Hello — My Experience and How I Get Temporary Relief from My Tinnitus

Hi, i've been reading several of your posts with interest for some time now, but this is my first, apologies that it is so long!

My tinnitus started in May this year so I'm in my six month. It is often coupled with eustachian tube dysfunction symptoms. At first an ENT said it was secondary to allergic rhinitis (though i didn't really feel like i had allergies at the time) and various doctors have said my ears look 'dull', but basically several appointments with ENTs and audiologist reviews and an MRI later and they are saying probably stress (I have had a busy stressful year.)

My tinnitus is mainly a one sided roar that can get so loud it feels like my head is vibrating or become quiet enough that i can almost forget about it. For the first 3 months it drove me mad, and culminated in some bad insomnia, but then i discovered a book which suggested that while tinnitus can be initially set off by several causes the continuation of the condition is linked to an overloaded central nervous system - basically a fight flight response that has been overly active too long. The suggested answer was to focus on wellness and calming activities. I have had a degree of success with this, several times thinking i was almost cured, and then bang, back to square one. There is usually a stress trigger to such setbacks e.g. sudden trip to hospital because my unwell father fell and banged his head. Also I've had varying degrees of success with the other suggestions such as cutting out sugar, caffeine, alcohol etc. so I have more work to do on this side of things (basically when my tinnitus was most terrible i cut all this but then when it would subside i'd go back to bad habits.)

The most striking thing i've found is that swimming calms it right down, in fact if i go swimming in the early evening and leave my partner to put the kids to bed it usually actually stops completely - or at least the roar goes away, i'm left with some residual ringing but not intense, and something i would call the 'sound of silence'. This is so blissful that i now go swimming every evening that i'm not busy doing other things. And while occasionally the relief will be short lived, the tinnitus will often stay away until some time the next day. Its bizarre. I've wondered whether its to do with water in my ears, or a kind of sound therapy in the pool, but on balance i think that its the meditative relaxing experience of the swim that does it. I also often have silence first thing when i wake up, but unless i've been for that swim the day before the roar will often come on before i've even got out of bed. Has anyone else had any similar experiences to this?

If you have read this far then wow, thank you!

Heather

 

Hi @HeatherC,

Thank you for sharing your story. I am sure many people will find your advice helpful. I have not had a similar experience, but everyone's tinnitus is different.

I find this interesting. I am hoping someone else will comment on that statement. I always think anyone who can either completely ignore their tinnitus or has periods of silence has a much better chance of recovery or at the very least, habituation.

Again, thank you for sharing your experience and that swimming helps you.

 

After I go swimming (but I use earplugs) I feel the tinnitus lower than usual. I think it is because of endorphines the body generates.

 

Thanks Kolisar for your support and encouragement. When my T is low, or appears gone i often wonder if it has gone away or if it is my perception of it that has changed - but that thinking gets me nowhere and just goes in circles since our perception of the noise is the same thing as the noise - except i suppose in the supposedly more rare cases of objective tinnitus (which i haven't been tested for.)

Core2Duo, its interesting that you have noticed a good effect from swimming too. I suspect your theory is right and that the swimming is a help because of something like the endorphins, though i do other sports (mainly kickboxing) which create a greater endorphin response but actually tend to push the T up a little, maybe because they are more exciting than calming.

 

Hi Heather,

Also been reading this forum for a while but only joined today! Took a while for me because it felt like admitting it was a persistent problem (I usually deal with my problems by denying they exist I’m an extremely mentally healthy individual, can you tell?)

I find what you say about the change from almost vibrating to essentially gone interesting - I’ve not experienced complete silence (only in month two) but I definitely get this, and I’ve also had a very emotionally traumatic year (sorry to hear about your father by the way). I’ve also had similar comments made by Doctors about my ears looking dull and that it might be to do with sinusitis. Perhaps our cases are similar! I will definitely be trying swimming, and I will be sure to post here if I find anything that helps! All the best <3 xx

 

Hey Georgia, there may well be a sinus connection for both of us, but also think a definite stress link too. Given that we can't get away from our stress completely i think the best thing to do is carve out times when you can really relax and take pleasure in a low stress activity, often on your own. Let me know how you get on with the swimming, its such weird magic for me now, but the first couple of weeks it was just reducing rather than eliminating the sound. good luck with it.

 

I noticed same thing, water helps, but I think we release some electricity from body and that's why.We are like antennas, too much metals and waves and electricity running through body.

 

I'm not sure about the science behind that statement but my T sure sounds electrical, its like standing in a machine room on a bad day, like standing outside one on a good day.