Doubt My Tinnitus Goes Away 100% So Moving on to Worry About Other Things

Hey guys, I've had tinnitus for around 2.5 months and it developed after a very stressful period; I just randomly woke up with it one day. For about a month and a half, I tried to do something about it and the volume did decrease significantly but after that there didn't seem to be anymore of a reduction. At this point, I don't really care anymore and it doesn't really bother me a whole lot so I've "accepted" it. I'm more concerned that I've developed some form of dysautonomia so hopefully after the coronavirus stuff is over I can see a cardiologist. I did notice something that I thought was peculiar though so hopefully it can help a lot of you if you're lucky.

Starting off, I'll say that initially the volume was like a notch away from suicidal level and I took Klonopin to sleep out of desperation. Oddly enough, within 30 minutes, the volume significantly reduced and I tested it 3 times to confirm. After doing some research, it seems that Klonopin and other benzo class drugs bind to your GABA A and also GABA B receptors in your brain, which are supposed to balance out with Glutamate. Going off of this, I determined that maybe I had a neurotransmitter imbalance. So here's what I did:

1. I googled a list of all foods with large amounts of free Glutamate and went on an anti Glutamate, low salt, low sugar, no caffeine, and no alcohol diet. I pretty much ate meat besides turkey, eggs, salad/vegetables besides broccoli and mushrooms, nuts besides cashews, peanuts, and walnuts, limited fruit but lots of avocados, and some potatoes for a little over a month. And I put chili powder on everything haha.

2. I took a bunch of supplements including NAC, Magnesium Glycinate (4 120mg pills a day), omega 3 fish oils, a Vitamin B complex, vitamin E, Vitamin C, Curcumin with a piperine complex (for significantly increased absorption), Ubiquinol, 30mg zinc, a probiotic ("primal probiotics" lol), Vitamin D, and Vitamin K2.

Other things worth trying are L-theanine (but it gave me a headache), Acetyl-L-Carnitine (if you think your tinnitus may be related to hearing loss/damage, and Taurine (for the same reason).

3. I stopped all sexual activity for around a month and I feel like this actually did something but it may have just been coincidence that the reduction in volume started happening soon after this. But when you do the deed, your brain goes crazy and there's all sorts of chemicals released + nerve activation so who knows.

4. You have to stop being stressed and relax. I know it's hard but chronic stress is one of the main things that leads to a Glutamate GABA imbalance in the first place. And you also need to sleep well as you can + do some light exercise such as walking.

The most interesting thing to me that I don't think I have seen anyone on this thread mention is that AFTER TAKING KLONOPIN AGAIN RECENTLY, THERE WAS NO LONGER A REDUCTION IN VOLUME. I took it 3 times during the insane phase of tinnitus months back and 1 time like two days ag o- I wanted to see if I might reach 0% volume but it didn't do anything anymore. This leads me to believe that I mitigated some damage doing what I did and if I had acted sooner/put the puzzle pieces together, I might have been able to mitigate it even further. In other words, my GABA and Glutamate levels are probably balanced now but permanent/long term damage has occurred regarding the nerve/brain cells.

My advice to new people with tinnitus is try for a couple months to do something about it so you can say that you gave it your best shot and have no regrets but then you need to just let it go or you'll make yourself miserable thinking about it/focusing on it all the time. I was obsessed at first and it wasn't good for me. The statistics that say "90% of people who get tinnitus will have it disappear within a year" are pretty unbalanced because the vast majority of those are the people who go to a concert or shoot a gun or whatever and have it for 15 minutes to a day and what not and then it's gone. If you've had it for months, it's unlikely that it will go away, at least anytime soon, so for your own well being it's best to just move forward and live your life. If it goes away, that's great but if not, you'll get used to it. It's been like a week and a half since I just let it go and I don't really care that it's there anymore. I don't keep track of it anymore and I don't think anything spikes it either food wise, which is nice because I love Chinese food and Mexican food haha. I still hear it though so I don't think I've "habituated".

The most annoying time is when I'm trying to sleep. I found that the BEST solution to this is to only get in your bed when you're mega tired and you know you'll fall asleep immediately. Exercise earlier in the day, turn the fan on, take some melatonin (this makes sleep harder for me though), or read a book (but avoid screens). And if you're going through the initial panic phase, it's okay to take something like Klonopin or some other drug to get through it, although long term use is not recommended and the drug wasn't made for that purpose.

