I don't think I ever will be able to habituate

Here we go again... My T keeps ridiculous loud fleeting sounds again. My good ear has started keep noises too but they fade away quikly. This kind of T irritates and scares me the most. It is now quiet and suddendly it increases dramatically, my mind just can't take it. This happens all day long. I want normal tonal T because I think I would be abel to habitutuate with it but this one... I just don't see how it could ever be possible. I get hopeful when it is quiet but when it increases it makes me want to cry. I don't have any clue is this normal that it is quiet and suddendly it increases and variates madly. Does anyone else have this kind of T? I just don't get that variation thing!!

 

My does vary like yours though perhaps not as much. Like now it is so low I almost have to focus on it to hear it - kinda like a tinkling noise which I one of my best noises because it's gentle. But sometimes I get it where it is so loud it feels like it's right in my head, buzzing. I have only had it for a month and I honestly can't see myself habituating either - but there ARE times that I forget about it, sometimes even in the quiet. Right now it's the pressure and crackling of my Eustachian tubes that is annoying me. I think you will get there, but it is going to be hard work. :-(

On the bright side you've had it for four months, and it has gone with people even after two years - even after a DECADE. So don't lose hope. If your T was making just one constant sound then that to me would sound like there was damage - if it's changes I think that means your body is trying to fix itself. Keep positive - you might be one of the lucky ones!

 

@citigirl13 Yeah, I thought too that it was a good sign at first but now I'm not so sure about it... That it varies all the time HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING, right??? There has to be something going on, I hope it's something positive! But it has varied like two months now and that's why I'm confused. I thought that it would settle down during these months... Haven't heard anyone suffering this kind of T Thanks for your positive message, it means a lot to me!

 

How did you get your T?

 

Mine is probably noise induced... I got it from watching floorball game and there was a guy who played drums next to me. I didn't realize noise was so loud that it could make harm to my hearing It pisses me off because I have always protected my hearing as well as possible! How did you get yours?

 

I think from a cold, and I have other symptoms such as pressure headaches that point to that. Perhaps it is noise-induced from listening to music from headphones, but I had ear pain the entire week I had the cold before I noticed the T, so I don't think it is.

I know. The littlest things can cause T which worries me. If my T ever does go I swear I am never taking it for granted again. No more headphones (except for travelling because I get sick and listening to music makes me feel better) and definitely not at high levels. The good news is if you protected your hearing then it should be in good condition, so hopefully you will recover. You didn't over-protect did you? Sometimes that can make your hearing more sensitive (I think). But I still think that your hearing should recover since you have kept it from getting damaged.

Even if it doesn't, you will habituate. Already I look for it and believe it's gone, but when I focus I realise it was there and I have just been ignoring it. I believe this will happen with you too, though I admit it's harder when the noise changes. Keep the faith.

 

How you got your tinnitus has nothing to do with habituation. How many different tinnitus sounds you have has nothing to do with habituation. The loudness of your tinnitus has nothing to do with habituation. The pitch of your tinnitus has nothing to do with habituation. Whether or not your tinnitus fluctuates has nothing to with habituation. The pattern of your tinnitus has nothing to do with habituation.

The only thing that matters with respect to habituation is how you react to your tinnitus.

sp

 

Katriina, from all I have read and heard, it is a positive thing when it changes like that. The brain is not fixed on one constant tone. There are gaps of silence. It is trying to fix the problem. Very hopeful for you.

 

@citigirl13 I have protected my hearing when I have known that there will be loud noises, like concerts etc.. At this time I didn't protected my ears because like I said, didn't realize that noise was so loud It was big mistake I didn't realize that.

@Dr. Nagler I know but habituation is so much harder when the sound in your head comes and goes reminding me like "hey here I am again, don't forget me" all the time!

@Lisa88 I hope you are right I have heard that T decreases slowly and then disappears but I haven't heard any cases that it first fluctuates and then disappears.. If that is the case I wish my brain just hurry up and fix this faster

 

Katriina, I wasn't aware that this was supposed to be easy. In fact, if it were easy, I doubt that this board would be in existence!

That said, if you ask a group of individuals who have, indeed, successfully habituated their severe intrusive tinnitus, I suspect they'll tell you that it's not a matter of how hard you try, but rather it's a matter of finding the right strategy.

Stephen Nagler

 

@katriina - You are not alone with this at all. I am getting a lot of random 'dog whistle' high pitched peeps that are very disruptive and make me focus in on the general noise that is already going on.

Hopefully we will both get through this. x

 

Katriiana –

How long do the “loud fleeting sounds” you described in your first post last?

I ask because there is a type of tinnitus that comes out of nowhere and is loud, lasts for a few seconds or a little longer, and “fades away quickly.” It is called transient spontaneous tinnitus. For you, does it occur in one ear at a time? Is your hearing muffled while it lasts and do you have a feeling of fullness in that ear?

If this is what you are experiencing, please know that it is a very common, normal experience and is not a sign of damage or of worse things to come. This type of tinnitus will often go away or occur a lot less often over time. It can be unnerving when it happens at first, especially if we assume it is a sign of worse things to come. It isn’t. Doctors have studied patients before and after this type of tinnitus occurs, and see no sign of ear damage.

