Noise-Induced Tinnitus. Looking for Positive Stories of Habituation/Recovery.

Hello there!

My name is Justin, pleasure to meet all of you. To cut a long story short, I've been struggling with noise-induced tinnitus for the last three or so weeks. I've been a drummer for many years, mostly using some form of ear protection, and never had tinnitus apart from for a night or so after gigs (not as a player). Last month, I went to a friend's gig and he asked me to take some videos of him onstage. I wasn't wearing earplugs, and stood far too close to the speakers next to the stage. I spent the rest of the day at the festival too, and when I woke up the next morning I had a ringing in my right ear. Not particularly loud, but audible in a quiet room. I used masking sounds, assuming I would get over it after a few days.

When it didn't go away the following week I started to panic and began looking tinnitus online. After reading all of the horror stories (including one of a fellow drummer who killed himself because of his T) I spiralled into full blown anxiety, and one night had a full-blown panic attack because I was convinced that I was going to develop T in my left ear too. I have a history of depression, and I was worried I was going to succumb to the same suicidal thoughts I'd suffered from. How is this going to affect my relationships? My studying? My ability to socialise and make friends?

I went to the doctor the following morning and he said I had an ear infection in my left ear that might be causing the problem. I also outlined to him my concerns about noise-induced T and my fears for recovery, and I heard my first glimmer of hope. He told me that he had recovered from it himself when he worked with power tools in a subway station for six months in his youth, and that it went away by itself after 2-3 months. It provided some relief, but I was acutely aware that even at 26, the effects could be permanent, and there's nothing I can do about it.

It's been 2 weeks since that appointment, and I've had no dicernable improvement. In fact, I think it may have gotten worse. I often get really sad knowing I'll never hear silence again, and I have a nagging anxiety about the future that follows me around and distracts me from work, hobbies, and friends. Put simply, I'm totally obsessed with tinnitus and can't focus 100% on anything else -- I suppose the one thing that I'm glad of is that it hasn't really affected my sleep. I've made an appointment with my university health clinic to start CBT, which I am sure will help in the long run.

Despite how horrific an experience this has been thus far, I have found a great deal of comfort reading the stories of those here who have habituated to their tinnitus, and would really appreciate any advice people have. I would especially appreciate stories from those who have recovered or habituated to their tinnitus. My goal is to write my own success story on here someday, in the hope that it offers solace to people who have just discovered they have tinnitus.

Apologies for the wall of text, and looking forward to hearing from all of you wonderful people.

Kind regards,
Justin

 

I went through the exact same feelings 7 months ago and did the same stupid things (Googling it). I am now out of that constant panic but still in the depressive stage, my life is slowly getting back to normal.

Just don't stay in quiet rooms focusing on it, when you start feeling stressed get out and go for a walk or something. Watch Julian Cowan Hill's videos on YouTube, he helps a lot.

I've read posts on this site saying they have loud T and don't care about it anymore.

 

HI @Justin5150

Please click on the links below and read my tinnitus articles. Try to read them in full and not skim though them.
All the best
Michael


https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

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

 

Hello @Justin5150, welcome.

To point you towards a success story regarding habituation:

@billie48 wrote his success story demonstrating how positivity helped him habituate.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

On that tone, staying positive is very important:

@Michael Leigh wrote the following, excellent post on negativity and tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/
(EDIT: once again, Michael beat me to linking this post)

You also may have ea good chance of recovery:

@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )


I hope to read your success story here soon. Do not give up hope, habituation is possible, keep a positive attitude, do not give in to the the depression (which is very common with tinnitus), and remember that we are here to support you when it gets difficult. This forum is filled with caring, compassionate, sympathetic people who, despite their own suffering are always willing to share what little strength they feel they have left to help another of our community who is struggling on a given day.

You can get through this, you can learn to habituate and get your life back.

I wish you luck, hope that you find everything you need here, and ask that you keep us updated on your progress. We will be here to help you when you need us, and we want to celebrate along side you when (and I do mean "when", not "if") you write your success story.

 

Thankyou so much for your replies everyone. It means a lot to know that there is a community out there supporting each other through their personal struggles. I've read all the resources you have provided, and I'm feeling a little bit more optimistic than earlier.

