Controversial Topic: Can I Fully Mask Tinnitus During the Day?

[GBB]

I've been suffering from high pitched extremely intrusive tinnitus for about 2.5 months now from loud noise exposure. It has been utter agony. Before I realized how serious this all was, I went back to work my first week and just being on conference calls caused my tinnitus to spike to insanely high levels - both ears rang extremely severely. I was not just reactive, I was radioactive.

Cue the last 10 weeks where I have been sitting in either a very quiet house or very quiet hotel room, sparing no expense to keep my ears safe, but generally suicidal and writhing at the high pitched, piercing noise. I mean it when I say very rarely has a single moment been tolerable, but I've been enduring it, just focused on the future, combing these forums, and generally being a misanthropic bastard. I am on disability from work because with the tinnitus as is, it's simply out of the question.

Now today, just out of curiosity, I tried listening to some pink noise and also tinnitus mix because I noticed my tinnitus levels are not quite as intense as when they started, and that after showers and other noise exposure my spikes seem to be shorter and less severe.

Well lo and behold - I can now completely mask my tinnitus with about 42 decibels of pink noise, or about 40 decibels of Tinnitus Mix, as indicated by my iPhone app, which I appreciate is not dead accurate, but will have to suffice for now.

This feels MAGICAL. I don't give a damn about habituation, I care about survival, and I've been hard-pressed to eat or sleep or even have an ounce of happiness unless I was camping outside with crickets, and now I have found a way to listen to something aside from my brain INDOORS! I get no H pain at all or any feeling of discomfort from this, though I do notice a spike after listening for hours on end, not severe, but a spike nonetheless.

Now here is my question - when I asked if it was safe to spend my days and nights in a field of crickets at 45-50 decibels, people responded that of course it was and I was being foolish to even ask. So my question now is, is it safe to use masking noise from my laptop during the day at about 40 decibels? My tinnitus spikes from everything from showering, to driving, to using the microwave, to watching TV, but generally settles back down after an hour or a good night's rest. The same seems true here.

I do not want answers focused on habituation - I want opinions on damage/healing and sustainability. If I could safely wear in-ear maskers the rest of my life I would, save that I feel it is not very different from wearing headphones which I believe do damage in the long run - I feel no need to habituate to the rape that is my current T. If I can safely mask, it is no choice at all.

My question is, is it safe? I appreciate any and all input.

 

[Chinmoku]

I've been suffering from high pitched extremely intrusive tinnitus for about 2.5 months now from loud noise exposure. It has been utter agony. Before I realized how serious this all was, I went back to work my first week and just being on conference calls caused my tinnitus to spike to insanely high levels - both ears rang extremely severely. I was not just reactive, I was radioactive.

Cue the last 10 weeks where I have been sitting in either a very quiet house or very quiet hotel room, sparing no expense to keep my ears safe, but generally suicidal and writhing at the high pitched, piercing noise. I mean it when I say very rarely has a single moment been tolerable, but I've been enduring it, just focused on the future, combing these forums, and generally being a misanthropic bastard. I am on disability from work because with the tinnitus as is, it's simply out of the question.

Now today, just out of curiosity, I tried listening to some pink noise and also tinnitus mix because I noticed my tinnitus levels are not quite as intense as when they started, and that after showers and other noise exposure my spikes seem to be shorter and less severe.

Well lo and behold - I can now completely mask my tinnitus with about 42 decibels of pink noise, or about 40 decibels of Tinnitus Mix, as indicated by my iPhone app, which I appreciate is not dead accurate, but will have to suffice for now.

This feels MAGICAL. I don't give a damn about habituation, I care about survival, and I've been hard-pressed to eat or sleep or even have an ounce of happiness unless I was camping outside with crickets, and now I have found a way to listen to something aside from my brain INDOORS! I get no H pain at all or any feeling of discomfort from this, though I do notice a spike after listening for hours on end, not severe, but a spike nonetheless.

Now here is my question - when I asked if it was safe to spend my days and nights in a field of crickets at 45-50 decibels, people responded that of course it was and I was being foolish to even ask. So my question now is, is it safe to use masking noise from my laptop during the day at about 40 decibels? My tinnitus spikes from everything from showering, to driving, to using the microwave, to watching TV, but generally settles back down after an hour or a good night's rest. The same seems true here.

I do not want answers focused on habituation - I want opinions on damage/healing and sustainability. If I could safely wear in-ear maskers the rest of my life I would, save that I feel it is not very different from wearing headphones which I believe do damage in the long run - I feel no need to habituate to the rape that is my current T. If I can safely mask, it is no choice at all.

My question is, is it safe? I appreciate any and all input.

It's a difficult question because tinnitus is highly individual.

I could mask initially with my hearing aids white noise or with white noise from phone app. Not perfectly, but effectively. However, after the masking the tinnitus would become elevated, sometimes permanently. So I stopped doing that for a long time, but tinnitus kept worsening anyway. Recently it has become unbearable so I'm masking all day, there are only 2-3 types of sounds that work for me, but when I stop the masking the tinnitus screams and does not go back to lower. It's not clear to me whether the masking is responsible for the worsening pattern of these last few weeks (I also came off a medication) but I can't go without it because it's agony. Even with masking it's 1/2 agony, but better.

My advice would be to try to see if when you remove the masking the tinnitus is elevated or not. If not, you may continue I would say, but monitor the situation.

 

[GBB]

It's a difficult question because tinnitus is highly individual.

I could mask initially with my hearing aids white noise or with white noise from phone app. Not perfectly, but effectively. However, after the masking the tinnitus would become elevated, sometimes permanently. So I stopped doing that for a long time, but tinnitus kept worsening anyway. Recently it has become unbearable so I'm masking all day, there are only 2-3 types of sounds that work for me, but when I stop the masking the tinnitus screams and does not go back to lower. It's not clear to me whether the masking is responsible for the worsening pattern of these last few weeks (I also came off a medication) but I can't go without it because it's agony. Even with masking it's 1/2 agony, but better.

