Tinnitus Almost Gone After 1 Year

Hi guys,

I wanted to quickly write up my experience here as I often wondered if people who make a recovery ever bother to post anything about it. I told myself that I definitely would if I did and so here I am.

I don't want to jinx anything.
I totally understand that my tinnitus could come back full force any day.
But I take incredible care of my ears now.

My Recovery:
I'm not talking about habituation here - I've been very bloody lucky. If I listen out for it then I can hear a slight hiss but it's silence now for all that it matters. This has been a gradual process, month on month becoming quieter and quieter. Plenty of spikes inbetween, then some random days of silence starting at around 4 months in. I was keeping a diary of these but gave it up because there didn't seem to be any pattern to it. The 2 tone ringing I started with eventually stabilised on 1 tone, and after a few more weeks the tone gave way to something which sounded like someone dragging a gardening fork over rough concrete. This lasted for a long time (6 months maybe) before starting to fade as well. What I have now is a distant hiss if I listen out for it, just enough the remind me NEVER to take a chance with my hearing ever again. I'd say I've probably been 99% free of tinnitus for around 3 months now.

How it started:
Acoustic trauma - specifically broadband white noise. The worse thing about it was that I had ear protection with me when it happened. I was wearing it around my neck We were calibrating a very powerful sound system using a mic and loud blasts of white noise. I was holding the mic and didn't want to shuffle around to put the ear protection on because it would mean restarting the calibration process. Stupid.

I developed tinnitus around 2-3 days later. It was 2 tones and loud. Woke me up in the middle of the night. I'd guess around 90-100db and I could hear it over everything except the shower. This lasted for around 4 months - it was bad and I was masking all day and all night. I also took a load of benzos in the first weeks which as everybody should know is a really dumb idea. Don't do it. Coming off those (with loud tinnitus as well) after just 1 month was a shitty experience.

What I did:
I got all my information from this forum so there will be nothing new in here. I would credit the "Back to Silence" method with the biggest gains. This technique is certainly what got me back to work (I took around 3 weeks off sick) and back to my life. Mastering this technique early might even be credited for where I've gotten to today?

I took a bunch of supplements, I don't suppose it is possible to say if any of it helped or not.
- chelated magnesium
- zinc picolinate
- omega 3
- ginseng biloba

I used some apps for masking, notch therapy, the bleepy tones on this site seemed to help a lot. I pitch shifted some classical music which seemed to work great for RI.

I use ear protection for everything from the Tube (which can be ~100db on the older lines in London) to the hair dryer.

I prayed to God that it would go away


I'm probably not going to come back and read responses to this post because the truth is I never want to think about T again. I know it might come back; I don't want anybody to tell me that though. Anyway, I felt I owed it to the community here to write up as this is where I got all my information from.

I hope and prey that there will be a cure for everybody who suffers this nasty condition.


p.s. I met an Italian girl with a very similar story over around the same timeframe. I think it is likely that recovery is under reported online - the irrational fear of jinxing it all is very real.

George

 

Glad to hear this. And there is probably already a cure in trials right now. Its called fx 322. Stupid name, amazing drug, if it works out.

 

I'm glad you shared your story. Thanks.

 

Just what I needed, actually exactly what I needed. Thanks

 

I hope we can all get what we need.

 

If it ever goes away, please make a post about it.

 

@Bill Bauer - absolutely I will, however I think that it is doubtful. The level at which I experience T now would, I suspect, not appear on the radar of somebody who has never had it.

 

What about driving your car , or walking in the street.in the city?

 

Thanks for Sharing, I only pop on here to read the success stories and so many seem to follow the same path. Back to silence is a very positive thread.

 

@georgeg
Could you explain 2 principal things - from what did you get tinnitus and in what state is your hearing, you had an audiogram?

 

Why is this drug theoretically suitable? It will be effective not only with acoustic damage to the ear, but also ototoxicity and so on?

 

I have a feeling that it will cure all conditions relating to damage/death of the cochlear hair cells.

 

Damn you are so lucky. I wish I can have my life back..it stopped September 23,2017 and it might never resume

 

Let us pray that new medicine or surgery will come very soon.
We are all waiting for the good news.