel most of the people including me use this forum to get ideas/relief/meds etc to get a grip on T) !!! i think we need to have some stats as in how many accounts are non functional for over 6 months or so......on this forum......Ifeel the cured/habituated people could be 1 in 5 as far as this forum is concerned.... i personally know 3 people... out of which 2 got habituated within a year( not even heard while sleeping...only heard if focused very deeply or when coming down with fever etc)..and 1 got completely cured within 9 months.... Largely in my personal opinion within a years time...u get your T under control..of course leaving aside few exceptions!

ASD

 

I have two friends that were cured, one in 3 weeks and one in 2-3 years.

 

I have talked about this issue endlessly, and I have definitely met a lot more people who've said "I struggled with that for months or years and then it got better and I can't hear it anymore if I try", than I have met people who've said "I've had it forever and it never goes away". In fact, I'd say that most of the people who thought their T was psychogenic or drug related in nature, got better. People who had some very very severe noise trauma with severe hearing loss, do not seem to do as well. I'm probably somewhere in the middle, because I did have a noise event precipitating this getting worse, but in fact it was already a standing psychogenic issue at that time.

Is the OP here, actually, Julian Cowan Hill himself? We have a celebrity among us!

Can you tell me a bit more about both the work you did, and the nature of your anti-yeast diet? I don't know if yeast has farkall to do with my ringing, but I do know that I have digestive problems and skin problems which are consistent with what people attribute to yeast - and I also know that when my ringing is really bad, I crave sweets, and have even had some problems with pinworms -- so I'm very open to the idea of a GI connection.

 

Thanks, @Steve. This is helpful. Just wondering if most leave the board around that first 3-8 month mark? Or do you know of cases of t disappearing after 1 or 2 years?
I experienced an overall fade in t, and better sleep etc, approaching the 18 month mark.
But 5 days ago, I tripped and hit the back of my head against a carpeted floor. T has been elevated since, and waking me from sleep as in the beginning.
So my other question is - do you guys know of anyone with existing t whose t has exacerbated after a head trauma? If so, was this a permanent or temporary increase? @Markku @jazz
Cheers, Steve.
Lisa

 

@Lisa88 I don't know of anyone. It's possible, of course. But, right now, I would focus on ignoring my increase. In general, unless you've killed a patch of hair cells from drug ototoxicity, I think most increases are temporary. The key is not to focus on the louder noise. Increase your masking sounds or start masking again, for example. Don't focus on listening to your tinnitus or trying to detect new or louder sounds. I was under a lot of stress recently and began hearing my heartbeat in my "bad" ear, where 80% of my tinnitus generates. (Actually, my tinnitus is on the left side, but, for some reason, I still get random sounds in my left ear.) Obviously, I was quite concerned when I heard the heartbeats, but I decided to down play it psychologically. So I told myself it was nothing and I kept busy. And every time I heard it, I again told myself I was being silly. Nothing was wrong. It would fade.

This tactic has worked for me several times when I had sound increases. I suggest you do the same. And it wouldn't hurt to take supplements that should decrease any brain inflammation you may have. Specifically, I'd take krill oil with meals and NAC 2x a day (600 mg.). Of course, I don't know if you're already taking medications. If you are, you should discuss any drugs or supplements with your pharmacist.

And it's great your tinnitus is decreasing. Most people, who don't improve within a few months, will be habituated or experience significant amelioration of their symptoms by eighteen months. Of course, you will continue to improve as time passes. Some people need several years before they are fully habituated. What is most important is a good attitude and protection of your ears, brain, etc. (BTW, I'll be three years in August, and I am not fully habituated. But I am so much better.)

And I'd also recommend headspace.com for mindful meditation. It also calms down your brain!

I'm sure you'll be okay!

take care,

jazz

 

Hi Lisa,

Mostly it's the 3+ month mark that I see it happening but people do drift off even after being here for a year or more. There is a general theme of people leaving and carrying on with their lives; some may improve drastically, some may just want to forget about it and feel the need to stop reading all the stories about others suffering.

Markku may be able to get a few stats here from the site, I can only offer observation and experience.

On the whole, people are the same. You have something bad happen, you worry, try and find things out, concern over the future. Then over time there is an acceptance of your circumstances and you learn to move on from it. I appreciate that not everybody can do this but it is the general pattern, you have to be open to your circumstances and accept them to move on (that doesn't mean giving up the search for a cure).

 

Hi Julian, what actually did you do to make your tinnitus get better after 20 years as that must have been incredible for you and how long were you on the diet for and are you still on some sort of diet, how wonderful it is to hear of your great success any advise would be much appreciated please.

Thank you

 

@Freddie
You can check out Julian's youtube page.
Lots of info re his and general t stuff.

 

What kind of "work" ?

 

Craniosacral therapy I presume.

 

Its great to know that there is a chance but the way i see it is that i have no luck in life when it comes to stuff like this. I have accepted my fate although there are days when i really ask myself how am i supposed to live with this forever and why me. My tinnitus isnt even a terrible case but it has moments where it can spike temporarily based on mood or stress. Since tinnitus is a brain disorder I can see no way of this ever being cured on its own. So although there are some hopeful stories out there I think its best I just keep my expectations low. I have pretty much habituated but that doesnt mean my quality of life is back to what it was. Enjoying silence is still not a possibility. I can probably handle about a good half hour in silence but most likely need some kind of noise or something to focus on. Done with my rant. Just frustrated. Thanks for reading lol

 

Which is ? Is that the "holding hands above you head" kind of thing ?
I went for a few of those, felt ridiculous.

Unless I went for the wrong thing ?

 

I don't really know how to explain it, but here's a video:

CranioSacral Therapy Demo: Used to treat...

"holding hands above your head" sounds a lot like healing

 

Thats weird , he shows one technique with the fingers at the base of the skull and the rest is him saying that he "will be having a look at this and having a look at that " LOL

 

@RaZaH Hahaha, that's so funny!

Tell me about your friend that got cured in 2-3 years! Was it noise induced? Did he/she do anything special to make it go away? That's a really hopeful story...

 

I dont think he did anything special, although he did say that he got super anal about protecting his hearing , wearing earplugs all the time.

 

Lucky bastard...

 

I went for a CST session. It's not going to do anything except temporarily lower anxiety levels. I guess Julian's idea is that if you learn to lower your anxiety and over time learn to do so easily, you can reduce the limbic reaction to a point where you can habituate to perception.

 

Hi @linearb

I started seeing an acupuncturist two weeks ago to try to address my recent onset tinnitus from an ototoxic drug. Your comments are very much in line with his experience. He said he's had the most success with those whose tinnitus started with an otoxic drug.

Interestingly, he primarily treats liver and kidney points in these patients to balance out the disrupted energy in those organs, even though this is somewhat contrary to normal TCM philosophy. But that's his experience in the real world. -- My tinnitus is ever so slowly beginning to back off, more so in intensity than in volume.​

 

I actually know quite a few people with Tinnitus. Although it didn't go away they are doing well these days.

* My family doctor has had it for 20 years, he said the first few years were hell but now he never thinks about it unless someone brings it up.

* My Auntie, she has had it five years. Like my Dr she found the first few years awful but these days doesn't think about it much, she promised me in time it will fade into the background (it took her around 2 years)

*A lovely old man I see on my walk every morning, he got T a few years ago. He said it annoys him sometimes and when that happens he puts on the radio.

* I am pretty sure my dog does, he is doing well.