How Can You Habituate to HIGH FREQUENCY Tinnitus?

I definitely wish everyone here the best; wish I had some advice. I do still notice my tinnitus a reasonable amount, but not when I'm doing any kind of activity, and when I do notice it, it generally doesn't bother me (it's more like something that's there).

 

I appreciate your input, @Michael Leigh - luckily, running doesn't seem to negatively impact my tinnitus. Perhaps as time goes on, I'll dabble in experimenting (carefully) with very low volume earbuds again.

Also, I want you to know how helpful many of your posts were to me as I first encountered this community and was in the more acute throes of acoustic trauma.

Thank you!

 

Thank you for your kind comments @10Kcd. I hope you are able to continue with the running as it's a good way to keep fit. The earbuds I'm not so sure about and advise you to think very carefully before using them. Everything may seem fine at first, but the tinnitus can suddenly flare up and could increase to a new permanent level. Please read my thread: Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus?

I see that you recently joined Tinnitus Talk and I mention this because some people only stay around for a short while. There is nothing wrong with that but if you intend on visiting this forum regularly, please look out for a piece that I hope to be posting in Health Talk in the near future. Purely by chance I have stumbled on something that I'm sure has improved my tinnitus further although it was used to treat another relatively common medical ailment. You might also find it helpful. It is easily available and inexpensive.

Take care,
Michael

 

Thanks, @Michael Leigh - I'll keep my eye out for your piece, and look forward to hearing more about this!

 

Nothing masks mine, I can even make it out through a shower. Don't bother trying to mask it if it's hard to mask, you are only slowing down habituation by getting upset about not being able to mask it.

 

I don't know what you read, but I'm usually sort of careful in how I describe "habituation", since I still take 2 drugs to manage anxiety that is substantially associated with tinnitus (though predates it by years, if we're being honest).

You're in early times with this, which sucks because it's the rough part, but also is good because there's a substantial chance you will see some degree of improvement over the next 3-6 months, especially if you can avoid further noise exposure and manage to get some rest.

I remember the desperation and googling and taking a billion supplements and all that. I take Klonopin and Gabapentin. I take Alpha-Lipoic Acid on and off, mostly because if there's anything at all to the science of consuming antioxidants then it's maybe a generally good thing to do and at worst an expensive waste of time. I use cannabis, and I do think that helps me sleep, but (once I get through the withdrawal insomnia and shittiness) I can go without that one and it's not that big a deal other than I miss it because I like it, so I'd barely call that tinnitus related, it's just a thing I can grow legally for fun here that helps me sleep, so I do all that.

Anyway, enough about me. I don't really think this can be rushed. You're suffering immensely right now. There are probably a number of different paths that lead out of that, but, none of them are likely to be fast. My only real advice is, "avoid noise, be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself, don't be mad at yourself for having the noise, don't be mad at yourself for being fixated on the noise, and do whatever you can that seems to lead to a somewhat calmer state of mind that isn't something super dangerous like heroin".

My path was long and involved a lot of supplements and drugs that didn't work, learning how to meditate, experimenting with meditating with earplugs on, 14 ENTs, 9 audiologists, 3 GPs, 2 neurologists and 2 TMJ experts, TMJ therapy, mindfulness, mediation classes, moving the hell out of a stressful and loud city into a relatively calm and quiet part of the woods, going back on Valium "as needed", having a kid, eventually going back on Klonopin plus Gabapentin as a daily drug (since 2017), having another kid, changing jobs four times over this timeframe, uh, getting back into downhill skiing and then learning how to ski at a level I have never been capable of before, getting involved in my local community both politically and in terms of some Qi-Gong and Zen meditation groups that meet here, etc etc etc.

I am not suggesting you should do all, or any of that stuff, as much as, when you eventually come to a better place and then several years later someone finds your posts and asks you "well, how did you do it and what did you do?" you may end up giving an answer like this.

It's your story, the ending isn't nearly written yet, and we all have very specific needs and also very specific physical factors that contribute to our condition.

"Learn to love yourself in spite of the tinnitus, everything else will follow", is the really facile way of looking at this.

Best and warmest wishes and feel free to reach out.

P.S. Also my own story is similar just in that I had tinnitus I was aware of from 1999-2010, I was actually on Klonopin 2000-2005 and then withdrew without having much tinnitus problems, and then ravaged my ears with an insanely loud concert in 2010 which made this whole thing a different beast. Or was it 2011? Don't even remember now, or care, really, this is just my life now. I was obsessed for years with "what if I hadn't gone to that concert" and now I can't even tell you what year it was!

And one other tidbit: if all else fails, and you have the time to do it, go do something like volunteer in a soup kitchen or any other thing where you feel like you are providing a service to other people. Not because this will make your problem go away, but because the act of realizing your existence even in this state of suffering has value to other people, may help you find good thoughts to cling to in moments of insane darkness.

 

I appreciate your thoughtful post.

