I completely habituated, and now I'm devastated again, this sucks.

I could always hear a slight ringing in my ears for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until fathers day, 2010, that it increased, and trust me I noticed. But that's besides the point, I completely overcame that, I did have shitty days when I kept monitoring my T to see if it was still there, and it was. But I eventually overcame that and it got to a point where it didn't bother me at all, in fact in the years coming up after that I completely FORGOT about it. This year though, it came back. I recently went go-karting (february 13th) with some friends and the ringing increased drastically, I woke up the next day and noticed the increase in volume and thought, oh god not again. I hate this, I thought I completely over came this.

 

Stay positive. You got passed it once and you will again.

 

I too know the frustration of having completely habituated to tinnitus only to un-habituate after it got louder. It is very frustrating indeed.

 

I know I got through it once. But now it's just intrusive and LOUD. I've been so depressed these past few weeks.

 

Hopefully when you get passed the initial depression and anxiety you will do better. And there are different things you can do if you have to different methods you can use which others on here no more about then me. Get help for your depression or anxiety becareful and mindful of the meds you use if you do and pay attention to how you feel at the moment if you don't like it try and start doing things to change that. Good luck and wish you well. Hopefully things start to look up soon.

 

Im real sorry to hear that.. Im sure you will get through it again and it may decrease as time goes on! Did you have ear plugs on? I would never go gocarting without them

 

No, and I can't stop beating myself up over that. The thing is I completely forgot about T. God I hate being negative but this T just doesn't leave me alone it's so bothersome.

 

Willie
How did you habituate before? Did you use any masking? Sorry you're in the 'pit' again; I know I'd be upset too. My guess is that it will die down in the next few and weeks an you will start to get on top of it again.

Mark

 

Nothing, time just passed and I guess I became "immune" to the T, lol, weird I know. But this is a whole other story, this T just won't quit. I've lost my appetite, my mood has decreased greatly in the past couple of weeks, and I've become quite anxious. I feel really alone because no one in my family suffers from T, well intrusive T at least. I'm so grateful I found this forum to be honest. It brings some comfort knowing I'm not alone in this whole T battle.

 

Willie wrote:
No, and I can't stop beating myself up over that. The thing is I completely forgot about T. God I hate being negative but this T just doesn't leave me alone it's so bothersome.

Well you gotta stop beating yourself up because it achieves absolutely nothing. You know if we could change everything in our lives that we did wrong in the past it would be great but we can't so you havta live and learn and not make those same mistakes again. What you need to do now is use earplugs when you are exposed to loud noise/music. You seem to have already thrown the baby out with the bathwater but there is a chance that your new level of tinnitus will subside but you need to give yourself a fighting chance by not allowing your anger, fear and anxiety to delay your healing. If you have read about tinnitus you will find that our limbic system(emotions) is the key to overcoming the effects of tinnitus. Be calm and try to be positive that in time it will settle down. The fact is that you will habituate as 99% of T people do.

 

Good chance that it will drop back down.. Give your ears a rest for a
While.. Always have earplugs.. And stay positive cause youl get through it again! And i agree dont beat yourself up
Over not wearin earplugs
Cause we all make mistakes as every person does except were the chosen ones left with this T bullshit. Stay hopeful

 

God, yes I know you're absolutely right. I'm a mess at the moment, though. It's like a vicious cycle, I can't stop checking it and I keep thinking it'll be gone but it's still there. Coming to terms with this is hard. I'm really trying to stay positive man, it really is hard.

 

Hi Willie, I know how you feel since I've been going through the same thing. I had tinnitus for 9 years and never even thought about it anymore and then this January it became worse. So now I'm going through rehabituating again also. It's getting better but one thing that is slowing me down has been ear pressure and pain on and off. When I say better, I don't think it's as loud and I'm more relaxed about the situation. It's hard for me to say if being more relaxed makes my perception of the T less or if it really is quieter. Right now, as I write this it's not so quiet but I have noticed times when it calms down. Our reaction to the T is key. I have hearing loss so for me it has been very important to rule out any medical conditions that need to be addressed. I'm still working on that but I'm getting there. I've read some stories of others who have experienced what you are going through who are fine now so take heart.

 

I had the ear pressure a couple days back, it was downright annoying! Luckily that went away, unfortunately the T stays. It's like an unwelcomed guest that you just can't seem to get rid off no matter how hard you try. It's funny cause I literally didn't think about T at all anymore, it was a thing of the past, you know. It no longer bothered me, but here it is, craving attention once again. An "on and off" switch would really come in handy right about now.

 

Lol. Nice one Willie, an "on and off" switch. If I had that I would turn it off and throw away the key!

Keep your chin up you will get better, your brain already knows how to do it. Just give it some time.

 

@Willie : why did the go-karting cause it? was it loud?
I agree with the things said above However if your depression doesn't pass in a few weeks, you should consider seeing a psychiatrist. There many sedatives/anti-depressants that do not cause an increase in T. It also depends on the dose - the earlier you see a psychiatrist the smaller dose you need (because depression that lasts for months to years can be progressive). No need to run there right now, but in some time if your mood stays bad
Also, keep busy. Thats the best remedy. Maybe take up sports, reading or anything else that you have wanted to do but postponed. Maybe go travelling - sometimes that helps too. By keeping busy your brain has no time to focus on the T and will slowly forget it.

