Has Anyone Experienced Serious Setbacks and Then Rehabituated?

[Karianne]

This is my first post here. I am struggling to cope and went online looking for some reassurance. I have had tinnitus for several years and got to the point of total habituation. I rarely got bothered by my tinnitus and I was living a happy full life.
Last Friday I went to a karaoke Place (wearing musicians earplugs that lowers 20-25db) and stayed for about 45 minutes then left since they had turned up the volume quite a bit.
I started to worry and as the days go by my tinnitus gets harder and harder to handle. I am now in a state of panic and distress and I fell like I'm back to scratch.

Has anyone experience something similar? I really could use some reassurance...

 

[Eric N]

Sorry to hear that, did you tinnitus actually get worse or you are just worried? 45 mins with earplugs seems safe to me.

I am in a similar situation my tinnitus is significantly worse after of few sessions of masking with ear-buds - even at low volumes - and I am going through a massive setback. It took me a year and half to get some level of habituation and I just hope is possible again.

 

[Karianne]

Sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. I have read that we should rehabituate faster this time, but I am afraid to believe it and since the last months have been tough for me I have fallen into a severe depression.

It might be due to my anxiety but I cant seem to shake it. I also tried listening to som masking sounds with my headset and came over a high-pitched sound in the frequency of my hearing loss and I couldn't hear it so I turned up the volume and know I fear that has damaged me too. I am such a basket case no and have even talked about suicide. Such a contrast to how happy I was just a few months ago.

 

[jimH]

You hit the nail of the head when you wrote that, " It might be due my anxiety." Go back and read your first post again. The line where you wrote, "I started to worry" is what I identified with and I believe is the key to what happened to you.

Last Winter I had two serious problems going on at the same time in my life. My T became worse than it ever had been in over twenty years. Because it remained severe for days, I began to panic at the thought that it might stay at that tortuous level for the rest of my life.

I started on a downward health spiral due to loss of both sleep and appetite. My doctor put me on an antidepressant to get my anxiety under control. Once my anxiety level began to ramp down, so did my T.

I am back to where I was before and am healthy and enjoying life again.

In the above post you wrote, " I have fallen into a severe depression."
You need help now! Take action and go to your doctor ASAP. Antidepressants take a while to really take full effect. So, if that's what you need, then the sooner you get on one the better.

So, take action now! Try to remind yourself that once your anxiety level goes down then so will your T. Just like mine did.

Good Luck!

 

[Telis]

Have you tried good headphones with music? I find with the white noise static the brain gets used to it and tunes it out and the tinnitus peaks in above, no matter how high you turn it. Music seems to keep the brain guessing. I am 7 months in and experience severe anxiety. My heart racing most the time. Never had anxiety before tinnitus, this is the hardest thing about this condition it seems. Its crippled me for the most part, I hope I can regain some control and habituate like a lot of you have. I find my anxiety peaks in the morning knowing I have a full day to deal with this.

 

[Telis]

Great advise jim, I have been considering ADs as well. Scared about the side effects...one, that most are ototoxic, two, not ever being able to get off them. A lot of fear these days indeed. Tough to live in a constant state of fight or flight.

 

[Karianne]

Thank you for you reply jimH I do sleep but when I wake my anxiety goes through the roof and I eat since I know I must but way to little.

Its good to hear that your T felt lower as you anxiety faded. I hope this happens for me to. I got a reaction in 2012 from an exposure to a vuvuzela but I never went this far. Although I am in a worse state now than then, since I am on sickleave due to stress at work combined with a lot of stress in my life. I had to put my beloved cat to sleep a few weeks ago (since I don't have kids he was my baby and I had him for nearly 13 years) and I didnt take that to well either.

Hopefully I will feel better and fight through this, but you might be right about the anti depressants. Its probably better than jumping from my roof-terrace... (a little dark humor there)

 

[Karianne]

Telis: I got anti-anxiety meds (something called Alopam) when I first got hit with this. And that really helped me out and I believe that was how I got out of the tunnel the first time. I habituated quite fast after that and my T got pushed into the background.

Hopefully this will happen for the both of us and jimH might have a good point in statiung out that anti depressants might be of use .

