How I Finally Got Rid of Tinnitus — Simply by Re-Defining It!

Hi All

I first noticed tinnitus in my early 30's, 70 now.

Probably caused by the very loud music I, in my 20's and everyone else, listened to in the early 70's discos!

Anyway, I resigned myself to it and coped reasonably well till age 66, when it ramped up to a new, much higher level, probably caused by some supplements I was taking.

The new higher level really affected me, and sleep was impossible, without benzos. This went on for a few years and I was looking, like everyone else, for a Cure. Nothing found.

Now, as we are all individual, the same thing viewed by 2 different people can be seen in 2 ways?

That is Person A may well see something as a huge problem?
Whereas, with Person B, it doesn't even register on a scale of 1 - 10.

So, I tried viewing tinnitus in a DIFFERENT way, like this.

Before, I used to think of tinnitus as an actual Noise or Sound that shouldn't be there. And the fact that it WAS there, really affected me.

Now, to my new and helpful (for me) re-definition.

Tinnitus is NOT a Noise or Sound at all. Nobody can 'hear' it except the person who has it.

A very powerful microphone, placed by the ears, would record absolutely NOTHING.

So, there is NO noise or sound at all.

So, my new and extremely helpful definition for tinnitus is this.

Tinnitus is an just an ILLUSION , DELUSION, HALLUCINATION etc that the brain has created, for whatever reason. There is NO noise or sound at all. It was a figment of my imagination.

It DOESN'T exist.

This new way of viewing tinnitus now enables me to sleep without benzos.
And I am so happy to report that the tinnitus has gone!!!!

Good luck all!

Relax 1

 

Wait what? You've had it nearly 40 years and decided it's not real and it went away?

 

I don't think it went away. If I understand the post correctly under the new definition tinnitus stopped existing and this fact made it easier to bear (psychologically).

 

@Rb86 Well yesterday was April Fools' Day...

 

People can´t joke with this topic. That´s just pure evil. I really hope this is LEGIT!

 

Hi All

For what it's worth.

I know there are some who don't believe anything, that strays, even minutely, from their entrenched mindset.

I too was sceptical about finding a solution for long standing tinnitus and I let it defeat me and accepted benzos, just to get to sleep.

However, are there not 360 degrees to every circle?

So, if you don't see what you are looking for, from one viewpoint, there are 359 other views to be had.

So, I questioned why it was I was paying attention to something that DIDN'T even exist.

So, re-defined my tinnitus as NOTHING at all.

And, it has definitely worked for me.

Yes, agree that the 'timing' of the post on AFD could have been better!

Good luck all

Relax1

 

Hi @Eek
Your post and my reply 'disappeared' after I clicked 'post reply'!
Try again please
Relax1

 

No benzo withdrawal? And how loud was it during day time?

 

Hi friend74
No benzo withdrawal, as I was expecting
Possibly because I was careful to limit my benzos to just 4 nights a week?
It was always noticeable , if I stopped to register it
But, keeping busy etc, as we all do, certainly helped!
Now it's gone, probably because I have 're-written' the script that the brain responds to ?
Thanks
Relax1

 

When you mean gone... you mean you can’t heard that or do you just adapt to it and ignore? This post is confusing.

 

That's quite an interesting story. The eventual cure sounds like a self-administered course of TRT. I noted that in 2016 your were attempting to go down the neuromodulation route. Presumably that was a dead-end?

 

Hi acute

Ok, I'll try and expand on the reason for my success.

Which, basically is this.

I went from someone who was VERY anxious about the spike 4 years ago, needing benzos to sleep, to someone who is not anxious any more.

Once I understood that it was IMPOSSIBLE to have a sound without a causative Event, I simply re-explained the T/Sound to myself as the brain creating an Illusion, Hallucination or Delusion.

So, the anxious reaction to it that I was displaying, for almost 40 years, disappeared. As there was NOTHING to get anxious about.

There's 'something' still there obviously, which I now describe as just an auditory SENSATION/ILLUSION/DELUSION/HALLUCINATION etc, so, nothing at all to get anxious about.

And, I haven't had Benzos For 7 nights now!

Good luck acute

Relax1

 

I really want to be respectful...I can even be happy for a habituation success story if the person is humble about it. But tinnitus is "not real?" Sorry, I won't cheer on someone pushing against the few thousand people in the whole USA who have a serious disability.

It's like going on a Schizophrenia forum and saying someone is imagining having high dopamine. I can't do it.

What happened is you used other faculties in your brain to get used to other damaged faculties in your auditory system. What didn't happen is free will performing a miracle.

 

Thousands? Try millions!

