The Journey for My Own Tinnitus Cure

1. Guide to reading this wall of text
2. An introduction of my self.
3. My health situation as it stand now + Info about my Tinnitus.
4. The theory i have been thinking of and how I got aware of this being a possibility.
5. Step one of my journey: Physical
   1. Diet:
6. Step two of my journey: Mentally
7. Conclusion

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Chapter 1: Guide to reading this wall of text
This is going to be a very long and specific wall of text. I know my self and I sometimes just skip ahead to the more interesting parts of what i would like to learn/read. I have divided my (blog/thread) into a few chapters which you can scroll down to find. I promise I am trying to write in an interesting language to make this more fun to read. I will update this as much as i can, to let you guys know of my progress and I am positive that this little personal experiment is going to end in the success story forum from a month or a little more from now! The thing marked with red in the chapters can be used to skip parts where I am going into detail or explain something a little deeper. Use them as a conclusion. Remember this is my own little personal research I am using this to keep my self motivated and hopefully make this work out! I will post update as my research is on going. English is not my foreign language so sorry for typos to all you "grammar correcters" xD!

As I am just starting the research there is no answers to if this really works. So don't get your hopes to high reading this, but just wait until a month !

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Chapter 2: An introduction of my self.

Hello everyone!
I have decided to write a kinda blog, as I am starting on a little self made treatment of T and I wanted to share my experience that I will get on this journey . As I have introduced my self in the introduction forum I am gonna write my short story with T, as quote from there and add a little to it:

To skip the long explanation just read the quote:

Its now roundabout 2 weeks since my T have been worse and the sound has not changed, but I have already gotten used to the new sound and everything feels kinda normal. I think I am lucky enough to adapt really well to all kinds of life changing situations

So, one could now be wondering, if you are fine with it, if you can live with it, why think about T so much and maybe let it get worse. My answer would be, I don't have a problem living with T, but I know that some people who's suffers from T is having a lot more trouble with it and I wanna help them, I wanna use my experience to help them out, even if its gonna make my T worse. And ill emit, life with a little more silence would't hurt

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Chapter 3: My health situation as it stand now + Info about my Tinnitus.

To start with I am going to list my basic health condition here, as this is really important to my theory for this self made cure. (which i will explain later).

My life situation is as following: I live in Denmark and I am a student. In the danish school system I am currently studying in the Gymnasium (I guess its the american college) on my third and last year. I live in my own appartment with my girlfriend, we have been together for roughly 5 years now. My parents are divorced and I have been seeing a coach about 10 times, cause the divorce was making me unfocused in school and I am today sure that I had a little depression at that point.

Age: 19
Job/profession: Student.
Height: 178 cm (5,8 feet)
Weight: 88 kg (194 lb)
Body mass index: 27,77 which is overweight. (And i swear its not muscles all of it xD, i know the excuse.)
Smoker: Daily basis around 8 - 10 cigarettes a day
Alcohol: I get really drunk around 2 - 3 times a month, with friends.
Coffee: Yes, 3 - 4 cups a day
Sleep: 5 - 6 hours a night. Free will of no sleep, stupid as I am xD
Medication or drugs: No medication and no drugs.
My blood pressure: Currently a little to high but nothing dangerous.
Physical fitness: Bad, low, sloppy, a big joke, breathless after 20 stair steps xD
Hereditary disease: My grandfather has diabetes type 2, so i am in the risk of that. My father has to high cholesterol values, which can lead to heart diseases, heart attacks and blood clot.
Daily exercise: Nothing but turning pages in my books, walking/bicycling to school or to the store or moving my computer mouse or writing the keyboard.

Pheeew, writing this is making me nervous xD...

What do I eat: I love fastfood, and if I would have had more money I would have been eating a lot more of it. I try to cook a decent meal everyday, but it is not always as healthy either. (More of this in my diet section).

Mental disorders: I have had some depressions but not related to T, it has also only been small ones. I sometimes feel a little anxiety but never had a panic attack in anyway.

