Tinnitus Gone

@Tom Wilton we are all entitled to take a view.

We live in a strange dimension where everybody is searching for a cure, a treatment, or at the very. least, the best adjustment we can find.

A success story is hugely interesting.
We would all love to uncover the Holy Grail.

Perhaps this young lady has.
Actually - of course - I do hope so.

 

@norwaygirl

Hey, thank you very much for creating this thread. For me this is just the beginning, and for you.... you have already risen up and above it! It's so good to read positive success stories. I am 100% determined to being completely free from it like you are right now. This is barely the first week for me but I remain positive and optimistic. Hecking yeah.

Thanks again for sharing ~

 

This post has changed my entire outlook on my tinnitus.

I have been depressed over it since it started, not allowing myself to truly enjoy things. Always thinking that I will suffer for the rest of my life. Believing that I wouldn’t be able to truly enjoy something without this high pitched tone in my head. Thinking that I wouldn’t have silence until I was no longer alive.

You have helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will be able to enjoy things again, I will be able to hear silence again.

I will be looking back on this post for encouragement in my journey. A huge thank you from me.

 

Norway Girl...

Did you use masking when trying to sleep? I can actually use earplugs to achieve silence when going to bed. My anxiety is still high because I fear the ringing. Would masking be better or earplugs or push through to sleep with no aid?

I really think your method makes a lot of sense. I need to try something or my wife is going to hate me.

Thanks...

 

Hi Jonathan

That's great to hear! I can't believe how people manage to stay focused or positive in terms of tinnitus (I was a mess), but I salute those people!

 

Hi Kotyn, that's great to hear. I also thought I wouldn't have silence until I was no longer alive. I think it's very hard for someone who hasn't experienced tinnitus to realise how debilitating this is. The exercises work, but remember the first experiences of silence will most likely go unregistered since part of the training is not to check up on tinnitus, and to more or less force your focus all you can onto other sounds through tinnitus. So it can be a bit anti-climactic to not really realise when it all starts to work. Just like life pre-tinnitus, it becomes something you don't have to train yourself to conquer, but the road can be long and hard. I thought I couldn't be rid of it even while doing the training, so remember that whether you feel optimistic or defeated, it's always about the doing. Update me on your progress if you like

 

I tried masking and apps with rainfall sounds, ocean sounds, etc but I remain a person who likes to have it silent around me when sleeping, even when I had tinnitus. I thought my brain will eventually fall asleep on its own at some point out of pure exhaustion and after a while I did manage to fall asleep even though tinnitus was present. But this is different for everyone I think, so there's no right or wrong. Sleep is good to get, so if masking helps you then why not, but in general masking functions like a bandaid to a deeper issue so I wouldn't suggest masking when awake, at least. It only neutralizes tinnitus which might be alleviating, but it doesn't fix the core of it.

 

Hey, I really love your approach! I still have work (three 8hr shifts a week in a ''safe'' noisy environment, I wear earplugs) but I haven't gone out at all since I got my tinnitus. Like you, I've been pretty devastated, though at times hopeful too. Getting my mind off of it actually does help a bit, whereas focusing on it feeds on my anxiety and makes my tinnitus seem much louder.

I want to try this. Just going out for a bit on the days I'm off and getting fresh air, enjoying life like I did before. Shops nearby are closed tomorrow, but I'll be going out on Monday because I want to buy some apple cider vinegar to see if it can help me. Thanks for your story! Makes me feel a lot better and hopeful.

 

Thank you so much tot sharing @norwaygirl. I'm a complete mess. I developed tinnitus during pregnancy (34 weeks). 4 weeks ago my little one is born but the tinnitus is still there and it drives me crazy. I read your post over and over again to give me some strenght to keep going.
I have a feeling that my life is over and i never will feel happiness like i did before.

But when you go out did you hear your tinnitus?

 

and how are you doing now?

 

Hi @Cho -- Have you considered that your tinnitus is the result of the abnormal stresses put on your structural/skeletal system during pregnancy? If that was the case, perhaps some kind of physical therapy, stretching regimen, yoga, upper cervical chiropractic, etc. might help. Just a thought. -- I hope you can find something that will help--and soon!

 

Thank you so much for this message! I thought about this and did see a physiotherapist. I stretch and massage my neck, jaw and shoulders everyday. It did nothing for the noise in my ears/head unfortunately. I hope, I really really hope, like many of us, that I will find something that will work.

 

Tinnitus still here, but I am slowly but surely getting back to life while figuring out the cause of my tinnitus. I have a few leads, until then, I just don't want to lose myself to the negativity this brings. Talking to people I know irl who have tinnitus really helped me get in a better mindset.

 

Sorry for this extremely late reply. I also had the feeling that life was over. Absolutely debilitating. Yes, I did hear tinnitus when I went out. Inside, outside, didn't matter. I heard it everywhere.

 

How are you now ASilverLight??

 

How are you doing?

 

Very inspirational. You've given me an idea or two. Thanks for posting this.

