Morse Code Type Tinnitus Is Practically GONE After 5 Years

Hi everyone,

I joined the forum in Nov.2015 after developing tinnitus from loud headphone use. Went through a very tough and dark period, ended up on antidepressants, lost loads of weight, bad thoughts etc.
The tinnitus started in the left ear, spread to the right and then to the head. I would say at its worst it was moderate, but never catastrophic. Did all the usual (ENT/MRI/supplements etc/googling for cures).

I mask at night with a sound machine and SleepPhones.

Over the years (I can't believe I am saying that, as if its just flown by so quickly) the tinnitus has, I guess, faded into the background, bothering me more on some days than others. The right ear actually ended up being worse than the left with a morse coding type high pitched sound that was difficult to habituate to. I had the odd temporary spike with colds/illnesses etc which always went back to baseline.

BUT, last week I woke up to the worst spike EVER in my original left ear. I found myself panicking again, and doing all the old things that I thought were long in my past (checking the tinnitus in quiet rooms, blocking my ears to check the sound/tones, googling for cures etc). I felt all the old panics coming back, it was amazing how it all flooded back and I felt back at square one. Thank God, it has now gone, but the spike did not go away until yesterday.

But the new development is that the morse coding type tinnitus is my right ear is practically GONE.

Just GONE to the point where I have to block my ear to find it. After years. Straight after a spike.

I can't believe what a beast , an unpredictable beast, tinnitus is. I hope it stays gone but you can never seem to predict this monster. I just wanted to let even long term sufferers know that tinnitus can change for the better even after years. I still have the static/sizzling noise in my left ear which I am used to and find pretty easy to tune out as it is rarely a pure 'tone' and is easier to get used to.

I was saddened to check back into the forums after all this time to find that some members are no longer with us (@Danny Boy etc) - I wish no-one had to suffer this torment. Sorry for everyone who is going through this.

 

Congrats! Happy to hear your success!

 

So great to hear this. Even before the morse code disappeared, sounds like you have been slowly coping better over the years (spike aside)?

 

Yes. It's true that I have been coping better in general anyway. There's not a day goes by I don't think of my tinnitus at some point - setting up my sound machine at night, maybe being in an intensely quiet room, going to a loud party and trying to stay away from the speakers etc. But coping yes. Which I would never have believed in the first year of tinnitus. I KNEW my life was over. I wanted to die. If it were not for my two girls and husband I probably would have done something stupid. I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. Reading the forums of people who habituated was double edged, because a) I literally did not believe them, that it was possible to habituate, and b) I didn't WANT to habituate, because that would be 'accepting' tinnitus in my life, and I didn't want it in my life. I wanted a 100% cure. But it's crazy, your brain just adapts to the sound. If a pill came out tomorrow to cure tinnitus, I would definitely take it. But I wouldn't give up everything in my life to get it, which I would have in the first year.
I used to think that I would prefer cancer, or other terrible diseases, instead of tinnitus, But now I would take my tinnitus, and that's something I never thought 4 or 5 years ago that I would ever say.

 

That is interesting as my tinnitus got really quiet after a nasty spike that lasted maybe a week. It was terribly high pitch electrical tinnitus.

When that tinnitus sound disappeared, I found my ringing and other sounds very quiet, especially in the morning.

Unfortunately it didn't last for me, but it was an interesting event, and a really really nice week I had.

 

I had a morse code sound that was quite prominent. Now I only hear it when I plug my ears, even then it’s mostly gone.

 

@Louise77 thank you very much for dropping by and updating your situation. This kind of success story is always music to my ears (pun intended).

 

Thank you for coming back to tell us your happy news Louise, I'm delighted for you, and it's especially helpful to hear how you were generally coping better as time went by.

 

I'm so pleased for you Louise and grateful to hear how you found yourself coping better over time. Thanks for sharing your story, it helps a lot.

 

I know it's been a minute on this thread, but did your morse code tinnitus compete with other sounds? I'm going through this right now and I think that's what's causing the sounds of water and wind to sound really distorted.

 

Mine does

 

My morse code shoots up in volume for no reason. It can fade to the point where I'd struggle to even hear it with my ear plugged and then it'll change to a high pitch which can be heard in most surroundings. I'm hoping it will fade away one day, considering it's not constant and I do get a break from it.