Tinnitus: As i explained before, I have lived with T for 5 years, it has started to get worse. I can hear klicking noises i my ear when i flex the jaw muscle. (The same sound you would hear when relieving air pressure in your air when traveling by plain). Sticking the fingers in my ear I can clearly hear the blood flow.

Best places to be with my T: Showering, when its raining i can hear the drops on the window or walking in the forest.
What makes my T better: Sleep, focus on reading or computer games, socialize quietly, watching movies or series where my brain is getting sucked into the VOID of a zombie, not thinking at all

Whats makes my T worse: High pitched sounds like when a train is driving by with the breaks making a "sqeuking" sound.

I am not sensitive to sounds at all, I can go to dinners party's, bars or be in a noise class room with no problem. Concerts and clubs is painful for my ears, being with the loud noise for more than 1 hour.
I am not walking around with earplugs, only when going out.



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Chapter 4: The theory i have been thinking of and how I got aware of this being a possibility.

Lets stop talking about me and get down to business:

If you want to skip the part of how I have gotten to this theory just read this part:
The theory expands its self to my health issue physically and mentally. I think my body is warning me of my lifestyle. I smoke, I drink alcohol occasionally, I drink a lot of coffee, I am not eating healthy, I am overweight and my concentration has dropped since the past week. I also think that a psychological aspect is leading to my T. I have started to notice the bad shape of my body, more and more and I don't feel confident anymore. I feel fat and a little sorry about the situation I am currently putting my self in. My sex lust has also gotten lower the past few weeks, cause I am over thinking everything. My mental state is stressed I need really good grades in order to get in the study of my dreams and my economical situation is stressing me out, as I am having a hard time paying my bills and the bank is calling me in the middle of the month telling me I need to get some money on my account.

Wow this is making me think a lot of who I am xD. I need to get my life together..

The theory is based on my life story with T: Since I've got a girlfriend I stopped thinking about my self, I was sold to the "cozynes" of getting in a relationship which lead to: Ben and Jerry Ice Cream almost every weekend, making pancakes or bacon and egg's for breakfast, a lot of going to the cinema and just lying in bed watching TV-shows. At this point I also stopped playing ice hockey, I had practice around 4 - 7 times a week, depending on, if it was a game week or not (Yes there was sometimes practice two times a day morning before school and evenings). One day of practice could variate between 2 hours of intense exercise to 4 hours of exercise, so I was in really good shape.

Sadly no longer I have gotten a little more fluffy since then xD

As mentioned I was playing in a band, but that was at the same time as I played Ice hockey. In this period I jammed with no earplugs and you could imagine how that was to my ears as i was a drummer.

I imagine my ears saying; Jesus you are stupid...

But I have not had T (at least haven't felt it) until I went to the concert, which was after I stopped exercising on a daily basis. In this period my parents went through a divorce, which led to me be unfocused, slacking and skipping school. I started to get depressed and the slacking went into my life completely making things rough with my girlfriend, my friends and family. It was at this time I started to notice my T.
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Chapter 5: Step one in my journey: Physical

I hope you haven't fallen a sleep yet. Cause here is the cure I am going to try out. I found this program on a half marathon training guide, http://marathonguiden.dk/portfolio/program-til-halvmaraton-begynder/
I am gonna follow this, in order to drop weight, get back in a good physical condition and just, how awesome could it be to run 10 km straight out with no problem!
It is important to now, that the reason I am mainly going to focus on running and dropping weight is, I want my heart to get pumping and get a good blood flow again, no need to make the heart working harder with bigger muscles. At the same time my doctor has told me that exercise OUTSIDE and not on a treadmill stimulates the brain, it makes you more happy and also lets out some brain natural chemical, which can lead an end to your depression.

I think this is going to be a huge factor. As I think that if your brain is gonna feel better so is your T. I think that exercise and getting in shape only can have a positive reaction to T according to a few things:

1. If you get happier and more self a steam, you will have easier adapting to T.
2. If you brain is getting more blood and your breathing gets better, it could maybe stop over stimulating the neurons in the brain, which can cause T.
3. If you body is healthy you brain, mind and soul will also be affected by this, and this will lead to a happier life T or no T!

