Hi
@Furetto.
I don't think what you're experiencing will significantly affect your tinnitus fading over time. As you go through the habituation process, the tinnitus should gradually recede into the background. You mentioned in a post from 2020 that this happened to you, where you were able to forget about the tinnitus most of the time.
Moving forward, you noticed an increase in your tinnitus after playing the drums. I advise against playing them again.
Try not to stay in quiet rooms or environments, especially at night. Placing a sound machine by your bedside for low-level sound enrichment can help. Using your laptop is fine, as long as it doesn't have an internal fan or spinning hard drive that could add unwanted noise.
Hello Michael,
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to go through my old posts to help me. I really appreciate it.
I believe my first experience with tinnitus was due to cervical problems (I have a protrusion), which would explain all the symptoms I had at the time. My ENT mentioned that the body would go through an adaptation process and everything would eventually disappear, which it did. I never experienced those feelings again.
That first episode of tinnitus eventually faded to almost zero, and I considered myself cured. This is likely why I was reckless with drums, especially since I didn't associate my initial tinnitus with noise trauma. I had been in noisy places before without any problems, but perhaps that particular rehearsal was just a bit too much.
I now believe that noise trauma triggered a resurgence of my latent tinnitus. Lately, I've been feeling overly anxious because, by the end of August, it seemed like I had turned a corner, but since September, I've taken one or two steps back.
On a positive note, I no longer feel the "feverish" sensation inside my ears, so I see that as a step toward recovery.
I am following your advice about avoiding quiet rooms. I've started wearing headphones around my neck (not on my ears) with low-volume crickets playing as sound enrichment, so it follows me wherever I go. This method has helped me not notice the tinnitus as much around the house. However, the moment I take them off, the tinnitus becomes noticeable again. It's strange because the crickets at the lowest volume hide it so well, yet when I ride my scooter to the gym, I always hear it. Maybe it's because the helmet traps the sounds in my head?
I am only entering month two of this, and I know it's early. Since my tinnitus is not severe, I will most likely return to where I was in a few months, but for some reason, I still feel scared and anxious. I am practicing mindfulness twice a day and taking 0.25 mg of Alprazolam (the minimum dosage). I am also following a supplement regimen that I posted in another comment.
Since you are one of the best experts in the group, any feedback from you would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you again.
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