Habituation May Not Be What You Think It Is...

Habituation makes it so that the medical community doesn't have to give a damn.
It's really hard, but I've learned to be 'ok' with it. I never have full days of no tinnitus, but I do get a few hours sometimes. I can find no rhyme or reason for these episodes of (relative) quietness, but if I had to say one thing, it would be exercise.

I really hope you can learn to be okay with it.
 
I think that for a lot of people habituation does, exactly mean that they are not consciously aware of the noise and actually don't think about it very much. Several of my friends are in this spot, including one who has loud, bilateral, multitone tinnitus.

My own brain doesn't really do that very well naturally, but my experience of life since finding a med stack that works for me is pretty similar*: sound always there, always loud, can go hours and hours without thinking about it at all. A couple weekends ago I was out doing small gas engine stuff so I was wearing earplugs, and after a couple hours I realized that despite the plugs I hadn't "heard" the ringing at all. Of course, as soon as I have a thought like that, boom, there it is, but if I am not in a high anxiety / distress state then it tends to fall back by the wayside pretty quickly.

* minus, of course, the fear that one day the meds stop working, but what is life if not uncertainty and risk?
 
Yeah, given tinnitus seems to be brain issue, I am sure there is a lot variability in people's experience with it. The older people I know that have had tinnitus for >10 years all say they still hear it, it just doesn't bother them. If it doesn't bother you, it is no longer a problem.

I can go for long periods where I don't pay attention to it while working or focused on a task, but the second my mind shifts off the task, it's there...
 
Of what, may I ask, does that med stack comprise?
Clonazepam, Gabapentin and THC. I wouldn't really expect this to work for anyone else and I also do not think it is a safe or good idea. I have extensive experience being on Clonazepam going back to my teens, my brain is not wired like a normal person's.
 
Habituation makes it so that the medical community doesn't have to give a damn.
It's like having any chronic medical condition but giving up on people helping you.
So either you kill yourself or you keep going.

And god help you when it gets worse because you just might.

I'm very envious of those whose tinnitus "goes away for a few days". That would give me so much crazy hope and living would be night and day. That would be closer to success than "getting used to it".

Habituation, in my opinion, is not success, and I cringe when I read about those on here as a success story, it's building a thick skin and coping mechanisms beyond what normal people have.

But you shouldn't have to, and you did nothing wrong to deserve this constant torture, even if it becomes all you remember hearing.
I absolutely agree with this. Habituation is something that can be generalized to every chronic disease that does not get even worse over time and has no treatment. We poor people have no choice but to get used to the burden we have to carry and calling it a cure is a bad joke. What else we can do? Jump off a bridge? We have to move on somehow, but pseudoscientists exploiting this fact that we are able to at least partially return to normal life by getting used to this is morbid. Treatments like TRT and CBT should be done only as a temporary needed evil until a real cure is found and not proclaiming this palliative care as tinnitus cure. Oh.

Also, I would add that I think the Success Stories subforum should be at least divided between habituation posting and real success. Because I think that when a person gets bothersome tinnitus, has it for 2-3 weeks and it never goes away despite treatments, they start to panic and the first thing they are going to do is to search for success stories and I don't think they want to read stories like I have raging 24/7 tinnitus and I don't care about it at all and similar ones. Because a person that is not already used to living with any chronic disease will never understand how can one live with a disaster like this. And it will make them even more depressed.
 
Also, I would add that I think the Success Stories subforum should be at least divided between habituation posting and real success. Because I think that when a person gets bothersome tinnitus, has it for 2-3 weeks and it never goes away despite treatments, they start to panic and the first thing they are going to do is to search for success stories and I don't think they want to read stories like I have raging 24/7 tinnitus and I don't care about it at all and similar ones. Because a person that is not already used to living with any chronic disease will never understand how can one live with a disaster like this. And it will make them even more depressed.
Hey there! We've had this plan for quite some time, and we agree this would add value to the forum. But... it would mean someone has to go through the nearly 1000 threads on the Success Stories forum and categorize them all! Also, we'd need some web development to be able to add the tags. It remains on our list, but not top priority, since we have to use our limited resources sparingly.

By the way, I don't agree with your assessment that all 'newbies' want is to read stories of tinnitus going away. I've encountered many new members here over the years, and can attest to the fact that many of them do find hope in the habituation stories. Everyone is different and comes to this forum looking for their own answers. We try to cater to them all...
 
Thanks. And have you tried without the THC? Does the Jastreboff protocol work - and can you take Clonazepam long term?
I like THC and it gives me much better sleep onset and duration than I get through any other means.

Taking benzos long term is a terrible idea, but that's my plan at the moment.
 
How long did it take for your mom? What was the cause of her tinnitus?
It took her a little over a year. We believe it was caused by antibiotics. She can choose to listen to it or not, and when she does, it means nothing to her. Classic example of habituation.

I hope I can get there one day too. Mine is noise induced.
 
Habituation makes it so that the medical community doesn't have to give a damn.
It's like having any chronic medical condition but giving up on people helping you.
So either you kill yourself or you keep going.

And god help you when it gets worse because you just might.

I'm very envious of those whose tinnitus "goes away for a few days". That would give me so much crazy hope and living would be night and day. That would be closer to success than "getting used to it".