Here is the program that extends over 10 weeks.
Week Mon Tue Wens Thurs Fri Satur Sund Total KM
1 Free 4A Free 3A free free 3A 10 km
2 Free 5A Free 4A free free 4A 13 km
3 Free 6B Free 4B free free 5A 15 km
4 Free 6B Free 5C free free 4C 15 km
5 Free 6B Free 5B free free 4C 15 km
6 Free 6B Free 5B free free 4C 15 km
7 Free 7 Free 6B free free 4C 17 km
8 Free 8 Free 6 free free 4 18 km
9 Free 9 Free 5 free free 5 19 km
10 Free 10 Free 7 free free 4 21 km

A = 1 min run and 1 min walk. Run in a nice easy tempo and you walk in a nice pace with speed.

B = 2 min run and 1 min walk. Run in a nice easy tempo and you walk in a nice pace with speed.

C = Run as long as possible, without stopping. Start slowly, if needed walk a few minitus.

Numbers = KM you have to do the exercise for. If there is no letter behind, you just have to run for an example 10 km.

So in practice, in week 5 Thursday I will do 5 km of exercise B.

Another important part of this project is to stop smoking! I think that cigarettes and nicotine has a negative effect on your brain. It eventually probably helps over stipulating the neurons, or at least it gives you bad thoughts when you are in a need of a cig.
Under chapter 1: Diet
So going into my research I am not going to follow any specific diet. I am going to eat what I know is healthy. Which mean --> Fish, not to many carbs, fat and no more excessive food. I will eat three standard meals a day with no extra portions only to keep me un-hungry:
1: Breakfast
2: Lunch
3: Dinner
I will be drinking as much water as I can to stay hydrated at all times, but of cause everything with caution !
In between the meals, I will eat only fruit, nuts or yogurts. So no chips, cola, coffee, bacon or white bread.
As I am living on tight budget, I will live exclusively of meals that I can effort, I will try to post recopies as my research is on going. My daily food budget is around 10 box a day, for two people.
I will drink tea, I have my found a good relaxation tea, if anyone has a good tip please leave a comment !
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Chapter 6: Step two in my journey: Mentally

Okay, we are almost there guys! Lets read the last part
So as you can see in my training program I have a lot of free days. These days I am going to try something I never have thought of. I am going to do some mindful meditation and a little brainwash maybe.
In order to make this work, I am going to use the wonders of placebo, tricking the brain into a cure. I am gonna say to my self everyday, that everything is fine and no matter how bad its getting I am gonna keep a positive mindset and attitude. I will try make my brain relax with T and at the same time destress and stop over thinking everything, I am going to live in the present and just let my self be a live.
I will try to meditate around 15 - 30 mins on my free days in order to get my inner self peace and make my brain more confident in my T going away. I will also fight back all negative action going on in my thoughts, by countering it with nice, good and happy thoughts. In this way, I will not only help out my brain by getting in shape but also, using the force of the brain to cure it self! I believe this is possible.

Also, I am gonna focus a lot more on my sleep schedule going from 5 - 6 hours a night to 7 - 8 hours a night of sleep. In this way I will stay more relaxed during the day and this will help me focus on every positive thing as my brain is getting its rest and hopefully it will be happy.

I have not studied the fields of meditation but I will doing this in my free days in order to learn it! If you guys have any tips, tricks or good guides, feel free to link me them!

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Chapter 7: Conclusion
That was rough writing this. But I hope you guys can support me while I try to fight back on T!
As this is only a model for my research there isn't really much to conclude. I am going in to this with a positive attitude and high hopes for the future and I am sure that I will end the next 10 weeks with a success story post. I am sorry if I you feel like you have wasted your time reading this. But I will use this thread in order to keep my self motivated, positive and keep up the minor research here, as I now feel obligated to really make a go at this ! I will try to post daily, but it depends on homework and stuff, else i will post weekly. I will also try to edit the post to make it more readable and easier to get through !

