ENT Said If Tinnitus Doesn't Get Better in 3 Months, the Brain Memorizes It, and Never Gets Better

If your brain can "memorize" T it looks like it could memorize the quiet you experienced before T.

Your ENT pulled that out of his ass.

 

Memorize:

 

I was just asking questions. How was I impolite? I am just going to ignore accusations because I am sick of them. I am suffering too and I am asking questions and am cynical because of the health systems we have and thus, everyone relies on experiences and anecdotes.

 

“Stories or fairytales?

When people read 'stories' - do they pay attention to the context and data?”

I’m not an idiot, Pete. And you’re not the only one suffering.

 

People are just asking questions. If the tinnitus is severe, for e.g., they might not 'sound civil' but it doesn't mean they are trying to be rude or intend impoliteness.

I might be inaccurate but I recall your tinnitus fluctuates from mild, moderate and severe. You even have periods of somewhat quiet to an extreme of intrusive severity?

What if your tinnitus was in the severe condition 24/7? Imagine that it is. How would you cope? Would every post of yours 'sound civil?' My point is people don't mean to be rude here - it is the fault of this damn condition. I don't think he said anything that bad. Put it in perspective.

 

??? I think context is useful and needed. Else, the anecdote doesn't mean much.

Edit: you posted that you read stories about tinnitus "going away...." One or two? 99% was quiet tinnitus or? "Going away" infers silence? It away after years or? I called the stories fairytales because there is no context and I was told about such stories too. I suspect it's mostly mild tinnitus but regardless, there isn't much info on "improvements" and cases where it "goes away." It would be nice if there are many stories of severe tinnitus going away. Anyone have any detailed stories of it going away?!?

 

@PeteJ

The person in question has challenged me before on what I have written and I have no objection to that. However, I find his conduct brusque and therefore, if he chooses to correspond with me he needs to improve his manners.

You are correct my tinnitus can be variable from: silent, mild, moderate, severe and can reach very severe levels. My tinnitus can be so severe I need to take clonazepam as nothing else will reduce it. There are times it will reduce by itself without medication.

I have experienced severe debilitating tinnitus 24/7. For this reason I able understand this and relate to people when corresponding or counselling them due to the large fluctuations in my tinnitus.

I fully understand how tinnitus can affect a person when it is severe but it is no good getting angry and taking this out on people that you associate with as you'll only make your situation much worse by causing stress. Stress increases tinnitus and tinnitus increases stress. It took me 4 years to habituate for the 2nd time and I still have difficultly with it. Life goes on and we have to look at the positive things and not dwell on the negative. Most of the people that post in this forum on a regular basis, do not have severe debilitating tinnitus. I am not saying they do not experience severe tinnitus I am saying it is not severe and debilitating 24/7.

If a person is able to work, go to school, attend University etc and not stuck at home on medication because their tinnitus is severe and debilitating they should try look at that as something positive and good. Seek treatment if possible but we have first got to try and help ourselves. Ranting and being confrontational makes a difficult situation worse.

Yesterday in my car I stopped at the traffic lights. I saw a man of around 35 years crossing the road albeit tentatively. In his hand he held a white cane and was tapping it on the ground as he progressed to the other side of the road.

Michael

 

Some people can't even be "stuck at home" because they have no money in that case. Your black and white "'everything is this way" and I decide" might be why some people challenge you? Just a thought.

The rest is ok but you don't know everyone's situation.

 

I paid attention to the context when it was posted and queried it further when I could, because I’m not an idiot Pete.

In terms of whether these are stories or fairytales, I suppose that depends on how much credibility you want to give anything posted online.

The stories I collected, A combination of it going away altogether For some and for others getting much quieter.

Generally, it did sound like these were quieter cases on average, but the context was not always available.

 

It was a sudden improvement, nothing gradual. I just woke up and my T was low (only audible in quiet rooms). It was a great moment. Sadly I ruined it when I went to a rock concert 2 years later.

 

Yeah this is such a good point. I actually wonder if this is even more common than it going away. When it is really quiet, and you can only hear it in silence, you almost might as well not have it.

 

All I know in my experience is that the T in my right ear has become more quiet over the last few years. I haven't simply habituated to it, it IS quieter than it was 5 years ago.

 

@Jason C Had his tinnitus disappear after two years! And he was exposed to a 125 db alarm for 10 minutes! Tinnitus can fade or even disappear long after three months.

 

I have never said I know everything about tinnitus but I am one hundred percent sure Of the following. You may not like to hear it but it is the truth: If a person has severe debilitating tinnitus, they will not be able to function properly and this will prevent them from doing all the things that I have mentioned in my previous post, and that includes posting regularly on any Internet forum. The loud intrusiveness of the tinnitus noise can seriously affect a person's mental and emotional wellbeing and that is a fact. Furthermore, such a person will find it absolutely necessary to seek medical help for the distress they will ultimately be in.

I have said my piece and will not be commenting further on this issue.
Michael

 

Just FYI for others reading the thread, there was a young woman who apparently committed suicide not long after posting on this site, so please don’t feel as if you are not suffering as much as you thought you were if you are still able to post on the site.

That is the very darkest of outcomes to this though and of course people in such a very dark place may have other things going on in their lives as well in some cases.

 

It wasn't really necessary to quote my post but since you have I will respond. People that regularly read my posts know I am sympathetic and understanding towards anyone that is having difficulty coping with tinnitus. I stand by everything that I have written and know it is the truth. Unfortunately this doesn't sit well with some people including you.

Please note: I have endured your insufferable presence for quite some time but if you continue with your childish behaviour and you know what I am referring to, then I shall take the appropriate action and be rid of you for good.

