3-Month Tinnitus Anniversary After a Loud Concert

[Katarinacl]

On April 13, 2024, I attended a loud concert and stood near a speaker for over 3 hours. The next morning, I woke up with a middle "eee" tone, a high hiss, and a low hum, all at a 5/10. I didn't think much of it until a week went by. Now, exactly three months have gone by without change.

I visited a specialist who found my hearing wasn't damaged and said it may take about 6 - 12 months for the ringing to lessen or disappear. Still, the fact that there's been zero sign of improvement makes me feel a bit pessimistic.

Sleeping has been the hardest. I've lost about 14 full nights of sleep due to the loudness of the ringing as well as the anxiety and guilt that came with it. A few days ago, I felt my mood slightly improving until yesterday morning when I got the news that one of my best friends died. My emotions took a dramatic dip, and it seemed like the roaring was even louder.

Some days, I feel suicidal, but reading the success stories and some comments on here has given me some hope. I just wanted to introduce myself so that if this all ends one day, I can also post an update on success stories.

 

[Supersix]

Some people are suffering a lot worse than us and would trade a terminal disease for ringing ears. It takes time to adjust, and many emotions run through your head. You can get a jump start by meditating every day to rain noise. If ringing ears bother you, it will calm you down.

I have had ringing ears wake me up every day for nine years. You get used to it, and it calms during the day.

Try 2 mg of Melatonin at night for better sleep.

 

[pants]

I'm in exactly the same situation as you. I went to a loud concert a few days before you in April and have had tinnitus ever since. Being unable to sleep is my biggest issue, closely followed by not being able to do normal activities that I used to do, like going to bars with friends or going to the cinema with my family. Hopefully, our tinnitus can improve with time.

 

[Katarinacl]

I'm in exactly the same situation as you. I went to a loud concert a few days before you in April and have had tinnitus ever since. Being unable to sleep is my biggest issue, closely followed by not being able to do normal activities that I used to do, like going to bars with friends or going to the cinema with my family. Hopefully, our tinnitus can improve with time.

Yes, I hope so too! The specialist I've gone to has told me several times that tinnitus from a loud event will likely fade; it just might take a very long time. She said three months is barely any time for the body to get over something like this, and I need to stop being so obsessed with trying to hear silence and failing. It's tough, and my heart goes out to you.

 

[Sven]

Hope is good, but after this many months, it most likely won't improve. What will improve, though, is your ability to handle it. You and your brain will get used to it and think about it less and less, and eventually, you'll live just as if it's not there. To protect your ears in the future, though.

The sound thrives on being thought of and always worsens when you worry about it.

 

[Kerza]

I will be coming up a year on the 7th from noise-induced damage in the left ear. Though I think about it multiple times a day, I don't have an anxious reaction to it. It can be slightly annoying, but it is what it is.

 

[Katarinacl]

Hope is good, but after this many months, it most likely won't improve. What will improve, though, is your ability to handle it. You and your brain will get used to it and think about it less and less, and eventually, you'll live just as if it's not there. To protect your ears in the future, though.

The sound thrives on being thought of and always worsens when you worry about it.

That may be true, but I'm having so much difficulty coping that, for now, I feel like I need to believe it will get better. My boss had tinnitus from a loud explosion in her car during an accident, and she told me it lasted two years before fading completely. She's gone several years without it now. Hearing and reading success stories has been the only thing that's calmed me down at night enough to sleep. I understand that learning to accept it as permanent, even if it doesn't end up being permanent, is probably the best way to go about it, but I just haven't been able to yet.

 

[pants]

My tinnitus varies so much. I can have mild days and then days like today when it's deafening and the worst it's been. If I could keep it at a mild level and avoid the bad days, I could manage, but the bad days make it really hard. I am moving towards limiting all social activities at the moment, staying in quiet as much as possible, and trying to learn how this thing works and reacts to what I do.

 

[Pixelito]

Hope is good, but after this many months, it most likely won't improve.

That's not exactly true. In my case, my tinnitus slowly got worse for 9 months before I started to see improvements. The OP is barely 4 months in; they still have a lot of hope. Most success stories improve at the 6-month mark and also at the 1-year mark.

There are plenty of success stories of people improving after several years. OP should maintain a lot of hope.

 

[Katarinacl]

My tinnitus varies so much. I can have mild days and then days like today when it's deafening and the worst it's been. If I could keep it at a mild level and avoid the bad days, I could manage, but the bad days make it really hard. I am moving towards limiting all social activities at the moment, staying in quiet as much as possible, and trying to learn how this thing works and reacts to what I do.

Something that's helped me is collecting screenshots of success stories. Whenever I feel a panic attack coming on or start feeling suicidal, I open that folder and re-read the main parts I cropped.

Another thing that helps me is listening to artists who have tinnitus. I grew up listening to early Eminem and found out he had really bad tinnitus around 2012.
Whenever the success story folder isn't working, I throw on some of his silly songs because it can be more difficult to maintain a strong, coherent stream of dread and panic with that stuff playing in the back.

Our cases seem very similar, and according to the specialist I see and some people on Tinnitus Talk, there still seems to be hope for us. I'm really rooting for you.

 

[Furetto]

Hope is good, but after this many months, it most likely won't improve.

I think it's very wrong to tell someone who is just four months in that he will likely not improve. First, it's false (just browse the success story section), and second, it's the opposite of the purpose of Tinnitus Talk. We should not bring down people who are already facing a hard time.

 

[Sven]

That's not exactly true. In my case, my tinnitus slowly got worse for 9 months before I started to see improvements. The OP is barely 4 months in; they still have a lot of hope. Most success stories improve at the 6-month mark and also at the 1-year mark.

There are plenty of success stories of people improving after several years. OP should maintain a lot of hope.

I'm sorry. I misread or answered the wrong post because I thought the OP had had it a year ago.

At any rate, I think the most important part of improvement, habituation or actual, is not focusing on it. The sooner you let go of the worry, the sooner you improve.

That said, we all have different levels of tinnitus and different sounds. What applies to me doesn't necessarily apply to someone else.

I think it's very wrong to tell someone who is just four months in that he will likely not improve. First, it's false (just browse the success story section), and second, it's the opposite of the purpose of Tinnitus Talk. We should not bring down people who are already facing a hard time.

See my other reply, but as I said in my original post, the ability to handle it will improve, and when that happens, the tinnitus will also feel improved, whether it has or not.

But once again, I somehow read "a year" in there and replied to that. Sorry.