Hi Damiano,
You are in a good space keeping at it even though it can be frustrating. Let me address my thoughts to your specific questions first:
Overall you do understand how the Back to Silence system is applied I figure.
On this item:
1- STOP talking about tinnitus, measuring it, comparing it, describing it, and thinking about it.
Stopping thinking about it when you hear it all the time and loud is difficult. Any tips? I can stop talking and describing but thinking is hard, perhaps one can experience the sound non-judgmentally like in mindfulness? I agree this first step is the toughest.
Yes, you indeed experience the sound non-judgmentally like in mindfulness. The sound… in my case sounds… are something that I cannot control so perhaps one needs to consider his bit of advice:
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. My tinnitus is something I cannot control so I need to be in acceptance on that aspect of life for me.
On this aspect:
2- When it's bothersome, tell yourself, "I hear it, I feel .........." (insert your true emotion)
It is bothersome most of the time for me. Do I do this at random times?
3- Make a note of this and each response on paper, review you paper weekly to see the change in your responses.
I will start but I suspect I'd write notes all day. What do we do if we have to work, kids etc? Can we do this only during some parts of the day or do we have to do it all the time?
Yes, I would say. Particularly in the beginning of applying the process you probably would be doing nothing but writing it down since I heard them pretty close to constantly for long periods of time in the beginning. What I did was at the end of a period of not noticing the sounds and then upon noticing them again, I would state the process to myself verbally like "I hear my tinnitus and I feel X. I definitely did not write it down all the time. I could not write it down at work for example. I could not write it down when driving of course. I would say don't try to be perfect about noting it down in writing each time. I would be perfect about saying the words to yourself each time. Another way I would say how I noted my sounds was what I would call episodes of tinnitus, not every single moment of hearing the tinnitus. I did note the tinnitus verbally every time I began an episode of hearing the tinnitus.
I would say also that I don't know you of course. Everyone has his or her unique situation. I have my baggage I bring to tinnitus and you have yours. I have used other things as well as Back to Silence. I have used L-Theanine, particularly right after I started having tinnitus from a loud earbud incident. I also have used it for a while when I had a couple of big spikes over the years due to loud sound incidents. I used it mostly to get to sleep (200 mg and I weigh 160 pounds) 20 minutes before bedtime. Worked like a charm to get to sleep. If I woke up in the night and began to obsess about mostly work issues, I would take 200mg more then. That also worked like a charm. When I was in those two spiking times, which were so big that I had to work to re-habituate all over, again I used 100 or 200 mg after work to reduce my anxiety until I had worked myself back into habituation. You might want to try that.
In addition, I am a member of the American Tinnitus Association. They just released a podcast with a psychologist named Dr. Hubbard, who has tinnitus and specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for those with tinnitus. I have used CBT successfully. You can hear the podcast here:
https://www.ata.org/podcasts/episode-10-habituation-tinnitus-using-cognitive-behavioral-therapy
Dr. Hubbard says 98% of people with tinnitus can achieve habituation. In this podcast, he tells you what he thinks you need to know about CBT. He also has a lot of free resources for those with tinnitus on his website here:
https://www.cbtfortinnitus.com/cbt-for-tinnitus-resources
On his free resource page, he has a 90-minute webinar, a mindfulness meditation audio, recommendations for self-help books (he is working on one of his own) and other key self-help information to give it a go for yourself. He does offer coaching on dealing with Tinnitus as well should you need/want that. I suggest you give it a listen and look.
He says many people can complete CBT for tinnitus in as little as 2 to 10 sessions with someone who is trained in CBT for Tinnitus but unfortunately, most therapists are not adequately trained in CBT and don't know anything about tinnitus.
I have tinnitus and hyperacusis. The second time I had a sound damage event that this time caused a markedly increase in my tinnitus sounds I lost my habituation again. I used the
Rewiring Tinnitus book first and then bought the program ($50) which made a big difference. To get back to habituation I used what I had learned from the past as well including the Back To Silence method.
The creator of the Rewiring Tinnitus program has Meniere's disease, which causes vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus and the feeling of pressure in your ears. A complex case.
The program was frightening to use since it ultimately has you build up to meditating to the sound of your tinnitus or in my case sounds (not your breathing, which is the usual meditation focus) with earplugs in your ears. I have been meditating off and on for maybe 15 years now. At least 10 years before I had tinnitus so I had some meditation experience.
I was at a basic level very much afraid of the sound(s) from the beginning of my tinnitus and it becoming even louder which indeed it just had which made me even more frightened. What the Rewiring Tinnitus program did for me was to free me from the fear of whatever the sounds are or might become (although one can never be sure 100% of course but I am highly confident now), most likely I can handle it. I now know the loudness of the sounds has less to do with habituation and becoming comfortable with living with tinnitus. It is more about how one reacts to the sound(s). That said, some people have more "baggage" to handle than others do so my experience may not be the same as yours. I am back to habituation now after a month or two with my new louder sounds he says with a smile. I do now meditate sometimes to the T sounds with earplugs in my ears but most of the time to my breathing and I don't hear the T sounds most of the time. When I do maybe 5 to 10 times per day I verbally do the Back To Silence process.
Maybe more than you want to know!
Hope this helps Damiano.
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