Good day
Michael

 

Childish, to you, seems to mean challenging your nonsense. I honestly think it is such a shame you post stuff like “people with severe debilitating tinnitus could not be posting on the Internet” and have a meltdown if anyone contradicts you. The reason it’s a shame is that some of your other stuff is actually pretty sensible like the importance of positivity.

 

Goodbye and I wish you well.
Michael

 

Oh no @Agrajag364 you've been threatened with Michael's infamous “ignore list” I’m so sorry.

Edit: You have been bid goodbye and wished well, it is all over now

 

Can now laugh at him in peace.

 

Indeed Agrajag364 is now placed on ignore. She never posted anything worthwhile reading mind so will not be missed. Tread carefully @Jcb as you are sailing close to the wind too.

Michael

 

Ps I actually liked her posts, some very informative but we know you think science is “witchcraft” but each to their own eh mate

 

The person that you refer to only ever posted information copied or read from websites. I mean no disrespect but its akin to a repeating Parrot. This is typical of someone that has very little experience with tinnitus.

Michael

 

Grade c trolling must do better, see me after class.

 

I agree with you and I was astonished that he got mad when you were being empathetic to his state of tinnitus.

I respectfully disagree with his assertion that you can't post with severe tinnitus. I think it's difficult to function and working is near impossible but I can post while suffering. I am holding my left ear in excruciating pain and typing this message with my right hand on a phone. I think the universal assertion here is all activities are much more difficult with severe tinnitus compared to when we didn't have tinnitus and compared to "normal people" who don't have severe tinnitus. I might able to post but I am in excruciating pain and the severe tinnitus makes it a struggle. :-(

 

Ok then. Sorry. I am in severe pain and with the tinnitus as it is, part of me is not really objecting to anything as I don't expect to be here much longer.

 

How loud was his tinnitus when he got it and before it disappeared?

I also suspect that tinnitus may fade into the background and it's actually lowering to a level when it's only recognized or heard in quiet rooms.

But, many people who have tinnitus have this state of tinnitus. At least, that is my impression. People I have met in real life who have tinnitus have it at this level.

I am wondering about experiences of those with severe/loud tinnitus and 1) whether there are cases in which it significantly reduced in severity and volume and 2) whether there is any pattern or possibility/probability of it happening. To have any idea, I think there needs to be enough people who have had severe tinnitus report their experiences and report it in sufficient detail so it tells us something?

 

That's usually what happens, it goes from mild to severe in one go (because the severe state is actually a "short" (can last days) spike, then drops to moderate and finally back to mild and so on, it's kind of a cycle, although it's seemingly random and spikes can come and within hours, my tinnitus is also louder on mornings than in the afternoon, so it appears to follow my circadian rhythm to some degree.

What I speculate happens, is that my tinnitus is actually multiple tones (either frequencies or octaves), intertwined, making what sounds like a single done, and the severe spike I get is one of those tones which varies in intensity (while the baseline does not), how much I focus on my tinnitus doesn't seem to impact how loud it gets, although it does impact the overall effect it has on my quality of life, so applying CBT principles helps to some degree, even when it's severe, it doesn't remove the cause, but it allows me to have a life and not have my tinnitus control me or my mood, though of course, the louder my tinnitus is, the harder it gets, when it's mild, having an optimistic mindset and focussing on anything other than my tinnitus is, quite frankly, a piece of cake, even in a silent room, when it is moderate and louder however, it takes a very strong will. I am only 6 months in, so I'll get there eventually (I hope). It's too early to know whether or not I am starting to habituate however, I can tell I am not currently habituated though.

Quite frankly, if it was severe 24/7, it'd be hell on earth, all the will in the world can only do so much, though I am not sure if the fluctuation helps coping better, it's quite a letdown to have your tinnitus mild and a mere bothering annoyance, to change into an overintrusive sound, one day (or half a day), you feel great, the next, you feel like crap, it's kind of a rollercoaster, I did have severe tinnitus for several days at a time (especially in the beginning when I had it for 20+ days with no interruption), but it's been a less frequent occurrence lately (though it happened last weekend for 72 hours), I feel like I am not coping that great during those times, but I still cope a lot better than I did at the beginning, even though during prolonged severe episodes, suicidal thoughts start creeping in and typically go away as soon as tinnitus gets better, so to say tinnitus isn't linked to depression would be quite the understatement, I like to think I cope better during those episodes than I did when I started getting tinnitus though, especially as I get used to it and I can focus and read even when tinnitus is severe, something I couldn't do at all at the beginning.

 

I am sorry to say, but I can actually relate to that, I literally could not read over a single sentence without losing focus (let alone post anywhere on the internet) for the first 20+ days after my tinnitus onset, it was that debilitating, try doing anything when you go from knowing silence to a raging 60 dB masking level high pitched sound in your ear and let's see how you fare. Not everyone experience the same tinnitus or the same level of distress associated with it.

I still went to work because I was not afforded a single sick day (thanks to the uselessness of the French ENTs (I have seen several), but needless to say I wasn't very productive, I only started to become a functioning individual once I forced myself to adopt an optimistic mindset (around day 20th) and my tinnitus loudness started decreasing (on the 23rd day), I became aware of tinnitus talk on day 2 after my tinnitus onset, and the reasons I didn't post wasn't because I didn't want to, I literally couldn't, all I could focus for more than a minute was my tinnitus and making it stop by any means necessary, including killing myself (which, thankfully, I did not do, I daresay that I wasn't quite myself back then, depression and distress makes you envision things you wouldn't normally do).