For Those Who Are Fully Cured from Tinnitus, How Did It Happen?

I'd like to hear from people who are fully cured, not habituated.

When it went away, how did it change? Did the tone change? Or did the volume just lessen to nothing? How long did it take and what was the cause of your tinnitus?

I am into 3 weeks of noise induced tinnitus and it's gone through a lot of changes. The majority of it now is a hiss (among other tones that come and go). Some days are louder than others. Today was a loud day and I'm feeling discouraged.

I just want to know what it was/is like for it to go away. Just the flick of a switch or gradual changes into nothing?

Thank you.

 

Mine is almost (99.5%) cured after 31 months, and it is a very slow progress. I sometimes hear very very low hissing when I go to bed. Most of the time I don't know I have tinnitus.

 

Thanks Chester. Could you tell me about how you got it, and roughly when you started noticing improvements / what changes you took note of?

Thank you.

 

Here is my tinnitus story:

Started Having Silent Days

 

My neck always get super tight and I’m not sure if it’s stress related or not and I’ve had tinnitus with it now for 7 weeks. Does anyone has suggestions of things that might have worked for them. My ears right side is worst with sound.

 

Nice. Happy for you.

 

So far the only thing I've found that has positive or negative effects on my tinnitus is sleep. I never get 8 hours straight, but if I stay in bed and re-fall asleep the cumulative time helps.

I've also started on an antidepressant/sleep aid called trazodone. Helps me stay asleep 6 hours like clock work so far, although I have a lot of catching up to do from 6 weeks of not sleeping well at all.

Sure does seem to lower the volume though.

That and staying hydrated/fed.

 

I'm not sure, but I'd guess my tinnitus has remained pretty steady the last 4-6 weeks. Manageable, but not any easily noticeable decreases in volume.

I think what has me most troubled is that question - those who had it go away did it obviously lessen month by month until gone, or did it plane out - and get steady before one day it was gone.

 

Tinnitus improvement is certainly not linear. It is more like the stock market that goes in a general direction, with lots of bumps and ups and downs along the way.

My tinnitus has certainly improved, and I am now 11 mos into this. The things that have helped me include:

- Getting a good night's sleep. Easier said than done, but Melatonin helped when the tinnitus was intrusive.
- Sleeping with earplugs. I view it as some hours of acoustic rest to let the ears fully go to rest, and heal.
- Daily Omega-3, about 500 mg. This is an anti-inflammatory agent, and it is suggested in some review articles, but no definitive trial to support use. Still low risk, and may have helped.
- Green tea. Another anti-inflammatory agent.
- Aloe Vera. Yet another anti-inflammatory agent. Goes into the Green tea.
- Vigilant protection from further noises. I still mow the lawn, but now use both foam earplugs and ear muffs to make it safe. I don't go to any rock concerts, bars, or movies. I use protection for using the vacuum, walking alongside traffic on the street, using a hammer, the paper shredder, a hair dryer, getting a hair cut, and the electric shaver. Yes, this takes some work, but otherwise I was having my ears crackle, and then spiking again a day later. I do not protect for walking in the parking lot, going into a store, or driving the car.
- I did not take any steroids. I also did not take any magnesium, but cook with fresh garlic frequently at home that may have played into this as well.

This regimen developed over time. My tinnitus went from an 8/10 last October that was intrusive into my sleep, and I wondered if it would ever improve, and had some setbacks from an alarm clock too close, and the air horn from a semi truck in a parking lot. These days, my tinnitus is mostly a 1/10, and not spiking from brief noise exposures, like a truck passing by.

With the improvement I have seen, I wanted to share it with others so they can take the parts that make sense to them, and hope they will get their tinnitus better as well.

 

Thanks Digital Doc.

 

@Digital Doc wow so your went from an 8 to a 1. I would love for that to happen. I’m 5 months in but still feel it’s an 8. Mine is somatic. Is yours somatic?

 

I am in the same boat. I am currently on Xanax, I have a two week stint. I hope that helps. Before I had Ambien which works but I have been under a lot of stress dues to a recent long term spike. Ambien was not getting me a full nights rest.

I plan to take the Xanax for 2 weeks then ask the doc to reduce to the lower dosage if things work out.

I hope I can get off of both someday. But if I need something then so be it. I just hope I don't get habituated to it so it no longer works at all.

I am trying very hard trying to develop a positive mindset. I am trying to think of it as just a demon that won't ever go away. There are other people that live full lives in far worse pain. I actually have things better than most of the people in the world.

 

@Rb86

You are welcome. Lots of folks looking for the secret treatment, but there is a lot we can do to promote a healing environment.

@MarkX

Mine was noise induced, and not somatic. At 5 months in I had not made much progress, so stick with it.

 

I can further attest to the gradual and non-linear nature of recovery. I'm about two months in now, and have seen some gradual improvement over that period (see attached files, which are my subjective ratings of volume in left rear, right ear, and head, respectively). Whereas I started at about a 4/10 or 5/10, I now think I'm closer to a 2/10 or 3/10. Moreover, I'm not spiking as easily, or as often. I've got a ways to go, but it's nice to be heading in the right direction.

 

Any updates?