- Nov 11, 2019
- 225
- Tinnitus Since
- 2013
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Acoustic Trauma + stress?
I first got tinnitus on a random Wednesday in 2013 and it stayed with me every since. It sounded like static.
I eventually habituated to it and got on with life, and it even seemed to be down-trending in volume. I can remember days in 2020 that were quieter than days in 2017, for example It still bothered me though, enough to make an appointment with Lenire, and donate money to tinnitus researchers. In reality, I didn't know the meaning of the word tinnitus. I didn't know I was living in God's kingdom.
December 2020 was a very stressful month for me, and I was around a lot of noise, courtesy of a deaf cat in my house that liked to fight with a feral cat through the sliding glass door. One day in late December, my cat let out a VERY loud screech, very close to me, and it felt like daggers stabbing me in my ears. The following day my ears popped--just for a second--but very noticeably, and then after getting off a phone call, I noticed that my tinnitus had quadrupled in volume, with several new sounds accompanying.
There was tea kettle whistling, humming, crickets, ringing, and a piercing electrical sound, and the sound of sand being poured onto a metal plate. I've been sleeping with 2 fans for several years, and there were nights where I was woken up by unbelievably loud sounds that easily masked the sound of both fans. My hyperacusis which, up until this point was very mild, got much worse. Aluminum foil felt like a slap to the face.
I thought my life was over, I was having daily panic attacks, I lost the love of my life, and I couldn't appreciate anything in life anymore. I'd go more into detail about the suffering, but I guess I'm preaching to the choir. It is strange and uncanny to know all positive emotions as a memory. Contentment, happiness, relaxation -- all distant memories.
After about 3.5 months, in April, I started having an anomalously quiet day here and there. Not often, but enough to give me some hope, and then I'd have another 2 weeks of setbacks followed by another decent day. I can recall the good days right here, as a time series. April 28, May 18, June 11, June 15, July 8, August 7, 9, 11-14, 15, 16. August has been so quiet and really gave me hope, I thought I was out of the woods.
Yesterday, I dropped a butter knife dropped 7 inches onto a metal bowl in my kitchen sink and my tinnitus has been much worse today, but I wanted to at least record the improvement, for others but also for myself. It is possible for it to get better. This happened to me at the age of 30 and I'm 31 now, so hoping the same improvement is still possible.
I did take a lot of NAC, Magnesium glycinate, and Curcumin all this time.
I was also exposed to too many loud sounds during this period, despite my best efforts. Bowls and plates dropping in the sink (60-90 dB), slamming a frying pan against a metal grate (80-100 dB), electrical static from a phone call being dropped (75 dB), oh and the damn cat.
I'm apprehensive about calling this anything close to a success story, but the good days happened, they really did.
Hang in there.
I eventually habituated to it and got on with life, and it even seemed to be down-trending in volume. I can remember days in 2020 that were quieter than days in 2017, for example It still bothered me though, enough to make an appointment with Lenire, and donate money to tinnitus researchers. In reality, I didn't know the meaning of the word tinnitus. I didn't know I was living in God's kingdom.
December 2020 was a very stressful month for me, and I was around a lot of noise, courtesy of a deaf cat in my house that liked to fight with a feral cat through the sliding glass door. One day in late December, my cat let out a VERY loud screech, very close to me, and it felt like daggers stabbing me in my ears. The following day my ears popped--just for a second--but very noticeably, and then after getting off a phone call, I noticed that my tinnitus had quadrupled in volume, with several new sounds accompanying.
There was tea kettle whistling, humming, crickets, ringing, and a piercing electrical sound, and the sound of sand being poured onto a metal plate. I've been sleeping with 2 fans for several years, and there were nights where I was woken up by unbelievably loud sounds that easily masked the sound of both fans. My hyperacusis which, up until this point was very mild, got much worse. Aluminum foil felt like a slap to the face.
I thought my life was over, I was having daily panic attacks, I lost the love of my life, and I couldn't appreciate anything in life anymore. I'd go more into detail about the suffering, but I guess I'm preaching to the choir. It is strange and uncanny to know all positive emotions as a memory. Contentment, happiness, relaxation -- all distant memories.
After about 3.5 months, in April, I started having an anomalously quiet day here and there. Not often, but enough to give me some hope, and then I'd have another 2 weeks of setbacks followed by another decent day. I can recall the good days right here, as a time series. April 28, May 18, June 11, June 15, July 8, August 7, 9, 11-14, 15, 16. August has been so quiet and really gave me hope, I thought I was out of the woods.
Yesterday, I dropped a butter knife dropped 7 inches onto a metal bowl in my kitchen sink and my tinnitus has been much worse today, but I wanted to at least record the improvement, for others but also for myself. It is possible for it to get better. This happened to me at the age of 30 and I'm 31 now, so hoping the same improvement is still possible.
I did take a lot of NAC, Magnesium glycinate, and Curcumin all this time.
I was also exposed to too many loud sounds during this period, despite my best efforts. Bowls and plates dropping in the sink (60-90 dB), slamming a frying pan against a metal grate (80-100 dB), electrical static from a phone call being dropped (75 dB), oh and the damn cat.
I'm apprehensive about calling this anything close to a success story, but the good days happened, they really did.
Hang in there.
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