Am I to understand that most noise induced sufferers see a reduction in volume after a certain amount of time? Also, Are there people who have tinnitus who could guide me through the rough early stages of tinnitus management?

Thanks in advance!
Justin

 

I got tinnitus back in May. I was suicidal for about 2 and a half months due to anxiety and depression from it. Would only sleep 2-3 hours a night. To make is a short story, it got progressively quieter and I became better at ignoring and not getting anxiety over it when I did hear it. Now I barely let it bother me and sleep just like normal. Accepting it as permanent and distracting myself helped the most.

 

Thanks @Lelouch for your reply. Sorry to hear about your depression. I've been there myself and know what it's like to feel completely hopeless - I'm very happy that you feel better now.

May I ask how long it took you to habituate to it?

Best,
Justin

 

It took 3 hard months to finally get used to it. Not to say it still doesnt annoy the hell out of me sometimes, but theres' no anxiety, which was the worst part about it.

 

These Cowan Hill are really good and he speaks in a very comforting way, I like it.

It really gets better. I mean, I still have my ups and downs but I'm way, way better than I was last month.

 

ITT: people with bad taste in anime

 

I'm feeling pretty hopeless today. Can't really focus on anything else and worried about how my negative outlook it's going to affect my relationships. I just started an amazing relationship with a great girl, but I'm worried she'll eventually get sick of dealing with all my negativity, and I don't want to burden her with it either. I feel really beaten and alone.

 

Rude.

 

Welcome to the forum

It is natural to feel stressed, scared and anxious when one first gets tinnitus. The thing that really helps a lot of people, is = time + support + possible masking. This situation is simply going to take some time to understand and possibly cope with. All the members on this forum, have been in your situation and know how you feel......so you are not alone.

I know, just how badly you must be stressed out, try to remain calm. This board is here to support you, so you are never alone

 

Consider watching better stuff :^)

 

I started CBT two days ago. The counsellor is worried that I've got depression, so I'm meeting with a psychiatrist who has experience with tinnitus patients next week.

I've found that trying to force habituation by listening to tinnitus is too stressful at the moment as I haven't got to the point where I have totally accepted it and got out of the fight or flight response.

Nevertheless, I've had some little victories. Something that's helped has been listening to music again - something I'd pretty much stopped doing entirely - and this has really helped my low mood at night and de-stress.

 

I have had T 2 times in my life, 12 years ago from VERY load power equipment exposer ,and my T was screaming loud, and it took between 18-24 months to go away, but it went completely away.

I am now in a second bout, cause by an outdoor concert. It was quite loud at first, but it has faded about 80% in 12 months, and continues to fade.

I am in my late 50's, so it seems to heal at any age. IMO, you will see improvement, but it will be a slow process, possibly taking 2 years to full fade. Getting T doesn't always mean it's permanent, but it's a long time to fade.

It is a life changing experience.

 

Update:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to continue posting in this thread around once a month, partly because it soothes me, and to track my progress towards my goal of habituation.

Although since I last posted I haven't noticed any improvement in the tinnitus, I feel like I am coping a little better than in the first few weeks. I spoke with a psychiatrist who has prescribed me some SSRIs to manage the anxiety and low mood that have been on me in the last while, and keeping busy has definitely taken my mind off it a bit. She also said that tinnitus almost always improves, it just takes an extremely long time (usually half a year +)

I also spoke to a doctor this morning about it, and he said that for four out of five people, tinnitus resolves itself within 4-6 months, and that if that doesn't happen for me within that time then TRT is the best route (I am considering asking him if I can start it straight away rather than waiting around, but we'll see). He recommended a hearing test too so I'll be doing that next week.

Some reflections:

All in all, still struggling along, but every day brings me one step closer to habituation.