I am of course hoping that the next few months bring some improvement. Particularly since I had ear protection at the concert. I know that’s not fool proof but it wasn’t like I exposed my ears to this raging concert. My husband, who was actually not seated with me but near a speaker, says he didn’t even think it was all that loud. His tinnitus of course was not affected at all. And he didn’t wear any ear protection. So it does sort of make the guilt factor a little higher because I did make a lot of effort to protect myself. But you’re right; I have to let that go. I’m thankful that my children were fine. Two teenagers both with good ear protection. My 18-year-old, when I asked him if he had any threshold changes or anything (I didn’t have a threshold change), he said “are you kidding me? You can’t hear a thing with those earplugs in.” Interestingly they’re the same ones I have. Custom-made.

The thing that bothers me the most now is that I hate to go out to environments like a restaurant because of course I have to put my earplugs in. And now all I hear is my freaking tinnitus.

 

I have a very high-pitched tinnitus. I have to use cricket sounds to mask it. I'm only 17 days into this and it has ruined my life.

 

High-pitched tinnitus is rough. I also use cricket sounds to mask. I definitely use them to fall asleep. This might sound far-fetched, but it is possible to habituate to it.

 

I really hope it gets better with time for you.

I have an air purifier in all of the main areas of my house. The extra noise really helps me. Just an idea to throw out there.

 

Sound is very, very peculiar. I was cat sitting while having a bout of loud tinnitus. But sitting near the cat's water dish (one of those self filling ones w/ a small waterfall) completely masked it. I think our tinnitus volume and frequency changes constantly, so having a broad range of pink and/or white masking sounds is a good thing.

Using my box fan at home that is used for masking tinnitus, you would not believe the difference between sitting it on the floor vs on a table at ear height or inside a bookcase. Totally different effects from the same fan running on the same speed. My favorite is a small room a/c set on a bedside table running just on fan, not a/c. That's a much more effective tinnitus masker than a fan. The fan is generally white noise, while the a/c is pink, and seems to have sounds within the sounds. Definitely worth the $150 I pay for one that lasts many years.

It's fun going to a store that sells them during the summers. While everyone else is looking for the one that is the most quiet or cools better, I'm looking for the one that has the most sound!

 

Yes, you should absolutely do that. This was my first effective masking sound when I first got tinnitus. Mine was very, very loud, and when I walked over a bridge that went over a running stream, I didn't hear it at all! Tabletop fountains are easy to make and cheap to buy, put one in every room, it's a pleasant sound for company as well. I tried recording the sound, but that's a far cry acoustically from an actual fountain.

 

I'm 5 weeks into high-frequency tinnitus right now. I think my tinnitus has improved a bit. There are times when I feel like I almost can't hear it (during the day). I'm going to an ENT today, not expecting much help though. I think my tinnitus is from an infection or ETD, or maybe I always had ETD and this just made it worse. I'm not sure.

 

Hey @ThorOdinson, if you had a bad inner ear infection and are experiencing very high frequency tinnitus, you could have possibly had damage to your frequencies above 8,000 Hz, which is the highest an ENT audiogram tests. Did you have any steroid intervention when it came on?

 

I have high frequency loss at 6 kHz and 8 kHz but I didn't get an extended hearing test. I'm guessing it isn't good news. I didn't get steroids right away because my doctor is an idiot and he didn't believe me. Now I'm stuck with this I guess. I was past a couple weeks before I got any steroids.

 

If it doesn’t improve or becomes too bothersome and you do have hearing loss in those ranges, you could definitely try a hearing aid for that ear.

 

How did you manage to match your frequency? Did you go to an ENT or find it yourself using an AudioNotch kind of thing?

 

I have to use birds and I’m many, many months into this. I’ve actually had tinnitus on and off for a number of years. It does get better. It is life altering for sure but it does get better. I definitely notice my tinnitus b/c of how high pitched it is. Not so much when I’m engaged in something but I have to protect my ears so I have earplugs in a lot when I’m at a restaurant etc. It’s certainly more obvious then. I just try really hard to focus on the conversation. But I don’t have the anxious reaction I used to have to it. I’m just like oh there it is that annoying noise again. Don’t get me wrong, it can be annoying as heck but it will get better. For some it’s because they habituate, for others the tinnitus actually improves or goes away.

 

So sorry I haven’t answered this until now, @Strawberryblonde. I used AudioNotch. Then when I got my further testing done with TRT audiologist, she confirmed my ranges.

 

Does AudioNotch help?

 

I tried AudioNotch and couldn't match my tinnitus. I'm hesitant to use headphones which probably hindered my ability to match my frequency. I could hear all the way up to 15 kHz though on the lowest volume setting, but that doesn't really help me though lol.

 

@Ryan Scott, it helped me match my tinnitus and know where it was. I also used it sometimes to off put my tinnitus for a few seconds. But outside of that, I have multiple tones, so unfortunately I can’t use it what it’s supposed to be used for, like notching music at your tinnitus frequency level.