So This Is My Success Story :)

Hey guys, it's been a while since I last posted here.

But today I was at a place that reminded me of those days when I first got tinnitus.

First of all please excuse my "bad English" as I haven't been able to practice it in a few months, and second ... please know that I deal with "brain fog".

February 11, 2016
I woke up and my left ear was squealing and I had the sensation that it was blocked.
I paid no attention, but as the day went by, and the noise didn't go away, I became super worried about it.
Went to the Dr, and he told me that it will go away eventually, first nights were horrible to be honest.

being still young, loving music, making music, going to loud parties and being super social didn't make things any easier. I first i blamed music and earphones of this, but as the months went by... I discovered that I lost some hearing in the lower frequencies... it seemed to me...that things were just going from bad to worse.
now I was worried of having Meniere's disease because of my hearing test and losing my hearing at some point.

i discovered salt, msg and sugar spiked my tinnitus, i was trying to avoid cinemas, concerts, parties, noise in general.
couldn't focus at work, and i was just very afraid of making my t worse.
sooner or later i started to habituate at 4 months, i was no longer paying too much attention to my t, but still very conscious of not making it worse.
my family really never got to understood this, they are very loving in general, but they wouldn't think of me or my condition at parties or daily basis. they didn't take my struggle so seriously.
this was also a bit of a downer... any ways as i was saying at some point i habituate, i guess it was thanks to my psychological therapist who helped me manage my anxiety and perspective in life.

i went from being a social butterfly, to just go to quiet restaurants and read a good book, with my two best friends (they were very supportive!!) from concerts and going out to... staying home watching Netflix and walking my dog at the park (who was also a big support for me)

so yeah... life was "normal"again after a few months just a little bit different.....

later on 2016 i develop other weird issues such as visual snow, and morning joint pain, etc... this scared me a lot but i no longer panicked as i used to (I guess T was a big teacher for me) so I started to suspect...MS, LYME, Fibro etc.

In early 2017
got an MRI (which was a big deal for me because of the noise) it came clean, .. got more tests... and no results...
even thou i was suffering from more symptoms my will to feel good was much more powerful.

At some point i became used to visual snow, and the random pain that comes and goes....
As the months went by i started to face my own fears, so i decided to work on my biggest dream ever...
MAKING MUSIC, I was very very worried about the noise, the studio, etc.
at the end it went fine.. no spikes, and a lot of loud music exposure.

And also.. in the mean time i got a new job!, and i had to move to another city in another country for a while, very very exciting, but also very very afraid,
lots of flights, but guess what...NO SPIKE...
once i got there i decided that i wanted to risk my tinnitus and experience the city... So I went to clubs, bars, concerts wearing ear plugs... and nothing happened.
same old tinnitus, no spikes over here...
I started to eat and drink alcohol, sugar a little bit of salt, I even tried some chinese food with lots of soy and... nothing happened, I don't know why but it was like magic, tinnitus didn't not longer spiked and also didn't bothered me.

So long story... Short (hahah sorry)
Things got super better for me.
I'm very lucky, right now I travel a lot, go out to parties (not as much as i used to), go to concerts (wearing protection) go to the movies with friends (no protection) and work on my art, my music, wear earbuds again (maybe not a good idea but I'm taking the risk) and eating whatever i want. and tinnitus not longer bothers me.
it only spikes when the weather changes... weird right?

Maybe there are some cases that are more severe or fragile than others...
I still don't know whats the cause of my tinnitus, but i guess it's because of my sleep apnea.
So "lucky me" it doesn't spike that much, i guess only time will tell...what was the reason
Right now I'm starting to use the CPAP therapy and things have gotten a little bit worse (body pain, brain fog etc.. but tinnitus remains the same).

I wanna thank to all the people from here that really helped in the first months, you are very kind and have a place in my heart, you were there for me when not even my family knew what was I going through.

This forum is important, and we are here to be understanding and support each other in our own journeys.

So... this is my advice for the new comers:

-It's okay to panic, but... Don't panic too much, this is calling for you to pay attention to your life and conquer your negative feelings and thoughts.
-Remain active and keep your self busy, don't focus on the things you can not do with tinnitus, turn the page, life is taking you somewhere you didn't expect but... don't question it, just move!!!
-Tinnitus can become just background noise like a fan (Ii my case it was, and my tinnitus is not mild).
-Your mind is very powerful believe you can achieve habituation and you will get there at some point.
-Seek for help, try finding other people with tinnitus, during my journey my dad and my best friend developed tinnitus, and they didn't freak out as I did at first, cause they knew I got better.