I would love to get feedback, tips, tricks and some pep talking going with this and I sincerely hope you guys will back me up.

So now to the conquest of finding my own way to a cure, to what doctors, experts and other researchers has failed yet to. I'll ride into hope of a better future!

I hope you will all have a nice day! And wants to follow my journey! I am gonna leave a vote, to see if anyone actually is watching. So you can show your support by voting !

 

Thank you for taking the time and work to put this together....

 

No need to excuse anything, , I enjoyed reading this.
This sounds like a plan and I am excited for you , It takes guts to make changes in ones life.
I am a huge believer in positive affirmation and I think state of mind is a huge factor.
I am doing this myself , when I wake up to these negative thoughts , "NO, not again..no more, can´t do another day of this" I make sure to counter that with forcing myself to change my thought patterns and think more positive.

This has done wonders for me. I figure the mind is all over the place all the time and this can be used to ones advantage, if you just let go of the negatives, your mind will start to think of something else before you know it.

It's not easy by any means but it is simple.

I wish you all the best mate !
Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Hi RedThinker. well done for your positive attitude. I hope what you have outlined will work. I wish you all the best and yes I will be following you.

 

Okay time for my first update, even though nothing has really changed yet.

Day 2:
I decided to take a little run Sunday before I started in order to get my body ready to do some exercise. The run made me concerned about my shape, I was breathless after 10 min of short running, but I guess its my own fault with the smokes throughout the years.
On this run my T actually was really nice, I could't hear anything at all, my mental state was super positive (I was happy to start trying this) and all I focused on was my steps and my breathing I had no thoughts at all. Well after I hit the 10 min points, my blood started pumping insanely and with it the T got a little worse, but my state of mind was feeling so well.
Conclusion on my first day: Really positive and I could just not wait to my next run. Smoke stop, have not stopped completely but I was not expecting and immediately stop, I was more thinking on cutting down --> then stop. I had 3 cigs Monday and 2 today. My feeling on smoke stop, gave me some negative thoughts but I sat down with a book and it quickly cleared away. T haven't increased or neither decreased.

Further on, today was the first day of running after my program, and boy my legs where killing me, I could definitely feel that I had been running Sunday xD. But i went out on my 4 km run, with run style A and it felt amazing. My lungs are hurting at the moment, but I now for sure that this is the minor cold I have had for the past few weeks + smoker lungs.

My T was not noticeable at all under the run not even whilst the blood pressure raised. Its now 30 min after the run, the T is following my heartbeat in sound, which is something I have never experienced before, but its kinda nice actually.
After the two runs here, my mood have just been rising, I feel good about my self. Also the fact that I have been running is helping me think about how proud I am of getting up the cozy couch and get out and live healthy and I now don't have time thinking about my T.

Conclusion on my second day:
Nice run yet again. T is following heartbeat but I think its gonna scale down, I am not noticing it at all after my runs really. I think if I would't have been writing this I would just sit smiling in my room, as nothing ever has been wrong. As said earlier 2 cigs today. Mindset still going strong, I keep saying to my self that this is most certainly going to help me out! Sleep schedule has also been good, I went to bed yesterday at 22:00 and woke up at 6:45 I felt tired though but I guess my body has to adapt to this new me In school, nothing has changed concentration still a little low.

Thanks for all the nice words so far, it has really helped motivating me more!
Feel free to ask any questions or tell me, if you exercise, about your exercise or snap some pictures from a nice walk, or whatever you do

RedThinker out! Have a nice day or sleep well, depending when you are reading this !

 

So it has been 22 days since I have had time to write a little update.
I have been stressed out from homework, school, my private life, my interest of politics and filosofie and trying to cure my self from T of course xD

So the last few weeks has been weird:

Week 2:
Week two, a lot changed. I adapted to my new sound level of T. It stopped being there in school, I didn't have problems concentrate and my mood was really high.

