Feeling Better But Still Not There

Hi all,

A few weeks back I was in deep s--t. Following a bereavement and the return of T together with breakdown. I have had some much better days lately and have been doing more at home and outside including some socialising, shopping, travelling again on buses, gardening and watching films on YouTube (Steven Seagal MUST have tinnitus).

I've spent time outside in noisy environments. By that I mean in town centres and I've been cutting the grass with earplugs. I've also been burning a lot of dead wood from the garden. Depending on what it is, this sometimes makes very loud POPS and CRACKLES so I wear plugs doing that as well. My ears will ring for some minutes after coming back inside but then quieten again to baseline.

I still sleep very well and have been taking a new AD for some weeks. My T is still mild and I score around 24 on the THI. However, my greatest enemies have been anxiety and obsession. All I want to do now is rest in the afternoon or at night without my masker. I try without it but I guess I'm trying too hard too soon as I'm impatient after so much suffering this year. It usually goes back on again after a while as I get anxious again listening and of course the T becomes more noticeable. I thought that after a few good days, I'd have a go at accepting but it is obviously too soon.

I have read stories of how some people with T can eventually do without masking. How can this come about? How is it achieved?

Any personal experiences would be helpful.

Thanks in advance. Jonathan

 

Hi Jonathan! Im 30 days fresh new with T and only 3 nights of my history includes masking. U can do it too. Go to sleep only when you are feeling really TIRED, take care.

 

And yeah dont be scared.

 

In some cases your brain actually gets used to the tinnitus sound. I know this might sound bizarre to you, but it does happen to some. So masking is not needed.

 

Hi Jonathon. Give it a little more time. I got used to the sound and I don't find it necessary to mask when I nap. At night I still put the TV on the lowest volume because I got used to it, not because I need it. Just a habit now. You mentioned that your T is mild and you sleep well. That's good. Maybe try it without masking on a night you're extremely tired. Don't be surprised if you just fall asleep without anything.

 

Jonathan, I have tinnitus that fluctuates between moderate and severe, and occasionlly dips into the mild zone. I tried masking, but for me it was just noise on top of noise. I sleep in a very quiet bedroom unless it's so hot that the overhead fan needs to be on; otherwise, no fan, no soundscape music, nothing.

I think it depends on what you're comfortable with. Lots of people like sounds in their environment such as waterfall sounds, ocean sounds, meadow sounds, rainfall, et cetera, and they don't have tinnitus. Many people with tinnitus begin using sounds in their environment to mask, and discover that they actually enjoy it and will continue to use it even if they don't "need" it. There's nothing wrong with masking; it isn't a sign of weakness, not at all.

Congrats on beginning to cope well with your tinnitus

 

The last five nights have been without my masker turned on which means a lot to me. I'm still not 100% habituated and I still panic at times though. I just hope that it won't get worse in any way and I'll continue to make progress. My anti depressants will stay for the foreseeable future but that's fine with me.

I'd also like to stop clenching my jaws at night. It's possible to get a guard for the teeth but that's mainly to stop lateral movement of the jaw and tooth damage/erosion. I just bite down hard whilst asleep. A crunching has developed in the left side of the jaw when opening the mouth wide or yawning etc as well. I just pray that this is not going to exacerbate my T.

Kind regards to you all