 

Hi twa! I'm doing very good! Strange to think about that almost exactly three years ago life took a horrible turn. But with the training, tinnitus is still gone so everything's good

 

Anytime. You can dm me if needed.

 

Is it literally gone or do you mean you’re completely habituated to it and it will only show up when you look for it? Because that’s 2 completely different things.

 

Hi. I saw in your post you wrote: 'I’m not talking habituation or almost gone. I’m talking dead silence, ears closed and not even a 1% of a sound or static, in a silent room. Pretty much back to where it once was.'

To me it's gone, in dead silence, ears closed, it's not a 1% static. But in the beginning when I tried the focusing stuff and wanted desperately to get rid of tinnitus, I'd have periods of not noticing tinnitus and having a normal life, until an hour would pass and it would all come back to me. I remember it had been a month of not hearing tinnitus, and then it appeared again right after a phone call to the ENT doctor where I cancelled my upcoming appointment since I thought I'd gotten rid of the tinnitus. But I went straight back to the focusing training and it would disappear quicker and quicker each time. It was a fragile time and I noticed that focusing on tinnitus or doing anything related to it would spike it back up.

Now I haven't even thought about it for a while, but if I put all my focus back into tinnitus and did so for a long period of time, who knows? Maybe it would be back. If it would be back, then I know I could get rid of it even quicker than the first time because of the neuron pathways I built back then.

I did not believe tinnitus could be gone entirely. I didn't believe success stories, I didn't have any hope. If anyone would say they'd gotten rid of it, I'd wonder if it was really true, or if they did hear it from time to time - because complete freedom from that hell is truly not possible (but it is, I've learned).

But as of today, and the past few years, no, I can't hear it. Not in dead silence, not in a silent room, not in the middle of the night in complete stillness, but it took hard work getting there, because I did hear it ALWAYS. Even when I finally managed not to hear it as loudly during the day, a silent room or nighttime was still torture. That's why I don't care if I've habituated or not. I also don't care that those are two completely different things, if they both mean I don't hear tinnitus, but I've understood from this forum that they are completely different things and that I probably don't know too much the definition.

 

Thank you for the detailed post. Mine came out of nowhere and really messed me up because silence was my way of relaxing. Maybe that means my nerves were already messed tbh, taking Valerian root literally gave me a new tone but sort of helped overall. I try desperately to find a cause and treatment because as there are stories of going away, there are stories of worsening. I don’t miss “silence” anymore, my tinnitus is ridiculously low compared to others. I miss the feeling of “freedom” of silence, the feeling of not ever worrying about it, to have it as a naturally occurring thing, a constant. Because now it’s not. I know the more I struggle to give up, the worse it is. I’m truly almost there.

Your story is inspirational and you’re making valid points. I hope I can “hear” pure silence again and sleep like old times.

Have a great day girl from Norway

 

How do we DM you? I wanted to ask if your T is gone or you have grown accustomed to it?

 

I've heard a lot about Valerian root. I never tried it but I think several things might help with tinnitus. The more research they do, the better, but I truly believe there's something to the focusing thing. The only problem is that it's a lot of work and with no help from the outside.

My tinnitus wasn't always super loud but quite pitchy. During the first weeks I hoped it would suddenly disappear, and walking through the forest one day I tried ignoring it but it was clearly there, if not lowly. I started crying hysterically by myself and leaned next to a tree because the feeling of being trapped with tinnitus was too much. I sat there until evening. I love silence and being able to read or write in peace, and that seemed like utopia for a long, long while. The only reason I tried the focusing was because it was either that or not being able to live anymore. I had no hope it would work, not even after noticing improvement. After full recovery I had an anxious knot in my stomach for up to a year later and I felt I could never rest. I understand what you're going through, trust me. PM me if you need more in depth info.

 

It's gone. I'm not sure really, but think you have to press on my profile or something? I've heard lots of people have issues with sending dms

 

I completely agree with you, @norwaygirl. Whether tinnitus is actually gone/silent, or you have habituated in the sense that you do not notice it, or being bothered by it anymore, it doesn't matter!

You really need to ask yourself, what is silence? You can still feel silence with ringing in your ears. Being obsessed over tinnitus to completely disappear is not the way to go imo. But if you train your brain slowly to not focus on it, you will eventually experience "silence" again.

That's what matters!

It's always great to read success stories, and I am glad on your behalf @norwaygirl that you have found inner peace again - no matter how. All the best from fellow Norwegian.

 

Hi Norwaygirl! It's great to hear that you've successfully recovered. I'd also like to thank you for answering so many of our questions.

I was wondering, do you perhaps have a rough estimation as to when you started noticing improvement?

I'm in 6 months now, unfortunately without much improvement Tinnitus wise. My anxiety has markedly improved, though.

Also, how's your book coming along?

 

@norwaygirl hi, how long did it take to go?

 

Hi! It was a bit back and forth in the end, but maybe 5-6 months or so.

 

That's encouraging. Do you hear anything when you put your head to a pillow or with ear plugs?