 

[Jay M]

It really sounds like your current level of T is stress and anxiety related now that you've mentioned additional factors. Pets are family! You should go look at pets and see if that helps you relax and when you're ready adopt another one.

 

[Karianne]

Hope you are right Jay cause I haven't been this stressed out since I got T in the first place. I can't really have pets where I live and they made an exeption for me since I already had a cat. I might be allowed if I file an application, but I'm not sure I'm ready. He was my baby and I miss more than anyone can believe, he was sooo special. He even had his own Twitter and Instagram.

 

[Telis]

Thanks Karrianne, I will def have to look into something to that degree. People are frustrated with me, and want me to snap out of this. I'm not me, maybe that will help get me back, and also take away some of this fear.

 

[Jay M]

I woke up one morning and my T went off for no reason other than stress, allergies, poor sleep and an exhausted immune system. I'm still recovering but slowly. You're still mourning and stressed. Until you can come to peace with the loss it will challenge your T level and habituation. Go to pet store or a friend with a cat and pet them! They will know you're cat friendly and sad so they will cheer you up with head bonks.

 

[Ken219]

@Karianne Hi I'm Ken. I have T for 24 years. I am currently in a relapse. I believe this time was caused by a virus. This relapse I had Vertigo too. Vertigo is about gone but the ringing has spiked. I've had relapses before no apparent reason so I blame them on stress. I have habituated before and I (we) will habituate again! You should read some of my posts. I take medication prozac, xanax, Ambien to sleep. After I habituate I do not need meds to sleep but I take the prozac and small dose of xanax. I am fully functional after habituation. Before this relapse I had a good ten year run living with T. Looking forward to hear from you and lets habituate together. It does take time.

 

[Cassidy]

This is my first post here. I am struggling to cope and went online looking for some reassurance. I have had tinnitus for several years and got to the point of total habituation. I rarely got bothered by my tinnitus and I was living a happy full life.
Last Friday I went to a karaoke Place (wearing musicians earplugs that lowers 20-25db) and stayed for about 45 minutes then left since they had turned up the volume quite a bit.
I started to worry and as the days go by my tinnitus gets harder and harder to handle. I am now in a state of panic and distress and I fell like I'm back to scratch.

Has anyone experience something similar? I really could use some reassurance...

Hey Karianne. I first got tinnitus 4 years ago when I was 23. It was incredibly loud and took me up to a year to habituate fully. I then went on to not even thinking about it for 2 years which was amazing, but probably due to stress at my new job I experienced a big set-back in February this year. I was ready to quit work but somehow pushed through - trying to take my mind off of the T. It took me around 3 months this time to habituate DESPITE the fact that initially I had a high pitched ring in 1 ear only whereas when I relapsed I got it in both ears with multiple sounds at the same time. Now 5 months on from my relapse I was doing much better (at around 85%) but today I got a new sound which is annoying me. But it's only been a day so I will see whether it goes away and even if it doesn't I will get used to it just like you will get used to yours.

I read in a different post that you have hearing loss? Do you remember how much dB you have? Was it noise exposure that caused your T in the first place?

 

[Karianne]

I have hearing loss but I dont remember how much, but its not that much since I dont really need to wear aids. Its only in the higher frequenzies so i makes my hearing just a tad bit muffled. Im rarely bothered by it but I do prefer subtitles as I miss out on things if I dont have them on. My tinnitus was really loud when I started out five years ago and I dont think it really lovered but I was no longer aware of it unless I thought about it and when I did it didn't bother me.

And yes I believe it was noise exposure since I first noticed it after a loud christmasparty with live music. But I also had a lot of stress going on in my life then just as I have had this spring.

 

[Ken219]

@Cassidy How did you get your T?

 

[Cassidy]

@Ken219 I believe it was due to extreme prolonged stress coupled with a very unhealthy diet/lifestyle. I listened to some loud music on headphones when I was stressed which might have aggravated the T. I don't have any hearing loss though. A peculiar beast this one is!

 

[Ken219]

@Cassidy You are young I hope you now know how to handle stress. I believe mine was from years of noise exposure Military Flight line no hearing protection. T has calmed me for the last 24 years. You describe it perfectly the 'beast' Lets slay the beast! I try to eat healthy I cut out sugar and eating low fat.

