I May Be Counting My Chickens — Hopeful Progress in My Tinnitus Journey

[Furetto]

Try playing music on a Bluetooth speaker at around 30 dB. That helped relieve my depression. Your tinnitus is idiopathic, so it should subside over time — you have better odds than most. Hope is a powerful weapon against tinnitus. I was at a 9 out of 10 from an acoustic shock explosion for over a year about 30 years ago, and I gradually went down to a 1 out of 10.

So you had no improvement for over a year, and then it went down to a 1? How long did it take to reach that point?

 

[jewellanne1010]

How do you do TRT on your own?

 

[Badger55]

So you had no improvement for over a year, and then it went down to a 1? How long did it take to reach that point?

I noticed slight improvement toward the end of the first year. However, I continued to struggle well into the second year, masking for sleep and occasionally taking Clonazepam. That medication definitely helped me sleep better, but I was warned about dependence, so I used it sparingly.

The turning point came when I managed to get six hours of sleep. I used to call it my "six-hour discount," because a good night's rest would often lower the tinnitus loudness by about 10 percent. That reduction then made it easier to sleep in the following nights, creating a snowball effect of gradual improvement.

At a certain point in the third year, tinnitus stopped being an issue. I fully habituated to the remaining hiss, which I could only hear if I listened for it or wore earplugs.

 

[Furetto]

At a certain point in the third year, tinnitus stopped being an issue. I fully habituated to the remaining hiss, which I could only hear if I listened for it or wore earplugs.

Thanks for the feedback. So, it was an issue for more than two years before it quieted down. Did you follow any particular diet or supplement regimen?

 

[Cirq]

Take a supplement called Soundbites, with vitamins A, C, E, and magnesium.

@Saba, Soundbites are a supplement?

I gave my life to our Lord. Jesus Christ suffered for us, and we must suffer for Him. It's not personal. I prayed like you, on my hands and knees, for three years. The misery was unbearable. The Lord was the one hope I held on to, and He was all I needed. He humbled me and brought me back.

My only mission now is to help others and serve our Lord. I serve no human being.

I'm here to help others with their suffering, to take them with me toward eternal life, leaving behind this hell we call earth.

 

[Saba]

https://soundbites.com/

Yes, Soundbites is a supplement. I have no vested interest other than to share that I've been taking it for three months. I pay about $33 per month on the monthly plan.

I've noticed my tinnitus has diminished, but if you look at my previous threads, you'll see that I'm using many different approaches, and this is just one of them.

Best wishes, and thank you for sharing your incredible faith!

 

[Wavetouch]

My tinnitus started around 15 years ago. I don't remember exactly how it began. I was in the Air Force and was exposed to loud jet engine noise almost every day for two years, about 35 years ago. I'm also a devoted audiophile and have listened to hi-fi music daily for more than 30 years.

My tinnitus became severe about three to five years ago. Some nights, during music listening sessions, it felt like massive 30-foot gears were turning right in front of me, like something out of a science fiction movie. Many nights I woke up to what felt like a huge hammer hitting concrete inside my ears. Those were really bad times. Maybe that's why I haven't slept more than four hours at a time for the past 20 years, always needing to take a nap during the day.

I haven't suffered from tinnitus for the past two years. I still hear a light "shhh" sound, but it doesn't bother me. I only notice it when it's quiet and I focus on it. I once asked my daughter, who doesn't have tinnitus, if she could hear any sound when it's silent, and she said no. I guess once someone notices the tinnitus sound, it tends to stay even if it improves or seems cured. Either way, I consider myself 95 to 100 percent recovered. My tinnitus doesn't bother me at all now. I sleep four to six hours at a time these days, and I can fall back asleep again if I want to.

My job is making high-end audio speakers. Ever since I created a "natural sound" speaker two years ago, my tinnitus has disappeared. I believe my tinnitus was caused or at least worsened by listening to harsh-sounding audio. I've realized that most speakers in the world sound unnatural and rough, and maybe hi-fi audio itself is a big part of the problem.

I'm not a doctor or an expert in human hearing, but I can say that most people, including audiophiles, don't realize how harsh and distorted the sounds and music from speakers truly are. We're surrounded by them every day: at school, in parks, on car radios, phones, and earphones, yet we don't notice how damaging they can be.

In the video below, the sound from the left speaker might seem fine at first, but it's actually a harsh, ear-straining sound. Our ears trick us, and we don't realize it. Every speaker in the world, even those costing millions, sounds and behaves like the left one. My tinnitus disappeared after I started listening to the natural sound, like that produced by the right speaker.

