Noise-Induced Tinnitus — Positive Success Stories

Had people over today to clean the chimney which unfortunately needs more work.

It's weird but talking about the chimney kind of got my mind off things briefly. After a few minutes my mind couldn't help but go back to thinking about and listening for the noise. It was almost like I was having an out of body experience having a longer conversation. My body was there but my mind was only half in the conversation.

While I was talking I also thought to myself if this is life it's really not that bad. I hear a little noise but I don't have to focus on it. I'll get better at not looking for it or just going with the flow.

Not huge progress but I'm thinking of possibilities I didn't a couple weeks ago.

 

Jinxed myself. My ears got that full feeling this afternoon to the point of feeling a little sore. All I can think of is I went to the grocery store without ear plugs and the beeper at the register got me. Weird.

 

Perhaps if things get bad, hopefully temporarily, that means they were getting better other times and we just didn't realize it.

 

Dont worry

 

@dpdx Thank you!

 

Just had a talk with my wife and explained how I don't feel I'm making progress. I haven't done anything productive since this started a month ago, my ears are sensitive to sound and hurt when I hear high pitched noise. I notice the hearing loss in my left ear which has more than my right. The hearing loss could have already been there with how loud I listened to the TV and Radio. I admit I've had the TV at 1/3 the volume compared to a couple months ago and I don't bother putting the car radio on. I have no interest in going back to work with machinery which is part of my job and not a good idea this early in the game. I don't feel I'm setting a very good example for my kids either. She listened patiently and said jokingly, "You're not very patient, are you?"

More than one person on the forum has pointed out this patience issue of mine and assured me the best thing to do in this situation is be patient.

Thank you for listening.

 

Its true, this tinnitus takes such a long time to dissolve its not even funny the games it plays sometimes. I woke up twice last night in the middle of the night and for around 10 minutes i experienced silence. Months back this would have triggered a thank god its over response but iv learnt not to go there now. The thing is though that during the first 6 weeks i was waking up to howling in my left ear so things are much improved in that sense. Iv realised that a full recovery is going to take years if even at all. If i do recover ill consider myself lucky but i just have to keep positive that slowly these moments of silence and lower volumes are a positive indicator.

 

@john paul

Thank you for reminding me I have to be patient. I'm so new at this and I'm sure the veterans on the site can recognize I'm in the panic stage. I have moments I feel positive about beating this but hours of feeling defeated. I have to remember change comes little by little with lower T or habituation.

 

@Michael Leigh or any veterans on the site

This morning my dog highly recommended a walk and we went for 2.5 miles. We walked on side streets where it was relatively quiet and had no issues. Outdoors masks about 75% of my T so it was very relaxing/soothing.

Decided to do some work in my gardens in the afternoon and the H is making it tough. I live on a busy road, cars to 18 wheelers go by around 40 mph all day, let's say 1-2 tractor trailers per minute. I worked on the side of the house with hearing protectors on for about 20 minutes and quit because there were so many loud tractor trailers. I admit I'm in the nervous stage still.

Got out again later for about 20 minutes with hearing protectors ready in case of loud noise but not on my head. They came in very handy when the helicopter flew overhead. Not as many trucks later in the day.

I'm anxious about my hearing and don't want to under do it or over do it. 5 Weeks in I listen to the TV at 1/3 the volume I used to and ask my wife and children to speak more quietly at least once a day.

I read Micheal Leighs article on hyperacusis and need to find the happy medium of exposing myself to sound without over exposing myself.

 

Hi @New Guy

The onset of tinnitus can be traumatic and if hyperacusis is present more so. You are in the very early stages with these conditions and it will take a while for you to settle down but it will happen. It is not unusual to feel nervous, stress and anxiety in the first few months and this needs to be kept under control, otherwise there is the risk of your symptoms becoming worse. It is for this reason I mentioned to you, talking with your GP about this and an antidepressant may be advised. I understand your reasons for not wanting to take it but you’re not helping yourself believe me. An antidepressant acts as a safety net and will help prevent you becoming too down and feeling the way you do at the moment.

