Another update, if anyone cares to read this. It was supposed to be short, but it ended up being long
I am 22 days into a better, fairly stable stretch after a similarly long, bad stretch of loud tinnitus. I finally started tracking it with a very simple 3-level scale, where one is low and three is high. My 45-day long average is ~1.86. My 22-day long average (month of April) is ~1.06. Yay.
Low is relative. It is still usually maddeningly loud tinnitus upon waking up, but one that usually goes down within an hour or so to a level I can function with - that "low" level is moderate/severe by most standards. It is never maskable, not even by a shower (at best 80-90%), but one that I can push into the background and do something, like work, read, play chess, watch a movie, or go for a walk. It continues to be reactive to certain sounds, typically refrigerator hum, water boiling, cat purring (really sad), or car engines.
The tinnitus follows a relatively stable pattern - severe static/electrical storm upon waking up, receding somewhat after one hour - shower and its residual inhibition effect is important here, I think. As the day goes on, the tinnitus turns into a ringing/tonal one, which is reliable now. This is a big change from before, when tonal tinnitus was rare for me, maybe 10% of the time. Now it is, say, 50-60% of the time. It's very weird; no idea what caused the change. I hate it all, but for me, the tonal periods tend to be quieter, so it is easier to tolerate.
Hyperacusis continues to improve very slowly. Even Harley motorbikes started to become tolerable, or some loud V8 cars. Some diesel trucks still sound hellish, but less so. Other noises that were sounding unusually loud, like creaky wood floors and small planes, sounded almost normal. I guess my hyperacusis now could be classified as mild/moderate, trending towards mild. If hyperacusis were my only problem, I would consider myself 95% cured. This also means I completely abandoned plans of trying Clomipramine; not worth the risk of tinnitus worsening or, even worse, getting visual snow syndrome.
Fleeting noxacusis seems much less frequent again. Here and there, I usually feel something warm or off in my right ear, but not too often. Overall, it's ignorable. If this were my only issue, I'd consider myself 99.5% cured.
Nothing really changed in my lifestyle. Generally quiet, working remotely, limited sound exposure, just semi-daily 10-minute car trips to a coffee shop and woods for an hourly walk. Hardly venture anywhere else unless really necessary. I am exposed to household noises but avoid dishwasher, frying, boiling, microwave, etc. But I can be in the same room with my wife, handling dishes without much discomfort at a distance. I only use hearing protection (custom 25 dB earplugs) when driving the car or inside stores or gas stations (where I am very rarely).
Life is still hard. Every day, I wake up thinking I don't want to be alive. But eventually, I get up and start moving. By the later part of the day, I am okay to be alive. I sleep usually okay, sometimes longer (8-9 hours), sometimes less (5-6 hours).
I keep taking some supplements, mostly NAD+ (NR), Resveratrol. I can't say they do much. I am thinking about upping my intake of Resveratrol by switching to a liposomal sublingual one. Apparently, Resveratrol can increase the KCC2 protein that is responsible for both tinnitus and hyperacusis, allegedly (I posted a link to a paper in the Research News section). I do not suppose these can't hurt much. I have also been drinking Ginger tea for many months, no idea if it helps keep noxacusis at bay, but I sort of like / got used to it, so I keep drinking it.
I still keep thinking about moving to a quieter place where I won't hear any man-made noises from outside or annoying mechanical noises inside. I am furious I occasionally need to leave the house because a neighbor across the street finds it necessary to have a leaf blower going on for six hours (no exaggeration). I think being in quiet, relaxing surroundings would do wonders to reduce stress levels. I really dislike our house and location, but it could be much, much worse.
It is what it is. I feel this is a death march that inevitably worsens, but I want to delay that moment as long as I can. I still do not believe in any mind-over-matter nonsense or having positive thoughts, etc. I am more cynical than I have ever been. It is not a mind game in the end. Yes, getting oneself busy and distracted can help, but only to a point. This is a very serious, incurable neurological condition, which, at a severe level, can make life completely unlivable. I continue to live while I can until... I won't be able to.
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