That's all for now,
Thank you Tinnitus Talk,

 

did T cause visual snow?

 

Thanks for sharing Mario, this is great news! Keep rocking

 

Uh oh OP, you're thread just became a visual snow discussion post.

Anyways, usually yeah it does. My theory is because of neuroclusters that create tinnitus Also being in the occipital lobe. Tinnitus goes WAY into the brain. In Munich experience there are ways to reduce it, and there's a surgery for it. Sometimes under my training regime for visual snow I can completely eliminate it. After a occipital star massage usually.

 

so T ruins the brain?

 

Yeah pretty much. It throws everything out of equiberalibrium.

I've noticed that it goes away or reduces a lot when I'm on my ACRN schedule. That helps a lot.

 

I'm not sure, but i think theresm's a huge huge relation, i noticed the visual snow 4 months after tinnitus.
i experienced a few more visual issues, like... i cant even elaborate.. and still do.
but i already got all kinds of test. i even went to a neuro ophthalmologist and she did not find anything wrong with my sight.

 

Mario,

I couldn't resist not to read your SS. But you were one of the first people i talked in the forum, and i'm happy reading about it. Usually i don't read SStories, as they make me feel even more desperate and depressed. It's very hard for me while reading them not to do the comparison and wonder with my inside voice "why not me as well?, what am i doing wrong?" It's a blessing to have your life back and regroup. Your avatar reminds me of my past life during the endless all-night gatherings to a friends house. Actors, dancers and musicians alltogether just having crazy moments.

Take heart. Best wishes.

 

OMG, I am scared now.

 

He's a unlucky rare case. Usually visual snow doesn't get worse but it's hard to get better too. It's possible but you have to try.

 

I am scared that T is ruining our brains

 

Oh it is. I wonder how deep it goes. This is why I am so big on fixating on the neuro aspect of tinnitus. I'm trying to fix that but I don't know if I try will work.

I hear mindfulness meditation helps prevent the corruption from getting worse though, and increases grey matter.

 

That is crazy!

 

Vermillion, its been a strugle, maybe im focusing ont he positive side of things...
i understand you, because i make music and im or i was a social butterfly, and used to love going out every night to loud parties.

i remember one time, there was a party nextdoor my house it was very loud, and the guy i had a crush was there and was calling me like ¨Hey come over, i know you are in your house¨, i was crying my heart out, and thinking life is unfair, cause ive always been good.. and i deserved to enjoy my last years of being young.
i missed my best friends parties, etc etc...

tinnitus can be such a mental torture, but dont let it crush your soul.
first of all try to find the reason behind your t, stop fearing t, and just move along.
nothing in this life belongs to us or 100% secure. just try to focus on the good things and find the way to achieve your dreams.

my therapist told me... So you wanna keep on making music, but you cant do it because of the tinnitus, well... find a way, dreams are never easy to reach, thats why they are dreams.

so please dont stop, move along and you have me on facebook and can reach out whenever you want

 

have had all of these...
http://visualsnowsyndrome.com/symptoms/

and it got better...

 

Thank you Mario.
All in all you find me with a worse tinnitus in a better place, but life isn't the same anymore. I'm also dealing with a spike that happened today after a period of significant adjustment. I am still trying to figure out a way out of the maze. Best of luck. "Make them "gag" to your eleganza!"

 

Hey @Mario martz great story! I'm glad for you!! Similar to mine in many ways.

Nowadays it seems to me that every success story will make a bunch of people angry. Guys, it does happen to the majority of us. Hang in there everyone.

@glynis, as the new moderator I'll throw you under the bridge, maybe something can be done ...?

Best,
Zug

 

Yeah I developed Visual snow when i was like 14-15 a few months after developing tinnitus. It stays 100% stable and ahs never gotten worse, even when my tinnitus has @dpdx so please dont in the mean time worry about it. Its weird I dont notice anymore its just how everything looks to me now. Its just the new norm.

 

Oh god

 

Yeah definitely worry VS sucks so much...

 

Are you also frightened?

 

Well mine heavily reduced, and I can reduce mine. I don't know what I would do if what it was at was the default. Some days it was much worse than having tinnitus. Visual Snow is terrible. Not as awful as tinnitus but very bad in it's own right. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...

 

Visual Snow Syndrome and Its Relationship to...