Spontaneous Recovery Stats: Many Recover (3 Studies)

@Bill Bauer My tinnitus is less than 3 months old and it's changed a lot. It went from being in both ears, reactive, with ear fullness in my left ear and aural fullness. I had 2 tones in my right ear and one in my left.

Now just shy of 2 months my noise sensitivity is completely gone, my left ear is silent (yes with ear plugs in, in a silent room), and my right ear is down to one tone that fluctuates between a beep, a tuning fork, and a low hiss that i can only hear in a quiet room or when i plug both my ears. Some days I get complete and total silence, like I go into a quiet room and have to look for it and it's not there.

Are these good signs that it's going away? I had a mild spike last night from CBD oil but it's now back to being only heard in a quiet room.

I have no measurable hearing loss, and had no acoustic trauma. The tinnitus specialist I saw couldn't pinpoint a single cause for it. He actually said it might be stress/anxiety induced. He himself has had tinnitus for 20 years and was cautiously optimistic that since mine has changed and gotten better so quickly that it might not be permanent for me.

 

I’m here because I can’t stop crying over this.

My tinnitus started at 10:40 pm on Jan 9. Was on my way to bed, reached down to put away a pill bottle, and it started. Hasn’t stopped. I know less than 3 weeks isn’t a terribly long time, but I’m terrified. My ENT said she thought it was ETD, but others told me that’s false hope and it’ll never go away.

I have anxiety, depression, and OCD, and I’m so scared this is permanent. It felt like it was at a more manageable level last week, and then for the last 4 days it’s been brutal.

It’s both ears, and it can be masked by the shower or by music, but with my anxiety, I can’t handle the idea of living like this. I had a couple seconds yesterday and today when it stopped, but my anxiety catastrophizes and says nothing will ever change.

It’s so hard to find hopeful stories, and I’m so sad and scared. I never listened to loud music, protected my hearing in the loud aspects of my job, I’ve never been to a concert... I just don’t understand. I’m scared all the time and frantically praying for a miracle because I can’t do this forever.

 

What have you done to root cause your problem?

 

I went to an ENT, she said ETD. My neurologist said I was fine, and both doctors don’t suspect any kind of hearing loss, damage, or medication issues.

I have been housebound for the last year, so zero exposure to any loud noise, don’t listen to TV or music loudly. Have been very depressed due to COVID-19, and struggle often with stress, so I’m assuming it’s either ETD or stress. Started on Xhance for the ETD, but have only been on it a day so far.

 

Hi stillsinging, I'm so sorry that you're going through this. I know how absolutely terrifying this can be. I'm new to tinnitus also and I've found some things that have hurt and helped me. Constantly checking or obsessing has definitely hurt me and only made it worse. I have also found that high levels of anxiety/stress/high emotions have definitely made mine worse. Good sleep, distractions, and medication have definitely been helpful for me. It may take some time to find what is helpful for you.

The way I look at it, or try to, is that either it will get better with time most likely/go away or I learn to live with it. But I can't predict the future. I can't obsess about whether it's going to go away, stay, or get worse. It just makes day to day life so much harder.

 

I completely understand how you feel. A lot of your situation, both in terms of your comorbidities and the symptom itself, are present in my case as well.

The sudden onset out of nowhere is already a surprise attack, and then you're left with annoying pest that is hard to avoid. As someone that also suffers from anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, I can completely understand how all of that combined is making things worse and worse. I'm still catastrophizing here and there, and now I've latched onto another problem in turn. It's just a cycle of negativity that needs to be broken.

It is very difficult to figure out what to do. Your symptom can weasel its way in and out of your control, most often with the latter case, and continue to cause you distress despite your best efforts. There are still things you can try, such as supplements, lifestyle changes, etc. where you may find help. Unfortunately, there is nothing conclusive that works for everyone (except maybe better sleep, but that's more a general health thing than one to address the symptom).

Nobody can say definitively that it will last forever. Even though medicine appears as its moving at a glacial pace sometimes, there are still eyes on the matter that may very well yield noteworthy results in the near future. There is particularly hope for those whose symptom arose from noise-induced hearing loss when it comes to things like FX-322 and OTO-413. I suggest you read into some of the Research News threads as well as the Success Stories as you try to learn more about the situation and what sort of hope you may expect going forward.