My advice would be to try to see if when you remove the masking the tinnitus is elevated or not. If not, you may continue I would say, but monitor the situation.

It seems to have made me spike so I guess that's off the table for now. I drove to my neurologist and she was quite loud so tinnitus is at truly loud levels again... I'm praying for some sort of relief - this suffering is just so much, every second of the day...

 

[Chadilac]

I'm right there with ya man. I'm 4.5 months in with severe constant high pitched tinnitus from noise exposure and every hour of the day is pure agony.

The only thing that's saving me right now are in ear maskers (hearing aids).
I have to mask every hour of the waking day or I go crazy with anxiety. I use several apps and rotate sound profiles so I don't get too bored of any one. I try to use ones where I can still hear the tinnitus for as long as I can possibly endure until I switch to masking 100%. I do this because it is what is recommended in order to habituate. But I find it quite tortuous and am also thinking of just survival at this point and wanting to mask it more than anything.

I turn the volume down low enough so that it is just barely masking . I do not worry too much about the ramifications of masking all day because it is just something that I have to do right now in order to stay stable.

Also TRT is based on in-ear sound therapy for 8+ hours a day and I believe only a small minority experience their tinnitus worsening while the majority experience an improvement with their tinnitus after completing the 15 month therapy.

 

[Luman]

What is the problem with habituation, if I may ask? This (habituation) is what allows the vast majority of those with tinnitus to adjust and cope with it. If you don't want to answer, that's fine.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Also TRT is based on in-ear sound therapy for 8+ hours a day and I believe only a small minority experience their tinnitus worsening while the majority experience an improvement with their tinnitus after completing the 15 month therapy.

HI @Chadilac
Sorry to know you are going through such a difficult time at the moment with noise induced tinnitus. It affects many people this way in the early stages. Reading your post casts my mind back to the suffering I went through 24 years ago. It does get better so try to hang on in there...

You are correct that TRT is based on in-ear sound therapy, wearing white noise generators to be exact. However, the treatment which I've had twice and with good result is much more involved when it's administered correctly something that's very important and a lot of people do not realize. Regular counselling is a necessary requirement of the treatment otherwise it's unlikely to be of much help. Please click on the links below for more information about TRT. You may find other posts that I have written to help with noise induced tinnitus helpful.When using sound enrichment try not to mask or cover up the tinnitus more is explained in the links.

You may have difficulty concentrating on reading at the moment which is understandable. Therefore, please take as much time as you need to read my posts.

Hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/what-is-trt-and-when-should-it-be-started.19024/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/what-happens-in-trt-sessions.18195/

 

[Ctw]

I've been suffering from high pitched extremely intrusive tinnitus for about 2.5 months now from loud noise exposure. It has been utter agony. Before I realized how serious this all was, I went back to work my first week and just being on conference calls caused my tinnitus to spike to insanely high levels - both ears rang extremely severely. I was not just reactive, I was radioactive.

Cue the last 10 weeks where I have been sitting in either a very quiet house or very quiet hotel room, sparing no expense to keep my ears safe, but generally suicidal and writhing at the high pitched, piercing noise. I mean it when I say very rarely has a single moment been tolerable, but I've been enduring it, just focused on the future, combing these forums, and generally being a misanthropic bastard. I am on disability from work because with the tinnitus as is, it's simply out of the question.

Now today, just out of curiosity, I tried listening to some pink noise and also tinnitus mix because I noticed my tinnitus levels are not quite as intense as when they started, and that after showers and other noise exposure my spikes seem to be shorter and less severe.

Well lo and behold - I can now completely mask my tinnitus with about 42 decibels of pink noise, or about 40 decibels of Tinnitus Mix, as indicated by my iPhone app, which I appreciate is not dead accurate, but will have to suffice for now.

This feels MAGICAL. I don't give a damn about habituation, I care about survival, and I've been hard-pressed to eat or sleep or even have an ounce of happiness unless I was camping outside with crickets, and now I have found a way to listen to something aside from my brain INDOORS! I get no H pain at all or any feeling of discomfort from this, though I do notice a spike after listening for hours on end, not severe, but a spike nonetheless.

Now here is my question - when I asked if it was safe to spend my days and nights in a field of crickets at 45-50 decibels, people responded that of course it was and I was being foolish to even ask. So my question now is, is it safe to use masking noise from my laptop during the day at about 40 decibels? My tinnitus spikes from everything from showering, to driving, to using the microwave, to watching TV, but generally settles back down after an hour or a good night's rest. The same seems true here.

I do not want answers focused on habituation - I want opinions on damage/healing and sustainability. If I could safely wear in-ear maskers the rest of my life I would, save that I feel it is not very different from wearing headphones which I believe do damage in the long run - I feel no need to habituate to the rape that is my current T. If I can safely mask, it is no choice at all.

My question is, is it safe? I appreciate any and all input.

Hey GBB. I'm in CT... 45 minutes from the city... I'm frequently there!

 

[Ed209]

I've been suffering from high pitched extremely intrusive tinnitus for about 2.5 months now from loud noise exposure. It has been utter agony. Before I realized how serious this all was, I went back to work my first week and just being on conference calls caused my tinnitus to spike to insanely high levels - both ears rang extremely severely. I was not just reactive, I was radioactive.

Cue the last 10 weeks where I have been sitting in either a very quiet house or very quiet hotel room, sparing no expense to keep my ears safe, but generally suicidal and writhing at the high pitched, piercing noise. I mean it when I say very rarely has a single moment been tolerable, but I've been enduring it, just focused on the future, combing these forums, and generally being a misanthropic bastard. I am on disability from work because with the tinnitus as is, it's simply out of the question.