 

[I who love music]

For over 40 years, it's come and gone... over and over.

 

[cowdodge]

I just can't figure this stuff out????? Some times I get an adrenaline rush after just laying down to get some rest and other times it doesn't happen at all I trying to go to a specialist who can give me some meds for my anxity but that seems to come and go also. Anyway life moves on I cannot wait to get started on my TRT program with my new hearing aids and a person who really cares about me.

 

[Zimichael]

Karianne, and others...I can say absolutely conclusively that one can have a relapse of Tinnitus, habituate, and live a pretty normal life - I have done it three times. Well, more accurately, that has happened three times. Unfortunately, I am in my fourth relapse right now and have not habituated. I am at the 1 year and 8 months mark on this one, and am struggling...really, really, struggling. However, I am a very unique case (and I don't say that with any pride). For the vast majority of people who get T, you are not going to be in my shoes, and you will habituate. It's just plain statistical and experiential fact.

However, the moral of the story is: Once you get your life back and can live with your T, don't put your "idiot hat on". Also be aware that you have (or had) a condition, that can come back. I believe that once someone has had T there is a higher likelihood of recurrence than for someone who never gets it in the first place.
So yes, become "sound smart" and "volume vigilant". It's really not that much of a big deal to be sensible in loud sound situations and have plugs handy if needed.

The other thing to watch with vigilance is meds/drugs! It's actually the ototoxic induced tinnitus that has been the harder for me. The damage has apparently been more intrusive or deep seated than the purely sound induced. So indeed you can get zapped even without an "idiot hat" on. Remind...remind...remind your doc, and yourself, to check for ototoxicity on ANY drug you take. If it has a well known "hearing signature" or T profile, avoid it. There are invariably other choices that are more OK.

So Karianne...Take heart. You are very, very likely to adapt as you did before. It may take less time, or a little longer. Don't focus on that. Just keep going, practice "safe sound" and know that 'time is on your side'.

Take care, Zimichael

 

[Mark McDill]

@Karianne @Eric N
I've had T for over a year now and have gone through several setbacks; all of them anxiety/stress related. I have re-habituated a little faster each time; even though this last bout had my T screaming for 4-5 days.

In fact, I think once you have habituated (in that you no longer react to your T) I think you are pretty much set; so it is really a matter of dealing with the core anxiety/stress (at least for me anyways). Yes, the T screaming louder and longer is in and of itself a stressor; but once the central stressor is handled the T goes back down too.

At least that has been my experience; I hope it is for you too...

Mark

 

[Jay M]

Karianne, and others...I can say absolutely conclusively that one can have a relapse of Tinnitus, habituate, and live a pretty normal life - I have done it three times. Well, more accurately, that has happened three times. Unfortunately, I am in my fourth relapse right now and have not habituated. I am at the 1 year and 8 months mark on this one, and am struggling...really, really, struggling. However, I am a very unique case (and I don't say that with any pride). For the vast majority of people who get T, you are not going to be in my shoes, and you will habituate. It's just plain statistical and experiential fact.

However, the moral of the story is: Once you get your life back and can live with your T, don't put your "idiot hat on". Also be aware that you have (or had) a condition, that can come back. I believe that once someone has had T there is a higher likelihood of recurrence than for someone who never gets it in the first place.
So yes, become "sound smart" and "volume vigilant". It's really not that much of a big deal to be sensible in loud sound situations and have plugs handy if needed.

The other thing to watch with vigilance is meds/drugs! It's actually the ototoxic induced tinnitus that has been the harder for me. The damage has apparently been more intrusive or deep seated than the purely sound induced. So indeed you can get zapped even without an "idiot hat" on. Remind...remind...remind your doc, and yourself, to check for ototoxicity on ANY drug you take. If it has a well known "hearing signature" or T profile, avoid it. There are invariably other choices that are more OK.

So Karianne...Take heart. You are very, very likely to adapt as you did before. It may take less time, or a little longer. Don't focus on that. Just keep going, practice "safe sound" and know that 'time is on your side'.

Take care, Zimichael

"I believe that once someone has had T there is a higher likelihood of recurrence than for someone who never gets it..."
Do you think we are also more likely to be effected by ototoxic drugs too? Thx

 

[Jay M]

For over 40 years, it's come and gone... over and over.

