Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

No, I have not done TRT, CBT, or hearing aids/maskers. Studies don't show TRT to be effective. The in-ear maskers might be helpful. Some people speak positively, others say it's just more noise.

Good to hear @Tryn2BHopeful I have also downloaded the OTO app. Hope it can help.

@AfroSnowman Hope it have helped you cope better. Feels like it's one of the few things you can do because there's no cure. Learn to live with it as best you can.

@BrOKeN_1 Yes I think so too. Hope it will work to feel little better.

I knew it wasn't going to work when she said "so you have this little annoying sound in your ears"... I do think if you can find the right person that it can indeed help.

CBT is a joke and a scam.

@gameover So it may be. Hoping for a cure in the near future.

@gameover I respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree with this contention. Using CBT methods have helped tremendously when dealing w/T. Like I said above. It absolutely not a cure. But curbing the anxiety and depression it creates is important to me. And that's what CBT helped with.

I consider it total bullshit in regards to T or H. Maybe it can help with some other mental problems, that can be made worse by T. TBH I found CBT practitioners offensive and insulting. YMMV. This is such a shitty condition I understand everyone one wants to try everything. Unlike meds CBT won't really hurt (except wallet).

Correction: they can hurt as these ignorants can advise dangerous behaviors such as exposing oneself to loud sounds. So be careful there.

Hoping that CBT provides you with a measure of relief.

I second @BrOKeN_1, clearly there is no medical intervention for tinnitus. Literally the only front we can work on is how we experience/react/think about our tinnitus. CBT for tinnitus gives some tools, perspectives, and strategies to help lessen the emotional burden of this condition we are stuck with. BTW I recommend Hubbard's CBT tinnitus class. It is well done

Hubbard would be the last CBT guy I would recommend. Certified asshole.

Dr Jennifer Gans offers a mindfulness course for tinnitus as well. I haven't tried it as I don't have the money.

Below, I will describe a CBT exercise I started with at the Tinnitus clinic. Have you tried this one? I hope it will work to reduce my anxiety.

My CBT exercise is to imagine a place that feels peaceful. Think about that you visit this place, how it looks, smells, feels, etc. Then listen to your T and imagine that your T is some other sound in that environment, something more peaceful (maybe something similar to what it sounds like). Then the brain can learn to associate the T sounds with something less frightening, according to my psychologist.

I imagine a cabin in the woods on a cold snowy winter evening. Sitting in front of a warm fire. My T is a beeping and humming fridge and a beeping radiator in that cozy cabin, and the wind blows through the chimney.

Sad to hear @kingsfan. Maybe there is a book or some tinnitus CBT on the internet you can try?

@AfroSnowman @BrOKeN_1 Exactly, we can't remove the sounds but we can try help the brain reduce anxiety about the sounds.

@Leine maybe you will be one of the lucky ones where it really lets you get your life back, or maybe you will just be like me where it just gives an extra tool or two for living with this thing that we have to live with. Either way it is the only show in town.....until Auricle comes out :)