My point is that your tinnitus might improve if you avoid listening to sounds from speakers, cell phones, radios, earphones, and similar devices. It will take more than two or three days, but if you stay in the mountains for a week, your tinnitus will likely get better.

 

[FellowSufferer]

My tinnitus started around 15 years ago. I don't remember exactly how it began. I was in the Air Force and was exposed to loud jet engine noise almost every day for two years, about 35 years ago. I'm also a devoted audiophile and have listened to hi-fi music daily for more than 30 years.

My tinnitus became severe about three to five years ago. Some nights, during music listening sessions, it felt like massive 30-foot gears were turning right in front of me, like something out of a science fiction movie. Many nights I woke up to what felt like a huge hammer hitting concrete inside my ears. Those were really bad times. Maybe that's why I haven't slept more than four hours at a time for the past 20 years, always needing to take a nap during the day.

I haven't suffered from tinnitus for the past two years. I still hear a light "shhh" sound, but it doesn't bother me. I only notice it when it's quiet and I focus on it. I once asked my daughter, who doesn't have tinnitus, if she could hear any sound when it's silent, and she said no. I guess once someone notices the tinnitus sound, it tends to stay even if it improves or seems cured. Either way, I consider myself 95 to 100 percent recovered. My tinnitus doesn't bother me at all now. I sleep four to six hours at a time these days, and I can fall back asleep again if I want to.

My job is making high-end audio speakers. Ever since I created a "natural sound" speaker two years ago, my tinnitus has disappeared. I believe my tinnitus was caused or at least worsened by listening to harsh-sounding audio. I've realized that most speakers in the world sound unnatural and rough, and maybe hi-fi audio itself is a big part of the problem.

I'm not a doctor or an expert in human hearing, but I can say that most people, including audiophiles, don't realize how harsh and distorted the sounds and music from speakers truly are. We're surrounded by them every day: at school, in parks, on car radios, phones, and earphones, yet we don't notice how damaging they can be.

In the video below, the sound from the left speaker might seem fine at first, but it's actually a harsh, ear-straining sound. Our ears trick us, and we don't realize it. Every speaker in the world, even those costing millions, sounds and behaves like the left one. My tinnitus disappeared after I started listening to the natural sound, like that produced by the right speaker.

My point is that your tinnitus might improve if you avoid listening to sounds from speakers, cell phones, radios, earphones, and similar devices. It will take more than two or three days, but if you stay in the mountains for a week, your tinnitus will likely get better.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad case, but I'm glad it's now just a low white noise type of sound. I completely understand what you mean about unnatural sounds from speakers. Whenever I listen to music through one, it gives me a headache and makes my tinnitus a bit louder if I listen for too long.

I use a Yogasleep Dohm Uno at night, which produces a natural sound since it's a fan in a box. I feel that a white noise MP3 track or even raindrops wouldn't work as well for me.

How do you do TRT on your own?

TRT has to be done with a professional, otherwise it's not really TRT. I see a tinnitus specialist in London every couple of months, and we talk things through. It also includes CBT, where you break down your thought patterns and work on reprogramming unhelpful ones such as:

EVENT: "I hear tinnitus."
THOUGHT: "I was so stupid when I was 19. How could I not have seen the risk of listening to music all the time?"
EMOTION: "Anger and despair."

Then, during the session, we try to change the thought to something more helpful, such as: "I made a mistake, but it was only partially my fault. I was unlucky in many ways with Covid, previous ear infections, and having to work from home, which meant I listened to music all the time."

 

[FellowSufferer]

October update (31/10/2025)

I don't think I've made any progress this month, as my MML and MAL remain about the same, which is disappointing. The reason, however, is clear. I skipped a lot of days of listening to pink noise, and on the other days I didn't manage to reach eight hours. This was mostly because I've been feeling overwhelmed and slightly depressed by a job I no longer enjoy, dealing with a minor infection that keeps coming back, a painful and stiff knee from running the London Marathon for Tinnitus Quest in April, and not getting enough sleep.

On a more positive note, since the start of the year my tinnitus has improved by about two-thirds, or around 66%. In typical fashion, that means I've become less motivated because it's now more manageable. Still, I'd like it to go away completely, like it did for Vik Veer and Peter Studenik, so I can read a book in peace again. I'll keep pushing forward.