Habituation Is the Key

[musicdavis]

I have had loud tinnitus for over two years. The first 7 months were really rough.Like most it drove me to a very dark place.Luckily I was able to get out of it.I am writing this because I know first hand you will be able to get your life back and beat this.I will put in bullet points what I have learned.


HABITUATION: This is the key. It seemed this was impossible when I was going thru the tough times. It is not impossible. It will come. You just have to let it. You can,t force it.

THERE IS NO CURE: As soon as you understand and accept this habituation can come.Like you I spent hours on this board researching every little post.The problem is neuro and almost impossible to fix at this time.

SLEEP: This was the biggest problem. As soon as I got more regular sleep, my life slowly returned to me. I strongly suggest not using sound when sleeping. As soon as I stopped using sound, sleep came back to me. I started a regimen an hour before sleep and that worked well. When you cannot sleep, everything is off and hard to deal with.

HYPERACUSIS: In my opinion, this problem is worse than the tinnitus. It is fear of sound. I went through a point where I wore earplugs all the time. It is comforting but the fear is the worst part. As time goes on, you will expose yourself to more and more sound. I don't go to loud movies or indoor concerts anymore. Outdoor concerts away from the speakers is ok. It is hard to cause more damage when you wear earplugs.

SPIKES: These are the scariest and are connected to the hypercausis which you must beat to habituate. Spikes are scary because you don't know if they will go away. I promise you they will. Some are caused by sound or food or no reason at all. It is the fear of them that is worse than the actual spike.

DIET: I think this is a hot topic and like hyperacusis the fear of certain foods scares you because they seem to cause spikes which may or may not be true. At one point, I would not eat or drink things I liked and I was miserable. What is life without what you enjoy?

SUPPLEMENTS: I do take ginkgo and NAC. NAC is supposed to prevent further damage which I believe will help with your hypercausis. When you start to overcome the hyperacusis, that will help you get to habituation.

TALK TO PEOPLE: I hid in a shell. When I came out after habituation, I talked to friends and family and quite a few people have tinnitus and all of them had habituated. One person I knew had been habituated for 50 years. Many had it for 5 or 6 years and had great insight.

MESSAGE BOARDS: They are a good place to find information but can become a crutch. Let us face it. A lot of dark stories are on here and increase your anxiety. Limit your use. When I stopped is when habituation came faster.
I hope this information helps.

 

[Contrast]

Do you assume there will never be a cure in your life time, when there is an actual bio tech race to reverse hearing loss?

 

[Autumnly]

HYPERACUSIS: In my opinion, this problem is worse than the tinnitus. It is fear of sound.

Hyperacusis is not fear of sound, that's phonophobia. With hyperacusis can come fear of sounds but nonetheless these are two different conditions. Hyperacusis is "characterized by an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and volume ranges of sound (a collapsed tolerance to usual environmental sound)."

Spikes are scary because you don't know if they will go away. I promise you they will.

It is hard to cause more damage when you wear earplugs.

Well, my experience must be the exception.

Glad to hear you're coping well!

 

[threefirefour]

I thought positivity was

 

[Contrast]

Hyperacusis is not fear of sound, that's phonophobia. With hyperacusis can come fear of sounds but nonetheless these are two different conditions. Hyperacusis is "characterized by an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and volume ranges of sound (a collapsed tolerance to usual environmental sound)."



Well, my experience must be the exception.

Glad to hear you're coping well!

@Autumnly is right Hyperacusis is caused by biological problems in the inner ear and brain it is not psychological.

 

[Lane]

THERE IS NO CURE: As soon as you understand and accept this habituation can come.

Hi @musicdavis,

Thanks for your post, lots of good advice. I have to respectfully disagree with you on the "no cure" point however. From my perspective, it may be more accurate to say that conventional medicine has little to offer, and thus the chances of it being "cured" are low by going this route.

But in my relatively short time of dealing with tinnitus and doing a lot of research, I've run across a lot of success stories, of either significant or complete elimination of tinnitus. Most of these success stories were the result of using various alternative type therapies, such as certain supplements, yoga, meditation, CBD oil, various essential oils, cranial/sacral therapy, etc. Others achieved remission by protecting their ears, and then simply "waiting it out".

It appears eliminating certain "offending" foods, such as gluten can also make a huge difference for some people. I think I just stumbled on recognizing canola oil is not going to work for me. -- I do think however, that habituation is probably going to be a precursor to most significant improvements, so I think your points on how to best achieve that are vitally important to keep in mind. -- Thanks for posting!​

 

[PeterL]

Do you assume there will never be a cure in your life time, when there is an actual bio tech race to reverse hearing loss?

Quite honestly, a cure for tinnitus would almost certainly come under the category of blockbuster drug, so it is in biotech/pharmaceutical companies best interest to come up with a cure. A lot of money put into research goes towards drugs that will make the most profit.

 

[housemzk]

Instead of THERE IS NO CURE, I prefer YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IT FOREVER. Maybe you will, hopefully you won't, but once I reached the conclusion that I will probably have it forever, the habituation process became clear.

Truthfully, we can tell ourselves whatever we want. The larger point of his message is finding ways to move in a positive direction, which for many is, habituation.