So far i dropped 2 kg in weight, which is a lot considering i'm mostly sitting down, the only exercise is my run. I can now run 6 km, without being all dead and the day after I am completely fine. No pains in my body. The sounds remain the same however.
My mental state has gotten a lot better. I feel confident like ever before, I am socializing a lot more and I feel confident in what I say to my friends, what I wear to school and what I say in school, like never before.
Conclusion:
Week 1 - 2 has improved my mood, fitness but not really my T, in the ways of getting it away

Week 3:
So here comes the weird part. How ever I have habituated, my sounds has changed a lot this week. Its is back to where I started, interfering when i'm trying to follow what my teacher say, I can still hear the T... My mood has't changed however. Still going strong even with the T affecting my school and everyday life.
Cigarettes is now out of my life. T is no longer worse when i'm not smoking and I am loving my new senses. I can smell things better and food taste a lot better than it has ever done, amazing what those killer-paper-sticks does to you xD.
I haven't been running that much this week either. As school is keeping me stressed out and I think this is the reason my T has changed. The new sounds is freaking me a little bit out, not that I am confident that I can live with it, its just the fact that it has changed lately and i'm afraid that I have to adapt a lot more often than I am used to.

Meditation is great. Man it has helped me a lot the latest. After I have gotten a lot better at letting my mind float, I have the experience of complete silence. SERIOUSLY COMPLETE SILENCE! But the T sneaks back on me a few seconds after my mental relaxation has been broken. A little tip for some nice meditation. Start with listing to a songs, which gives you some nice memories or puts you in a good mood. My secret song is "Memories", "All the crazy shit I did to night" you now the rest hopefully But from there of keep that state of mind sit down, let them run around in your head for a bit, and then start throwing them out one by one until you have no thoughts at all. This is really helping me getting into a good state of mind and keeping it, present and past.

Also sleep is great now, when i lay in bed, I can be completely still and not notice the T at all, its great. The sleep I have been getting these weeks has been better than I've ever slept with T. I cannot stress how much it has helped me focusing and habituating waking up not thinking of T at all and just the life energy is great.

Conclusion of Week 3.
So the new sounds has started to scare me. I really hope I will stop noticing the new sounds as I do at the moment. But writing this right now, has actually been a nice time, cause I didn't notice it. Such a stupid line to write, cause now its back xD. But overall I have started to feel the changes in my lifestyle, even with T. Meditation is great, life is great, confident, still saying to myself that: "Hey I don't suffer from T? Even if I do, I am going to get through it!" and I have just started to be happy overall.

Sum up:
T is still the same but my life isn't, it has gotten a lot better! I am just overall more happy! I'm sorry that this is a bit fast written, but I am currently working on a big paper which investigates the factors that leads to nationalism (In the terms of Nazi-Germany) in in-between wartime Germany and today's Greece, to see if there is anything that can explain what happend in in-between wartime Germany xD.
Kinda of offtopic but yea.

Questions:
I've started to wonder if I suffer for TMJ. My jaw feels tense, I can hear klicking noises on my eardrum when flexing some muscle in my face, cant really explain it xD. I'm also getting a lot more dizzy when getting up fast + I have been hit with some headichs lately, more than usual.
So if anyone could give me some information about TMJ it would be great!

I just wanted to say how much this forum has helped me to think of a better future. I hope that you wont feel that this is a waste of your time as I only wish the best to all of you! We are one big family and we have to stay together in order to stay strong! Keep your hopes up high people, life is amazing and apart of life, is life being rough!
Take problems you have in life, turn them into an experience and voila, we get stronger, knowing how to cope with everything.

Best of luck to all of you.
RedThinker.

 

I think if you are worried about TMJ. Probably some clicking in the eardrum is normal, as it is also connected. I also hear clicking when I jawn, chew etc. Started noticing it now but probably had it all the time. In short, I dont think that in alla cases of TMJ that is the cause of tinnitus. And a good doctor should be able to identify it.