Does It Actually "Go Away?"

[Asian]

Ok so I now know pretty much everything about T as I have had it for 3.5 months now and have been reading a lot. Also I am aware that it might get better or not go away at all and nobody can predict anything about it. I have been reading everywhere on the Internet since a long time people saying that it might go away after 3 months, 6 months or a year. Even the doctors have been telling them to wait out for at least a year and it might go away before they start any treatment.

While I appreciate the help and the hope given to the newbies by the chronic sufferers, I wonder if giving them a hope that it might go away is a strategy so that the new sufferers are not overwhelmed with the fact that it will last forever. So as the time passes the new sufferers will get used to it and will not panic as much as they are now. Or does it actually go away for some ? By no means this should be considered an offence to our beloved chronic folks and they are doing a great job by supporting the newbies! I have deep respect for all those who supported me during those dark days !

I have been reading on other forums that T is almost always permanent except for some rare cases where it goes away and it's a fact of life. So the sooner we accept it the lesser the disappointment later on. I personally agree to it and think that the volume may drop down to unnoticeable levels but it seldom goes away for most. I will be more than happy if I am wrong and having some hope is definitely a good way of coping with it. Please share your opinions.

 

[citigirl13]

Ok so I now know pretty much everything about T as I have had it for 3.5 months now and have been reading a lot. Also I am aware that it might get better or not go away at all and nobody can predict anything about it. I have been reading everywhere on the Internet since a long time people saying that it might go away after 3 months, 6 months or a year. Even the doctors have been telling them to wait out for at least a year and it might go away before they start any treatment.

While I appreciate the help and the hope given to the newbies by the chronic sufferers, I wonder if giving them a hope that it might go away is a strategy so that the new sufferers are not overwhelmed with the fact that it will last forever. So as the time passes the new sufferers will get used to it and will not panic as much as they are now. Or does it actually go away for some ?

I have been reading on other forums that T is almost always permanent except for some rare cases where it goes away and it's a fact of life. So the sooner we accept it the lesser the disappointment later on. I personally agree to it and think that the volume may drop down to unnoticeable levels but it seldom goes away for most. I will be more than happy if I am wrong and having some hope is definitely a good way of coping with it. Please share your opinions.

Actually I was just discussing this in another thread and I believe it DOES go away for a lot of people. I have spoken to two people that I know and both had T (one said it sounded like a generator) and it disappeared for one after 6-9 months (she doesn't even remember how long she had it) and the other woman said it disappeared after 2 years.

Believe me, it can go. I wouldn't think of it as permanent until plus 2 years - and maybe not even then. Our bodies are very smart. And if you think about it, when people leave a club their ears are ringing because of the hearing loss. Their ringing stops after their ears have adjusted to the loss. Why can't ours do the same, albeit it might take a little while longer.

Never give up hope it will go. But if it doesn't, you will habituate. It doesn't feel like it at times, but let me tell you: I never thought I could get used to this noise, but I'm nearly six months into it and for hours I am starting to forget about it. It will happen with you too. I know it is annoying when people say you need to be patient, that it just takes time, but that is true.

Finally, here is something I found on a thread a little while ago, and I keep re-reading it and posting it because it cheers me up:

"I have been speaking to many people and read stories of people who got rid of their ringing in the ears . I wanted to put everything together for you.First, I must mention that I was able to find less stories of recovery from tinnitus on the internet. That's when I thought it may be forever. But then, I came across people in real life. It was astonishing to know that so many people I know had gone through this, I didn't even know. How could this be? Then I thought, if we completely got rid of the noise overnight, a very few number of us would ever come back to the board tomorrow, because you want to forget. That's why, reading the stuff on the internet is going to be always more depressing because people come here when they feel bad and lonely. In real life, stories of recovery are more common and we need to remember that.

1-4 people I spoke to were in their early 50s. All told me that they woke up one day with ringing and it went away in one year.

2-Our neighbor had stress related tinnitus, after she lost her mother. Her doctor put her on prozac and ginko. she was almost back to normal, but 6 months into it she started having panic attacks and went back to square one.It took her over a year and she completely got rid of the noise.

3-A family friend took an overseas flight. When he landed his ears were ringing. He said he got really depressed and used a lot of anti depressants. He doesn't know whether it was the loud engine or the pressure change that caused it. His ears rang for 2 years and he fully recovered.

4-I know 3 people in the army whose ears rang over a year after they left the army.

5-I saw stories of at least 5 people on the internet whose ears rang for at least 6-7 months after a loud concert. In addition to that 2 friends of mine healed in 1- 1.5 years. I came across a story of a fellow forum member who healed in 2 years. In his post he also mentioned another friend of his who also had recovered in 2 years. All of them are noise induced tinnitus.

6-My friend's mom had stress related T after she lost her husband. She said her ears rang for 2 years and then she fully recovered.