Furthermore, I do not advise becoming too reliant upon using ear defenders to suppress normal everyday sounds but do understand your concerns. Noise reducing earplugs are probably better when not using noisy gardening equipment or power tools. Again, I suggest you use them sparingly. The overuse of hearing protection or to use it unnecessarily one risks developing a negative mindset which can make your symptoms more intrusive. If you insist on not taking a prescription antidepressant, then I advise trying St John’s Wort. It is herbal and used to treat stress and mild depression. It will not make your tinnitus worse. Have word with your doctor before trying it and you can find more information on Google.

It takes time for a person to get used to tinnitus and hyperacusis often many months. Give yourself this time and try not to push yourself too hard. The medications I’ve mentioned will help you through this process. Please click on the links below and read my posts. If you have read them I suggest you read them again. Print and refer to them often, as they are a form of counselling and will help to reinforce positive thinking.

All the best

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/inspiration.22894/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/can-tinnitus-counselling-help.22366/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/a-change-of-lifestyle.20643/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-mental-health.21978/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-complexities-of-tinnitus-and-hyperacusis.25733/

 

@Michael Leigh

Thanks for your help. I'll give the articles a read again. I'll do my best to stay positive and not over react.

Have a wonderful day!

New Guy

 

This is my favorite thread on TT. https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...recovery-after-2-years-not-habituation.21313/

Many members talk about how long it can take for the ringing to lower in volume. Who knows if my T will fade but a reduction in volume would be welcome. Patience....

"I've been walking the streets at night just trying to get it right...."

Guns N' Roses - Patience

 

There's quite a bit of drama on TT today so in the interest of keeping it simple I'll say this.

I woke up this morning and made scrambled eggs with leftover ham from Easter for my daughter and I, I then cleaned a sink load of dishes, after that I folded a load of children's clothes (My goodness it's like 3 times the folding as an adult load of laundry). I didn't rush. I did things with an 'In the moment' mindset. I hear my T, which seems to slowly getting higher pitched, and it irritates me but it's not as threatening as it was a month ago. I've got a long way to go to wherever I end up.

I've been looking at chickens since I visited a friends house with chickens yesterday. I've always thought about getting chickens but keep putting it off. Perhaps chickens can help me find distraction and focus. I had chickens in high school and they were fun. I'd like to get some Buff Orpingtons and possibly some White of Buff Cochins. Orpingtons are easy to find Cochins are much harder.

Since many on this site are from England I've read Buff Orpingtons were bred in England. Do you guys see them when strolling through the countryside?

Anywho. That's where I am today.

 

Think I got a spike today. I drove in my truck for about 15 minutes without hearing protection. My T which is usually louder in my right ear got louder in my left ear for a few hours. My ears have that tightness from H or TTTT now and a touch of fullness. They're both screaming right now at a pretty high pitch. It's not the end of the world, by the morning things should settle down. It brought on the typical what did I do to myself, is this what life will be like from now on, sobbing.

It's just a bump. I'll recover. I have to take it a day at a time and judge things a month at a time. The only thing that's going to help is patience.

I haven't worked since this mess started and I'm going to try and get 1/2 day in tomorrow. Hopefully that will get my mind off things and make me feel like a productive member of society again. I figure if I start getting back to work I can save some money for my chicken coop. I've always dreamed of chickens and that's what I'm using as my motivation to keep fighting. I just never imagined chickens with background noise. Hopefully their clucks will make good masking noise.

 

Hi,

Im about 6 months in, and at the beginning I was very afraid of sounds. Felt like everything was loud. Simple everyday things was a pain. Now Im back to work(industrial production), and sounds doesnt disturb me anymore. Im careful not to get exposed as far as I can do it. But sounds that was so bad at first, is no problem now.

I think it might be a mix of the ears suddenly being different, and the amount of attention we suddenly give them. If you think about it, now you might be listening to every little sound arround you. Sounds that you never cared about before.

I have the same thing about quiet rooms. When watching TV i have this high pitch sound that I can hear all the time. But I found an app with different sounds that has helped me a lot. I have tried many combinations, and have found a good one, that really calmes me down. Actually when watching TV and having the sounds on at the same time in earpods, I often catch myself not noticing those sounds. So that should be possible with the annoying T right?