Has it always come back to a normal level or has it gotten worse each or every other time?

 

[Zimichael]

Jay...Unable to sleep even with a double dose of Klonopin. Half that would have put me out like a rock when I first started the stuff. Sigh! Unfortunately the body "adapts"...and not always in helpful ways! S0 I am up in the wee hours trying to get tired, so I can get some Zzzzzzzzzzzz's in.

To answer your question about "likelihood of recurrence once had tinnitus, to ototoxic drugs"...Presumably leaving out sound exposure = the most common cause *[But see last sentence of this post!] and other causal factors...from sinus infections, to docs squirting out ears, and so forth.

Honest answer: I don't know! And I really doubt anyone else does!!! Maybe a specialist doc or researcher who has studied lots of T cases for decades might have a 'sense' of likelihood but I doubt there is any empirical proof.

Gut answer: After long history with this beast and much perusal, talking to people along the way, etc., etc...I would say that there is probably a good chance that there is an increased susceptibility to ototoxic drugs if you had tinnitus or already have it. Maybe not by much, but maybe by quite a lot. It's a wild card.
But think about it...there is a "weakness", or "damaged condition", or whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it, with T onset right?! So, as an analogy (though this may mean squat)...I have been growing organic food crops for 40 years, and I can tell you without a doubt, that if there is a weakness in one plant but not it's neighbour, it will get zapped. Bugs and disease will try and finish it off [especially in brutal testing grounds like the Midwest v. easy street agric. in California]. Same species, same variety same soil, right next to each other!
Maybe there are some parallels with humans...Once we get "weakened" in an area there may be tendency for other factors to have "advantage" there...like ototoxic drugs. Sure seemed the case for me!

The take away would be: "Pay attention", do your homework regarding sensible decisions on meds, etc. Some lists are just too wild and wide open in my opinion. The sort of "everything is toxic" possibility. Trade offs are sometimes necessary. But handle with care if any questions...go slow...taper up...be ready to cold turkey at any hint of increase in T, or weird hearing stuff. And my pet project when talking potential 'bad' meds...STAY OUT OF ANY LOUD SOUND EXPOSURE SITUATIONS UNTIL PLASMA CLEARING RATE IS COMPLETE!!! I truly believe this is a tip-of the -iceberg issue and it just has not registered yet in the medical/drug/or T community.

Hope this helps a bit.

Best, Zimichael

 

[Martin69]

Have you tried good headphones with music? I find with the white noise static the brain gets used to it and tunes it out and the tinnitus peaks in above, no matter how high you turn it. Music seems to keep the brain guessing. I am 7 months in and experience severe anxiety. My heart racing most the time. Never had anxiety before tinnitus, this is the hardest thing about this condition it seems. Its crippled me for the most part, I hope I can regain some control and habituate like a lot of you have. I find my anxiety peaks in the morning knowing I have a full day to deal with this.

Hi Telis. Yes, anxiety is the worst.
When I wake up in the morning and T starts blasting like crazy, I could jump from the balcony.
During the day, when my mood is a little bit better, things improve.
Stay strong. I also fight day by day.
Prayers, Martin

 

[Ken219]

What exactly is 'musician's earplugs' Is it just another fake way to make people think they are protecting themselves?

 

[Karianne]

Mine are siliconebased and molded for my ears. Lowers 20 or 25db (dont remember exactly) and they have worked fine for me for several years.

 

[Ken219]

@Karianne Do you realize noise exposure is cummulative? Have you had exposure to loud noises the 'several years'? Usually the one word that prefaces products to cover the manufacturers butt is 'virtually'. To me means the product is not 100% safe.

 

[I who love music]

Has it always come back to a normal level or has it gotten worse each or every other time?

It gets just a 'little' worse every time. My 'spikes' are always due to exposure to music. I think I keep blowing out more hair cells every time. I'm ok with it though. I learned a lesson a few years ago. I played some LOUD music for a little while one night and suffered for 2 years. But the T went back down. That night left me with hyperacusis but I stuff cotton in for a day or two and it goes away, for the most part. I don't get around loud music anymore.