On My Way to Recovery from Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

I do it when I'm watching the TV and sleeping too. Let myself hear it and not let it get to me. It helps somewhat. I try to view it more as an annoyance than a threat.

 

I actually feel relaxed when I hear it at night while sleeping. I’m not sure but it’s comforting. What gets me is hearing it during the day over everything. It’s like my brain can’t comprehend it.

 

Probably because you’re more accepting at night vs it competing during the day. I don’t know.

 

Yeah man, and my anxiety is super low because I’m in a controlled environment. A safe space lol.

 

Hey man, whatever works!

 

Hi @Vassili, may I ask if what you mean is that you can sleep without any external sounds e.g., without a sound machine or fan noise? Or do you mean that your tinnitus is silent when you go to sleep?

Thanks and wish you well.

 

It means that my tinnitus is silent enough for me to fall asleep in absolutely silent room 3-4 nights a week. Also it means that my headache in silent room is almost non existent and does not bother me to fall asleep.

Take care!

 

This Year's Last Update

1. 37 months after serious acoustic trauma.
2. During the day and in the evening loudness of tinnitus is something like 2/10. Before noon, after a good night sleep, it's more like 1/10. Sometimes, in the first half of the day, it can be in the form of quiet and soft hissing.
3. Mild everyday headache is still present.
4. Mild everyday nerve pain in whole body is still present.
5. Balance issues can still occur time after time bet they are not severe and I handle them really well.
6. Hyperacusis is 95%-98% gone.
7. I still protect my ears in loud places.
8. At this point I've slept 16 nights in absolutely silent bedroom without any sound enrichment (only a quiet clock). It is my best Christmas present ever!
9. I hear my tinnitus only in a very silent room, for example, in the bathroom or, sometimes, in other rooms too and it is quiet enough for my brain to, basically, ignore it. To completely not to pay attention to it. I do not hear my tinnitus outside, in the public transport, at work, at church. It can sometimes come back in the form of some static noise for a couple of minutes or seconds but that's it. Reactivity can also come back for a split second when I'm in the shopping mall. It can occur in reaction to advertisement from the speaker, for example. A split second does not do any difference. I just don't pay attention and move on doing what I was doing.

I wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I've began seeing light at the end of the tunnel and I think most of you will be blessed with this positive experience with time. Each of us has his own time so try not to loose faith in positive outcome, turn to God for help and be nice to people around you. Do not get angry because of this condition and do not blame yourself for anything. Just do what you do and patiently wait taking it day by day, step by step. In most cases it will get better, I promise.

Have a great day everyone.

Take care.

 

I’m so pleased for you @Vassili. Sending hugs and prayers x

 

Great to hear this. So happy for you.

 

Your recovery seriously gives me hope. I look forward to stories like yours to get through the day and give myself at least a few years to get better.

 

Hi @Vassili,

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your recovery journey here on Tinnitus Talk. I acquired loudness and pain hyperacusis, along with reactive tinnitus, approximately six months ago and I've returned to read your story many, many times to try to keep a sense of hope alive.

How are you doing these days?

Thanks again,
Maddy

 

I also wish @Vassili gave us update. Hopefully he fully recovered.

 

New Update After Four Years and Two Months with Tinnitus and Other Pleasant "Bonuses"

1. If I have a good night's sleep, my tinnitus is almost silent during the morning hours and daytime. In the evening it gets a bit louder, something like 2/10. I hear it almost every time when I'm trying to fall asleep but it does not bother me much so in an hour or so I fall asleep.

2. Daily headache is still present but it feels more like pressure in the head and different kinds of numbness.

3. Mild nerve pain in the body is still present.

4. Balance issues are almost gone and they are rare these days but still, sometimes problems with coordination raise their head.

5. Hyperacusis is the same. 95% gone for sure.

6. Till this day I don't go to loud places and if it's too loud for me, I use headphones or earplugs.

7. I mostly sleep without sound machine these days.

I think my main point would be that even after three years I see improvement of my condition. Another year passes and I feel better. It happened four times already so it makes it easier for me to just let go because there are still fluctuations and I can feel worse for a couple of days or weeks but in the end it always changes for the better every year that passes. Keeping that in mind reduces anxiety levels and helps me focus on my life.

And don't you forget, @Vassili, rock concerts and headphones are not for you anymore

 

Thanks for coming back to report @Vassili.

Your thread was the first I read when I was struck with tinnitus. I remember you well.

Your success story is welcome reading as you have subjective reduction of tinnitus loudness rather than "my tinnitus is the same but I feel better" which other success stories portray.

Your recovery has been slow with distinctive improvements over longer time intervals.

It's a good warning you give that you still exercise caution in loud places with earmuffs or earplugs ready at hand.

I do class you as one of the luckier ones in that you have a proven successful trajectory.

Is it luck or did you deliberately, or inadvertently, just do everything right for your tinnitus to reduce?

 

On the one hand, it is luck, because I didn't kill my hair cells after my acoustic trauma. This is what my doctor told me. On the other hand, I keep recovering only because I follow all recommendations my doctor gave. She stated it to me. Main recommendation is to protect your ears from excessive noise and to live a more healthy lifestyle and just wait. All prescription drugs, massage, laser therapy, vitamins and other methods only help your body to cope. In my case, there was no cure. All doctors (and I visited a lot of them) told me the same thing: "Take vitamins, stay calm, be physically active, be happy". They just don't get it because thy don't have it. Medical professionals don't know how to cure it. So, we are left with time, patience, your personal will to recover, your faith in success. What helped me a lot is my religion (Orthodox Christianity).

