Habituation: Did You Go Cold Turkey?

[Blujay]

When habituating to tinnitus, did you mix it with external sound devices, such as TRT ear pieces or desktop maskers?

Or did you just go "cold turkey" without the external sounds?

What were your results, time-wise?

 

[Steve721]

When habituating to tinnitus, did you mix it with external sound devices, such as TRT ear pieces or desktop maskers?

Or did you just go "cold turkey" without the external sounds?

What were your results, time-wise?

The TRT theory is that silence enhances T because, among other things, the auditory system turns up the gain when a person is in a silent environment. The standard analogy is looking at a birthday cake with a single lit candle in an otherwise dark room--the candle seems very bright. Once you turn on the lights or open the curtains and let sunlight in, the candle's perceived brightness greatly diminishes.

I'm not doing TRT--the TRT clinician I spoke with thought I was adjusting to my moderate T well enough that I didn't need TRT. But I do follow the TRT sound enhancement guidelines.

I have hearing aids that also function as broadband sound generators, and I almost always use the sound generators set a level where I can still clearly hear my T. At night, I use a white noise machine. Even though I can still hear my T, it doesn't bother me as much. Five months after I developed intrusive T, I'm now to the point where the response of the limbic/autonomous nervous system is turned off--no more panic attacks and my T is now just more of an annoyance. When I'm concentrating at work or reading a book or watching a movie, there are times when I don't focus on it at all.

Hope this helps.

 

[noisebox]

Well before this years setback, I had T for nearly 3 years and had habituated to it. I did not go for sound enrichment at all. I hated sound gens in my ear. My T is reactive and they just wound it up. I never felt the need for sound at night. My T loved the quiet. Right now I'm trying again to habituate, back to no sound at night, just a little clock, my T still hates noise and always goes down when I'm in bed.

 

[glynis]

I used sound therapy then on to white noise generators and now hearing aids with sound generators.
If your tinnitus is mild and dont notice it much then its ok.
If your tinnitus is troublesome then sound therapy can really help.
My tinnitus is through having menieres so need the hearing aids....lots of love glynis

 

[Rina]

I've had t for 8 months now.. I used to mask at the beginning but it did not work... I have not taken any benzos( afraid of addiction and withdrawals) cold turkey I went! It wa ms hard the first 5-6 months with the anxiety attacks and panick attacks.. But thank to God I managed and now things are better.. I do have setbacks because of anxiety but not near as they were in the beginning... It's possible and I. My opinion is better because you learn to cope without meds... Although I have to say that I've taken hydroxyzine every now and then to sleep .. I will say 20 in the whole 8 months which is almost like 2 pills or 3 a month which is not a lot... But have not used any other on a daily basis.. So yes it's possible to donor cold turkey... Not easy !!!! But doable.. Plus you don't have to deal with withdrawals of any kind.. God bless you... Love, Rina

 

[Atlantis]

Cold turkey seems impossible, TRT encourages the use of external sound.

Water fountains are brilliant!

 

[Bertman]

I'm trying my best to habituate myself, I don't use sound generators or anything except I play white noise on my tv to sleep. But I do try to always have some background noise on such as a fan or tv

 

[awbw8]

I used quite a bit of extra sound (not in-ear) when I was habituating. I had an app on my phone (Relax Melodies - or something like that) and played sounds from that, as well as a life-saving little noisemaker thing that played pretty realistic cricket noises when I slept.

Personally, I don't think it's so much sound or no sound that makes you habituate more quickly or more slowly. The sound is a tool to help reduce anxiety and thoughts about the tinnitus. If it's not doing that for you, then it doesn't matter if you're listening to sound or not. It's the anxiety and the panic that tells your brain that T is a dangerous sound and fro you to keep looking for it and holding it above all else in importance. From what I've learned it's mostly a process of time and biology to let things fade into the background, but if you can help it along by listening to music, playing video games, meditating etc. - anything that gives you time where it doesn't panic you, even if it's in small increments, that helps the process along.

Good luck and we're here for you

 

[Constable85]

White noise and the like irritate and "stir up" my hiss. I prefer quiet.

 

[Blujay]

I'm learning that there are a couple of disadvantages to masking (the advantages are obvious). The first is of particular concern:

1. Frequent masking makes it difficult to know whether you are making the tinnitus worse on a daily basis.

2. Masking can have very short-term effects on anxiety, because of this psychological effect: it's like hiding the boogeyman behind a curtain, knowing that he will simply jump out later, in a quieter moment, to loudly scare the blank out of you, and show you what's really happening. Knowing this can give masking a real bittersweet feel, (with emphasis on the bitter).


Has anyone dealt with these hurdles?