Now today, just out of curiosity, I tried listening to some pink noise and also tinnitus mix because I noticed my tinnitus levels are not quite as intense as when they started, and that after showers and other noise exposure my spikes seem to be shorter and less severe.

Well lo and behold - I can now completely mask my tinnitus with about 42 decibels of pink noise, or about 40 decibels of Tinnitus Mix, as indicated by my iPhone app, which I appreciate is not dead accurate, but will have to suffice for now.

This feels MAGICAL. I don't give a damn about habituation, I care about survival, and I've been hard-pressed to eat or sleep or even have an ounce of happiness unless I was camping outside with crickets, and now I have found a way to listen to something aside from my brain INDOORS! I get no H pain at all or any feeling of discomfort from this, though I do notice a spike after listening for hours on end, not severe, but a spike nonetheless.

Now here is my question - when I asked if it was safe to spend my days and nights in a field of crickets at 45-50 decibels, people responded that of course it was and I was being foolish to even ask. So my question now is, is it safe to use masking noise from my laptop during the day at about 40 decibels? My tinnitus spikes from everything from showering, to driving, to using the microwave, to watching TV, but generally settles back down after an hour or a good night's rest. The same seems true here.

I do not want answers focused on habituation - I want opinions on damage/healing and sustainability. If I could safely wear in-ear maskers the rest of my life I would, save that I feel it is not very different from wearing headphones which I believe do damage in the long run - I feel no need to habituate to the rape that is my current T. If I can safely mask, it is no choice at all.

My question is, is it safe? I appreciate any and all input.

When I read stories like yours I have flashbacks to the hell I was in, so I completely empathise with your current situation. I also remember looking for a cure, 24/7, as I lay around in total desperation believing my life was over if I couldn't find a way of silencing the cacophony of noise that was in my head and ears.

I read intently as SciFluor's compound SF0034 progressed, showing promise, as Autifony's AUT00063 entered phase II and was being hailed as our saviour. There was equal hype surrounding Auris Medical's Keyzilen (AM-101), but ultimately none of them materialised into anything worthwhile. I remember how gutted I was when I read that AUT00063 was found to be no better than placebo during phase II; everyone was extremely disappointed. I read about lasers, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, drug therapies, the effects of vitamins and minerals, acoustic CR neuromodulation, diet-based treatments, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. I know that some of us have to go on this journey of trying to fix ourselves; we have to feel like we are being proactive and nothing short of fixing it completely will suffice. In retrospect, I realise now, years on, that I largely wasted my time and most likely prolonged my recovery by making my tinnitus even more significant. The brain is incredibly sophisticated and it can amplify your problems tenfold if you begin to base your life around them. This is where areas of the brain like the limbic system and the ascending reticular activating system can get involved. They learn your thoughts and behaviours and this can create physiological triggers that will make you feel a certain way. This can also forge a feedback loop when the association with something is excessively negative.

Here's a brief description of what the RAS is partly responsible for:

The RAS is the reason you learn a new word and then start hearing it everywhere. It's why you can tune out a crowd full of talking people, yet immediately snap to attention when someone says your name or something that at least sounds like it.

Your RAS takes what you focus on and creates a filter for it. It then sifts through the data and presents only the pieces that are important to you. All of this happens without you noticing, of course. The RAS programs itself to work in your favour without you actively doing anything. Pretty awesome, right?

In the same way, the RAS seeks information that validates your beliefs. It filters the world through the parameters you give it, and your beliefs shape those parameters. If you think you are bad at giving speeches, you probably will be. If you believe you work efficiently, you most likely do. The RAS helps you see what you want to see and in doing so, influences your actions.

(From a previous post)

We know from Dr Shore's work that fusiform cells in the DCN can become hyperactive in brains that have tinnitus, and this can create synchronicity in other areas of the auditory cortex and brain which could create the perception of noise. However, Dr Rauschecker postulates that to perceive these noises our limbic system has to be malfunctioning, as he believes they are usually filtered out before they reach the higher functioning parts of the brain (where it can reach our conscious awareness). This essentially means that everyone with hearing loss has some form of tinnitus signal being generated within their brain, but only a certain percentage pick up that signal and tune into it. Once it is detected it seems incredibly difficult to "un-hear" it and fMRI studies (Fatima Hussain, for example) have shown that people with tinnitus tend to light up other areas of their brain (compared to non-tinnitus sufferers) under certain conditions. There also seems to be involvement from other areas of the brain relating to memory, behaviour, and emotion, like the caudate and putamen (dorsal striatum), nucleus accumbens, ventromedial caudate, and ventral putamen (ventral striatum) and the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, etc, etc (again coming back to the limbic system). This suggests that how one deals with their initial experience of "hearing" tinnitus may have more longterm ramifications. This is why many people advocate the importance of relaxing, de-stressing, and utilising things like CBT (the devil's word), mindfulness and meditation. That's not to say those things will help, but calming one's CNS is always a good place to start; especially immediately after onset.

I recommend listening to Will Sedley's Tinnitus Talk Podcast if you haven't already.

So, I suppose what I'm saying is that in time it's highly likely that you will feel differently, but with the heightened state you're in at the moment, it surely won't feel like it. Try to focus on anything other than tinnitus is my advice, because you need to recenter your mind somewhat. The brain is capable of miracles. I know you will ignore this advice just as I would have, but whatever you do, as I said before, I sincerely hope you feel a million times better in the near future.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Ed209]

What is the problem with habituation, if I may ask? This (habituation) is what allows the vast majority of those with tinnitus to adjust and cope with it. If you don't want to answer, that's fine.

