Finally Habituated to My Tinnitus, but Now It's Bothering Me Again!

Hi guys, so looking for some advice please. I have had tinnitus since May 2017. The first few months were hell- anxiety, depression, feeling of no way out etc. but then it got easier after about 10 months. It's been over a year and I felt like I finally had my life back. Tinnitus didn't bother me anymore. It was bliss. I was so happy. I was actually quite close to writing my success story and sharing with you all "how I habituated".

Sadly, this is not the case anymore. Just recently, I feel like my brain is constantly focusing on the tinnitus. I've always heard my tinnitus but I have somehow been able to block it out, due to my habitation, or I at least didn't let it bother me. But one day this week, out of the blue, my brain started focusing on the noises again. As far as I can tell my tinnitus hasn't increased. I don't think I'm going through a spike either. My tinnitus sounds mainly like a static/white noise (in both ears) with a number of different tones that come and go in both ears, high pitch eeehhhh, low pitch hummmmm. The high/low pitch sounds are maskable. And funnily enough, it was the static/white noise tone that never really bothered me that much. That tone wasn't as distressing to listen to as opposed the high/low pitch sounds. The static/white noise sound is not maskable, and that was ok until a few days ago. I could live with the static/white noise sound. But now all of a sudden, all I can hear is the static/white noise sound, and over everything. It's like my brain is zoning in on it and won't let it go. I hear it over everything, and of course I'm back to now thinking 'how will I listen to this forever', 'this is so depressing' etc. It's been really frustrating and I just don't understand how after I habituated, I could possibly go back to sq 1 with my emotional feelings towards the tinnitus. I actually forgot how scary it was to deal with those feelings and thoughts,that I felt in the beginning.

Has this happened to anyone else?

In terms of has my lifestyle changed, no. Everything is still the same as it was for the past year. The only difference and I don't even know if this would really affect the tinnitus is that I now do interval training at the gym. I am a regular gym user, but this week I started interval training. But only for 20 minutes a day and I only attend the gym 2, 3 times a week. My hearing is always extremely sensitive after I go to the gym for a number of hours afterwards. I am not sure why. And I really don't think 20 minutes of interval training two, three times a week would be the reason behind my brain focusing more on the tinnitus.....

I'm just baffled as to why my brain is all of a sudden focusing on this horrendous noise again. And will I habituate again?

Thanks in advance for any advice guys.

 

Also wanted to add, fleeting T has been more frequent in both ears and a little more severe. I also have this weird 'wet clicking' noise every time I swallow. But have had this for as long as I can remember. That could be completely normal!

 

you said "My hearing is always extremely sensitive after I go to the gym for a number of hours afterwards" and if the gym is playing loud music or weight machine weights are slamming together, i bet these could be triggers. Or if you changed your diet or are taking any allergy meds or other meds maybe.

 

Hey, yeah possibly. But my gym is actually a really quiet gym. It's not really busy and is quite small. They play music but not really loud and the weights don't make too much noise. It's more of a leisure club so clients are more so the older generation. That's why it's quiet. I read something about blood pressure and increased blood flow might cause sensitivity. But overall I don't think that's the root to my "all of a sudden" focus on my T.

 

Right now i'm looking into taking B12, B6 and Folic Acid as i think i remember a relative had a B12 deficiency, so this is something to check into ie:

@MeBeSurfer just recently said:
So, I am having major, and I mean major reductions in my severe tinnitus. It's gone from screaming in my head, to a faint high pitched sound I can only really hear if I don't have my hearing aids in and other sounds bring it out. When I do hear it, it's soooo much lower in volume.

I recently had all my limbs tingle and so doctor tested me for vitamin deficiency. I was on the very low end of what's considered normal for B12. I've been taking a sublingual B12 supplement now since my doc thinks tingling is a neuro symptom of being way under 500 pg/ml (I was at 290), and I think taking the supplement has largely been responsible for reducing my tinnitus. B12 deficiency has been known to cause tinnitus, so just wanted to give everyone a heads up to get checked for your B12 levels, as it could help get to the cause if yours is unknown.

Anyway, hoping everyone is doing better, and to any newbies out there, yes it does get better!

 

Please don't fret. This kind of thing has happened to many people before. Perhaps the interval training has put temporary "stress" on your body which has changed your emotions and caused you to dwell on it more. Perhaps maybe Omega 3 fatty acids and plenty of water for hydration could boost your mood and help you to "push" tinnitus off your mind again. I can't say exactly what would help but the important thing is not worry. One thing that has helped me lately is praying and asking God to help give me wisdom on what to do and how to see things more clearly.

 

Yes, there Are times when it feels more unbearable. Having it for a long time normally promotes habituation, but sometimes it makes it harder to bear having T. Having said this, after about 500 days, I began to forget how it felt like to be in silence. The more I forget, the less likely I am to yearn for it and the less likely I am to mourn its loss.

 

Maybe habituation isn't the answer and we need to push the medical world to find treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Check out the research thread for things about brain stimulation, hearing restoration and experimental drugs that show to help in epilepsy and tinnitus. If everyone habituates researchers won't bother looking for a cure, the way we make tinnitus seem like a cake walk we hurt ourselves.

Seriously we need to admit tinnitus puts us at a disadvantage in life and nothing comes before a treatment! Generations before us never bothered to pester the medical community about tinnitus, they didn't have the internet to raise awarness, I believe this forum can be used for raising awarness instead of a TRT hugbox.

 

This seems like hyperacusis, and you are saying hyperacusis can be modulated by exercise, interesting.

Do your ears hurt when your hear noise or do things sound abnormally loud if not both?

 

Thanks for this advice. I'll get my bloods checked with my GP to rule it out.