The only thing that everyone can do definitively is just wait it out. Time has proven again and again to be the major factor in one's ability to recover. You are very likely not going to be in the same distressed state you are now in a few months (don't read too much into this timeframe, just giving an example).

I wish there was more everyone could do for one another besides offer support, but that itself can be very helpful. Knowing that you are not alone and there are people who understand how you feel can be a sense of ease. It's completely understandable if you're still fried from it all, especially if you're going through bad days, but life is nothing if not volatile. It can swing in a bad way but it can also be good in turn.

 

Thank you. I’m trying to get there. I’m so grateful for this thread because I was desperate for success stories.

 

This is so kind, thank you. I’ve been lurking for a while and have been afraid to post in case someone told me there was no hope. Thank you for such a thorough and kind response.

 

Yes, if it had improved during the first three months, there is no reason for it to not continue to heal. Make sure to not hurt your ears again. Now that you've had tinnitus, it will take less for you to get loud tinnitus again.

If you are already at that stage, then I am not sure what to expect. Normally tinnitus doesn't completely goes away. But your recovery is so fast that perhaps you will get to hear complete silence, after all.

If your tinnitus is high pitched, it ought to eventually become a gentle hiss.

 

There is a good chance that you will see some improvement during your first three months. It might be reasonable to get upset if it stays relentlessly at the same level for three month, but even in that case there will be some hope.

It is normal to not experience any improvement during the first month. If I had to bet, I would bet that you will end up being ok. It can take 2-3 years to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage, though.

Check out:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/307822/

 

Can you help me? I want to know if my tinnitus seems like it is slowly going away.

1) My tinnitus started in December after an ear infection.
2) About a week after my infection started because I was isolating.
3) Yes. Sometimes it’s very noisy and other times it’s not but it’s never fully gone. It was very noisy at the start but it is slowly getting quieter, flares up when I get out the shower etc.
4) it is still very annoying, gives me anxiety etc but it isn’t as loud.
5) I have difficulty sleeping still get very anxious because I can hear it.
6) it just happened, I also had my ears suctioned.

 

Thanks Bill. You're a really positive presence on this forum. I had a set back recently (no idea how it happened, I have been taking care of my ears). I'm getting back on a course of Prednisone starting today.

But if it got quiet before I don't see any reason why it can't get quiet again. I really can't wait for it to be a low hiss from this high pitched tuning fork noise.

 

Ear infections, when promptly addressed, tend to have good prognoses going forward. They can take longer time than anticipated to clear up, as well as the subsequently associated tinnitus. The fact that you are experiencing improvements in terms of it getting quieter is a very good sign.

There are of course no guarantees either way, but personally, I perceive your case to be hopeful. If it does stick around for a bit longer than you'd like, I would imagine you're able to adjust to whatever low volume you have that is persisting.

Using sound enrichment throughout the day and during night when you are trying to sleep may help distract your mind from the noise. I'd recommend that if you aren't doing it already.

 

It is normal for the volume to oscillate and increase for a day or a week or two. What matters is the monthly trend in volume - ignore the daily/weekly fluctuations.

If it were me, if the spike hasn't been caused by a serious noise like a gunshot, I would be hesitant to take Prednisone. One reason for it is that my supply of Prednisone is limited. Another reason is that it is a serious drug that can have serious side effects.

But then again, I myself haven't taken it after experiencing random unexplained shocks (and don't remember reading about anyone who had done that). For all we know Prednisone might actually be very effective with spikes like that.

 

Thank you. Truly. I’ve been dealing with a lot of fear, and you and the folks on this board are giving me hope that it will become endurable if not gone. Thank you.

 

Usually it is those people whose tinnitus stays relentlessly at the same level during the first 3-6 months who end up with permanent tinnitus. In any case, even those with permanent tinnitus report beginning to habituate after about 2.5 years.

 

That's a good point. The course I'm on is very low and for 6 days. I went back and the tinnitus specialist says he believes I might have fluid and inflammation in my left ear. We shall see how this goes...

 

If that's what has been causing your tinnitus, your tinnitus ought to subside within 6 months of this inflammation being treated.