7-I am not even writing stories of so many people who recovered in less than 6 months.

So, if you come to this board as a newbie, and if you are feeling depressed, afraid and if you feel you can't go on... Stop for a moment and take a deep breath. It will get better and you will heal. We just need to accept that we are going to go through a difficult time period for a while.
Cheers"

Hope this helps. Remember, if it has gone for all these people, it can go for you too.

 

[Jay M]

"Good news travels short distances while bad news spreads like wildfire." You're going to find more negative information about T than the positive or anything for that matter especially on the internet. People get better and then move on with their lives without documenting their recovery for others to read. I've never been on a sinus, cold and flu forum and if I had it's unlikely I would ever go back and talk about my recovery.

 

[Asian]

Here is something I found on yuku forum that gave me a lot of hope. This was argued upon a lot, opposed and the person who posted this on yuku was made to believe that it doesn't go away and it's easier for him to preach because his T was mild. Below is the post

"I have found that mostly everyone I talk to has either had it or knows somebody that has/had it.
I told my boyfriend's mother about it, who told me that she had it for months last year until it eventually resolved. I spoke to a few friends of mine who have it - it's all either gone away or they've forgotten about it and it is a non-issue. I talked to my dentist about it (mine is TMJ-induced) who told me that he has had countless patients over the past 27 years he has been a dentist who have had it and he said 95% of the cases have resolved. He assured me not to worry - he said that we have already begun working on fixing my jaw (all other TMJ symptoms have resolved besides some very short bouts of pain in my jaw or head once in awhile) so the Tinnitus will go with it after a few months. He told me that he had it once for two and a half months and it went away.
What I'm getting at is that mostly everyone I've talked to in real life says that it has gone away for them. Out of everyone I've talked to, I've only heard of two cases where it was serious, caused the person distress, and never went away. That's two out of tons of others.
So to all you newbies to this like me who are dealing with this annoying ailment now... all you have to hear is some good news and you will feel better. The internet and medical stuff is so terrible because it makes everyone (my former self included) into such hypochondriacs. I had a very comforting and reassuring talk with my dentist yesterday who told me "I hate the internet! It's an evil black hole of medical information! Don't let horror stories on the internet affect you! People only post something when it bothers them a lot!"
When you read stuff on the internet, it makes it seem like Tinnitus is a permanent condition. And I know for some people it is. But go ask people about it in real life and you will see that most people will tell you that they had it for a few months and then it went away.
I feel that mine is going away because it started as ringing and is now low static. My dentist said that it may take a few months, but that it will go away. My neurologist said that it will go away. This guy at my local health food store told me it would go away. Every single person who is knowledgable about the topic tells me that IT WILL GO AWAY! Which is the OPPOSITE of what I read on the internet.
I have effectively rid myself of Tinnitus-related anxiety and depression in the past day by thinking the following things:
- There are far worse things besides some static/soft noises in my ears
- 90% of the cases I have heard about in real life have not been permanent, or if they are (like a friend of mine), they become a non-issue to the point where the person NEVER hears it unless they completely concentrate on it and otherwise never think about it (his was noise-induced, though... unlike mine)
- The statistic that over 40% of people in the whole world (that's almost 1 in 2) experience Tinnitus at some point
- I have had an MRI and blood work done and nothing at all is wrong with me
- My other TMJ symptoms have subsided substantially, leading me to believe that the T will continue to subside.
There you go. I hope this made some of you newbies feel better. I understand that there are people who have had this for a long, long time and that it still bothers them. My heart and prayers go out to you. I am not a religious person but I've had multiple prayers in my life come true so I have been praying for everyone with this for the past few days and will continue to.
Life is beautiful. Please don't let anxiety or depression beat you. It is the exact opposite of what the universe wants for us. It isn't worth it and will only lead to worse things. I was stressed about a lot of things which made me grind my teeth and clench my jaw which led to TMJ which led to Tinnitus. If I continue to be stressed, it will only make my body worse and it will continue to get annoying or even harmful ailments. So please everybody - stay positive. Keep yourselves healthy by not worrying or stressing about anything. I look back at things that I used to be stressed out by (like the first and only time I got a cold sore or the day before my Tinnitus started when I was freaking out about deep pimple on my nose that I had tried to pop leaving a scar in the middle of my face) and I can't believe how stressed out I was by them. I remember freaking out and crying in the doctor's office when I had that stupid cold sore and I haven't even gotten one again since then and that was two years ago. The pimple's residual redness is not noticeable to anyone and barely noticeable to me. When I think back to those events, I wish I could just go back in time with the mentality I have now and tell myself to not worry about it because in a few weeks it would be resolved and I wouldn't even be thinking about it anymore. That goes to show you - just relax and think positively and life will turn out all right. I suppose this is what I have learned from all of this and I'm sure that it will save me a lot of worry, stress, and fear in the future"

