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

 

I'm glad you shared your story. Thanks.

 

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

 

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?

 

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