We just put a lot of attention to it. I know a guy with T in one ear after an injury, and it just screams. He doesnt notice it anymore. If we talk about it he does, but few minutes later, he doesnt notice it. He just got tired of listening to it all the time. And he had static noise from a radio going the first period when he got it, or the beep sound from test picture on the TV when nothing was on. Now he uses nothing. He doesnt care about it.

It takes time to adjust to it. At the beginning i had a lot of noise in my ears. When sleeping, I didnt like laying on the ears, as the sound got loud from not getting any input on it. Now its way better. Like the sound moved inside my head, and it has lovered. And Im still figting a lot of anxiety, so Im not calm at all. But still it got better. Its all about the attention and our attitude towards it.

You and me might have about the same level of T. I cant really hear it when driving and being active. But inside in a quiet room it goes crazy. So put some sound in there to stimulate your hearing. If you dont get a normal level of sound, your brain will turn up the gain.

I sleep with a phone under my pillow, playing these waterfall, owl and other things sounds, and then I have an earpod in the ear pointing up. Just a standard Apple one thats not stuck in there in the ear. Its a pleasant combination.

Hope that helps you out buddy. Hang in there. It gets better and easier. I myself has had a slow progress, but its still progress. I too freaked out to the point where I got dizzy and had to lay down. Youre not the only one, and others like us has gotten up again, and so can we!

/Daniel

 

@DBT

Thank you for the pep talk. I'm doing my best to stay positive and not be a burden or spread negativity. I hope some day this thread helps people to see the phases of recovery but right now I need the support. I'm better emotionally than I was 6 weeks ago or when I was told to just deal with it. I think we wean off the emotional nature of this a little at a time.

It can't be more than 2 hours since I wrote my post and the fullness has gone down and even the noise on the other side has calmed a touch. Many of the vets and posts I've read say t starts to ease off after the honeymoon period however long that lasts.

Inside the quiet rooms indeed! When this first happened I couldn't take my mind off it because it was so loud. It's still just as loud though I've learned to get used to it a little more. I've strategically placed 2 sound oasis S650's in the two quietest rooms in the house and an S5000 next to my bed. When I go to bed I sleep like a baby. I keep the S5000 below the T and it does wonders. If anyone new to T is reading this just spend the money and get the S5000 and put it next to your bed. It's worth it!

Daniel, thank you for sharing your experience with me and giving me what I needed to make it through this night. I owe so much to you and so many others on this site.

John aka New Guy

 

The last few days my T has gone down in my normally louder ear and up in my normally quieter ear for a few hours to half day at a time. Very odd indeed. Makes the louder ear feel like it's getting better and the quieter ear feel like it's getting worse.

 

Im just passing on some positivity that I picked up somewhere ;-)

Its all in the mind. My T has been pretty loud today, but I managed to stay positive. Its just a phantom sound. So managed to turn my mind on the positive things, and Ive had a nice day. Havent really had any anxiety today, and believe me, Ive been pretty far out on that part. So just take it easy. It gets easier along the way.

Mine changes too. I get some loud squeeks now and then, and its a bit different on what ear it strikes. I imagine that its the mind trying to adjust to the new conditions.

 

@DBT

Hopefully we can help lift each other up when we're down.

Waiting for the day when I can just say, "Screw it!"

 

My T is a result of a brief noise exposure (it might also be a result of me overdoing that Valsalva Maneuver after I got ear fullness as a result of that brief noise exposure), and I haven't been paying enough attention to posts by people who got their T as a result of hearing loss. Sorry! I Remember reading at least one or two posts where the poster had hearing loss and had experienced significant fading, but I won't be able to give you a link.

 

@Bill Bauer

Thanks Bill. I'm getting toward the point of whatever happens happens but hoping for the best. Don't get me wrong my emotions are still tightly strung.

6 Weeks in a few times my T either switches ears where the louder ear becomes quieter and vice versa or it turns into an almost whooshing sound for an hour or so. The best way I could describe it is listening to static on the radio through a seashell. I'm hoping for more whooshing/static because that seems like the right direction.

Started taking NAC and Vitamin A this week along with the Ginkgo and lipoflavenoid I've been taking.

Exposing my ears to more everyday noises but still protecting when driving my loud truck, grocery store beepers with more than 12 items and tractor trailers going by at 40 mph.