 

[Ken219]

@Asian First thank you for your prayers. We all wish we had do overs. We go forward from here. Always try to be a good person. We all think evil thoughts, it is the actions that count. I believe the main goal is to habituate. Thinking it will go away is fools gold. Habituation is the key and if you feel it is gone even better. God bless

 

[Jay M]

@Asian First thank you for your prayers. We all wish we had do overs. We go forward from here. Always try to be a good person. We all think evil thoughts, it is the actions that count. I believe the main goal is to habituate. Thinking it will go away is fools gold. Habituation is the key and if you feel it is gone even better. God bless

I had a very distinct buzzing that sounded like low current of electricity and could just barely hear over a conversation in 2012 for 6 weeks. It went completely away, not habituate, completely away. 2014 is a whole other experience.

 

[MarkD]

Believe me, it can go. I wouldn't think of it as permanent until plus 2 years - and maybe not even then. Our bodies are very smart. And if you think about it, when people leave a club their ears are ringing because of the hearing loss. Their ringing stops after their ears have adjusted to the loss. Why can't ours do the same, albeit it might take a little while longer.

Absolutely, if your T is a result of some unknown health issue and the health issue subsides or you learn to manage the health issue, then there's a good chance your T will go away or become barely audible that you no longer notice it.

If your T is the result of acoustic injury, then its possible good health and nutrition could repair the ear to some degree over time also. So one should never lose hope that their T will improve but at the same time you probably shouldn't let it consume you.

 

[khayla]

hi! i'm 13 and about three months ago i noticed a ringing in my right ear when i was trying to sleep. it doesn't bother me throughout the day, because i can only really hear it when i'm in dead silence or like at night when i'm in bed. it gets really annoying and i have no idea why i have it? like it came out of nowhere and i don't listen to loud music or anything. do you think it will go away? like i'm still really young and have a lot of my life ahead of me so i'm really scared

 

[user5871]

Khala don't copy paste throughout the forum. Just start your own topic. You may be scared but spamming the forum doesn't make people want to help.

 

[glynis]

Khayla,
I know you must feel scared and every right to be as tinnitus as invaded your quiet time .
These unwanted feelings cause a lot of distress and for you as also growing up with teenage issues on top.
Try not to worry if it will go as time is a great healer and concentrate on getting the help you can at school and help for sleep .
Ask your folks get you some ear plugs only to wear around loud sounds and music but not every day sounds as will make your ears sensitive .
We are all here for you so keep posting for support .
See if you can ask your doctor for some talking therapy as that will help you talking to someone who you can gain trust in and talk through any unwanted feelings you have with tinnitus....take care and wishing you all the best....lots of love glynis x

 

[linearb]

It definitely goes away for a lot of people. Almost everyone I know has had some degree of tinnitus after a concert or shooting or driving motorcycles which was very self-limiting, and I've also spoken to a number of people who had it resolve after weeks/months.

I also know someone who had it as an adderall side effect for 10 years, and had it go away after discontinuing the drug.

 

[Tamalak]

Yes, it goes away for a lot of people. I had it for 4 years and it is completely gone now. Also I have seen people do informal polls (talk to their friends and family) and discover that a lot of people had it and got rid of it.

I think people get the impression that T is always permanent because people who get cured don't talk about it. When I first got my T it would go away for weeks at a time and each time I not only thought it was gone forever, but I barely remembered it was a problem even though it was torture while present. "Out of hearing out of mind" I guess. And I never told my doctor it was cured or what cured it.. so I am partially responsible for ENTs' cluelessness

 

[suera]

It doesn't go away. If you have mild tinnitus I think it is easy to "learn to live with", if you have high pitched shrill screeching, I don't think it goes away, I don't think it's easy either when the "low T" people gloat about how grand life can be. I've known people who had low T and talked about turning a fan on for distraction etc. blah, blah, then one day the pitch cranked up and they were suicidal like the rest of us that have shrill high pitched t that is a sound no human is meant to live with daily and in fact they have used it as torture methods.

 

[Stina]

I dont think there is sufficient statistical data about how long tinnitus lasts but if you really want to know you should contact someone who is able to read and understand such papers.

From my experience I would say that life rarely turns of the way we want to so instead of focusing on hoping that it will go away you should focus in believing that you will be able to live a normal life with it. Also, if you have mild to moderate tinnitus it probably wont have major impact on your life.

However, as mentioned in the above post, loud tinnitus which is accompanied by hyperacusis is much harder to tolerate and in this case you should look for professional help in order to continue a normal life.

 

[william adams]

I talked to a lady that her husband worked in a glass factory and had T for over 20 years and one morning he woke up and his T was gone....You just never no but try to continue living your life as normal as possible, keep busy and do fun things that you enjoy and maybe it will leave for us too.