I developed intrusive almost 4 months ago now.
I think my negative reaction to it is slowly subsiding (the panic), though I am still far from being able to ignore it and not feel sad about it.
I have gotten two different opinions from two different ENTs about whether tinnitus usually improves or "goes away."
The first ENT that I saw, shortly after my onset, looked at my test results and told me it would likely "resolve itself" with time as many cases do.
The second ENT I saw, a few weeks later, told me bluntly to give up hope that it would ever go away. I saw him again today for a follow-up. He said most of his patients adjust to it in 6-12 months, but you basically just have to get used to it the way it is. This ENT says he has had tinnitus since childhood and for most of his life has not been concerned about it.
I'm not sure who to believe on whether it gets better or goes away once you've have it for more than a few weeks or months. I certainly hope it does get better.
If my tinnitus just would stop spiking so loudly, I could habituate to it very quickly. I told the ENT that, too, but he said get used to the spikes, cause they do not stop either.
I also spoke with this ENT about some of the new therapies and treatments that are in clinical trials. He seemed very skeptical about whether Vagus Nerve stimulation or the autifony drug would work, and even said at this point in his life, he would be reluctant to take any sort of treatment for his own tinnitus because the side effects could be worse than the T itself.
However, he said that if a successful treatment does happen, he would have to hire a security guard because he expects that the doors to his office would be stampeded by all the patients he has seen with T who would want the cure.
We both laughed about that.
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