For Those Who Have Habituated... Do You Still Have Emotional Responses to ALL Aspects of Tinnitus?

so guessing from all the reading I've been doing here, habituation is my best chance at success. This has been a struggle, the hardest struggle of my life. my ENT told me VERY BLUNTLY... there is no cure. Well he said other stuff too but it was all incredibly stupid. "oh it might get better, I'm not sure... I can't explain what's causing it"... yeah thanks for the hope there doctor, thought you were the professional.

aaaaannnyyyways... my question here is for people are habituated. For you see, I also get the fleeting tinnitus spikes on the regular. you know, when it goes really loud all of a sudden. Sometimes the right ear, sometimes the left. these frighten me. it's like, my regular tinnitus... it's intrusive and annoying... but in time... I could get used to it, theoretically... but these spikes always derail me, I keep thinking, oh god this is it it's getting way worse... then it dies down... back to regular T, which also drives me coo-coo.

so for all of you who are habituated... do you still have emotional responses to ALL aspects of your tinnitus? or have you habituated to the point where it truly gives you no emotional responses and you get on with life........

sorry if i ramble...

 

I have two types of T simultaneously:
1. a moderately loud, continuous multitonal beep/buzz. I have had this my whole life. To this I am perfectly habituated, it does not bother me at all.
2. and a relatively new sound, in both ears. It's a funny little thing because it always changes. Chirping, electric noises, morse, constant noise, no noise - it does whatever it wants. I think I got this one by overusing headphones. (Stopped with that.) This one is quieter than the first one.

I struggled badly with the second noise, even though it's not very loud, because it is not constant. For a while I was obsessively monitoring it and freaked out when it did something new. Then, over a few weeks/months, I somehow lost interest. I seem to have habituated to it as a collection of various noises that sometimes changes. It is still sometimes annoying (especially when I lie down to sleep) but I no longer have those terrible anxiety waves.

As for the fleeting tinnitus: to be honest I enjoy that. It feels like my ear is "cleansing" itself with that burst of loud, clear sound. I keep hoping that once after a blast of fleeting tinnitus the baseline noise will go away. So far, it didn't.

So to sum up: habituation to everchanging tinnitus seems to be possible. Meditation helped me a lot by reducing my anxiety.

 

Use to wake up in night hearing the noise, was like waking up into a nightmare. Got anti-depressants, if I wake up now it's just a noise;tinnitus; the anxiety dimished but I still obsess over it. Over time, this should go away (back when I had my first bout of t it did)

P.s. My dad is a prime example. Tinnitus heard over everyday sounds (when you mention it to him) - zero emotional reaction. He wouldn't even be arsed if a cure was there or not. I wish I was like him.

 

I know it will take time but I can't wait to get to the point where my tinnitus gives me zero emotional response. Well, that or a cure... or if it goes away on its' own. I'll take any of the three.

 

4 years with tinnitus and I have accepted it 6 months into having it and when I did life went back to normal. I started a group in Hawaii the island of Oahu called tinnitus in paradise to have a support group and let them know they're not alone . When I got t I had no one to talk to about it cause no one knew what I was talking abut . Lucky I found this place . I was told by someone " don't stop living your life " and I didn't I was a mess when I first got t a total mess . 1 year later I started to become the person I was before getting tinnitus . I love singing , beaches , dancing , working out and just being me . Life will get better , u will come to the point that I'm at where I do not hear my tinnitus though it s still with me 24/7 it doesn't affect my life any more . I enjoy the people I get to meet and help here in hawaii . Just remember don't give up...

 

The volume of mine has seemed to go down. More importantly, I just don't care anymore. I need to live my life regardless. I think part of habituation is the "boredom" of reacting to it. So yes, the emotional response goes away. So long as you accept it and don't panic. Otherwise you wire your brain to react to it with panic. It's not intuitive, but not caring about it will also allow it to fade away or into the background.

 

A joke eventually stops being funny. Likewise, T and memories of how one got T eventually stop eliciting a strong emotional response...

 

I grew up in a place that was adjacent to a highway and never heard the traffic until I went to the country where there was no road noise and realized that I was so used to hearing traffic it no longer registered in my mind. Just as sure as anyone will tell you living near a constant source of noise they just tune it out, you will eventually tune out the tinnitus. In addition, I recently replace my refrigerator after about 25 years and I hated the new refrigerator, couldn't stand the noise and almost got rid of it but fast forward a few months and I no longer hear the refrigerator. This is how habituation works but you have to work on turning it out by getting busy with life as you knew it before tinnitus. It can be done and I will guess millions of sufferers have done it and you can to.

 

If you give a response to your tinnitus, then it only makes it worst...... Even when my ears are screaming with demon level tinnitus, its best to hold myself calm and try to not dwell on the hell that surrounds me. This is how i live it and I have horrible, not maskable- high frequency tinnitus that would drive 99% of people to Utter Madness.....It's scary loud in both ears...

It's all based on your mentality and acceptance....that's how you don't let tinnitus win...

It's tough, its not easy, IT IS..WHAT IT IS.....

 

My ENT told the same. I lost hopes doctors here are not giving any medicine / vitamins or even trying to help find the cause or ask any questions. Its sick to leave a person with no hope. Atleast in india doctors did trial and error. I heard cases from my relatives or family friends who had tinnitus atleast had some medications tried and eventually they got tinnitus diminished for 2people and for one person its gone completely after 5-6months. I planning to travel back and get it checked there as I can't accept this T forever. Even if it is diminished instead of curing I would be happy. I used to enjoy my solitude now I hate being alone. I always want someone around otherwise I panic listening to T. I know I have to habituate and deal with it eventually. Acceptance is the key but it's freaking hard to accept every single day. I can't get that energy to handle every day. Somedays I say when I hear T you are not going to win over me. I am stronger than this damn noise. Other days I cry thinking if I can ever have a normal life. It's an effort which you have to bring in every morning.

 

yup i hate the sound but if i have to listen to it i realize "its just a sound..your fine."

 

occasionally, i get worried about my t bc i still suffer with anxiety and ocd

on the whole though, i have largely habituated

 

What has affected me most about T is not the loss of silence but the fact that I feel that I can no longer do things I love like going to clubs or checking out live bands. I am too afraid that my hearing will be further damaged. As a consequence, my social life and mental well-being have suffered. Initially, it was the loss of silence that made me anxious but now I try not to pay attention to the sound of even look for it, so it doesn't really bother me anymore in that respect.

 

I have T I can here over the TV, driving my car most everything but the shower. I have habituated and really dont hear it mostly all day. In the evening when im trying to relax I hear it but dont let it bother me anymore...I guess after awhile you just say F---k it !!!!!