How I Confronted Tinnitus and Won!

I joined this forum specifically to share my story of how i tackled tinnitus and won!

I have had tinnitus for roughly 7 weeks now and for 6.5 weeks i have felt depressed and borderline suicidal not only from the constant ringing in my head, but also from the 'there is no cure' comments from people on forums.

Now, what you are going to read is my case and based on no medical evidence, but it certainly helped me. If it helps one other person, then great!

My story begins, 7 weeks ago when i noticed a constant ringing in my head after a blocked up right ear and having both two ears syringed (why they did the left ear i'm not sure).

The ringing went on and on to a point where I was scared and afraid of going into quiet rooms as the pressure ramped up and so did the noise. Having been to numerous doctors and nurses who said it was definitely blocked eustachian tubes (i went through steaming every night, nose sprays, you name it...) i decided not to wait for an nhs appoint with an ENT specialist and decided to pay my £150 and pay for a private consultation. One of the best things i ever did! He told me my tubes weren't blocked and all the things i was trying to unblock them with was doing me more harm then good. He also said there was no damage to my ear drums...i thought 'ok great, but why the ringing?' He explained to me that it was down to the 4-5 day period that i had a blocked up ear and essentially deaf that side, that what i was now actually hearing (this ear splitting ringing) was over emphasised silence! His suggestion? To play a pod cast every night for half an hour just below the level of my tinnitus to get used to it. I have to admit i did come away thinking 'surely not'...However after 4-5 nights i noticed the level of my tinnitus improving.

At the time, i must point out, i was also trying acupuncture. I did 4 sessions, about £40 each, which i can honestly say helped too...The chap i had was great. He not only dealt with my ears but also the anxiety i was having about going into silent rooms.

The other reason i found him so useful is that 7 years ago he had beaten tinnitus too- his method, meditation. I asked more about this and he said that after 2 months of dealing with it and getting nothing from doctors he was recommended meditation. His method? To sit comfortably in an upright position in a quiet room and just listen to the tinnitus- he did this for 2 nights and by the 3rd day his tinnitus had all but gone. I tried this as soon as i got home...However, the ringing was so bad i gave up and cried after the 3rd or 4th minute. Dejected...i thought how am i going to cope with this? Am i going to have this for the rest of my life?

So i carried on for a few weeks, as best i could. Then something changed last Thursday night...i took control. I went around a friends and afterwards i just sat in my car and just listened to the tinnitus...it was loud (like a car alarm), but i thought no...you little sh!t you are not going to beat me....so i kept on listening to it. Then after 10 mins by concentrating really hard on it i worked out i could start changing it's tone and volume. Then i did my half hour podcast through the car radio (just below the volume of my tinnitus). What happened the next morning? I woke up...and the volume had decreased to about 30% of what it was. I did the same listening out for it for 10 mins, relaxing, determined not to let it beat me and trying to retune it that same night and the next morning it had gone down to 5-10%.

It's now Tuesday, so 4 and a bit days and my tinnitus has never been so good. Yes, it's bubbling away...i'd say 10% of what it was...but now i am in control!

If you are a new sufferer of tinnitus, or even an existing one...i hope this post gives you hope.. A lot of it is about mind control, relaxing and sheer grit and determination that tinnitus will not beat you. I thought 'b*gger this, live is short and i will beat tinnitus...it took me 6.5 weeks, you can do the same!

 

Congrats on your success story. After I while I said to myself that I had better stop being anxious and sad about it. I thought maybe if I embraced it, I could deal with it. So, I tried listening to it...every tone, every sound. I did this for a while, I even said "hello T when I listened to it", and then started laughing at it when I heard it. This helped calm me so after some time I had no reaction to the T. I've moved on.

 

Well done kiddo! It seems that a lot of treatments have some effect - unfortunately no two brains are wired alike. Like you my tinnitus is (now) mild. Had it not changed I would be in psych ward then off to alcohol rehab. Although primarily physical in nature I have observed social and psychological aspects to the problem. When people feel helpless they typically get angry. Anger is very empowering as you may notice. Negativity seems to follow. It is just part of being human. I have come to see it as just another bloody challenge that life has thrown my way. The real challenge is to stay positive and hopeful in the times of distress - easier said than done but worth the effort. The effort now enters other parts of my life with more commitment. Keep up the good work and post again soon. David

 

This is some form of mindfulness in practice, or Dr. Hubbard called it 'exposure' in his success story post when he made his T the awareness of mindfulness. He also said initially it was tough to listen to the T shrill, but it gets easier.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/how-cbt-helped-me-live-again-dr-hubbards-story.4608/

This approach of confronting and inviting the feared sensation is one of the ways some people advocate to deal with anxiety or panic attacks. They encourage the patient to invite such feared sensation, such as an actual attack, instead of fearing and hiding from it. Running away from a feared sensation will perpetuate the fear for that sensation.

 

Paul r, your Tinnitus wasn't the result of any loud concert or any damaging external noise/sound.
Some people, like Davo ? ( loud concert ) have SOME SERIOUS Ear Drum Damage. And so your experience may not 'heal' their ears.

Your experience will help some, but definately not everyone.