Are you making progress?

 

When mine is a static, I put on ear muffs and it becomes a high pitch tone. This seems to imply that static is what you perceive when the sound is very quiet.

It is month 15 for me, and I am certainly feeling a lot better (i.e., T is quieter) compared to how I felt at week 6.

 

I'll have to try checking with earmuffs on. I'm in the same rooms it usually sounds like a ringing though.

Can I ask how obtrusive it is compared to when you got it?

 

That does sound kinda familiar to how mine went, like you say its better than the electrical high pitch type of ring. Fuzz is much more soothing to listen too as is anything less high pitch. Iv recently found out that playing my guitar not plugged in is really making things go 95 percent quiet for say 15 minutes afterwards. Im guessing its something similar to notched music therapy. The pure tones of the guitar are giving my brain the frequencies that its struggling to hear i think, or its giving my brain something new to learn I'm not sure but it really is doing something for sure. Obviously 15 minutes of relief is not really what I'm after but I'm going to start playing it religiously to see if it can eventually give me more and more silence.

 

@john paul

I agree the fuzz is nicer. I'm only getting a brief taste, perhaps 1/2 hour at a time, this last week. It's the only change I've noticed yet besides a few times when my T wasn't as loud.

I would be playing that guitar like there's no tomorrow if I were you. Perhaps playing the guitar relaxes you and that let's your mind settle. I admit my anxiety is starting to go down. I can't keep it up forever.

I wish you continued progress.

 

Got out and joined the world again this week. I worked the last 4 days. I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch last night. I love that!

The T didn't really effect me though I've been wearing ear muffs driving my dump truck and I keep them on my head in case a loud car comes by or something. It's more of a psychological thing than actual hindrance to what I'm doing.

I'm not noticing the H as much but I haven't pushed the limits. I don't expose myself to loud noises but traffic noise, with the exception of loud tractor trailers and motorcycles, I'm ok with. I don't want my T to get worse from noise exposure but I want my ears to recover from the H as well. I'm pretty sure my H is fairly mild but it still throws me for a loop when my ears react to noise in a way they never have before.

I haven't notice my ear drum or what feels like my ear drum fluttering for a week or two. I think that's good too.

The sound of the T is in the process of changing and I'll see what that brings.

I'm in my office right now which is my favorite spot. There's an aquarium in room which gives great background noise in addition to the road noise plus the distraction of electronics keeps my mind off T.

It was about 60 degrees today when I was finishing my work and the sun was shining and I was feeling pretty good but part of me had to focus on the very slight ringing I hear and my mood went down. If I didn't look for it I probably wouldn't notice it. Hopefully soon I'll either not look for it or not hear it.

By far this has been my best week with T as far as adjusting to it. Still a long way to go.

 

You will get there. It might take some time, but at some point you might just accept it and live on. Ive been way way down, and got panic attacks where I had to lay down for a moment. Now Im just looking forward to little things. Before I had a hard time enjoying anything, but its coming back. I have good and bad days, and I handle the bad days better and better.

Also remember, that right now you might be putting a lot of focus on what you hear. My experience is, that the more I try to compare the current sound to the low days, the more I notice it. It might not be that much louder, but Im just putting too much focus on it.

Ive had the same thing about grocery beepers. At first it was almost a pain to be near them, but now I have realized that they are not that bad. Again, I do believe that its more the perception of it being loud, than it actually being loud. You'll get used to it.

 

@DBT

Thanks again for the encouragement and admitting that at times you have just as hard a time with this as me. I sometimes I think there's something seriously wrong with me to let such a small thing effect me so much.

 

And tonight I understand what people mean when they say electrical impulses. So far I've experienced the high pitched EEEEE since things started. I've got crickets in my right ear that come and go since the second or third week. The radio static through a seashell noise started showing up in the last week for under an hour at a time. Tonight I've distinctly got electrical impulses floating around my head for the first time.

Life used to be so boring.

 

Right now I feel like I'm flying on a plane as it gets ready to land with that clogged ear feeling listening to the sound of the engines. My ears aren't really clogged but the sound is like when your ears are clogged. It's kind of a muffled whooshing. Oh, I see the runway. Gotta go!