If I have misunderstood you, and you are describing tinnitus that is continual, but is sometimes soft and sometimes loud, this is also a very common type of tinnitus. But I think you may be describing the kind of tinnitus that also happens to kys, that comes out of nowhere, gradually fades away, and re-occurs throughout the day.

It is very possible to habituate to this type of tinnitus and to any other type of tinnitus. Almost certainly, the reason it scares you and makes you feel like crying is because of the meaning you are attaching to it. If you believe it means something bad or dangerous, it is natural that you would pay attention to it. If you can start to remind yourself that it will not harm you, and that it is a very common type of tinnitus, then it will be much less important to you and will no longer scare or concern you.

here2help

 

Mine is 24/7, several tones, loud and unrelenting. You really should embrace those quiet times and understand that it's the anxiety, stress, fear and worry that presents a problem rather than the return of your tinnitus. Take care of your negative thoughts and the rest will take care of itself. Tinnitus comes in all varieties so your experience is normal. The process of habituation occurs naturally over a period of time so it will happen in your case. You can speed it up of course through your own thought processes.

 

Hi Katrina - habituation is different for everyone - I found this text about habituation - helps explain it a little more - hope this helps. I have lots of ups and downs but overall I do feel that I have habituated although it does still annoy me at times - I do not have the negative reaction that I Used to and believe me it was very negative!.

***It has long been known that the brain has a natural tendency to habituate to sounds which are continuous and non- significant. Examples from most people’s everyday experience are the humming of a refrigerator, the rumble of distant traffic or the whirring of a computer. Although people with normal hearing are able to hear these sounds easily if they attend to them, most of the time the brain filters them out and there is no conscious perception of them. Even quite loud sounds such as passing trains may be filtered out by a person who is very used to them.

It is possible for the brain to habituate to tinnitus too, and indeed in most people who have tinnitus this happens naturally over time. The brain gets so used to the tinnitus being there that it hardly perceives it at all unless something brings it to the person’s attention or the environment is unusually quiet.

However, there are a number of possible barriers to habituation. If the tinnitus is perceived as threatening in some way or if it associated with negative thoughts or feelings (such as anxiety, depression or irritation) the process of habituation is hindered.

Habituation therapy is a generic term for any type of intervention which has habituation to tinnitus as its goal. Various techniques such as counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and relaxation training can be used to remove barriers to habituation and encourage the process to happen. Sound therapy- use of pleasant or neutral sounds to divert attention away from tinnitus- often plays a part as well. The goal is not to abolish the tinnitus (this isn’t usually possible) but to enable the person to cope with it more successfully.

I hope this helps a little

Lynnx

 

My normal T is barely audible but every single day i get the really loud fleeting t that scares the hell outta me.. But it goes as quickly as it comes like 5 to 10 secs. But then again ive always experienced this through out my life.. And even my one friend who doesnt have t gets this every single day too so im assuming its normal like they said before. But still very scary.

 

Lyndean, whoever composed that piece you quoted in your post #14 may be facile with the written word, but he or she doesn't understand habituation worth a flip!

The goal of habituation-based therapies in tinnitus isn't "to enable the person to cope with it more successfully." On the contrary, the goal is to get to the point where the person doesn't have to cope with it at all! The goal is for your tinnitus to become like the pants you're wearing. You don't "cope" with your pants, do you? You don't deal with your pants. And you sure as hell don't wonder about whether tomorrow will be a good pants day or a bad pants day. You just wear your pants. And when you have habituated your tinnitus, it's just like that.

Stephen Nagler

 

@Dr. Nagler, I totally agree with everything you say, however after three years of having the big T I am better but still not fully habituated. I do gave good days and on my bad days I try my best to overcome the noise.
My problem is that I am always thinking about it, even when I am busy. I can honestly say that I am much better than what I was in the beginning, but how do I stop thinking about it. My brain is so wired to the noise. Even though the noise is not extremely loud I can't get it off my mind. What do I do?

Miss lavender.

 

Miss Lavender wrote:

Habituation is a different experience for different folks. In my case it's on going and always will be. I have been unable to cross that bridge where I can say "I don't care" and I hear my tinnitus almost as much as I did in the beginning. Having said that I stopped stressing about it, thinking about it and accepted that it will always be the same as it always was. I have the occasional bad period where it really annoys me but I get over it fairly quickly. Personally I think I'm a perfect candidate for complete/full habituation and I've heard this described as not being aware of it unless it is purposefully sought out. I would have to guess that there is either a glitch in my brains processing ability or habituation is actually being aware of it but not reacting to it in a negative manner. I don't think anybody should be worried if they continue to hear it as long as it doesn't bother them. I don't think that anybody should monitor it also and they should go about their business as if they didn't have tinnitus.

 

Hmmm. What do you do?

Einstein at one time expressed surprise when a person would persist in using the same strategy over and over again in solving a problem, hoping to at some point to achieve a different outcome. (His terminology was a bit more coarse, but that was the gist of it,)

As to what you should do, like I suggested in my post #10, maybe it's a question of changing strategies.

Now I do not know what strategies might be available to you where you live. Also, I note that you express frustration at not being "fully habituated." Maybe instead you might take joy and satisfaction in coming along as far as you have come. Do not equate achieving less than 100% success with failure!

Stephen Nagler