How Quickly Did You Start Habituating to Tinnitus?

While mine only started a month ago and I'm due to see all the specialists couple of weeks, in the event of bad news - not surgically fixable or stress related or it's going to hang around for a while - I want to be prepared because the alternative is unthinkable.

And seeing as tens of millions of people around the world manage it I'm curious as some of the vets here I've seen who manage to deal with it quite well and have done CBT and other things got started. I've been researching shrinks in my area, mental health help, and that sort of thing.

I've already found a prospective guy close by here who's developed a tinnitus specific CBT and biofeedback program.

Has anyone ever tried a TENS machine? I've heard they can help a lot.

Anyone try any other alternate modalities or radical new therapies yet?

https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options/experimental-therapies

How quickly did you jump on doing this sort of stuff? Thanks!

 

The bad news is that most likely no doctor will be able to help you. The good news is that most likely your T will fade, change pitch for the better, or even disappear.

If your T is loud/debilitating, and after a month or two it doesn't look like it is improving, it makes sense to try one of those therapies. Keep in mind that normally a small fraction of T patients who try those therapies end up with louder T. There is always a risk that it will get louder...

 

Well you can't paint yourself into a corner and do nothing. You have to take steps to end it, and it can be ended. It may be quick and easy or not depending on your luck and hard work . Right now it's too early to tell if this can be helped medically or not anyway. Point in fact, I took 2 lorzapam at bed last night, work up 6 hours later and didn't hear a thing. Not even a tone. I was actually kind of scared and relieved enough I could cry. Then I slept another few hours and it was there - I was having an intense dream - as I awoke and I calmed my self with some breathing excercises and again it went away shortly. Even now I've been up less than half an hour and it's back but almost to the point of not being there and it's entirely pulsatile. So yes, I do have hope. And if the docs can't do anything I will. Again, people can and do beat this all the time. It's all about what you put into it and mental attitutude. That's why I'm asking how people got started when they realized this might be with them for a while - not forever.

 

@Bill Bauer is correct. The best thing to do in the early stages of tinnitus is to do nothing. Tinnitus will often improve on it's on without any treatment in the early stages and could go away. Please click on the links below and read my articles on tinnitus. Use sound enrichment at night, more is explained in the links.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

Thanks Michael. It's hard not to want to anything and everything you can when this starts but sometimes you're right, just take it easy for a while. Right now I'm just trying to level off.

 

You seem to not be negative about this, and have a positive outlook, and that's a great start. I'm pretty new to it also, and I am sure that it will get easier, not quickly but in slow increments. People who have habituated somewhat after six or eight months say that they're just not as focused on it, and it's taken a back seat in their daily lives. Further habituation, from what I understand, can make T a virtual non-issue, the vast majority of the time for many people.

 

I am 4½ months in and by now I get hours at a time where the T does not bother me, and where I am only slightly aware of it, but I do not get full days where it does not bother me (yet), It bothers me at some point every day, and some days it bothers me all day long.

But I am way better then when it started.

My T is somewhat mild now.....when it started it was more moderate, but it is rarely that anymore.

 

Habituating to tinnitus takes time and cannot be rushed especially in early stages. Many people habituate within 6 months to a year sometimes longer. When hypercusis is present this can take up to two years or more but sometimes less. Each person is different and it depends on how severe the tinnitus is and the hyperacusis if it is present. Most importantly it depends on a person's outlook on life and mindset towards tinnitus.

Michael

 

If you've just gotten tinnitus, I would really suggest you urge a GP/ENT doctor to prescribe you a high dose, short course of oral corticosteroids. I don't know the cause of your tinnitus, but steroids can make a massive impact in recovery if you use them early enough.

 

i had it pretty bad for about a month. it gradually faded in loudness and frequency since June and now i only really hear it when i wake up. I'm hoping over time that will go away too. i wish i had listened to how much head noise i had before i actually noticed it the first time. i can't compare how close i am to normal cause now i listen to every noise in my head lol.

 

I'm still waiting. I think a lot of it comes down to volume and how easily it is masked.

 

I think pitch matters, too, but that probably factors into masking ability. Mine is so high pitch that even cicada sounds are lower. I am guessing that coupled with volume is why I can hear it over everything, including running water.

Editing to add that my hearing loss probably does not help the habituation process either. It’s not easy to hear around tinnitus when your ear does not hear very well.

 

Yeah, I agree. Mine is in the dog whistle range. It's so high pitched that doesn't really compare to any outside sound I can hear.