I agree. Habituation gets a really bad rap, but from my experience it's real. The caveat here is that not everyone will experience it, but it exists all the same.

 

[GBB]

What is the problem with habituation, if I may ask? This (habituation) is what allows the vast majority of those with tinnitus to adjust and cope with it. If you don't want to answer, that's fine.

I'm simply not convinced it works in severe cases. I've seen so many posts of I thought I habituated but I was wrong. My own tinnitus has many volumes and textures, cycles rapidly throughout the day to new sounds, and can be extremely loud - I'd rather focus all of my energy on finding something to help mitigate or reduce it. Yesterday after a spike I was genuinely considering suicide as I was writhing in agony - I know everyone says their tinnitus is bad, but mine drives me into fits daily and my life is crumbling.

Besides, if habituation really happens, it should occur while I'm doing all of these things to try to kill the tinnitus, over whatever MULTI-YEAR timeline is currently quoted.

Basically people are telling me - just eke out existence for a few years and maybe you'll habituate. That is not a solution in my view - while there are people for whom I'm sure that works, it feels like a disingenuous trap when spoken by others.

 

[GBB]

When I read stories like yours I have flashbacks to the hell I was in, so I completely empathise with your current situation. I also remember looking for a cure, 24/7, as I lay around in total desperation believing my life was over if I couldn't find a way of silencing the cacophony of noise that was in my head and ears.

I read intently as SciFluor's compound SF0034 progressed, showing promise, as Autifony's AUT00063 entered phase II and was being hailed as our saviour. There was equal hype surrounding Auris Medical's Keyzilen (AM-101), but ultimately none of them materialised into anything worthwhile. I remember how gutted I was when I read that AUT00063 was found to be no better than placebo during phase II; everyone was extremely disappointed. I read about lasers, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, drug therapies, the effects of vitamins and minerals, acoustic CR neuromodulation, diet-based treatments, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. I know that some of us have to go on this journey of trying to fix ourselves; we have to feel like we are being proactive and nothing short of fixing it completely will suffice. In retrospect, I realise now, years on, that I largely wasted my time and most likely prolonged my recovery by making my tinnitus even more significant. The brain is incredibly sophisticated and it can amplify your problems tenfold if you begin to base your life around them. This is where areas of the brain like the limbic system and the ascending reticular activating system can get involved. They learn your thoughts and behaviours and this can create physiological triggers that will make you feel a certain way. This can also forge a feedback loop when the association with something is excessively negative.

Here's a brief description of what the RAS is partly responsible for:

The RAS is the reason you learn a new word and then start hearing it everywhere. It's why you can tune out a crowd full of talking people, yet immediately snap to attention when someone says your name or something that at least sounds like it.

Your RAS takes what you focus on and creates a filter for it. It then sifts through the data and presents only the pieces that are important to you. All of this happens without you noticing, of course. The RAS programs itself to work in your favour without you actively doing anything. Pretty awesome, right?

In the same way, the RAS seeks information that validates your beliefs. It filters the world through the parameters you give it, and your beliefs shape those parameters. If you think you are bad at giving speeches, you probably will be. If you believe you work efficiently, you most likely do. The RAS helps you see what you want to see and in doing so, influences your actions.

(From a previous post)

We know from Dr Shore's work that fusiform cells in the DCN can become hyperactive in brains that have tinnitus, and this can create synchronicity in other areas of the auditory cortex and brain which could create the perception of noise. However, Dr Rauschecker postulates that to perceive these noises our limbic system has to be malfunctioning, as he believes they are usually filtered out before they reach the higher functioning parts of the brain (where it can reach our conscious awareness). This essentially means that everyone with hearing loss has some form of tinnitus signal being generated within their brain, but only a certain percentage pick up that signal and tune into it. Once it is detected it seems incredibly difficult to "un-hear" it and fMRI studies (Fatima Hussain, for example) have shown that people with tinnitus tend to light up other areas of their brain (compared to non-tinnitus sufferers) under certain conditions. There also seems to be involvement from other areas of the brain relating to memory, behaviour, and emotion, like the caudate and putamen (dorsal striatum), nucleus accumbens, ventromedial caudate, and ventral putamen (ventral striatum) and the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, etc, etc (again coming back to the limbic system). This suggests that how one deals with their initial experience of "hearing" tinnitus may have more longterm ramifications. This is why many people advocate the importance of relaxing, de-stressing, and utilising things like CBT (the devil's word), mindfulness and meditation. That's not to say those things will help, but calming one's CNS is always a good place to start; especially immediately after onset.

I recommend listening to Will Sedley's Tinnitus Talk Podcast if you haven't already.

So, I suppose what I'm saying is that in time it's highly likely that you will feel differently, but with the heightened state you're in at the moment, it surely won't feel like it. Try to focus on anything other than tinnitus is my advice, because you need to recenter your mind somewhat. The brain is capable of miracles. I know you will ignore this advice just as I would have, but whatever you do, as I said before, I sincerely hope you feel a million times better in the near future.

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks - I would love for this to happen. For now I'm just trying to stay alive. Obviously if there was a habituation pill we would all take it. Otherwise I just need to do what I can not to die.

 

[Ed209]

Thanks - I would love for this to happen. For now I'm just trying to stay alive. Obviously if there was a habituation pill we would all take it. Otherwise I just need to do what I can not to die.

I understand, I felt the same.

 

[GBB]

I'm right there with ya man. I'm 4.5 months in with severe constant high pitched tinnitus from noise exposure and every hour of the day is pure agony.

The only thing that's saving me right now are in ear maskers (hearing aids).
I have to mask every hour of the waking day or I go crazy with anxiety. I use several apps and rotate sound profiles so I don't get too bored of any one. I try to use ones where I can still hear the tinnitus for as long as I can possibly endure until I switch to masking 100%. I do this because it is what is recommended in order to habituate. But I find it quite tortuous and am also thinking of just survival at this point and wanting to mask it more than anything.

