Give It Time. Tinnitus Gets Better.

Just a quick story. Got tinnitus about a year ago in both ears...

Really loud and intrusive... visited every doctor there was. They just did not understand this condition at all.

The first few weeks were really tough...

All I could do was give it time and that’s what I did... still have the same tinnitus today but I hardly notice it.

It's just something that does not bother me anymore. So don’t give up... at the beginning it’s tough but with time you will be fine and back to your old self...

All the best AL3

 

Im at the 6 month mark - and it still bother sme BUT to a lesser extent - whats the pathway forward for me - whats the best way to get to the point where I don't care - One time poster has said to allow it but Id like to know your approach please..

 

Hi Steve
I found the first six months really hard but
The weeks keep passing and gradually it improves. Some days you think ur making progress and others it’s like 2 steps back.
I’m at the 12 month mark and I can say it’s way better than at the start.
Couple of things I did. You hear it a lot but it’s very true.
1 stop googling tinnitus
2 keep busy and get out.
3 don’t wear ear plugs like I did at the start all the time. I was afraid any noise would leave it worse.. car horn etc.. but the every day noise don’t. It’s just I was super focused on it all the time..
4 stay positive I had alarms screeching in my ears really bad all the time but today I barley notice it..
I know loads of people with tinnitus and they don’t give it a second taught.
I think the secret is ur reaction to it . There will come a point where you stop caring about it and don’t give it a second taught.
That’s what happened me. Ur at the early stages . Give it time. Don’t panic. And ul get
Back like before

 

such nice words mate - thanks bro - i really hope i get there!!!

you say you know many people who have it and don't care - what do they say when you ask them about it??

also point 1 and 2 above can you please explain how this will help

again thx!!

 

Hey Steve2212, I also know a lot of people who have T and I asked them how they deal with it. They’re all fine and live happy lives.

One of them is my brother. He has otosclerosis and developed T after an ear surgery. The first and last time I heard him about T was a few days after his surgery (now 6 years ago). Told me that he had tinnitus and that it would stay forever. I recently asked him if he still has it since I developed T almost 5 months ago. He says he still has it and that 99% of the time he is not aware of his T. Sometimes someone mentions it or it just becomes a little louder due to fluctuations, and the only thing he thinks is, ah ok, there it is again. Few minutes later he forgets about it, and he continues life. So to him it’s just a bit annoying sometimes. His loudness level is about 4/5-10.

My mother in law has T as well. She told me she actually can always hear it. Hers is like static. She just isn’t bothered by it that much. She decided to accept it, and let it be. At home she turns on the tv so she doesn’t hear it. At night she reads a book in bed and when she’s tired she turns off the lights to go sleep, and she doesn’t hear it because she’s not aware it’s there. Sometimes when she can’t sleep (not because of T) she starts to hear it very clearly and gets a bit annoyed by it. But that’s it.

The brother of my co-worker also has T. She said at the beginning he was very upset, depressed and quickly agitated. But he’s doing fine now. A very happy person, not bothered by his T. She says it’s been there for such a long time he doesn’t even notice it 99% of the time.

My mother has it intermittently, when she’s tired or when her muscles are very tense. She actually NEVER knew that she had tinnitus until I mentioned that I had it. She called me and told me that one night she couldn’t sleep because she suddenly became aware of the crickets in her head. Next day she forgot about it and didn’t hear it, but she told me that she actually always had the crickets in her head. She always thought that this was normal and that it was an external sound. And she has it pretty loud actually. She’s been hearing it for two months now, because she became aware of it thanks to me. And she doesn’t just hear it in a silent room. It’s not very mild. But she just isn’t bothered by it. She knows she always had this and that it didn’t bother her before so she’s moving on with life. I know that intermittent T is not the same as the 24/7 T, but for me my mothers case is an example of how important your reaction to T is (or better: how important it is to not react at all). I certainly believe that with time your brain can learn to ignore the sound and process it as something unimportant. As I said, I’m almost 5 months in, and I’m already doing a lot better. I just try to stay as calm as possible and I distract myself with positive activities. This helps me to forget about T sometimes and it lets my brain know that there are other (positive) things in life. At first I noticed my T 24/7. Nowadays I notice it a few times throughout the day or when it’s silent. Sometimes it’s very noticeable but there are more and more moments that I’m not aware of it or bothered by it. Few months ago I thought this would be impossible and I wanted to die. Now I know that I’ll be alright.

A brother of a friend of mine has T for 10 years now. He is bothered by it when he is stressed, but that’s all. He has it pretty loud as well. But he is living a happy life and 2 years ago he became father of a beautiful girl. So it is possible to live a happy life with T, to move on, and experience beautiful things that life has to offer.