From the ATA page:

Millions of Americans experience tinnitus, often to a debilitating degree, making it one of the most common health conditions in the country. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that nearly 15% of the general public — over 50 million Americans — experience some form of tinnitus. Roughly 20 million people struggle with burdensome chronic tinnitus, while 2 million have extreme and debilitating cases.​

 

Hi @UKBloke

Thanks for getting back with some points.

I didn't proceed with neuromodulation.

4 years ago, when the spike showed, I tried a lot of the usual stuff that people mention.
Ginkgo biloba for example, to no avail.

I remember spending a lot of money at the Tinnitus Clinic in London, again without result
The only success I had was by limiting my salt to about 3 g a day.

Yes I agree that what has helped me, redefining the problem, is essentially TRT.

Anyone with a fear of any description, tinnitus in our case, may well benefit by viewing it in a different light?

All the best.

Relax1

 

Hi All

Thanks for showing an interest in finding out more on why my T is no longer there.

From my early 30's, I started to note a background 'sssss'.
Straightaway, I attributed this sound to T, as some of my peers had related something similar.

I can say that, initially, I could completely ignore it, as it was 'background'.

And continued ignoring it, despite occasional spells where the T notched up ever so slightly.

Absolutely got on with my Life.

Then, about 4 years ago, I was experimenting with some supplements and the T ramped up to a MUCH higher level.

I know this is all subjective, as one person's HIGH 7/10 level may well be another's 0/10?

Anyway, couldn't sleep. Tried the usual herbal remedies.
Then, as the sleep was still not good, submitted to benzos, which I took for a few years.

And, continued to 'look' for a Cure. Nothing found.

So, looked at it from a new Angle.
There are 360.

I looked at the 'mechanics' of sound.
Which is very basic. An Event happens that creates Sound waves, these travel all round and our ears pick it up, send it to the brain, which interprets it as the Sound sensation we all know.

However, in the case of T there is NO Event.
So, where does the Sound come from?
Must be the Brain?
Which, for whatever reason, 'invents' the T sound that you then perceive to be a Real sound.

So, the definition of something not real is an ILLUSION or DELUSION!
It DOESN'T EXIST

And I was kicking myself for Paying attention to something that didn't even exist at all, for 36 years or so!

Now, I can honestly say it's GONE!

Thanks

Relax1

 

In the absence of any readily available (and reliable) physical cure, I think your notion above has quite a lot of merit.

Glad you've found your way out of the maize.

 

Has it really gone or are you just ignoring it?

 

I read this post earlier and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Isn't this kind of rhetoric damaging to the cause of those of us with debilitating tinnitus and or hyperacusis?

 

Hi @Tony Phylactou

Thanks for showing an interest in another way of looking at T.

As I say in my other threads, there is of course 'something' there.

However, since re-defining whatever it was as NOT a Sound/Noise at all, the anxiety that I showed for the last 4 years, since the spike, disappeared.

As a result, I am able to sleep without benzos now, 10 nights in a row!
Something I haven't been able to do for a very long time now.

This is because I now view whatever IT is as not an ACTUAL sound at all, but just a harmless DELUSION that the brain has created, for whatever reason.

Good luck

Relax1

 

Help me understand: during those 40 years, prior to your epiphany, you thought it was an actual sound?

 

Hi @GregCA

Yes, thinking it was an Actual Sound, especially after the spike, made me very anxious and led me to benzos, in order to sleep.

So, I'm extremely pleased that I tried looking at it from another perspective and decided since it wasn't an ACTUAL Sound, then it was an ILLUSION, that the brain had created for whatever reason.

And led me to another way of looking at it, that did not make me anxious anymore.

Thanks

Relax1

 

Forgive me, but in those 40 years, nobody had explained to you that tinnitus wasn't an actual sound?

Where did you think it was coming from? Were you constantly turning around to see if there was a storm of locusts engulfing you?

 

Good for you. If that helps you, that’s great. Maybe that can help others if they try to look at it that way.

 

Glad that this works for you. And that it works after so many years gives me a little pinch of hope.

 

Hi All

Update - Had a rough night last night, couldn't get to sleep.
Tried reassuring myself, as before, that the T is a delusion, illusion, hallucination etc.

Didn't work and I was going to take Benzos, just to get to sleep.

However, instead, for whatever reason, went downstairs and looked at the Thesaurus, looking for synonyms of Illusion etc.
And found DAYDREAM!

So, went back to bed, this time telling myself that the T is just an AURAL DAYDREAM and means absolutely NOTHING at all.
It's NOT an actual Sound/Noise.
So, how can a Daydream be real? It cannot. So, forget it.

Kept repeating this to myself and! soon it was morning and time to get up!

NO Benzos for over month now!

All the best

Relax1