Something that tinnitus - and more specifically CBT - has made me aware of is the way the anxious mind can play tricks on you. In my case, my negative emotions cloud my ability to judge situations objectively and rationally.In essence, believing something simply because it 'feels' true right now is folly, especially when you're someone prone to negative thought loops.
Right now for example, I feel as if I won't be able to cope or adapt to living with tinnitus, but all the data tells me that, barring me doing something really stupid, it's far far more likely to get better in the long-run. Just because right now feels like a life sentence, doesn't have any bearing on whether the future is brighter or not (and it certainly is). It's not the thing itself then that causes the problem, it's the fear of it; the idea of having my ears ring forever causes so much more pain and anxiety than the thing itself, which at worst, represents an inconvenient annoyance that only hear in quiet places, and doesn't disturb my sleep.

The vast majority of people with tinnitus learn to live with, even people with far more severe symptoms than I - all the statistics we have point to an improvement either via habituation or sudden recovery. Sure, I still feel a strong resistance to the ringing, but I know that eventually, it'll stop featuring in my consciousness because I can learn to adapt.

Please continue to post your stories of habituation, and any tips you have for overcoming the anxiety and/or depression you had in your early days.

All best,
Justin

 

I have noise induced T - no depression or anxiety
Yes it can fade but it will take a long long time and any new noise exposure will set you back very fast

So get used to carry ear muffs ready at hand and earplugs as well and use those without any concerns about how others could perceive this - as frankly no one would understand this shit unless they lived it

 

I read a post the other day that summed it up. The poster (I can't remember who to give credit to) said trying to describe T to someone who's never had it is like trying to describe color to someone who's been blind their whole life.

 

Type in YouTube "high pitched noise" and play it to someone tell them that's what we hear all the time.

 

1.5 month update.

It's been pretty up and down the last week or so. I had a horrible, extremely high-pitched static in the centre of my head most of the week, but that seems to have subsided now, leaving the "normal" ringing in my left ear and the static in my left.

I went for a hearing test this week, and while they found some very mild hearing loss at high frequencies in my left ear, my right ear (the one with the consistent, more noticeable ring) is fine. The nurse said she was surprised I had been brought in for a hearing test considering by her standards my hearing was "excellent". This brought some relief as I thought I had done far more damage playing drums and coupled with gigs and earbud usage over the ears.

I played an open mic night last night (with plugs) and was pretty happy with how it went. Crowd enjoyed it, and it felt good to get some distraction from thinking about tinnitus all the time.

When I went to bed last night, the overall ringing, especially in my left ear, was quite loud. However, pretty much all day today, I couldn't hear the more bothersome clear ringing in my right ear; even when I was in my bedroom with the door shut and my fingers in my ears, I could barely hear it all afternoon (and I checked several times). Now it's back to how it was (audible if I listen for it) but I'm feeling tentatively optimistic about a possible reduction in volume and/or habituation. This has lifted my mood.

Overall, feeling a wee bit better this week. Looking to get back to studying and a solid routine next week. I find that (apart from the spikes) my tinnitus is far less intrusive than the anxiety that accompanies it. I still haven't accepted it emotionally, and I still have very bad days, but I am coping better overall.

Will post again at the end of the month or if there are any major changes.

Thanks again for all the help and support.

Best wishes,
Justin

 

Honestly, if I was you I'd cut out the open mic until it goes down. I remember right after I got the T I played a few gigs and I remember it just aggravating it. Now, I haven't much touched my guitar or even sung due to not wanting it worse. I noticed when I stopped, it's been getting slightly better and better. It may take a year to two years to fade at this rate but at least it's something to look forward to.

 

Well, IMO you need to stop playing in or going to gigs for at least 6-12 months, or you may never get rid of your T
It's your choice.
You may have "dodged a bullet" this time and your T will fade, but I would never temp fate again.

 

There is hope..

 

Okay. I guess I will take all of your advice and leave the gigging for 6+ months. It'll suck, but I'll find something else to do.

 

Give up the gigs man. Let your ears heal! I will NEVER GO AGAIN to clubs, concerts, festivals, etc

 

Yes there is. I bet in 6 months you will see a lot of improvement. For most people, a sudden "noise induced" onset of Tinnitus is temporary, but very slow to fade. Long term (many months or years) exposure to noise is a different story.

 

I hope so

 

Code Geass is the most entertaining piece of fiction I've ever laid my eyes on. Maybe you have the shit taste.

 

Wasn't talking to you, although considering you have an anime character as your profile picture I'm not inclined to take you seriously whatsoever.