Lastly, when it comes to the cures, I'm not so sure because there are all sorts of ways to get tinnitus varying from sound damage, stress, TMJ, vertebral issues, neck issues, concussions, stress, etc. I think that the cochlear regeneration stuff may help those with sound damage but I'd be skeptical of it helping anyone else. If your tinnitus has a somatic element, you can 100% improve it to some degree but you'll have to find a set of exercises and maybe reduce inflammation because there is an objective physical cause involved. My mom and brother both have somatic tinnitus. My brother says his gets worse progressively as he sits in one spot playing his Xbox lol but it "resets" every day. Mom's changes when she moves her neck and some of her upper vertebrae aren't aligned 100% correctly. If you're like me and yours appeared out of no where or you think it was stress induced/you think you have some form of brain damage, I think the best bet might be the potassium channel modulators.

For the people exposed to ototoxic meds, who knows lol. Those are very odd because for example, I've taken Advil many times throughout my life and it never did anything bad but as soon as I took it after I got tinnitus, it made the tinnitus worse than it ever had been. And antibiotics never did anything to me. My guess is the meds are only ototoxic because someone has a genetic susceptibility to them or they are in a "weakened" state (high stress, sick, etc.) so the meds are more likely to have adverse effects.

If my tinnitus disappears completely, I'll make another post about it but I think it's extremely unlikely unless it's some spontaneous thing that happens years later. I've sort of wondered what the consequences would be if someone could just zap the overactive nerve cells and maybe kill them lol. There are plenty of nice people on here and it's been fun chit chatting with a lot of you I probably won't be on here too much anymore though (but I'll donate haha).

But if you're early to the tinnitus game, I strongly think that your damage might be able to be reduced if you try what I listed above and get to it quickly, especially if it's stress induced/related to GABA and Glutamate.

Good luck to everyone and hang in there- the rate at which medical technology/technology in general has progressed has been incredible even in the last 20 years.

 

Dude it's been 2.5 months? You have a chance still.

 

@jacob256 -- Thanks for your post. -- Regarding your brother's situation where "it resets everyday". What about when a day arrives where it doesn't reset? I think your brother is playing with fire with his xbox habit, and it would be a shame if it led to permanent, unceasing tinnitus. Many similar stories of this kind of thing happening on this forum. -- Take care!

 

Don’t you just like, miss silence?

 

It’s been 3 months for me and I feel hopeless

 

I'm at 5 months of extremely loud, unmaskable tinnitus, and I feel significantly better than I did at the 3 month mark. Is it quieter now? I don't think so, but my mind is hardening to it. It still shocks and surprises me sometimes, but I'm coping far better at this point. Give it time, and prepare for your future. Don't write yourself off because of this.

 

One year.

 

You’re a strong person. This shit sucks. Can’t read a book in peace or look at my phone. Can’t sleep on either ear some nights. Good for you. I’d pay any amount of $ to get rid of this nightmare from hell.

 

Yup. It sucks, but you will make it. I just finally started reading my kindle again. It's easy to get distracted by the ringing, but I'm confident that you'll be able to do all of these things again.

One of the activities I forced myself to do is learn a new language. It seems like a crazy thing to do while I'm dealing with this, but I'm up to like a 70 day streak on Duolingo now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. For some reason it makes me feel good, and surprisingly helps take my mind off the sound.

If you give yourself a chance, you'll find you are stronger than you thought.

 

I cry every day and just break down. I can’t handle it. Why am I so weak?

 

I’m sorry you are feeling that way at the moment. What I did when I first got tinnitus was keep myself busy which helped a lot. Hopefully time will allow your tinnitus to reduce.

 

That's exactly where I was. I still am having those kinds of days occasionally. Are you getting support outside of this forum? My wife and daughter have been my main support. My physician has also been very helpful in getting help for me.

 

No, no one understands. No one know what “loudness” is like. Or “blaring.” Or what it’s like to wake up to noise and go to bed to noise. The fear of it increasing, the fear of it never going away.

 

Stop that. You're not weak.

The first few days-weeks are hell for everyone. Everyone here has been through this. We know how you feel.

But many people with tinnitus, even when they struggle, go on to live happy and fulifling lives. Hell, most of them do.

You're in the early days. The earliest days are the hardest. I don't know how loud your tinnitus is, but being distressed by it is not "weak." No matter the volume.

Work at it and you'll be able to. Experiment with sound enrichment while you read. Play music that suites what you're reading. Maybe try reading along with audio books.

I thought I would never be able to read again either. But then I used a mixture of rain sounds and crickets to distract myself, and started reading comics. I slowly worked my way back to prose. If I can do it, so can you.

 

What is this sensation of air coming out? Is it really air or is that just part of the tinnitus?

 

I think it’s part of the tinnitus. As time goes by your tinnitus should reduce in volume. If not try and keep busy. At first it’s hard but it gets easier along the way.