I could tell the stories of all people I know with T, but their stories are actually all the same. At first these persons were bothered by their T, but eventually they’ve moved on with life. I don’t think there is something you can actually do to habituate. I think it is important to try to stay calm, to distract yourself with positive activities, to go to a therapist if you’re really really suffering, and to listen very good to yourself and your body. Eat well, sleep well, work out. Allow your feelings. If you’re sad, be sad and cry. If you’re happy, be happy and have fun. Emotions go through your body like waves. Just let it happen and your emotions will calm down eventually. I know this can be very difficult. But it takes time.

There is one person that I know whose tinnitus went away. She had T for 1,5 years due to an infection and barotrauma. Hers was very very loud and she couldn’t sleep. She heard it over everything. Then suddenly it started to fade and stopped. She now doesn’t hear T, cause it’s gone. No habituation.

I hope you find this helpful. Just want to let you know that in the majority of cases it gets better. Tinnitus is like a wound. It has to heal but there is nothing in particular you can do about it. In the meantime it hurts, it stings, it itches, but it becomes better. Eventually it heals and it leaves you with a scar. The scar doesn’t bother you, but it is there. Sometimes you become aware of it when you see it. It then reminds you of the time when the wound was painful, maybe a very dark time. But guess what, it’s healed, it’s just a scar now. It’s just there, and you move on with life.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them or message me.

 

A lot of the people I talk to gave it time. There would be setbacks along the way but everyone of them is not bothered at all by it
Now.. it will definitely ease on you.

Point 1 when you google you will see negative comments. These start playing with ur mind and start super focusing on ur tinnitus again.

Point 2 a busy mind puts the tinnitus to the back shelf. The more this happens the quicker you will get ur peace back and move on with things..
The mind can amplify it way up so it’s all about stay calm and accepting.
Easier said than done but if I have got success anyone can..
when it was really bad at the start I would take rivitroll but do not need them anymore..
Time / calm/positive/ there will come a day where it’s just not an issue. Good times are around the corner.
I was a bit frustrated at the six month mark
Because I could not see massive progress but Slowly and surely it happened

 

Guys thanks so much for your encouraging words - they make me feel so much better!!

I'm off to Bali for 2 months on a surfing trip so Ill report back after that

I was in a serious dark hole - but am coming out to the light...

 

Good for you steve

 

I agree that tinnitus tends to improve over time. If someone has moderate tinnitus it is likely that over the years it becomes mild.

The problem arises when it becomes too severe and, although it improves, it remains annoying.

Mine became severe after a show in 2017 and is definitely softer than 6 months ago. Anyway, it's still annoying, unfortunately.

 

Hey don.
Hope you are doing a bit better .
Any improvement is welcome.

 

I thought that T would lessen as the system adjusts to this - so don why is it still annoying?? Surely you would be starting to habituate to this according to all the posts here...

 

so many people say that they have severe T and it no longer bothers them and they hardly hear it....

 

Well. We all experience it in different ways. I have had it at different levels throughout my life. I think what matters most is the "volume" to which we hear our tinnitus. Most of my life I have had it in a mild form, except for a period in which it was moderate between 2013-2015 until it became mild again. From 2017 until now I would say it is severe.
The masking has improved a bit, but it would need to stop fluctuating and lower its volume a bit more to be able to ignore it for longer periods of time.

I think that everyone reacts differently. My father had sudden hearing loss (left ear) when he was nearly 55 years old and was left with a tinnitus similar to a white noise. He says he hears it all the time, every day, but he did not even know it was called tinnitus. He never talks about the symptom and lives happily. But he has had a very different upbringing from mine. He has worked since he was a child and he surely learned to make himself less troubled by things.

 

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The phrase "Peace and Blessings be upon him" in arabic is so used, they're crammed into a single letter (
ﷺ).

So that means that the longest legal tweet possible is the phrase Peace and blessings be upon him" 280 times in a row.

ﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺﷺ

 

AL3 any thoughts on what I just posted please...from what don is saying this kind of blows the whole habituation thing out of the water...

 

My writing is limited because my English is basic. I hope not to harm anyone with what I write. I only write from my experience.

