Got Used to My Tinnitus — Now I Lost More of My Hearing and My Tinnitus Came Back with a Vengeance

So my story is very similar to most of you. I had minor hearing loss 4 years ago. It was a terrible time in my life, my anxiety was off the charts and I was a shell of myself. Thank God after a lot of prayer and just fighting through it I adjusted and got used to it.

Fast forward to 2019 and here we go again. This time I lost a little bit of my high frequencies and you guessed it, tinnitus came back, this time with a vengeance. Here we go again, anxiety is back and I’m struggling again. How long will it take this time?

 

Hi what caused this sudden hearing loss?

 

I have no idea Bob, first time Dr thought it was possibly a viral infection and I did have the flu that year. I have been under a lot of stress lately but other than that only God knows.

 

why are you trying to habituate?

 

Not to familiar with that term, isn’t it everyone’s goal to get use to it?

 

Ground hog day! 20 years ago I had tinnitus, and it basically went away after a few years... knew I had it... but I never tested for it, it never bothered me, it just made me wear earplugs... now tinnitus worse than I ever could have previously imagined.

Second time around really sucks... I’m sorry tinnitus caught up with you again. The feeling that you are free from it is a huge relief, only to have it come back... sucks... sucks... sucks.

Habituation... spikes... protection, over protection... this site really needs an operating manual how some of these terms are used.

 

The goal should be a cure or a type treatment, which actually addresses Tinnitus directly.

Habituation is a house of cards, that can fall apart at any given monent.
We deserve better than this.

 

But the unfortunate reality is, tinnitus will never be cured.

No treatment that I have seen can reliably cure even 10% of sufferers.
I have seen no concrete results in 20 years.

Our hearing is not coming back, or tinnitus is here for good.

What we do with that reality is our choice.

 

No doubt MRI, the first go around was bad enough, I never even considered that it would get worse. Sorry to hear yours came back as well especially after 20 years. Yes, totally sucks!

 

What's your audiogram like?

 

Maybe cured is indeed a strong and controversial word on these boards, but some sort of a treatment, that lowers the volume to liveable levels is very much possible.

The tech is out there, so are the researchers and scientists.
But the governments need to commit some real money towards this, instead of the usual chump change they have been throwing at it to date.

In order for this to happen, a big change of attitudes towards tinnitus is needed.
Tinnitus needs to be seen as a real and serious threat, not something that could just be chased away with some positive thinking.

I think this attitude shift is very slowly taking place, but it might be a while yet.

 

I’m very pessimistic today... nothing has really improved in the 20 years I have been familiar with tinnitus, and I don’t think anything will happen (for a variety of reasons... some of which you point out) for another 20. :-(

 

Juan if I can remember correctly my 4k drop to 30, 8-10 dcb and my lows 4 years ago dropped just about 8 dcb, that’s what’s so frustrating my hearing according to the ENT is great for my age. Such a minor drop but such a huge side effect. Crazy!

 

Many say the damage in the 14k to 16k range causes tinnitus. Standard hearing tests do not check in that range. From my own experience, I would agree. That would explain why so many of us have tinnitus with no or minor hearing loss.

Also, sadly I agree with @MRItechssuck about a cure. But if there ever is one, I will buy everyone a drink on this forum! Not that I am a big drinker.

 

I see where you’re coming from but Lenire does seem to help a good precentage of people that try it. Till this year, I don’t think there’s anything else that comes close to it. I don’t know if there will ever be a complete cure, hopefully, but with everything there is in the pipeline today, I do think there will eventually be multiple treatments that will at least reduce tinnitus considerably, for most of us.

 

We are all going through this together, you are not alone. If you ever need support reach out.