 

You are not weak. This is a shock for you, then it’s natural to react like you do. I was exactly like you the first couple of months...

 

I don’t get why this is happening to me. Both ears now.

 

It’s just so LOUD.

 

I had vibrating and echoing. The vibrating was especially weird. This is so bizarre to me. Both ears on and off all day - vibrating. Hasn’t happened since but idk.

 

Can you describe the echoing?
Ears vibrating is a form of muscle spasm in the middle ear.

 

I dunno it was just this weird echo sensation, happened when I walked from outside to inside a few times. Also lying in bed. So weird. Just an echo :/

 

The vibrating was each ear though. Back and forth. So strange.

 

@Lane Apparently my brother has had it for as long as he can remember and I never even knew he had it (he never mentioned it once) and I asked him if it eventually just got tuned out for him and he said yes in the sense that he may go an hour or two without noticing it and then he's like "oh wait I have this" lol. Because he's had it for years and years and he had never mentioned it I did don't think it bothers him at all and it's probably a mild case. I think he started sitting in a chair recently though and the way he sat before was sort of odd haha.

 

@Tara Lyons

I consider myself to be doing pretty well these days but I still don't really read. Trying to do it is just too frustrating and upsetting. I do other things and I'll work up to reading when I'm ready.

I love aot's advice here. But I just wanted to say that if it's too hard to right now you don't have to read. You can do something else. For example I like to listen to the radio whilst cooking or gardening or driving. From your posts it sounds like you have bene struggling a lot. So be kind to yourself and don't force yourself to do things that are hard.

 

@Hotspur2931

You will get there. I was unable to read for two years and thought I would never get back into it but I did. It was a slow at first but I eventually succeeded . After 2 years I tried to get back into reading but every book I purchased I put it down after reaching the first chapter if I managed to get that far. It was a very difficult time for me as my tinnitus changed in 2008 after my 2nd noise trauma to fluctuating tinnitus: complete silence, mild, moderate, severe and very severe.

I was browsing Amazon and read a synopsis from a book by the Author Peter James whom I'd never heard of. I liked what I'd read so ordered the book. It took 5 weeks to read it as my tinnitus fluctuated daily. However, each time I returned to reading the book I was immediately into the story. The author's writing style I found to be captivating and unlike anyone I had previously read prior to my 2008 noise trauma. I ordered the second book in the series and liked that too then the 3rd and 4th. After the 5th book I wrote to Peter James, just to say how much I liked his books and told him about my tinnitus and how I thought I'd never return to reading. He kindly replied.

Don't give up it takes time but you'll get there.

Michael

 

Thanks so much for your reply, and your encouragement as always, Michael.
Lizzy
xxx

 

You are welcome Lizzy. I admire your zest for life and determination. I don't want to bore you so will try to be brief. The author I told you about: Peter James, writes about a fictional Detective Superintendent, Roy Grace who lives in Brighton, a seaside town on the south coast of England. I liked the way the author described Brighton so much I moved here in 2014,

Take care
Michael

 

Vibrating again omg. It’s so crazy!!!!

 

Oh I've only just seen this! Your reply made me tear up a little bit. Thank you. I have had my ups and downs with this forum but honestly everyone here is so great to build each other up when people are struggling and doubting themselves. It's really nice to be able to feel like I'm able to help others a bit, now, as well as be helped! Then again I've noticed I've been feeling a bit wobbly the last few weeks when I've been on here more, so I'm probably not ready. So I really do appreciate your input and encouragement – I needed it!

I don't feel like I'm that strong or determined tbh. My tinnitus is much less bad than others on here, and yet it's taken me a long time to start to get better and I'm still stumbling a lot. I feel a bit pathetic and dramatic. But I'm nonetheless grateful for what I've learned, and I hope I can help other people who, like me, worry that they just don't have the right personality or brain-type to deal with this!

Zest for life though... yes... I have always loved life, and the knowledge of what that feels like keeps me going on bad days, and helps me bounce back. It was awful at first – remembering how it felt to be happy, and being unable to feel it – but thank goodness that time eventually passed.

The book series sounds lovely. I may well look it up. You're right that it's important to have something particularly gripping to read.

Also, good news, I've started reading a bit before bed! I can't do it with just my normal quiet sound machine noises – I have to put on jungle sounds on my phone loud, and cover up the tinnitus almost completely, which feels like cheating, but I figured if it helps me resume one of my favourite activities it's worth doing. I turn off the extra sounds before I actually go to sleep, and just sleep with my regular sound-machine rain noises. Thanks for your encouragement – I wouldn't have tried it otherwise!