Hello,
Through my 2+ years of ever-increasing tinnitus experience I'd like to share what helped me and how I've dealt with it. Might be useful for somebody.
Quick story - clubbing, a lot of it in very loud places. Obviously hearing damage was followed by hyperacusis, tinnitus and noticeable hearing loss (or, I suspect, hidden hearing loss). After I've recovered decided to go clubbing (hit me on the head, I know), wore 33db earplugs + 27db earmuffs and after 4-5 hours of clubbing had a huge spike that's still present after a year. Clubs are stupidly loud (this definitely needs to be put under control, regardless...). One lesson from all of this - double protection does not help.
Now, on my first year I thought it was bad, I was stressed out. But I've managed and recovered. Took me about a year. Got too comfortable and made the same mistakes. Shoot me. Lesson from this - if you think it's bad now, trust me, it can get worse. If you think you're about to crack, give it time, you will recover considerably (not entirely). So being constantly frustrated, angry, upset or what not is not going to make it any better, might as well enjoy the life until the condition improves. Improvement will come as reduced tinnitus volume and improved hyperacusis to the point you will ignore both problems.
Hyperacusis bothered me for a year but what I've found is that by overprotecting my ears made it worse. Expose your ears to moderate sounds every day and within months hyperacusis will improve quite considerably.
Supplements I've tried: Ginkgo Biloba, Magnesium (this one helped), Vitamin B complex, Taurine, Omega-3, L-Theanine, Acetyl L-Carnitine. Only magnesium helped but I suspect that's because it relaxes the body overall and that improves sleep quality.
Sleep makes a huge difference in tinnitus loudness. Better sleep - lower volume. Being stressed out and on caffeine (or its effect of reducing the amount of sleep) made tinnitus go through the roof.
Exercise helped, especially cardio. Anything that keeps blood pumping through the brain and the body. Tinnitus volume is reduced after the session and afterwards. So there's another reason to stay healthy.
One of the peculiarities I've noticed is that tinnitus on my left ear subsides when laying still. A bit of motion cranks up the volume. So if you're a book reader find a comfortable position, try to not to move and see if tinnitus volume drops or even dissipates. Doesn't make a different with my right ear, though.
Another trick - if you want to get momentary silence during the nights, even for a few minutes, match your tinnitus frequency and play a sound for a couple of seconds. This will suppress the tinnitus. Quite nice to hear the silence after long loud months. Compose yourself an mp3 that emits sound at tinnitus frequency for a second or two every minute or so to keep it suppressed for longer. Keep in mind that this may give only partial suppression, depends on the level of damage. After repeating same mistakes of going clubbing damage is more extensive now and it's impossible to completely disable tinnitus with matching sound, still does help to some extent.
One thing I've noticed is that tinnitus onset is not immediate. After clubbing with double protection I was ok for 2 weeks and then suddenly the tinnitus started becoming louder and louder in the next few days and stayed that way until now (1+ year). So there's that.
So, even with the ever increasing tinnitus (almost doubled in the last year) I deal with it even better than I did when I first got tinnitus which was much quieter. The brain (or you) gets bored of focusing on it and you just move on with your activities.
And let's stay optimistic! Eventually something will come along or you'll find something that will help you. In the mean time enjoy the life!
P.S. If you're looking for a masker that does not cut off the outside world buy bone conducting headphones and play some brown/pink/white noise/environmental sound. Won't cost more than GBP100 (depends on where you live) and much cheaper than hearing aids or some other fancy overpriced sound emitters.
Through my 2+ years of ever-increasing tinnitus experience I'd like to share what helped me and how I've dealt with it. Might be useful for somebody.
Quick story - clubbing, a lot of it in very loud places. Obviously hearing damage was followed by hyperacusis, tinnitus and noticeable hearing loss (or, I suspect, hidden hearing loss). After I've recovered decided to go clubbing (hit me on the head, I know), wore 33db earplugs + 27db earmuffs and after 4-5 hours of clubbing had a huge spike that's still present after a year. Clubs are stupidly loud (this definitely needs to be put under control, regardless...). One lesson from all of this - double protection does not help.
Now, on my first year I thought it was bad, I was stressed out. But I've managed and recovered. Took me about a year. Got too comfortable and made the same mistakes. Shoot me. Lesson from this - if you think it's bad now, trust me, it can get worse. If you think you're about to crack, give it time, you will recover considerably (not entirely). So being constantly frustrated, angry, upset or what not is not going to make it any better, might as well enjoy the life until the condition improves. Improvement will come as reduced tinnitus volume and improved hyperacusis to the point you will ignore both problems.
Hyperacusis bothered me for a year but what I've found is that by overprotecting my ears made it worse. Expose your ears to moderate sounds every day and within months hyperacusis will improve quite considerably.
Supplements I've tried: Ginkgo Biloba, Magnesium (this one helped), Vitamin B complex, Taurine, Omega-3, L-Theanine, Acetyl L-Carnitine. Only magnesium helped but I suspect that's because it relaxes the body overall and that improves sleep quality.
Sleep makes a huge difference in tinnitus loudness. Better sleep - lower volume. Being stressed out and on caffeine (or its effect of reducing the amount of sleep) made tinnitus go through the roof.
Exercise helped, especially cardio. Anything that keeps blood pumping through the brain and the body. Tinnitus volume is reduced after the session and afterwards. So there's another reason to stay healthy.
One of the peculiarities I've noticed is that tinnitus on my left ear subsides when laying still. A bit of motion cranks up the volume. So if you're a book reader find a comfortable position, try to not to move and see if tinnitus volume drops or even dissipates. Doesn't make a different with my right ear, though.
Another trick - if you want to get momentary silence during the nights, even for a few minutes, match your tinnitus frequency and play a sound for a couple of seconds. This will suppress the tinnitus. Quite nice to hear the silence after long loud months. Compose yourself an mp3 that emits sound at tinnitus frequency for a second or two every minute or so to keep it suppressed for longer. Keep in mind that this may give only partial suppression, depends on the level of damage. After repeating same mistakes of going clubbing damage is more extensive now and it's impossible to completely disable tinnitus with matching sound, still does help to some extent.
One thing I've noticed is that tinnitus onset is not immediate. After clubbing with double protection I was ok for 2 weeks and then suddenly the tinnitus started becoming louder and louder in the next few days and stayed that way until now (1+ year). So there's that.
So, even with the ever increasing tinnitus (almost doubled in the last year) I deal with it even better than I did when I first got tinnitus which was much quieter. The brain (or you) gets bored of focusing on it and you just move on with your activities.
And let's stay optimistic! Eventually something will come along or you'll find something that will help you. In the mean time enjoy the life!
P.S. If you're looking for a masker that does not cut off the outside world buy bone conducting headphones and play some brown/pink/white noise/environmental sound. Won't cost more than GBP100 (depends on where you live) and much cheaper than hearing aids or some other fancy overpriced sound emitters.
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