 

I believe the T is our brain subconsciously trying to hurt themselves. When your life going OK / you are habituated the brain realizes this and increases T so that you may feel miserable again.

 

I wake up every night twice, and I don't have to monitor to see if it is there because it obviously is. However, I just want to remain as it is now because I'm habituated. Would I rather enjoy silence? of course, but T no longer has a noticeable effect on my life. I was anxious, thought I couldn't live like this yadayada, I got over it, and quite likely, if you have to stop and see if it is there, you will too.

 

We all went out to an arcade because it was my friends birthday, it was a pretty fun night actually. But jesus christ I was not expecting this to be in store for me. The thing is I've had this for years and I've gone to much louder places and it hasn't increased one bit, it didn't affect it at all! Can't these alien signals just leave????? Lol. Still hoping it will subside in the future. Keeping a positive attitude has been really hard lately, though.

 

I suppose the damage is cumulative. For example I listened to loud music daily for 7-8 years and got tinnitus now (no ringing ever before). But in this case it can probably be avoided. Wear good strong plugs next time, avoid certain meds and stress as much as you can. This board has some excellent information

 

I have tinnitus which I don't consider to be very loud as I can always hear things above it but I really don't understand the, 'I can't stop checking it and keep thinking it will be gone' comment as I hear mine ALL the time above absolutely everything apart from very loud roaring water sounds. Why, if you obviously have times when you don't hear do you then go looking for it?!! I would give anything to have times when I felt it had gone and so don't understand why you make it come back by focusing on it on purpose. This isn't a critisism and I'm so sorry you're suffering but if you aren't aware of, get on with your life and don't go looking for trouble. I wish you well, I'm sure you'll be OK if you've habituated before so it will just be a matter of time. Remember it is your reaction that you first have to get rid of then habituation of perception usually follows but if it doesn't it shouldn't matter by then anyway because if you've got rid of your adverse reaction it will not bother you.

This doesn't apply to you but I know people have had tinnitus so quiet they say they have to go into a quiet room and put their fingers in their ears to see if it's still there but that isn't tinnitus that's normal! I feel that that's like saying I'll see if my arm still hurts if I twist it the wrong way up my back.....oh no it does! Help what does it mean?! It means don't put your bloody arm the wrong way up your back then it won't hurt. Ergo....don't put your fingers in your ears, you'll hear your own internal noises as does everyone. Rant over!! Hugs to all.

 

@Beth if you say your is not very loud then why do say that you wish you could give anything for the times when you felt it was gone? Couldnt you make it "go away" now by focusing on smth else?

 

Hi Stina, I guess it's because I do hear it all the time and even though I don't class it as loud, I went on an indoor fairground ride which was so loud that everyone had to shout and yet I could still hear it. I can use white noise generators at full volume and still hear it so I can't really answer your question as I find it very intrusive and permanent yet as I'm sitting here typing this I can hear the computer fan (just) so I suppose I can't say it's really loud if I can still hear most normal sounds but maybe to someone else it would be. Hope that helps to answer your question.

 

You know I suppose it depends on what the tone is as wellFor example mine is really high pitched but relatively quiet. Sometimes I can hear it during conversations as well, because the tones dont match. I also find that white noise (fans) mask it for some reason very well. Thanks for the answer

 

'

I used to go checking for it when I had mild T, since this sudden increase in volume I can hear it over almost everything it really is annoying!!! Thank god for the shower though. Also, I wake up with an upset stomach almost every day now, it's horrible.

 

Yes , I know the feeling. Adrenaline pumping into you before you're even fully awake. I have wave sounds playing by the bed all night and it often takes me about half a minute before I can 'find' the sound of them because the tinnitus is so loud. Even my husband snoring doesn't cover up the sound and that is megga loud snoring! I think it's really important to be careful what you think or say to yourself when you first wake because if you start thinking negative thoughts you will automatically feel bad and get into a vicious cycle. It is not easy to think positively about tinnitus and why the hell should we when it is so awful, but there must be something in your day to look forward to even if it's only a warm shower, a nice cup of coffee, seeing a friend etc. Onwards and upwards....

 

Stina, forgot to say.....mine is wooshing sound in both ears plus high pitched electical type sound in both ears but different pitch in either ear and if I get (more than usually) stressed it becomes pulsatile and even louder.

 

Yes I also have that electrical type of sound that electronical devices give out. So yours is a combnation of pulsatile tinnitus (wooshing) and "ordinary" T..thats interesting and strange.

 

Stina, does having white noise on actually make you unable to hear your tinnitus? If I have maskers on at full volume I still can't cover the sound of mine. I can sometimes become unaware of it in certain conditions such as when at work and concentrating on/absorbed in something which takes all my attention but as soon as I think about it or whenever I'm in a quieter environment I'm immediately aware again.