I turn the volume down low enough so that it is just barely masking . I do not worry too much about the ramifications of masking all day because it is just something that I have to do right now in order to stay stable.

Also TRT is based on in-ear sound therapy for 8+ hours a day and I believe only a small minority experience their tinnitus worsening while the majority experience an improvement with their tinnitus after completing the 15 month therapy.

I'm honestly unsure why conventional advice is not to mask for the first 6-12 months. Many people here claim tinnitus goes down or gets better during that time anyway - after that point you'll have a better idea of what you're stuck with and then can make a decision on habituation. Why disintegrate your quality of life for something which is statistically fleeting?

I'm glad you can mask - in my view it's a game-changer and should be celebrated. Some people here are all too eager to submit to tinnitus. They should go to the suicidal thread and proselytize there.

 

[Ed209]

I'm simply not convinced it works in severe cases. I've seen so many posts of I thought I habituated but I was wrong. My own tinnitus has many volumes and textures, cycles rapidly throughout the day to new sounds, and can be extremely loud - I'd rather focus all of my energy on finding something to help mitigate or reduce it. Yesterday after a spike I was genuinely considering suicide as I was writhing in agony - I know everyone says their tinnitus is bad, but mine drives me into fits daily and my life is crumbling.

Besides, if habituation really happens, it should occur while I'm doing all of these things to try to kill the tinnitus, over whatever MULTI-YEAR timeline is currently quoted.

Snap! You could be telling my story down to the letter in this post. My tinnitus is variable and can reach incredibly loud levels that change in texture. I have a high pitched dentist drill in the middle of my head that used to pierce my soul and leave me in bed for weeks wishing my life would end. On top of this, I have a lower-pitched drone in my left ear and a pure tone sound in my right ear and underneath it all is a shhhhhhhhh sound. The shhhhhh sound can morph into cicadas and other sounds. I can hear my tinnitus pretty much everywhere. I could stand next to a motorway/freeway with heavy traffic on it and hear it easily because of the high pitched nature of it. It's a cacophony of noise, as I often call it.

I really do get where you're coming from. I had a career in music that was ended overnight and my entire life was based around it until the rug was pulled away rather cruelly. Tinnitus is very much misunderstood and your average person on the street - and even some Drs for that matter - have no idea how debilitating it can be. It's a hideous condition, make no mistake about that.

My response is not a one-size-fits-all thing, but rather my own experience. The longer I kept looking for a cure the more it held me back and made my tinnitus "important." If anything it taught my brain to pay more attention to it which made it louder in my perception. You're in for a very tough ride, but I believe, statistically speaking, that in a few years you're more than likely going to have an entirely different attitude to it. That's not a guarantee, you may not, but there's a good chance you will, in my opinion.

If you really want to make a difference, I believe the best thing you can do is raise awareness and consider donating towards research. We need more people to show the world how bad it can get so that more can be done about it, and by engaging in research you would be actively helping to push the science forward, which could help us find treatments sooner. As Steve Jobs once said:

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is – everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.

 

[GBB]

Snap! You could be telling my story down to the letter in this post. My tinnitus is variable and can reach incredibly loud levels that change in texture. I have a high pitched dentist drill in the middle of my head that used to pierce my soul and leave me in bed for weeks wishing my life would end. On top of this, I have a lower-pitched drone in my left ear and a pure tone sound in my right ear and underneath it all is a shhhhhhhhh sound. The shhhhhh sound can morph into cicadas and other sounds. I can hear my tinnitus pretty much everywhere. I could stand next to a motorway/freeway with heavy traffic on it and hear it easily because of the high pitched nature of it. It's a cacophony of noise, as I often call it.

I really do get where you're coming from. I had a career in music that was ended overnight and my entire life was based around it until the rug was pulled away rather cruelly. Tinnitus is very much misunderstood and your average person on the street - and even some Drs for that matter - have no idea how debilitating it can be. It's a hideous condition, make no mistake about that.

My response is not a one-size-fits-all thing, but rather my own experience. The longer I kept looking for a cure the more it held me back and made my tinnitus "important." If anything it taught my brain to pay more attention to it which made it louder in my perception. You're in for a very tough ride, but I believe, statistically speaking, that in a few years you're more than likely going to have an entirely different attitude to it. That's not a guarantee, you may not, but there's a good chance you will, in my opinion.

If you really want to make a difference, I believe the best thing you can do is raise awareness and consider donating towards research. We need more people to show the world how bad it can get so that more can be done about it, and by engaging in research you would be actively helping to push the science forward, which could help us find treatments sooner. As Steve Jobs once said:

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is – everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.

I do truly hope I get there man. I don't know what's wrong with me - maybe I have a mental disorder, but this feels like it's killing me. I'm so run down. It's just so hard.

 

[BigNick]

Snap! You could be telling my story down to the letter in this post. My tinnitus is variable and can reach incredibly loud levels that change in texture. I have a high pitched dentist drill in the middle of my head that used to pierce my soul and leave me in bed for weeks wishing my life would end. On top of this, I have a lower-pitched drone in my left ear and a pure tone sound in my right ear and underneath it all is a shhhhhhhhh sound. The shhhhhh sound can morph into cicadas and other sounds. I can hear my tinnitus pretty much everywhere. I could stand next to a motorway/freeway with heavy traffic on it and hear it easily because of the high pitched nature of it. It's a cacophony of noise, as I often call it.

