An Update... What Do You Think?

[Paul Burdett]

Hi all,
I thought I'd update my situation, and get some advice. I've had T for almost 10 months now. For the past couple of months I've had days where it is almost nothing, and days when it's driving me mad. I guess others have had the same situations? Here's my info with questions at the end.
This is a typical day for me. In bed by 9pm, up at 4.30am. T is the first thing I hear...annoying, loud, but not as loud as the first couple of months when I first came down with it. I drive my wife to work and I'm home by 6am.
T may have calmed down by then, maybe not. I'm slightly anxious...will it be a good/bad day?
I have a shower. After a shower I'll either have almost no T and I know it's going to be a good day. If after the shower I hear it and it's annoying...then I know it's going to be there all day. This has been the "pattern" for the past 3-4 months. The "good news" is that I can now go 3-4 days with almost no T, and then I'll have a "bad" day.
When I have good days I think to myself...maybe it's going? When I have a bad day I get depressed.
I've made changes to my diet...cut out sugar...I still play squash every week (I'll be 62 in April) and my weight has dropped from 73kg to 65kg. I'm happy I've got a flatter stomach, but friends are commenting that I don't need to lose any more weight! I think about everything I eat now, wondering if it makes the T worse.
Yesterday I had some lime and chili cashew nuts...woke up at 2am with raging T (just like it was when I first got it)...managed to get back to sleep, on and off until 6.30. Got up, had a shower and it was almost gone.
At 2pm I decided to clean out the laundry as our hot water system has died...being replaced tomorrow..$$$$ (stress). I put on my ear muffs (the type you wear when using loud appliances) and water pressure cleaned the floor downstairs. My T immediately got louder after taking the ear muffs off...it's loud now!
Sorry for the long story, but is what I'm experiencing what others are? Good days outnumber the bad, but there's no rhyme/reason. Is this habituation? My wife is also dealing with pain on a daily basis...she's worried about me, I'm worried about her...vicious circle. I'm a teacher and I just found out last week that a fellow teacher has had T for years...she said "I can hear it now"...but she's used to it. I asked her if she had days where she doesn't hear it...she said no. I have days where it's almost nothing, where I have to listen for it to notice it, and others where it's to loud to ignore. Anyone in a similar situation? Thanks all.

 

[Dana]

My better days are extremely rare and quickly followed by bad ones, but i read somewhere that if you do have good days it means that you can heal. Makes sense.

 

[erik]

Paul, I pretty much have it like your fellow teacher. I think it is a point most people with T eventually arrive at. You do get used it. You do get to a point where you notice it at various times during the day loud or quiet and it does not really bother you.

10 months is still early on. It took me till about 1.5 years before I got to this point and really about 2 years before I felt like I was habituated and didn't care about my T, loud or quiet. I just went about my day.

This is what will happen to you in time. T is a big change in some people's lives like most of us who find our way to Tinnitus Talk. It was a huge change in my life. Just like any major change, it takes time to adjust. Some people like to use the word "adapt"; I prefer "adjust". It takes time for our body and minds to adjust. It takes time before it is no longer that new to us and we don't care about it as much as before.

T is an annoyance and pretty much just that! T is awareness that there has been some changes to your hearing and/or the processing of your hearing and like any change you have to adjust to this change.

 

[cqman]

My bad days outnumber good days. Kind of envy you.

 

[Paul Burdett]

Thank you all for the replies. I hope my good days increase. Erik...I'll check if the teacher ever had days of "silence" in her early days with T, or whether it was constant from the word go. cqman: I hope your good days get more frequent...take care.

 

[DebS]

I have T pretty much like you Paul, but I only have a couple of "good" days a week which I really appreciate. The other days I hear the T all the time, sometimes rather loud, sometimes medium. But it doesn't really bother me anymore except as an annoyance. I do everything I did before T so I feel I'm definitely making progress. My brother has had T for many years and he said he usually only hears it if someone reminds him of it. I hope you and I get to that level of habitation!

 

[sandra72]

For the past couple of months I've had days where it is almost nothing, and days when it's driving me mad. I guess others have had the same situations?

T may have calmed down by then, maybe not. I'm slightly anxious...will it be a good/bad day?
I have a shower. After a shower I'll either have almost no T and I know it's going to be a good day. If after the shower I hear it and it's annoying...then I know it's going to be there all day.

The "good news" is that I can now go 3-4 days with almost no T, and then I'll have a "bad" day.
When I have good days I think to myself...maybe it's going? When I have a bad day I get depressed.

It's like you are desciribe me.

 

[ampumpkin]

I'm sorry to say but... why do you let T decide whether or not it will be a good day? It can still be a good day even if your T is loud!

Monitoring your T and giving it that much power over your life will not help you habituate.

I would hang on to the thought that good days will come back instead of focusing on bad days. I experience the same as you but I call them spikes. I know that it always goes back to a good day so I simply ignore the louder T and do my business as usual. It's not easy to reach that point of course...

good luck!

 

[NiNyu]

I've had a few brief okay moments but mainly it IS hell. And it does hurt! Will there ever be good days, for me, I wonder.

 

[thesaint]

@NiNyu My answer to your question is ........unequivocal and resounding YES!!! There will be many good days that will outshine the bad. Heads up, keep your stick on the ice, never quit as we would say in Canada.

 

[Paul Burdett]

Yes,...it's hard to remain positive. I've had 3 great days in a row...and today? a shocker! Had a big bowl of corned beef hash last night for tea (a great English cheap meal...mashed potatoes and corned beef mixed)...a friend said potatoes have a lot of sugar (I've cut sugar out of my diet by 90% as I read it could bring on T) The result of that is weight loss and a flat belly...that's good. I normally have no issues eating potatoes, mashed or otherwise, so I don't think there's a connection. Wish I knew why one day it spikes...I know stress is an issue, and today at work was stressful, but it was loud even before I got to work. Oh well...better day tomorrow!

