I Think I've Habituated After a Week?

I went to a music concert and woke up the next day to realise I still had a loud high pitched ringing in my ears. It continued on for the next 2 days before I realised it wasn't going away. This was then followed up by your typical anxiety and panic attacks.

But after hours upon hours of reading about tinnitus I've kind of just accepted that it isn't going away and that I've decided to not let it get in the way of living my life.

A week later, I am typing this in a silent room feeling perfectly fine. Obviously the ringing sucks but I've kind of just accepted it. I haven't had anxiety for 3 days nows and feeling pretty good.

The only time it really bothers me is when I'm trying to sleep but I've found some sound therapy does the job for me.

I went to see my GP who told me it'll go away after a bit. But I've read enough posts and blogs to know that thats unlikely to happen.

Have I really habituated after only a week of getting my Tittinus? Or is this just a phase?
Just extremely confused because I was convinced from everything that I've read that it would've take me at least 6 months to really accept the noise.

 

Did you read the thread below?
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

It is possible that it might begin to drive you crazy after a month.

I guess everything depends on the volume and pitch of the sound. If you find your sound to be bearable, it might not be difficult to ignore it.

 

You made it. Be careful with your ears and fully enjoy your life
Don't get stuck around here.

 

Wow that thread sounds amazing. Maybe there is hope.

Lets hope I don't go crazy haha

 

Keep in mind when you read posts and blogs you are reading small sample of people who are suffering from T.
The fact is the vast majority of people who get T from short term noise exposure (like a concert) have significant improvement in 1-2 years. Unless this concert was ear shattering loud for hours, there is every reason to expect you T will fade over time. Please see this page of Tinnitus Talk.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

 

Nvm, I lied
Had 3 anxiety attacks today
All 3 were due to be doing everything that your talk told me not to do.
Reading the tips section makes me relieved to know people are going through exactly what I'm going through.
Will keep trying though, thanks for sharing

 

I mentioned T "driving you crazy" because my own Low happened after 4-6 weeks of T.

The good news is that many people seem to begin feeling better 6-8 weeks after onset. If they are able to avoid new acoustic traumas (unlike me), they feel a lot better after 4 months or so.

 

Thanks I feel a lot better now

 

The only time I posted on here was 4 months ago, my T came suddenly, I think now down to stress, the ENT said hearing better than average for my age and couldn't find anything wrong, but it is exactly the same now. The difference is I have got used to it and whilst I would be lying to say it doesn't bother me on a scale of 1-10 it is now at the low end.
The first two weeks were horrendous, mainly down to lack of sleep but my improvement has been incremental. I have never masked at night and I admit it was difficult to get to sleep but that is because my mind was on it. My mum who has T said that you have to try to ignore it and that is what I have trained my brain to largely do. I am like the Original Poster I thought I habituated early but it's only now that I realise more what habituation is like. There is no overnight switch to Habituation it just happens steadily but with the occasional backwards steps. Like I said the key to me was sleeping, I took for 2 weeks over the counter Nytol and they helped but now I don't use anything and according to my Fitbit I get to sleep pretty quickly and can get a good night's sleep.
I read a lot on here at first and it provided some comfort but on the flip side worries, my advice to new T sufferers is only read success stories and watch Julian Cowan Hills videos on utube. As for how loud my T is all I can say it's loud when I look for it but for the vast majority of the day I am unaware of it.
T is an awful thing to have to deal with, but early on around the time it started to get easier to deal with, I passed a guy in a wheelchair with no legs working his hardest to get it up a steep hill where I live and to be honest I felt a bit guilty afterwards for worrying about my T

 

At least that person can forget about his condition while laying in bed waiting to fall asleep. He is not being reminded of it 24/7.

 

Oh please! You are telling me that you prefer to be in a wheelchair? Get yourself together man! Tinnitus is truly annoying and can drive you to madness in the beginning, but sooner or later you will learn to live with it. Your only problem is falling asleep. And tat will soon pass. I already can say to a point that i am ignoring it. I even read in a silent room now. And the sirens are constantly up there ... sometimes i think the room will start turning around. But still i can ignore it and even fall asleep despite of it. You can too!

Don't wish something, that you have no idea what is like to be living with. Because if you think T is hard, see what happens when you can not live your life in full and can't accomplish so many things without legs, or arms! Or heart condition when you don't know which day can be your last ...

 

You have to be kidding. You cannot seriously think a person missing limbs is not aware of that 24/7.

My grandfather recently lost a leg, and he does not simply forget about it while falling asleep at night. Many people without limbs suffer from phantom limb pain, nerve pain, and muscle issues that can prevent them from getting a full night's sleep.