I really do get where you're coming from. I had a career in music that was ended overnight and my entire life was based around it until the rug was pulled away rather cruelly. Tinnitus is very much misunderstood and your average person on the street - and even some Drs for that matter - have no idea how debilitating it can be. It's a hideous condition, make no mistake about that.

My response is not a one-size-fits-all thing, but rather my own experience. The longer I kept looking for a cure the more it held me back and made my tinnitus "important." If anything it taught my brain to pay more attention to it which made it louder in my perception. You're in for a very tough ride, but I believe, statistically speaking, that in a few years you're more than likely going to have an entirely different attitude to it. That's not a guarantee, you may not, but there's a good chance you will, in my opinion.

If you really want to make a difference, I believe the best thing you can do is raise awareness and consider donating towards research. We need more people to show the world how bad it can get so that more can be done about it, and by engaging in research you would be actively helping to push the science forward, which could help us find treatments sooner. As Steve Jobs once said:

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money.

That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is – everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.

Hi Ed, do you make music nowadays?

I've always made music as a hobby, had a home studio for years. I haven't used it since the day my tinnitus turned on 2 years ago.

Miss it so much.

 

[BigNick]

When I read stories like yours I have flashbacks to the hell I was in, so I completely empathise with your current situation. I also remember looking for a cure, 24/7, as I lay around in total desperation believing my life was over if I couldn't find a way of silencing the cacophony of noise that was in my head and ears.

I read intently as SciFluor's compound SF0034 progressed, showing promise, as Autifony's AUT00063 entered phase II and was being hailed as our saviour. There was equal hype surrounding Auris Medical's Keyzilen (AM-101), but ultimately none of them materialised into anything worthwhile. I remember how gutted I was when I read that AUT00063 was found to be no better than placebo during phase II; everyone was extremely disappointed. I read about lasers, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, drug therapies, the effects of vitamins and minerals, acoustic CR neuromodulation, diet-based treatments, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. I know that some of us have to go on this journey of trying to fix ourselves; we have to feel like we are being proactive and nothing short of fixing it completely will suffice. In retrospect, I realise now, years on, that I largely wasted my time and most likely prolonged my recovery by making my tinnitus even more significant. The brain is incredibly sophisticated and it can amplify your problems tenfold if you begin to base your life around them. This is where areas of the brain like the limbic system and the ascending reticular activating system can get involved. They learn your thoughts and behaviours and this can create physiological triggers that will make you feel a certain way. This can also forge a feedback loop when the association with something is excessively negative.

Here's a brief description of what the RAS is partly responsible for:

The RAS is the reason you learn a new word and then start hearing it everywhere. It's why you can tune out a crowd full of talking people, yet immediately snap to attention when someone says your name or something that at least sounds like it.

Your RAS takes what you focus on and creates a filter for it. It then sifts through the data and presents only the pieces that are important to you. All of this happens without you noticing, of course. The RAS programs itself to work in your favour without you actively doing anything. Pretty awesome, right?

In the same way, the RAS seeks information that validates your beliefs. It filters the world through the parameters you give it, and your beliefs shape those parameters. If you think you are bad at giving speeches, you probably will be. If you believe you work efficiently, you most likely do. The RAS helps you see what you want to see and in doing so, influences your actions.

(From a previous post)

We know from Dr Shore's work that fusiform cells in the DCN can become hyperactive in brains that have tinnitus, and this can create synchronicity in other areas of the auditory cortex and brain which could create the perception of noise. However, Dr Rauschecker postulates that to perceive these noises our limbic system has to be malfunctioning, as he believes they are usually filtered out before they reach the higher functioning parts of the brain (where it can reach our conscious awareness). This essentially means that everyone with hearing loss has some form of tinnitus signal being generated within their brain, but only a certain percentage pick up that signal and tune into it. Once it is detected it seems incredibly difficult to "un-hear" it and fMRI studies (Fatima Hussain, for example) have shown that people with tinnitus tend to light up other areas of their brain (compared to non-tinnitus sufferers) under certain conditions. There also seems to be involvement from other areas of the brain relating to memory, behaviour, and emotion, like the caudate and putamen (dorsal striatum), nucleus accumbens, ventromedial caudate, and ventral putamen (ventral striatum) and the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, etc, etc (again coming back to the limbic system). This suggests that how one deals with their initial experience of "hearing" tinnitus may have more longterm ramifications. This is why many people advocate the importance of relaxing, de-stressing, and utilising things like CBT (the devil's word), mindfulness and meditation. That's not to say those things will help, but calming one's CNS is always a good place to start; especially immediately after onset.

I recommend listening to Will Sedley's Tinnitus Talk Podcast if you haven't already.

So, I suppose what I'm saying is that in time it's highly likely that you will feel differently, but with the heightened state you're in at the moment, it surely won't feel like it. Try to focus on anything other than tinnitus is my advice, because you need to recenter your mind somewhat. The brain is capable of miracles. I know you will ignore this advice just as I would have, but whatever you do, as I said before, I sincerely hope you feel a million times better in the near future.

Sorry for the long post.

That's a brilliant post!

My tinnitus is odd in that in certain company / environments it drifts out of my awareness where as others it ramps up, does it over and over again.

For example, I never hear it when I have my hair cut, or when I'm chatting to other dog walkers.

But I always hear it react when a car goes past, like every single time.

 

[Ed209]

Hi Ed, do you make music nowadays?

I've always made music as a hobby, had a home studio for years. I haven't used it since the day my tinnitus turned on 2 years ago.

Miss it so much.

I only teach nowadays, but I have done two sessions in two different studios since having significant tinnitus. One was to record two Prince songs on a tribute that was being done, and the other was to help record the guitar tracks on a friends song.

I miss all aspects of music, to be honest, right from regularly recording to live performances. It is what it is though and I believe I may start getting back into it. The only reason I haven't been recording is because of my busy life rather than tinnitus. With recording, I can control the levels so that's fine. I just need the time and my gear again as I got rid of it all (recording equipment, monitors, etc).

