Do You Use Masking Sounds as Part of Your Daily Strategy to Deal with Tinnitus?

[David S]

I never used masking sounds except in my early days. In the beginning I used a home cooked TRT. I got help from an audiologist to set my WGNs and I got CBT therapy. On top of that SSRI. That finely gave me my life back to normal after years of suffering. Looking back I would believe that SSRI gave me the most help.

Now I have a relapse because being in a loud place for about 1 hour. That was one month ago and tinnitus is still not back to baseline. I am not as bad as onset but still feel low and tortured but no panic. Sleeping is not a problem but it was very much last time around. In fact going to bed is the best time of the day getting some rest and energy to tackle the next morning. The noise now never disturbs me before falling asleep but what I find hard is get going with activity in the morning and get on with new once during the day. Once in activity i's working quite ok and I preform well.

Once again I need to start to figure out a strategy to get my life back to normal. I already started SSRI and had my first session with a chiropractor. I am not so keen going back to CBT. Might fire up my WNGs again but most important, have faith in that time will heal us.

 

[annV]

I keep the radio on almost all day every day...

 

[monkey legs]

I never used masking sounds except in my early days. In the beginning I used a home cooked TRT. I got help from an audiologist to set my WGNs and I got CBT therapy. On top of that SSRI. That finely gave me my life back to normal after years of suffering. Looking back I would believe that SSRI gave me the most help.

Now I have a relapse because being in a loud place for about 1 hour. That was one month ago and tinnitus is still not back to baseline. I am not as bad as onset but still feel low and tortured but no panic. Sleeping is not a problem but it was very much last time around. In fact going to bed is the best time of the day getting some rest and energy to tackle the next morning. The noise now never disturbs me before falling asleep but what I find hard is get going with activity in the morning and get on with new once during the day. Once in activity i's working quite ok and I preform well.

Once again I need to start to figure out a strategy to get my life back to normal. I already started SSRI and had my first session with a chiropractor. I am not so keen going back to CBT. Might fire up my WNGs again but most important, have faith in that time will heal us.

What is SSRI please?

Thank you.

 

[Sven]

What is SSRI please?

Thank you.

The most common type of anti-depressive medicine. Zoloft is the best known name (Sertraline).

Original question: I use it when I can't shut out my T when I need to relax or when I have trouble falling asleep. Usually I use nature sounds (stream or rain), not white noise.

 

[Starthrower]

I use my own music therapy every morning - with my bose headset - on my morning run for about an hour and a half.
(note I use a very low sound level)

I have done this for over a decade. The first reason back then was for masking. But I found that using specific music that affects the brain noise in a soothing way over and over seems to distract the original very intrusive tinnitus.

Using this everyday at night I am able to have the music in my mind. Mostly the sounds of certain instruments or the sounds of the voices in a duet song. I extract different sounds from the songs each time and focus only on that sound. It changes daily.

Then on the third day I will just listen to all the instruments and vocals at the same time.

It is hard to describe actually. But doing this consistently has helped me cope with my tinnitus which is always like squeaking brakes, metal on metal.

I used to use a masking sound at night but found that my brain was able to recreate the actual sounds for me to concentrate on when I go to sleep.

 

[glynis]

Give your wings a go again till you feel happy to go with out them.
Love glynis x

 

[David S]

@monkey legs I was prescribed Escitalopram. The one that works best according to my doctor. I used/use 15mg a day. Also tried Zoloft before that but only 50mg a day. Do not think it gave the same effect but it is all SSRI. It really took me out of the constant fight or flight mode.

 

[annV]

This cricket sound is very good!

 

[Wolfears]

My T only bothers me at night, because i can't sleep.
Unfortunatelly masking (sound enrichment lower than the T) is no use since it makes my T louder and whips it into solid eeeeeeeeeeee
I can live with it during day time...my only issue is sleep Im not getting at night because of it.

 

[glynis]

@Wolfears ,
Look into a low dose Antidepressant for help for long term sleep problems due to tinnitus way below the therapeutic dose for depression.
Love glynis

 

[Wolfears]

@Wolfears ,
Look into a low dose Antidepressant for help for long term sleep problems due to tinnitus way below the therapeutic dose for depression.
Love glynis

I absolutelly hate taking any pills and before this I would even hesitate to take an Advil unless the headache or tootache was really bad.
Now Im forced into considering Amytriptiline...from what I understand once you walk through that door thetes no coming back as it is highly addictive.
If someone told me I can trade my T for THE worst day of my life (before the T) and re-live it over and over like a groundhog day I would happily take it as it would now be the happiest day of my life.
This thing has literally destroyed my will to live...sad to say but Im pretty sure many here feel the same way.
I just struggle to understand why theres no help from the medical field for something so horrible and terryfying like this...theres a pill for just about every little thing these days.