A person missing both legs doesn't just forget about their condition. They're reminded every day while they navigate a world designed for people with two legs.

Now you could argue that they can forget about it while watching TV or reading, but so can many people who habituate to tinnitus. In fact, some people with tinnitus even fall asleep just fine.

I think perspective and empathy is important. I absolutely hate the sound in my head and ears. But others suffer, too, and often their mental pain is not unlike our own. I'd guess that upon losing both legs, the man in the wheelchair had some of the same anxiety, fears and questions as many of us do at the onset of tinnitus: how will I function, is my life over, what if I get worse, and will I ever enjoy life again?

 

If T were to be loud enough (this happens to be louder than what I have) - yes. Some people report listening 24/7 to a sound that is similar to what one hears when standing next to a freight train that is hitting its breaks. Or the sound that is like someone shouting into one's ear.

Also, one can't get disability payments if one has T, whereas this is not the case for other disabilities.

That's another huge downside of T - it affects the quality of your life, but not its expected duration.

 

But you can get disability payments for depression/anxiety/mental illness. Severe tinnitus can go hand in hand with those conditions, so it actually is possible to claim disability or take a leave of absence.

 

I haven't thought of that.

 

OH MY GOD ITS 90% GONE!!!!! GUYSSSSSSSSSSS ITS SO LOW I CAN BARELY HEAR IT
It just happened randomly...
I will never take my ears for granted again..

 

I am happy for you.

If it is loud again tomorrow, there is no need to be discouraged. T volume resembles a stock price chart. There might be ups and downs, but what matters is the trend. It sounds like it is making new lows, so yours has a downward trend that it will likely continue to follow.

Make sure to continue protecting your ears (even after you feel fine). Your ears have been compromised, it will now take less to give you T. I would stay away from things like lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, and blenders...

 

Thank you so much bill Yeah I'm trying not to celebrate too much as I've read this is often a short lived phenomenon for a lot of people.. but fingers crossed ^^

 

In cases when it is a short-lived phenomenon, often the person gets a secondary trauma that plunges them back into the nightmare...

 

you dont know how scary that sounds to me HAHA im definitely going to steer clear of any loud places and have my ear plugs in at all times for a very very very long time

 

Good for you mister, danielh. It is nice to see fellow suffers recover

 

thanks!
I woke up, its still here but its only i'd say 50-60% of what it was.. very very easy to mask with your day to day sounds.
A very good sign

 

So it means u had 90% improvement the other day, and now u hear it 60%? And how did your T sound like in the beginning, was it multiple sounds like hissing, spikes, high frequencys ect, and what sound do u hear now that ur alot better? Is it like constant low "eeeee"?

 

Personally this had happened to me too. I got tinnitus once for about 7-10 days, and then it went away. Unfortunately I was not smart enough to see that as a MAJOR warning sign to slow down and stop what I was doing wrong (listening to loud music on earplugs). A few years later I managed to get it again, and time it did not stop (yet).

So please be extra careful now that it went away. There is a very good chance that your tinnitus won't come back if you treat your hearing wth the utmost care. If you don't, it will probably come back at some point, and you will end up with full blown tinnitus.

 

My T in the beginning felt extremely loud, in silence, it felt like my head was going to explode from the combination of eeeeeeeeeee and hssssssssing sound. Even in public I could hear my T over pretty much anything, it was almost impossible to mask. I swear it got louder too... I was convinced that the sound was here to stay so I was trying all that I could to just accept it. Until 2 days ago, I was playing games till 1am and I walked into the bathroom to shower when I realised I was standing in almost silence..

The T has come back but its still only at 50-60% of what it was. It is still the same combination of eeeee and hsssing. But my quality of life has increased greatly. I am very happy with this level of T and would not mind if it went away either way, as long as it doesnt get any louder. If a cure was found, I might not even be inclined to be bothered going to heal it. I now only hear it in a silent room, but day to day sounds now mask it very well.

 

Thank you for sharing
Yeah the week of full blown Tinnitus has really scarred me, I now have ear plugs everywhere I go and am constantly conscious of the db levels around me. I will definitely not take my hearing for granted again..

 

okay, good! Because it really does takes just one moment of being careless to get it again. I am not trying to scare you, but trying to be helpful in that you wont ever get it again.

I highly reccomend you write a few notes to yourself, and stick them somewhere where you will see it every day. Usually after a few years you forget what happened, and then we start taking the exact risks you should not be taking. That is what happened to me!

 

Does your T happen to be lower in the morning or is it constant through out the day? Thanks for the reply.

 

I think so? Really hard to say tbh.. There were noticeable period were it was louder, particularly after the gym but it would always return at baseline.. But I always felt better after gym so I kept going.