 

[Ken219]

@GBB I know it is trying. You are in the early stage. I call it hell. Please keep posting pouring out your heart. I'm hurting for you. I stuck it out and I went through hell. Yes it did detour my life, probably saved it? Odd to say that but I concentrated on a career (actually computer systems programmer), family and have had many good years. I am currently in a spike. I know what to expect. It is new to you but I promise you there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please keep posting, there are many people that care about your survival. G-d bless.

 

[Carr Lea]

It is heart rendering, reading about the suffering that people are going through due to microsuction. I myself in 2015 saw a new private ENT consultant for a routine ear clean. This would always be carried out using a Jobson Horne probe, ear syringing and microsuction, had been stopped years prior. At the consultation I told the consultant twice and made it clear, that I do not have microsuction, this was also recorded on my referral letter. I got on the couch on the understanding that a Jobson Horne probe, would be the only instrument used. The consultant cleaned 90% of my right ear, and started then, to clean my left ear, again with a Jobson Horne probe. He then stopped and told me he was going to use microsuction, he then told his nurse to get a narrow gauge suction. He then started to use microsuction, which seemed okay at first, but then it became so unbearably loud and so painful, I went rigid. But he continued, and went on and on ignoring my distress. (Which he has since stated, he didn't notice I was in distress) When he finished my ear felt strange and full, I asked him why, but he ignored my question.
On leaving the hospital, I found that all noise and sounds were distorted. The following days, I found that I could not hear, my left ear was muffled. The left hand side of my head felt strange (numb) and my head painful. I could not lie down for approximately nine weeks. I stopped functioning and suffered reactive depression, with suicidal thoughts. I was diagnosed with an acoustic trauma and hyperacusis. I have suffered hearing loss and also now have severe tinnitus. However, the consultant has since stated, 'it was unfortunate'! It has been admitted that the cause was in all probability the microsuction, but will not admit liability. The life I knew and had, has been destroyed by microsuction and the ENT consultant responsible, for using the tool...

 

[GBB]

@GBB I know it is trying. You are in the early stage. I call it hell. Please keep posting pouring out your heart. I'm hurting for you. I stuck it out and I went through hell. Yes it did detour my life, probably saved it? Odd to say that but I concentrated on a career (actually computer systems programmer), family and have had many good years. I am currently in a spike. I know what to expect. It is new to you but I promise you there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please keep posting, there are many people that care about your survival. G-d bless.

Much appreciated Ken. Before this happened I did do a few Python courses for fun on Coursera. Now I can't imagine mustering the concentration honestly. Kudos to you for making a career out of it.

I'm hopeful that some of the therapies currently or soon to be in clinical trials will be helpful to myself and to others who are suffering here.

 

[GBB]

It is heart rendering, reading about the suffering that people are going through due to microsuction. I myself in 2015 saw a new private ENT consultant for a routine ear clean. This would always be carried out using a Jobson Horne probe, ear syringing and microsuction, had been stopped years prior. At the consultation I told the consultant twice and made it clear, that I do not have microsuction, this was also recorded on my referral letter. I got on the couch on the understanding that a Jobson Horne probe, would be the only instrument used. The consultant cleaned 90% of my right ear, and started then, to clean my left ear, again with a Jobson Horne probe. He then stopped and told me he was going to use microsuction, he then told his nurse to get a narrow gauge suction. He then started to use microsuction, which seemed okay at first, but then it became so unbearably loud and so painful, I went rigid. But he continued, and went on and on ignoring my distress. (Which he has since stated, he didn't notice I was in distress) When he finished my ear felt strange and full, I asked him why, but he ignored my question.
On leaving the hospital, I found that all noise and sounds were distorted. The following days, I found that I could not hear, my left ear was muffled. The left hand side of my head felt strange (numb) and my head painful. I could not lie down for approximately nine weeks. I stopped functioning and suffered reactive depression, with suicidal thoughts. I was diagnosed with an acoustic trauma and hyperacusis. I have suffered hearing loss and also now have severe tinnitus. However, the consultant has since stated, 'it was unfortunate'! It has been admitted that the cause was in all probability the microsuction, but will not admit liability. The life I knew and had, has been destroyed by microsuction and the ENT consultant responsible, for using the tool...

I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm not sure why ENTs of all people seem to callously disregard the fragility of the ear, but that's the world we live in I suppose. Did your distortion ever improve or does that persist as well? On many days that vies with the underlying tinnitus in terms of what drives me more mad.

 

[Chadilac]

Thanks Michael, I have read some of your linked posts before. I'm definitely gonna hang in there, I have people who care about me and they help me hang on. I can only look forward to better days down the road. I know it's gonna be a long hard road but I look forward to habituation.

 

[Chadilac]

It's a difficult question because tinnitus is highly individual.

I could mask initially with my hearing aids white noise or with white noise from phone app. Not perfectly, but effectively. However, after the masking the tinnitus would become elevated, sometimes permanently. So I stopped doing that for a long time, but tinnitus kept worsening anyway. Recently it has become unbearable so I'm masking all day, there are only 2-3 types of sounds that work for me, but when I stop the masking the tinnitus screams and does not go back to lower. It's not clear to me whether the masking is responsible for the worsening pattern of these last few weeks (I also came off a medication) but I can't go without it because it's agony. Even with masking it's 1/2 agony, but better.

My advice would be to try to see if when you remove the masking the tinnitus is elevated or not. If not, you may continue I would say, but monitor the situation.

May I ask what sounds are you listening to?

 

[Chinmoku]

May I ask what sounds are you listening to?