 

[glynis]

I took Amitryptaline for years for a bad back then tapered off it.
I have been on Nortriptyline for about 2 years 50mg for sleep (increased from 10 to 50)
It stopped my head tinnitus and its a more tolerated than it's cousin Amitryptaline.
I have been sleeping well on it.
This week I have been tapering Nortriptyline from 50mg to 25mg and still sleeping ok and will reduce more if still sleeping ok in a months time and see how I go.
No withdrawals,
Love glynis

 

[Wolfears]

I took Amitryptaline for years for a bad back then tapered off it.
I have been on Nortriptyline for about 2 years 50mg for sleep (increased from 10 to 50)
It stopped my head tinnitus and its a more tolerated than it's cousin Amitryptaline.
I have been sleeping well on it.
This week I have been tapering Nortriptyline from 50mg to 25mg and still sleeping ok and will reduce more if still sleeping ok in a months time and see how I go.
No withdrawals,
Love glynis

Thank you Glynis.
I have bunch of 10mg Amytriptaline but will take 2 for total of 20mg...or do you think its still too low.
Can you tell me what the differences are between the Amytriptiline and Nortytriptiline and why one is better than the other?

 

[glynis]

Amitryptaline is an older antidepressant than Nortriptyline with Nortriptyline being more tolerated.
20mg should be fine but make sure your doctor advises you after that.
Love glynis

 

[Wolfears]

Thank you for helping me...I will try to switch to the other one next week...hopefully it works.
Sleep is my only concern right now as I dont get any.

 

[SugarMagnolia]

I have Grateful Dead radio playing most of the day when I'm at home.

gdradio.net

 

[SugarMagnolia]

I absolutelly hate taking any pills and before this I would even hesitate to take an Advil unless the headache or tootache was really bad.

I'm the same way. Hate pills. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I hope you find relief from your sleeplessness.

 

[fran dana]

in my case the monotonous sounds (rain, white noise, etc) make my condition worse, when I listen to music or sounds with variations I think it relaxes me a bit although I do not usually mask it. in fact at night it becomes invasive and even then I sleep without sounds. on the other hand I think that if one masks it without being so serious the situation the same accustoming can make the situation worse

 

[Alex Prime]

during the days yes, but for sleep I abstained until the last two mornings. But I dislike hearing my T.

 

[sigridcornelia]

I only use masking sounds when i feel very very annoyed and frustrated cause of the T. The masking seems to lower the volume a bit (after i stop masking). I guess it's because of distracting me from my T and making me feel more relaxed. With masking i'm able to concentrate (at work or when watching the tv).

Since my T fluctuates and i have different sounds throughout the day, i use different masking sounds. Sometimes white noise, sometimes rain or river sounds. I also use this youtube video on a very low volume when i watch tv or when i need to concentrate at work:


I try to sleep without masking. I know people have different opinions on this cause a lot of people are pro sound enrichment. I think sound enrichment is something good and that's why i often use it during the day. I just feel like when i go to bed, i want to be able to fully relax and not think about my T. This sounds weird cause when in bed, you will hear your T very loud. But i want to train myself to feel peaceful in bed, even with T in my head. I dont want T to control me during the night cause that's the moment for me to reload, relax and feel comfortable. I feel like this isn't going to happen when i'm using masking sounds in bed. Cause then I'm still busy managing my T, like "oh, i have to use a masking sound otherwise i'll hear my T". When i go to bed i wanna be like "I'm gonna have some nice sleep. Oh, i hear my T but f*** this shit. This sleep is gonna be super nice and I'm super relaxed ." Lately I've been making progress with this. I barely use masking sounds or sound enrichment during the night and I feel like my T is even lower in the morning. During the first weeks i used 2 fans at night, but always my T reacted to them and flared up in the morning. So that's why I decided that masking or sound enrichment during the night might not be a thing for me.

I guess everyone's T is different and that people need to decide for themselves what feels best.

 

[Red]

I usually don't need masking sounds. It depends. If I am spiking/H spiking then I mask much more frequently.
Though, generally, I am already watching TV or listening to music because I want to. My central air system is kinda noisy as well so that provides masking on its own.

 

[JasonP]

Some days I have, some days I haven't. I tried a Signia 7nx hearing aid this past summer and I was very impressed with the bluetooth streaming feature it had. Basically, I could stream music from phone to my hearing aids. The only main problem I had was that it drained the batteries faster than normal. Is there a hearing aid that will allow you to directly download mp3s to your hearing aid and then control them with a remote? This way it wouldn't use so much battery with bluetooth.

The thing I liked about it was that I can amplify the sounds around me a bit and play music and I didn't have to wear headphones.