Do You Really Habituate to 24/7 Tinnitus in the Years to Come?

And having the right brain chemistry. It is already proven by science that some people's brain chemistry hinders habituation.

 

I would very much put myself in that group, since I have struggled with this far more than any of the people in my real life with tinnitus and need meditation and meds.

It doesn't matter, at all, because we all have to work with the cards we are dealt.

 

I'm not being very proactive to be honest. I didn't go to concerts, clubs or loud restaurants anyway and I never wear headphones or ear plugs, but I think I need to be protecting more than I am. I only wear muffs when I'm on an airplane and sometimes around the kids as they scream alot, but I never wear anything when I'm out and about or near roads and traffice. Maybe I should? I feel like I just have one long spike. I just didn't want to be someone who overprotects and thought maybe not limiting sound/noise too much was a good thing. But very loud noises are everywhere, so maybe I'm being foolish.

For the first 3 months though I was a recluse, and I think that made me sensitive to sound, but that sensitivity has gone now that I have put myself around sound.

 

I'm a very anxious person (OCD), so I presume I'm in that group too. I really don't want to go down the benzo/med route though, as it's meds that got me in this position in the first place, but I may not have a choice in the end.

Hope to try Lenire, but I'm not confident in it, and the drug treatments/cures seem quite a way off yet.

Would you say life has still being worth living these last 20 years? I have very young kids (but am 49) and don't want them to see me as a broken old man.

 

I had bad hyperacusis when I first got tinnitus. I had a very mild (took it for granted) low hiss/tone but very horrible hyperacusis. Through out the decades, my Tinnitus has gotten way worst(my own fault/tons of exposure to loud sounds that I should have never been exposed to). So, basically the hyperacusis is pretty much better (still a little bit left), but the tinnitus is beyond intrusive and the hearing is beyond bad.

I think it is a must to protect our ears, but do know that not all sounds are bad. Stress can be just as bad as sounds at times and we need to deal with our stress and try to keep it lower.

 

So when specifically do you think I should protect my ears? As I said I don't go to concerts, clubs, stadiums, loud restaurants and I don't listen to music much at all anymore. But where else should I be protecting?

Yeah, my stress is through the roof.

 

Stress can do so much to the body and mind. I would focus on reducing the stress and getting it under control. There are many ways this can be done. you have to figure out what works best for you and your situation.

 

Yes, but, super loaded question, I've got other issues besides tinnitus.

I am a decade younger but in a similar situation otherwise. Don't worry about it, all old people seem old and on their way to broken, it's one of Zens three scared messengers and all. Take it a day at a time.

I resisted the med route as long as I could but ultimately, for me, maximizing the quality of my life with my tiny kid while they are tiny is what's important now. I've tapered off benzos twice, it is a psychotic hell, but if UMich ever sells me a device I expect I can do it again.

I don't trust Lenire, yet.

 

You probably don't want to say, and sorry for prying, but what issues? Please don't answer if you feel uncomfortable with it. So you decided to have a kid after you got tinnitus? I'm not sure I would have been so brave.

Yeah, I saw that you responded to the UMich device. Will be good if they get it out in the next few years. Unfortunately I don't have somatic tinnitus so probably would't do anything for me, which means I'm left with Lenire. I may as well try it, but the reports so far have been underwhelming to say the least.

 

I find it super stressful and anxiety inducing to find the line when and where to protect. I use earplugs (silicon, I'm not sure about them though) during commute, foamies for vacuuming and earmuffs even when I'm feeding my dog. I put the volume down on every appliance I use. That's may not be too smart, because I know that I need sounds to avoid developing H. But everything seems so loud now and it's Murphy's I guess, but all the doors seem to be slammed around me, cars honk right beside me, I accidentally got in the middle of a protest with people screaming and using megaphones...

I almost got an anxiety attack, bc everybody in my family is coughing really loudly, and I'm very afraid to catch an illness and making T worse. I know that this is not a way of living, because then I could just lock myself in a soundproof room with sound enrichment, but I'm still at the phase of freaking out pretty much about anything. I never take my currently not severe tinnitus for granted, but the worrying about everything making it worse in the long haul is hellish.