These two are the only ones that give me relief at not so low volume:



and



but every day I worsen further the more I listen and they become less effective unless I raise the volume. If I don't listen, it's torture.

This one used to give me relief too:



but it does not work anymore.

 

[Luman]

I'm simply not convinced it works in severe cases. I've seen so many posts of I thought I habituated but I was wrong. My own tinnitus has many volumes and textures, cycles rapidly throughout the day to new sounds, and can be extremely loud - I'd rather focus all of my energy on finding something to help mitigate or reduce it. Yesterday after a spike I was genuinely considering suicide as I was writhing in agony - I know everyone says their tinnitus is bad, but mine drives me into fits daily and my life is crumbling.

Besides, if habituation really happens, it should occur while I'm doing all of these things to try to kill the tinnitus, over whatever MULTI-YEAR timeline is currently quoted.

Basically people are telling me - just eke out existence for a few years and maybe you'll habituate. That is not a solution in my view - while there are people for whom I'm sure that works, it feels like a disingenuous trap when spoken by others.

I am not telling you that "maybe" you will habituate. The fact is, you stand a far higher percentage of reaching habituation, than not. There is a member of this board that was so angry and depressed because there's no cure, he decided to actually resist any and all habituation. It didn't work, he habituated anyway. The point is, it just happens - little by little.

Three years ago, I was going through the same thing that you currently are. I didn't start to really get with the program until about six or seven months into it. I would have spent everything and gone into debt, to obtain just 10-20% relief. Today, I hardly even think about tinnitus. The sound is usually not on my radar but when it is, it's not a problem. It take's no special skills to habituate but there are techniques to hasten improvement, which will work for most who are willing to do the work.

In the final quarter of 2017, I went to an otolaryngologist at a top Manhattan hospital, for advice. He examined my ears, and told me that there's nothing that can be done by medical science. The caveat was, he said that he has tinnitus, and tried everything under the sun including Ginkgo Biloba, etc., for relief, with no success. When I realized that this specialist performs the equivalent of cutting edge brain surgery, with tinnitus, I knew that this could be dealt with. It should not be a secret that habituation is within most everybody's grasp. Good luck whatever you decide, there's plenty of good advice on this thread, and if you would like to have some links for helpful, expert free videos, PM me.

 

[GBB]

I am not telling you that "maybe" you will habituate. The fact is, you stand a far higher percentage of reaching habituation, than not. There is a member of this board that was so angry and depressed because there's no cure, he decided to actually resist any and all habituation. It didn't work, he habituated anyway. The point is, it just happens - little by little.

Three years ago, I was going through the same thing that you currently are. I didn't start to really get with the program until about six or seven months into it. I would have spent everything and gone into debt, to obtain just 10-20% relief. Today, I hardly even think about tinnitus. The sound is usually not on my radar but when it is, it's not a problem. It take's no special skills to habituate but there are techniques to hasten improvement, which will work for most who are willing to do the work.

In the final quarter of 2017, I went to an otolaryngologist at a top Manhattan hospital, for advice. He examined my ears, and told me that there's nothing that can be done by medical science. The caveat was, he said that he has tinnitus, and tried everything under the sun including Ginkgo Biloba, etc., for relief, with no success. When I realized that this specialist performs the equivalent of cutting edge brain surgery, with tinnitus, I knew that this could be dealt with. It should not be a secret that habituation is within most everybody's grasp. Good luck whatever you decide, there's plenty of good advice on this thread, and if you would like to have some links for helpful, expert free videos, PM me.

Thanks - sorry I wasn't trying to be hostile - my temper is just short dealing with this shit.

I hope I do habituate quite honestly. I think it's a little harder for me as I don't have one, unbroken pure tone, more like random "chatter" in both ears that ranges from hissing to high pitches squeaking. It's like whenever I hear a sound it gets distorted in various random ways that are very unsettling. Time will tell I suppose.

 

[musicblue]

Thanks - sorry I wasn't trying to be hostile - my temper is just short dealing with this shit.

I hope I do habituate quite honestly. I think it's a little harder for me as I don't have one, unbroken pure tone, more like random "chatter" in both ears that ranges from hissing to high pitches squeaking. It's like whenever I hear a sound it gets distorted in various random ways that are very unsettling. Time will tell I suppose.

Same crap for me. Mine not just reacts to the sounds and makes a tone on top but also fires up in line with my blood flow like a ringing turbine and cools down when doing nothing. Even walking creates a sparkle ring sound. My auditory system seems like it's on 10x amplification. How can I get used to this I wonder. It's like having a musical shadow.

 

[GBB]

Same crap for me. Mine not just reacts to the sounds and makes a tone on top but also fires up in line with my blood flow like a ringing turbine and cools down when doing nothing. Even walking creates a sparkle ring sound. My auditory system seems like it's on 10x amplification. How can I get used to this I wonder. It's like having a musical shadow.

This is why I think people who immediately point to habituation aren't taking into consideration how bizarre some people's hearing issues can be. I think in some cases preaching habituation is harmful - it's like the ENT who tells you get used to it - you can end up with people jumping off of buildings or hanging from ropes.

 

[Jack V]

This is why I think people who immediately point to habituation aren't taking into consideration how bizarre some people's hearing issues can be. I think in some cases preaching habituation is harmful - it's like the ENT who tells you get used to it - you can end up with people jumping off of buildings or hanging from ropes.

Given that you've stated you have ample resources, I wonder if working with more specialized doctors could help you get through this.

For example, an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus (which might take some searching), can help you identify the best device / hearing aid /masker to use and more importantly, how to tweak it to maximize its relief. They can make it as effective as possible while keeping it safe. Incidentally, there are other things these devices can do to provide relief in addition to masking.

A neurotologist who specializes in managing tinnitus could help with finding the right prescriptions.

etc.