 

Thanks for your kind words. I see you have T since 2006. Does it still bother you 12 years later?

 

I'm all for that. I would be completely in agreement re. raising awareness and ultimately finding a solution rather than just having to live with this. It really is a terrible condition. I was distraught at first to hear there is no cure. You can have open heart surgery and transplants but you can't find the issue behind ringing in the ears. It's mind boggling.

 

Well I wouldn't go as far as to say it's H, but maybe a mild form of H. It only lasts for a few hours. The noises that would be sensitive would be people talking loudly or my 2 yr old toddler screaming or shouting. I don't have it when I do not go to the gym. So it's only twice, three times a week. I am putting it down to exercise and increased blood flow due to the exercising.

 

Oddly enough when I first got it, it didn't bother me at the time because I was on an SSRI. The stupid side effects of that drug bothered me more. It wasn't until months and months later after I got off did I start to get really bothered by it. It started with being stressed and depressed about something else. My problem is I have a mild bipolar (I don't get manic or even close but my moods need to be stabilized because I can go from "normal" to depressed and it puts me in a different frame of mind. If my mood is stabilized, it is easier for me to "tune" the tinnitus out and not be bothered by it.

 

My story is kind of similar, when I first got my T in the very beginning it didn't bother me that much. But over time it's gotten worse. I'm on mirap to help me sleep at night with it.

 

Part of my problem is my mood fluctuations...I have had depression issues before...right now I am taking Lamictal and Litium Orotate (supplement). I have done it for around a week or so...so far so good. I guess I will see how it goes.

 

Yes, I agree with you. When you're feeling low or anxious, T is heightened, meaning you're dealing with multiple issues at that point. And then of course the more you focus on the T the louder it gets. It's better to keep busy, but that's not always possible!

 

I know this is an old thread, but I’m in the same boat! Fully habituated, period of stress with my girlfriend and now I can only focus on my tinnitus.

I'm 100% certain it’s just due to my now stressed state of mind and I’m taking steps to be a bit more independent as I’ve been spending a lot of time with my gf and perhaps not focusing on myself as much a step I should have. So I'm going to go back to doing things I enjoy, it seemed to start when I stopped going to the gym so I’m back at it but yeah it’s odd how stress makes you refocus and the annoying thing is tinnitus is always there so it’s easy to stress over. Mine is super quiet and I can only hear it in dead silence but I keep thinking I can hear new tones throughout the day, I mean I wrote my success story mere days before I started feeling awful about it again.

I usually check my ears throughout the day but I’m stopping that now as I’ll just think I have new tones but yeah, any feedback would be appreciated!

How are you doing now?

 

Hi @Nics2drescue and @Adamwynn,
How are you doing?

I am in the same boat here. Have had tinnitus since 2013, sometimes it bothers me more (when anxious, stressed and start performing obsessive actions, like covering my ears, etc).

Tinnitus is not the problem, but the underlying mood and discomfort is (if your tinnitus has not changed, of course).

Last night, I went out and had many drinks. Today, hangaxiety (hang over and anxiety) made their appearance.

It was a hard day. I had to go running and walking for 3 hours to lessen the anxiety, and still feel nervous.

A couple of hours ago, if I heard my tinnitus, my heart would start racing and feel panic.

As I am starting to chill, my tinnitus is bothering me less and less.

 

When I think about it, I'm not sure whats going on with me. I did so good for many years, like 10 years, but for last few months, I think the volume of my tinnitus has increased, but I could be wrong. It could be I just think about it more.

I think about it daily now, and thinking about it is what causes me to hear it all the time. I just cant stop thinking about it. It's a daily thing up and down with this. Sometimes it's just roaring and I'm ok with it, and the next day I'm just down about it. I have to play mind games with my tinnitus.

 

I've habituated since 07/2014 and quiting looking for a cure or a treatment. In the beginning of my Tinnitus in 03/14 i was doing only the standard treatment: (Hearing Test, Prednisolone/Betahistine, MRI:Accustic neuroma). I was more focused an habituation, because everytime i was meeting an ENT made me thinking about my Tinnitus.

I only was looking all three months for news in this forum.

Since two months i'm starting again looking for a cause and maybe a treatment for my tinnitus. Maybe my neck is the problem or something in my ears that can be fixed.

Since then my Tinnitus ist going louder. Because im thinking of it daily. It sucked. I think when you looking for answers to get rid of Tinnitus, the Tinnitus automatic goes louder. Now my Tinnitus is blasting so loud since the onset..

 

@Mikejl46 and @seppl, hello there.

I believe your problem (like mine) is related to anxiety and obsessive behaviour, and we tend to confuse our discomfort with tinnitus, we blame it for underlying issues.
As I wrote before, yesterday I had a pretty heavy day... I was in panic most of the time and felt that my tinnitus was going to drive me nuts.

I went to bed early, took a 3mg melatonin pill and had a good night of sleep...

Today, my tinnitus is exactly the same as yesterday, but it does not bother me at all...

I know for sure that the brain chemistry is crucial in this.

Alcohol, at first, helps you to chill by blocking glutamate and targeting the GABA receptors. If you drink too much (like I did on Saturday ) you feel completely relaxed. Next day, as a result of low GABA and glutamate not being blocked, high anxiety emerges.

It has been proven beyond doubt that chronic drinkers have chemical imbalance in their brains that could last years, that is the reason for them being stuck in a cycle where they can´t stop drinking, and this is to prevent anxiety and discomfort.

If you have a low amount of serotonin (among other neurotransmitters) you will feel anxious with your mind racing. Insomnia and obsessive thoughts and behaviors will emerge.