 

40+ years here. Two tones, 12.6 and 14Khz in both ears. Product of an explosion in 1978 that left me deaf for 3 days. I look at it this way....
I got back what I got back and it is what it is.
Learning to hear "around the sound" was key for me. There isn't a moment the T is not there regardless of the environment. Loud sounds can trigger spikes and I think those are a product of me worrying that my T will worsen, but after all these years it hasn't...much. The spikes are me re-focusing on the T itself until I break away from it again.
Ear plugs....
I do use them when I know I'll be in a situation that causes a spike. Something you just need to learn because we dont all have the same triggers. I use cheap disposable ones and insert fully or partially depending on the acoustic environment.

 

Hell, 40 years. On your profile it says you've had it since 1990, not 1978. Did it get much worse in 1990?

How old were you when you got it back in 1978?

 

I found my old records and it was actually 1978 when I was in the explosion. I never really thought about it since then.
My T has been pretty stable and as I mentioned, I think that "spikes" are when we re-focus on the T.
I was 16 when it happened. To be honest, I think my brains got a pretty good rattling and I have had memory issues since then. I remember events well, but there is no time correlation unless I have something solid to associate it with. Having found my old records, I know it was June of 78.
Being 57 now, I know my T is part of me and will be for the rest of my life.

 

You had hyperacusis, as did I few the first few weeks. Sensitive to every day sounds.

Over protecting can also cause this.
So don’t have plugs or muffs on for normal sounds.
First 3 months were the hardest.

I’m glad my Apple Watch has a noise indicator on it. I can monitor my surroundings on the go

 

Just wondering, what happens when you are too old for athletics? What then...

 

How old are you?

 

I’ve had tinnitus since 2002. It does change your life and how you go about things. I think mine has become a bit worse over the years due to just aging which none of us can stop. My neck and shoulders are often very tight too which doesn’t help. I’ve always said that if you are more anxious in nature, this is not an ideal condition to be living with - it feeds right into it.

 

You're not wrong there.

 

The only sound that's not bad is the sound of a woman giving you a BJ...

 

My life has always been about transformations and evolving. I value fitness quite a bit, it's been a staple of my foundation and it has taught me a lot about discipline as well. I think even as we age and even as our tinnitus ages with us, we can still try things and possibly see what works for us and what does not. I value my creative side and the desire to want to learn about new things and try to add what works in my life. Our world is always changing and adapting is what I strive for always.

When the time comes, when I am not able to do what I use to do, then i'll evolve and adapt to new things. My mind is always filled with activities, that will keep my focus away from the ringing. Life is always changing and I am following it in it's steps.....

 

WHhhhhhaaaaa....????

It does?

Got an Apple Watch, never knew that.

 

I have a very volatile relationship with my intrusive cacophony these last sixth months. For ten years, my T was easily suppressed, I had the mental fortitude to consign it to my subconscious as another banal sound and my brain did filter it out! It was only there when I conjured it. I considered myself so well habituated I forgot about it; my progression was a replica of the "back to silence" success story I read here.

Unfortunately , six months ago I awoke with a discombobulated brain! What was this sound? Threat! Pain! Panic! Intrusive multi reactive tones, dear God I can hear music too! Now I'm subjected to a roaming Tinnitus with music hallucinations; I did consider something more sinister with hearing aberrant noises with no external stimuli but I'm just incapacitated with anxiety after extensive testing.

Do I believe I can habituate again? I'm tentatively optimistic but I've got to be or I'll languish in anxiety. There is no other option. I've been suicidal over this and this last month I can tolerate its presence unmasked 24/7.

I have significant hearing loss so my hearing aids are two precious gifts of distraction and I can sleep unaided because I compel myself to do it.

So, I've accepted there will never be a moment of pure objective silence but perhaps I can deceive my brain into perceiving Tinnitus as my silence and it receding from my perception. If only I could dictate to be brain to leave my damaged hair cells...