 

The volume does not change. It’s our reaction to it that makes all the difference.
Negative thinking only gets you worked up and amplify’s your tinnitus and stress.
Some people just like posting negative messages and this is of no benefit to this site.. there is success if you get ur mind in the right place. We all have our ups and downs but we soldier on and get through it and back to normal. U were in good form Steve until 1 negative post.. habituation is real

 

@Steve2212
Like Don said, everyone has a different experience with T. Negative experiences of others can easily let you feel hopeless, desperate or anxious. I feel sorry for everyone that suffers really bad from T, I’ve been there as well and I still suffer, but I am doing a lot better. What I want to say is that you have to trust yourself and do what feels right. If you feel that you are doing a bit better, and that it annoys you less, than that should be a good sign! Hold on to that. The fact that someone else is still very very annoyed by his T, doesn’t mean that you should also feel that way. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re already doing better. Don’t let it get you down. You should judge your situation by how YOU are feeling, not by the experience of others. You can learn from others and share thoughts, but don’t let their story decide how you feel about yours. I think this will prevent habituation.


Don Tinny has a bad experience. His T got worse. But this doesn’t mean it is going to happen to you as well or that you won’t habituate. It’s sad his T worsened, and I really do appreciate the fact that on this forum he warns us to use proper protection, or to actually avoid loud places like the plague.

I really hope it gets better for you soon, and that you will find relief from this horrible thing @Don Tinny.


Please try to hold on to that positive vibe. I know this can be extremely difficult. At first I was devastated but I ‘faked’ a positive vibe. I forced myself. This really helped me cause after enough faking, my brain started to ignore the T more and more because I calmed down. It’s the same with putting on a fake smile. The brain starts to think your smile is real, and that you’re feeling positive. I know this didn’t or doesn’t work for everyone, due to severe T or other reasons. But if you already think that you are not going to habituate, or that it will take a looong time, than you’re focusing on T in a negative way and you’re constantly telling your brain that T is important. So you won’t habituate or it just takes more time.


I started to see real improvements after I decided to not give a shit anymore and after I changed my lifestyle. I try to live my life with T in the best way possible, and each day is getting better. When bothered by it, I put on white noise and a good movie. If that’s not possible because of social activities, I just simply try to ignore it, even if it’s loud.


Sorry for the long post. I just hope I can help you in some way. Have a little faith. You’re 6 months in. There are a lot of people that needed 1-2 years to habituate so there is still enough time for you!

 

This.

 

Thanks guys - appreciate this: AL3 and sigridcornella your both legends!!!

Al3 if it gets bad when im away is there any way I can chat with you o0r PM you??

 

Thanks @sigridcornelia
Based on my experience I can say that the volume can change and some frecuencies can dissappear. I know it can really improve (not habituation) Mine became mild after 2.2 years (26 months or so). Nearly 3 years later I make that mistake and you know what happened.
I am still waiting for more improvements. Some days are betters than others. Time will tell.

Thanks for suppport!

 

No prob Steve. Give me a shout anytime..
enjoy the break

 

Al3 - I've been reading on this forum posts like:https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...nnitus-has-gone-away.25159/page-3#post-294884

should I try to do this or is it a waste of time and just wait it out and let it cure naturally??

I guess Im at your 6 month mark and going thru the whole hurry up scenario.......

 

Hi Steve
Waste of time.. nothing works but time and a dood frame of mind ..
as I’ve said before it’s the way you react to it is the key

 

I made the mistake of not protecting during loud music in a bar and am now dealing with the spike of my life.. :-(

 

Avoid noise is not easy. And it seems that not many people suffer from this (at this level).

 

Just as everybody is different, so every case of Tinnitus is different.
The only thing that other people can tell you is what their own experience of Tinnitus is.
They cannot possibly know how yours will go.
Take care, protect as necessary, and best wishes..x

 

Yeah. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and nobody ever thinks about protecting their ears.

I was always careful until I pulled a stupid stunt 3 years ago at a concert. -- I will go to my grave regretting that day but just need to move on and be careful.

I'm trying Apple Cider Vinegar with "Mother" so we'll see how that goes. -- Seems to have helped a lot of people but after trying many many things, I am cautiously optimistic..

Take care Don.

 

I know your case, I know it's for only one concert. My case is for something cumulative. I had a great opportunity and I wasted it. I hope you have it too.

 

In the last 3+ years, I've tried everything from supplements to acupuncture and Apple Cider Vinegar (with "Mother") is, by far, the cheapest thing you can try. -- What have you got to lose?

I was telling my wife that I need to get some and she pulled a bottle right out of our pantry. -- I had a couple today and will continue and let you know how it goes.

I also started working out and eating better again so that may skew the results but I need to try everything I can since my T is spiking like it never has before. -- I think it is mostly because I have been eating horribly and gained about 10 pounds in the last month. -- I also had another loud exposure a couple weeks ago without ear protection but I'm really hoping that didn't cause this spike..

I'll update everyone on my experience with ACV soon.