 

Damn, wish I could have seen your doctors. All the doctors I saw poisoned me and told me to not over protect.

 

I do not overprotect, Travis. I just don't attend stadiums, rock concerts, clubs etc. I walk the streets without earplugs these days. So, concerning protection, your doctors told you the right thing. Have a great day, brother.

 

Na, they told me the wrong thing. I should have been given steroid injections as the noise exposure was fresh. I didn't have stable tinnitus and had hyperacusis that I could have possible recovered some from or sustained at that level. I still had some sound tolerance. I needed to go to silence right away and let my extreme ear damage have all chance at calming down. If I had spent since January 2022, when I got injured, till now in quiet settings only and overprotected my ears, I would still be playing acoustic guitar and listening to music quietly. Now I am on my death bed.

 

My left ear stopped ringing after four years and five months. Now, there's only a very quiet hiss. Unfortunately, it still hurts in reaction to loud, high-frequency sounds. Pain is mild.

My right ear still rings loud enough to interfere with my falling asleep, but sometimes it's very quiet, so only a headache accompanies me in the evening. Mild hyperacusis is still present.

My face often goes so numb that I can't move my cheeks properly. Interestingly, the Neurologist did not find any problem with trigeminal and facial nerves. She said that I have chronic neuropathic pain of somatic and psychogenic origin. Somatic because of some sort of inner ear damage, which did not affect my hearing, and psychogenic because this concussion affected my psyche. The recovery prognosis is unclear, so only time will tell. I am very grateful for the recovery that I already had, and I will continue to hope for the better.

I did not receive any drugs for neuropathic pain because it is mild enough to cope with it. On a bad day, I can take analgetics. I will continue to attend my psychiatrist and take antidepressants and neuroleptics. The neurologist also encouraged me to continue doing that because neuropathic pain is mostly treated by antidepressants.

I want to cheer up everyone with this ear problem. Don't overthink, and don't lose hope for the better. And don't let the thought of going deaf defeat your positive mindset. Calmness is already half of health.

 

Which antidepressants do you take?

 

@Vassili, thank you for keeping us updated on your progress, I appreciate it.

It is amazing that your tinnitus stopped in one of your ears. That's interesting, because that would suggest the origin of tinnitus (not just trigger) is the ear actually. One of the theories is that hyperactivity of dorsal cochlear nucleus makes it worse (and makes somatic signals to be heard), but there is still theory the signal keeps coming from the ear - damaged hair cells and/or synapses.

Also, indeed, can you share the antidepressants and neuroleptics you take? Do you think they helped you get better? I bet you asked yourself the question many times.

 

As someone who recently got this, this gives me hope I will recover—the worst two weeks of my life.

 

Hey,

I take Sertraline (Zoloft) and Levomepromazine (neuroleptic). Minimum dosage for more than two years now.

This is what my doctor told me.

I have been taking the minimum dosage of Sertraline (Zoloft) and Levomepromazine (neuroleptic) for more than two years now. These drugs helped me because they calmed my nervous system a lot. When you are calmer, you always heal better and quicker. The main healers are time, a healthy lifestyle, and hearing protection (I mean, you don't go to rock concerts).

I am so sorry that you are going through this. In most cases, things get better. Lots of people stated this. So try to take it day by day, work on your thoughts (positive mindset), don't overthink, and engage in a healthy lifestyle.

I hope you will completely heal.

And don't forget to see a doctor. It's important in the beginning.

 

Some people report Sertraline causing tinnitus. I had hoped Sertraline would help me. I could only stand to take it for a week as I experienced stomach aches from the first dose that continued, along with an additional intermittent chirping ring in my left ear days after starting. I immediately switched to Lexapro for 7 weeks, but the aches/pains continued, plus I never felt any anxiety relief.

I weaned off Lexapro by the end of November and still experience stomach issues today that started with my first dose of Sertraline (which I didn't take on an empty stomach). I had taken Nortriptyline for months in 2022 and never had any relief from that either, but at least it didn't affect my stomach.

So, with the addition of stomach pains, my overall condition has been worse than ever over the 2+ years since my tinnitus worsened, despite trying to live a healthy lifestyle, exercise, protect my ears, and attempt treatments. The tinnitus seems to be more of a squealing single tone now, less times of hissing, and more intense as well.

 

I have no side effects from Sertraline. I guess it's just "my" drug. Maybe other drugs would do you better.

I remember feeling better only after three years, and only after four years did my life start to seem somewhat normal again. Basically, I spent the first three years at home. Sad fact.

 

I would say everyone's tinnitus is unique. If it was damaged hair cells -- and the hair cells don't rejuvenate -- how did it disappear? All this is very interesting.

Sertraline gave me intermittent tinnitus for 5 years before it worsened and became continuous.

 

I'm still looking for my drug, but I was trying to endure and hold off hoping these stomach pains would ease and fade before taking the risk with another medication after failures with 3 antidepressants so far. But alas, they persist.

Of course, I should add that I already had a Lorazepam prescription for use as needed, and it helps anxiety, but being a benzo, it's too quick to build tolerance and dependency to really help except on a temporary basis at times. At least it doesn't bother my stomach.