 

This is a huge relief to hear. Mine definitely does not stay the same, often it’s silent in my left ear and loud in my right, and today I feel a fluid like sensation in my right ear. It felt full of air, so I laid my head down on that side. Full feeling went away for awhile, but I felt an odd wet sensation. I’m really hoping the ENT was right and it’s ETD.

 

Mine has stayed the same for 10 months now, unfortunately.

Although the direct trigger was an acoustic trauma, I recently found out that if move my lower jaw forward my tinnitus almost doubles in volume (and frequency). I've been suffering from TMJ for roughly 16 years now, but never had tinnitus.

Does this mean my tinnitus could be TMJ-related? Or can jaw movements also affect your tinnitus if it stems from a different cause (synapses, for example)?

 

Some 70-90% of anyone experiencing tinnitus, regardless of the cause, can modulate their tinnitus loudness and/or pitch by jaw, neck, etc movements.

It's normal and you can't draw any conclusions from that.

Somatic Tinnitus

 

OMG this is exactly how mine felt the first 4 weeks. My left ear was silent (now it comes and goes with some noise distortion) and I had it in my right ear. I also had the fullness and ear wetness. I also felt like my ears were plugged like when you have to pop them. Now they've opened up a lot and I don't have any fullness.

 

Thanks for your reply! I was a bit worried, but this alleviates some of my concerns.

My audiologist has actually referred me to a doctor who specializes in the eardrum. As it turns out, I have an extremely hypermobile eardrum. Too bad the specialist who treated me 16 years ago just told me to deal with it, otherwise I would've had it looked at much sooner.

The audiologist told me it probably won't help my tinnitus, but not having my eardrum expand/retract with every movement I make would be pretty nice, too. It might also help my TMJ, depending on the underlying issue.

Although tinnitus sucks, at least I might be making some headway with some other health issues

 

Mine's been all over the god damn place. Week by week it's changing, not quieter, just new noises and others come/go or disappear, but they're all just playing god damn musical chairs.

 

I’m losing it. I can’t do this. Sitting here praying God will kill me. Called the suicide hotline. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.

 

Unfortunately, most people on this site (including myself) can make their tinnitus louder by moving their jaw forward. It is possible that even many healthy people can start hearing ringing by moving their jaw forward.

Nevertheless, it is certainly worthwhile to treat your TMJ. I know of several people whose tinnitus had gone away after their TMJ got treated.

 

@stillsinging -- It sounds like that physical movement of reaching down could have triggered your tinnitus. You may want to check to see if some structural therapy(s) might be able to help. -- All the Best!

 

You are far too early in your condition to contemplate something so frightening and final. There is still much to try and much to potentially expect from waiting it out. Please do not do anything rash. Your life is valuable beyond measure, regardless of how upended it may feel at the moment.

It's good you've reached out to the hotline, and I hope they were able to provide you with some sort of assistance.

 

The first few months are the hardest I'm told, doesn't make it any easier to deal with when you're spiraling in the moment. I'm so sorry that you're in this pain and feeling so trapped. Tinnitus is a scary new thing you're dealing with. It's totally understandable you'd be having these feelings about getting a noise you can't make go away. It's suffocating. I want you to know that you're not alone in this though even as scary as it is. I've also called the suicide hotline a few times this week. It's really, really hard I totally get that.

Start reaching out to the people in your life and talk about it, if you haven't already. Talk to them about what you're going through. You might be surprised to find that there are people in your life who have already tinnitus. My dad has it, my mom's friend who I've been reaching out to for support, my therapist, and some other of my family members have it. And they're all doing fine! Living full and healthy lives not bothered by their tinnitus. Wasn't always the case for some of them though. Some of them really struggled at the beginning. Like us.

I actually have a friend/coworker who got tinnitus the same age as me at 27 (she's 41 now) and she said it was gone by the time she was 30. She said she had to sleep every night with an Ativan and a white noise machine and the fan for about a year. She said over time it bothered her less and less and less and could only hear it in a quiet room, and yes even when she got used to it sometimes she said it drove her nuts. She said one night she had to go to bed without all her noise stuff and laid down in the silence and heard exactly that, silence. She said it was just gone and has stayed gone. She is insane and does sound for her church. She's often standing in front or near loud ass speakers for hours at a time. Still no tinnitus.

 

It's like we are the only two people on this site with absolutely crazy fluctuations on a weekly basis and we both got this shit as a reaction to Prednisone.