 

[Thongjy]

Hi all,
I thought I'd update my situation, and get some advice. I've had T for almost 10 months now. For the past couple of months I've had days where it is almost nothing, and days when it's driving me mad. I guess others have had the same situations? Here's my info with questions at the end.
This is a typical day for me. In bed by 9pm, up at 4.30am. T is the first thing I hear...annoying, loud, but not as loud as the first couple of months when I first came down with it. I drive my wife to work and I'm home by 6am.
T may have calmed down by then, maybe not. I'm slightly anxious...will it be a good/bad day?
I have a shower. After a shower I'll either have almost no T and I know it's going to be a good day. If after the shower I hear it and it's annoying...then I know it's going to be there all day. This has been the "pattern" for the past 3-4 months. The "good news" is that I can now go 3-4 days with almost no T, and then I'll have a "bad" day.
When I have good days I think to myself...maybe it's going? When I have a bad day I get depressed.
I've made changes to my diet...cut out sugar...I still play squash every week (I'll be 62 in April) and my weight has dropped from 73kg to 65kg. I'm happy I've got a flatter stomach, but friends are commenting that I don't need to lose any more weight! I think about everything I eat now, wondering if it makes the T worse.
Yesterday I had some lime and chili cashew nuts...woke up at 2am with raging T (just like it was when I first got it)...managed to get back to sleep, on and off until 6.30. Got up, had a shower and it was almost gone.
At 2pm I decided to clean out the laundry as our hot water system has died...being replaced tomorrow..$$$$ (stress). I put on my ear muffs (the type you wear when using loud appliances) and water pressure cleaned the floor downstairs. My T immediately got louder after taking the ear muffs off...it's loud now!
Sorry for the long story, but is what I'm experiencing what others are? Good days outnumber the bad, but there's no rhyme/reason. Is this habituation? My wife is also dealing with pain on a daily basis...she's worried about me, I'm worried about her...vicious circle. I'm a teacher and I just found out last week that a fellow teacher has had T for years...she said "I can hear it now"...but she's used to it. I asked her if she had days where she doesn't hear it...she said no. I have days where it's almost nothing, where I have to listen for it to notice it, and others where it's to loud to ignore. Anyone in a similar situation? Thanks all.

You have 100% exactly same as mine. Go weeks with good days and sometimes one or two bad days. For bad days when wake up with loud T (not as loud as the beginning) same as you after bath if the noise is still loud then most likely is bad day throughout but there are chances that it will go lower but not as low as good days, else it will be bad all day till night which will start to improve. Why? So puzzling!

By the way today, I wake up with loud T and now still a bit loud and for the past days or week I had super low T. Coincidentally, yesterday night I had sex and ate chocolate before sleep and today had loud T.

Is my loud T today caused by sex or chocolate? I always worried sex could worsen my T and have tried to control my urge or even stopped having sex.

 

[Gabrielle]

Hi Paul,

Your story could be like mine, it's very simular at many points.

Good days with very low T, (even totally quiet sometimes), and very bad days (and nights) with loud T.
Why loud, and why quiet or low? Don't know, can't find a reason, T chooses his own way, to be loud or low. That's my pattern for almost 11 month's now since the onset.

My 'saving' is that I am very lucky with the rest of my life.
Much support, love and understanding from partner, parents.
Have my own company, so I work when I want to, and don't have to deal with a boss.
Many things I like to do, like playing tennis, painting, reading, writing, playing piano.

Still, I am very sad to have T.
It changed my life completely.
I always loved 'the sound of silence'.
And now I must seem to live with all those noises in my head. Like EEEEEE and SSSSSSHH and morse-code, etc.

Sometimes I think that my T have also to do with bloodcirculation. Because when I have been playing tennis or was going out to jogging, and also when I drink gin, then T will turn down to very low, even quiet sometimes...

I have 'accepted' that T will never go away. I was hoping for the first 6 month's. Because my ENT said that it might go away. It was false hope. I cried so many times.
Now I am tired of crying. Try to make the best of it.
But it is not easy.

Greets,
Gabriëlle from the Netherlands

 

[HalloweenScreamQueen]

Must be nice to have days where it's better! Mine is fairly constant, though I do have days where my T changes. The frequency will change, some freqs will drop out completely, or it sounds like my T is muffled. Then there are moments where I will lose hearing in one ear or the other. Pretty infrequent though and no obvious correlation between when it happens and anything I've eaten or done. BTW, my parents and my brother have T as well. Weird!

Keep the faith, it gets easier!

 

[NiNyu]

Same here! T is as whimsical as fu*k. Also it seems it doesn't matter what I eat.

yesterday night I had sex and ate chocolate before sleep and today had loud T.

Stop having sex immediately! Thongjy, seriously it can worsen your T permanently.
Just kidding.. but eat more chocolate. I love chocolate. Life without chocolate is like life without silence..

 

[cqman]

You have 100% exactly same as mine. Go weeks with good days and sometimes one or two bad days. For bad days when wake up with loud T (not as loud as the beginning) same as you after bath if the noise is still loud then most likely is bad day throughout but there are chances that it will go lower but not as low as good days, else it will be bad all day till night which will start to improve. Why? So puzzling!

By the way today, I wake up with loud T and now still a bit loud and for the past days or week I had super low T. Coincidentally, yesterday night I had sex and ate chocolate before sleep and today had loud T.

Is my loud T today caused by sex or chocolate? I always worried sex could worsen my T and have tried to control my urge or even stopped having sex.

Maybe you can take some Zinc several hours before sex. Lacking of zinc is one of the reason I heard could worsen one's T due to sex.