Habituation, in my opinion, is not success, and I cringe when I read about those on here as a success story, it's building a thick skin and coping mechanisms beyond what normal people have.

But you shouldn't have to, and you did nothing wrong to deserve this constant torture, even if it becomes all you remember hearing.
I get where you're coming from, and the anger at no one being able to fix this is apparent. But here's the thing. Habituation is not a cure, we know that. A cure would be amazing, but we don't have one and being angry about that is a waste of energy. It's just not there.

Do you have to give up on people helping you? In some ways, yes. There are things that can help of course, but it's you that has to live with this, maybe for now, maybe forever. Habituation may not be success to you, but it is for a lot of people because they've accepted there isn't currently a cure and have given up hating themselves and the medical community for not being able to 'fix' them.

And think about it, what's wrong with developing coping mechanisms that other people don't have to have? If you're doing everything you can to live your life and enjoy it as much as you can, is there really a problem? If other people habituating and moving on makes you cringe, that's your issue not theirs.

No one 'deserves' any medical issue, but unfortunately we are human, our bodies do things out of our control and not everyone gets away with perfect health. Kids 'shouldn't' die of cancer, but they do. People 'shouldn't' have strokes and be left with locked-in syndrome, but they do. The list could go on forever.

Unfortunately, this is our reality. We have noise. All day every day. There's often no explanation for it, there's no definitive solution and no one is coming to save us right now, so negativity towards those who are saving themselves by choosing to let go of the hate and the anger is unnecessary.

My brain is SCREAMING right now because I have a problem with my auditory system. And what? It isn't actually doing anything to me, it's just noise and I'm going to tell myself over and over again, as many times as I have to that I'm going to overcome this and have a good life because what's the alternative? Believe I'm forever doomed because my hearing/brain is knackered? The only person that's going to hurt is me because the rest of the world will carry on with or without me. This is the choice we all have to make because it's the only thing we have control over in all this.
 
In my case, I got so used to my tinnitus that it does not bother me anymore. I can hear it all the time but because it does not trigger any emotions, I am not consciously aware of its presence. Therefore, I don't care if it is there or not. It does not interfere with my life or quality of life. From what I have have read, this is what many call "habituation".
 
In my case, I got so used to my tinnitus that it does not bother me anymore. I can hear it all the time but because it does not trigger any emotions, I am not consciously aware of its presence. Therefore, I don't care if it is there or not. It does not interfere with my life or quality of life. From what I have have read, this is what many call "habituation".
That seems to be pretty much what it is. For me, I just have a feeling of sadness and loss. I spend a lot of time in the woods alone. I remember loving the stillness of woods at night. It's all gone now.
 
That seems to be pretty much what it is. For me, I just have a feeling of sadness and loss. I spend a lot of time in the woods alone. I remember loving the stillness of woods at night. It's all gone now.
I have once read a post on Tinnitus Talk saying that silence is the absence of external sounds. It may not be easy at all, but I think that if you are at peace with your internal sounds, you may enjoy "silence". You may enjoy the peacefulness of the woods again. I am not sure if it is achievable for some or everyone, but at least it is a different approach which may be worth a shot.
 
I have once read a post on Tinnitus Talk saying that silence is the absence of external sounds. It may not be easy at all, but I think that if you are at peace with your internal sounds, you may enjoy "silence". You may enjoy the peacefulness of the woods again. I am not sure if it is achievable for some or everyone, but at least it is a different approach which may be worth a shot.
My problem comes when I hear my "silence" all day...
 
Hey there! We've had this plan for quite some time, and we agree this would add value to the forum. But... it would mean someone has to go through the nearly 1000 threads on the Success Stories forum and categorize them all! Also, we'd need some web development to be able to add the tags. It remains on our list, but not top priority, since we have to use our limited resources sparingly.

By the way, I don't agree with your assessment that all 'newbies' want is to read stories of tinnitus going away. I've encountered many new members here over the years, and can attest to the fact that many of them do find hope in the habituation stories. Everyone is different and comes to this forum looking for their own answers. We try to cater to them all...
I've read every success story - I volunteer for this if you want it.
 
Sounds great! Do you want to just make a start, and then we'll have a chat once you've made some progress?
Sure, I'll initially sort to achieved silence/near silence, reduced volume, and no reduced volume but habituation/mindset change, if you think that makes sense.
 
When you are habituated, what % of your conscious energy are you supposed to spend "not paying attention to the sound?"

I feel like I'm at 50% right now.
 
In my case, I got so used to my tinnitus that it does not bother me anymore. I can hear it all the time but because it does not trigger any emotions, I am not consciously aware of its presence. Therefore, I don't care if it is there or not. It does not interfere with my life or quality of life. From what I have have read, this is what many call "habituation".
I agree with you on 'bother me' but it is the spikes that hurt.
 
If you don't have hearing loss up to 8 kHz, why do you wear hearing aids?
I originally started wearing hearing aids simply as in-ear masking devices. However, I then decided to use a little bit of amplification as well, largely because I tried using amplification and found it to be helpful.
 
When you are habituated, what % of your conscious energy are you supposed to spend "not paying attention to the sound?"
In my case it went down to almost 0%. I rarely think about my tinnitus. But for me it is not so much about paying attention, the big win for me was when my tinnitus stopped affecting my emotional state. Nowadays if I pay attention to my tinnitus, it is without an emotional reaction.
 

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