Successful Habituation to Tinnitus — It Is What It Is

I have successfully habituated to tinnitus after almost 4 years. How do I know? The other day I was reading a newspaper, and the story mentioned tinnitus. I did not react to the word tinnitus in any way, and it took me almost 10 seconds to realize that I do have tinnitus as well.

Some notes that might be helpful:

- Process of habituation is not linear. My habituation will take a few steps back because I do this writing. But as I no longer give a shit about my tinnitus, it does not matter.

- I used to monitor my tinnitus constantly, trying to find reasons why my tinnitus is louder today. I had a tinnitus diary where I recorded the loudness of my tinnitus and tried to reason what I had eaten or done might have improved or worsened my tinnitus. Don’t do that. It leads nowhere and slows habituation.

- My tinnitus fluctuates significantly, sometimes giving much nicer sounds than usual. This increased the time it takes to habituate as after two good days, you think you might get completely rid of it or that it would stay on a nicer level for good. This obviously has not happened. What is weird is that I no longer notice when my tinnitus is lower or higher.

- How loud is my tinnitus? I can hear it basically everywhere. It started as relatively low. But after 12 months, it had progressed to a level where I could hear it first in the shower. This freaked me out as the shower had been my safe place.

- Tinnitus loves attention. Do whatever works for you to divert your attention from tinnitus. I often listen to music or podcasts with just one headphone to limit my attention tinnitus. However, this one ear trick is so much part of my life that I do not pay attention to it.

- Surprising improvement in habituation happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. I live in Finland, and they might as well attack us, so it was easy to relate to the destruction and death that was going on there. I was in total shock for about a month. I did endless doom scrolling Twitter for new war material. I made plans what to do when they attack Finland. The realization of how insignificant worry tinnitus is in the face of much bigger worries of going to war gave a significant jump to my habituation.

- Tinnitus has altered my sound preferences. I used to be a person that did not like any extra noises and loved silence. I no longer care about different distracting sounds. If they are there, they do not bother me.

- Do I miss silence. Sure. But I also miss the fact that I can no longer snowboard because of my back. I also miss my father, that has died. I also miss being 20 years younger and the energy of youth. You get the message. Silence is no longer available, so what can I do? Accept the situation. I will have this condition forever. I no longer hope for or search for a cure. It is what it is.

 

Congratulations and great notes to give everyone.

Are you saying you learnt NOTHING about your tinnitus triggers in keeping this diary?

 

Many years ago I kept a tinnitus diary. All I learned was to focus on the tinnitus more. I felt much better when I stopped the daily logging. Instead I directed my thoughts and attention to other things.

 

I am somewhat in a similar situation, albeit my tinnitus spikes significantly easier. I am able to do more and more without spiking though, like long car rides with double protection, going to supermarkets, etc.

It takes me 2-3 days to "rehabituate" to a new, always permanent, tinnitus spike and I only think of it maybe once or twice a day after adjusting, despite it being louder than voices.

My tones/volume used to change daily from noise as small as a small plastic object falling on the floor and doors closing (not even slamming). My strengthened stability absolutely had a large hand in my ability to manage my condition.

My good friend @DocTors_94 couldn't leave his house, spiking permanently, and has some of the worst tinnitus I have ever seen, but after about a year he is already going on walks and meeting friends in cafes.

People need to understand that it's never the end. I'm daily confident I will make it to the release of Susan Shore's device, me being very somatic, I'm sure it will help me a lot. I never would have imagined that I could do the things I am doing now before (like planning a vacation to Cuba).

I'm happy for you and thank you for sharing your story.

 

I'm glad that it takes more to spike you now, that you have improved.

What things spike you 'permanently' now?

 

Wow, is this true?

Mind giving an update, @DocTors_94?

 

This is a topic, that seems to come up quite a bit in our cases (dealing with tinnitus).

Habituation basically means, that we have less of a response to a repeated stimuli (tinnitus). The keyword here is "less of a response," now some might have less or maybe no response. At certain levels it's not practical to say, that they are 100% habituated.

If we are truly 100% habituated, then we'd have ZERO response (we'd not think about it, nor feel in the physical realm). At my stage (very severe) it's not practical to call my self or be a part of the 100% club. I never really focused on this word, term, and association anyways. From the beginning, it has always been about just trying to move forward. From the mild days to now, it doesn't change at all, just trying to take small steps and moving forward.

 

Good to see you on the forum @fishbone, passing on your knowledge and experience in tinnitus and hyperacusis. Whilst my definition of habituation differs from yours, I respect your opinion on it.

Hope you are feeling a little better.

All the best,
Michael

 

I'm with you in the same boat. When you're catastrophic, there is only acceptance of your state of tinnitus and endurance of the horrific nature of its effects.

 

@fishbone, I found your post (#7) a bit confusing, in particular your second paragraph?

I had a look in your previous postings to try and better understand and found this from nearly 4 years back:

You once thought that habituation was possible and indeed thought you were very close to it at that time?

 

Electronic noise, especially from cheap speakers at a moderate volume.

Loud noise (>90 dB).

 

My post back then, reflects my views right now. Habituation is less of a response to our tinnitus. Even back then I was not 100% habituated. My goal was to just manage and move forward, and that still remains the same.

 

Yes. Diary led to continuous hypothesis testing. But in the end none of the hypotheses held up. I basically concluded there are no triggers or if there are their impact is not consistent enough to be useful.

The point is to focus on your life. Your brain will habituate but the process is slow. I also read some other habituation stories from here. Many of those also pointed out 3-4 year timeline.

 

I wish I could go back to this thinking.

I have had the exact same conclusion. I used to have a daily diary at the beginning, doing trials with every food etc, going into silent spaces with earplugs to check my tinnitus.

And then after a year or so I became tired and just stopped doing it more and more, to a point I was not checking at all anymore. Like "no, not interested."

This has led me to 99% habituation, almost living as before.

Unfortunately, I think some tinnitus is different than other, especially the very high-pitched electrical one because there is a physical pain associated and because there is no masking possible.

I find the non-constant tinnitus (in Hz) more of a struggle.

My "easiest" tinnitus is my "ringing" tinnitus, I can totally forget about it. My brain can filter easily.

But the other ones, for now, keep me aware of them, and so it's like a never-ending circle, because if I am aware of one, I am aware of all.

I think I might try Psilocybin in the coming months.