Is Complete Silence Possible for a Tinnitus Sufferer?

Hey everyone!

My tinnitus took a turn for the worse recently, although one very pleasant experience in the early morning today is that all my tinnitus sounds went a way! Just for a second! But it felt like an eternity. I wasn't sure if I was just dreaming, but I know I have reported about this type of episodes of complete silence before. This has happened to me more than once in the early beginning of my tinnitus two years ago, where it would last for up to five seconds. It would seem like it only happens in the transition between deep sleep and wake state.

But I'm wondering if any of you have experienced this? By searching the forum I can see that there have been other such reports by other members. So I would say this is very much real. Silence is possible! Please share your thoughts on this and your own experience.

Just to clarify the polling question:
We are talking about complete absence of tinnitus while staying in a very quite room, like a bedroom or a library (20 to 30 dB (A) background noise).

 

Thanks for chiming in! Wow! Complete silence that lasts 1.5 hours! That is amazing! I did see one other member reporting about complete silence that lasted nearly one hour. His joy also stopped once he moved. I don't know why movement spoils it. But I'm guessing you have to be in a very relaxed state.

I think sleep and sleep quality is influencing it. I usually become aware of my silence as I'm coming back from sleep. I don't always hear silence when I'm coming back from sleep, but when it happens it's always in the transition from sleep (REM) to awaken state.

 

I think I can relate to this. This has happened to me as well, on occasion. But it's not what I'm referring to with the poll question.

I agree. I would say so, yes. You never know how bad tinnitus can get until it gets worse. I'd say mine was mild originally, but when it got worse recently, I thought of it as moderate to severe. It's not just the level of it that's disturbing, it's also the number of sounds you hear. I went from 1 sound to 5 sounds (excluding the objective clicks which science refuses to acknowledge as being an objective sound).

I think that still counts. Broadly speaking, the problem of identifying presence of tinnitus is that it is still immeasurable. But when you experience true silence, you just know it, you don't need any fancy equipment to tell you that.

 

Below, I have pulled out some interesting facts on REM sleep from Wikipedia.

"Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, distinguishable by random/rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied with low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly.

The REM phase is also known as paradoxical sleep (PS) and sometimes desynchronized sleep because of physiological similarities to waking states, including rapid, low-voltage desynchronized brain waves. Electrical and chemical activity regulating this phase seems to originate in the brain stem and is characterized most notably by an abundance of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, combined with a nearly complete absence of monoamine neurotransmitters histamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

REM sleep is physiologically different from the other phases of sleep, which are collectively referred to as non-REM sleep (NREM sleep, NREMS, synchronized sleep). REM and non-REM sleep alternate within one sleep cycle, which lasts about 90 minutes in adult humans. As sleep cycles continue, they shift towards a higher proportion of REM sleep. The transition to REM sleep brings marked physical changes, beginning with electrical bursts called PGO waves originating in the brain stem. Organisms in REM sleep suspend central homeostasis, allowing large fluctuations in respiration, thermoregulation, and circulation which do not occur in any other modes of sleeping or waking. The body abruptly loses muscle tone, a state known as REM atonia."



I assume that it's during these brief moments of awakening that I have experienced absolute absence of tinnitus.

 

I hope more of you will answer the polling question. So far only 16 of you have answers the question, and more than 33% of you have said that you have experienced this phenomenon. It's interesting to see that complete silence is really possible, even for a brief moment. I didn't expect to see this kind of response, I didn't think it's so common.

 

I have to disagree. Silence is very special. People don't know that until they lose it. As someone who has been afflicted with tinnitus and then went back to silence after one month, I would think you know that. Tinnitus is the one that's not special. If you're not happy with silence, you and I can make a trade, my tinnitus for your silence.

 

By now 23 of you have answered the question, and surprisingly many of you have reported experiencing episodes of complete silence since you got tinnitus, up to 40% of you. Apparently some of you have reached a stage of everlasting silence or absence of tinnitus. I'm happy for you! I hope you stay that way.

But those of you who have had only brief moments of silence, under what circumstances did this happen? Were you in the transitioning state between REM and awaken state like me? Were you taking any medication?

For the record, I have never taken any medication for sleep or for my tinnitus, nor did I take any medication or drugs when I experienced these brief moments of silence.

I'm not familiar with what research has already been done on this topic, but I think this calls for sleep studies in the tinnitus population.

 

Now that you mention driving, I have to tell about this funny observation. When I first got tinnitus, it was hardly noticeable unless I was in a very quite room for extended period of time (a few minutes would do the trick). It would kind of creep up on me gradually. But whenever I took off in my car, it would seem as if the traffic noise was provoking my tinnitus so I would start to notice it again. Over time, I realized that this was only true for as long as I was sitting in the car, and at a stop light. As soon as I started driving again it would start to fade out to the point where I did not notice it even though I was paying attention and listening for it, it just wasn't there. Just think about it! Drive, no tinnitus... stop, tinnitus... drive, no tinnitus... stop, tinnitus... on repeat! It's as if someone was playing a bad prank on me.

So I have come to the conclusion that, as long as I have gas in my car and I keep on driving, I would be free of tinnitus. It was similar with walking actually, so that was another great escape for me. Somehow my mind was occupied with processing information and what not, so it could not register the tinnitus. (It's not that the sounds around me were masking it. If that was true, I would not have heard it over all the traffic whilst sitting in my car at a stop light, would I now?) I have recently learned the hard way that this only works when your tinnitus is in the mild category, without the reactive component to it.

But it's interesting how movement vs. rest can influence it. I recall reading a very interesting study about two years ago where they seemed to suggest that there is a correlation between movement and tinnitus. I'm not sure if I would be able to pull up that study again, I think it was a study done in the US, and if memory serves me well they did these tests on mice. Maybe someone else will recall what study I'm referring to?

 

This is a relatively recent sleep study done by university of Brasilia consisting of 25 tinnitus patients and 25 controls.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30296843

 

I also recall Fatima Husain of University of Illinois having conducted some very interesting MRI studies. She has been doing auditory brain imaging studies for over a decade, and I think the earliest paper she published on tinnitus specifically was this one, in 2007:
Neural network models of tinnitus
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956777

But the more recent study I was thinking of is this: Connectivity of precuneus to the default mode and dorsal attention networks:
A possible invariant marker of long-term tinnitus.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28794980

The background story on this study can be found here:
https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/547435

"It also implies that tinnitus patients are not truly at rest, even when resting." I can relate to that.