I read on a similar thread you have habituated to high frequency tinnitus. I am really struggling with that right now. 3 weeks after noise trauma and it seems to be worsening. I was hoping for improvement. I can't seem to mask it. I have tried rain, crickets etc. They only make it louder or are just not high pitched enough. I've had tinnitus on and off for years. I've always been able to mask it and both times it eventually went away as my hearing improved. This is definitely a whole other animal though, as this is elevated to a completely different level. I had intermittent high frequency tinnitus before but this is nothing like what I'm experiencing now. Higher pitched and louder. Combo of a jet engine and hissing.
So desperate that I am googling TRT providers - I can't really afford that. Still waiting on a hearing test.
Can you tell my how you managed?
I take:
- NAC
- Magnesium
- Soundbites
- Ginkgo Biloba
- Clonazepam
Thanks so much.
I don't know what you read, but I'm usually sort of careful in how I describe "habituation", since I still take 2 drugs to manage anxiety that is substantially associated with tinnitus (though predates it by years, if we're being honest).
You're in early times with this, which sucks because it's the rough part, but also is good because there's a substantial chance you will see some degree of improvement over the next 3-6 months, especially if you can avoid further noise exposure and manage to get some rest.
I remember the desperation and googling and taking a billion supplements and all that. I take Klonopin and Gabapentin. I take Alpha-Lipoic Acid on and off, mostly because if there's anything at all to the science of consuming antioxidants then it's maybe a generally good thing to do and at worst an expensive waste of time. I use cannabis, and I do think that helps me sleep, but (once I get through the withdrawal insomnia and shittiness) I can go without that one and it's not that big a deal other than I miss it because I like it, so I'd barely call that tinnitus related, it's just a thing I can grow legally for fun here that helps me sleep, so I do all that.
Anyway, enough about me. I don't really think this can be rushed. You're suffering immensely right now. There are probably a number of different paths that lead out of that, but, none of them are likely to be
fast. My only real advice is, "avoid noise, be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself, don't be mad at yourself for having the noise, don't be mad at yourself for being fixated on the noise, and do whatever you can that seems to lead to a somewhat calmer state of mind that isn't something super dangerous like heroin".
My path was long and involved a lot of supplements and drugs that didn't work, learning how to meditate, experimenting with meditating with earplugs on, 14 ENTs, 9 audiologists, 3 GPs, 2 neurologists and 2 TMJ experts, TMJ therapy, mindfulness, mediation classes, moving the hell out of a stressful and loud city into a relatively calm and quiet part of the woods, going back on Valium "as needed", having a kid, eventually going back on Klonopin plus Gabapentin as a daily drug (since 2017), having another kid, changing jobs four times over this timeframe, uh, getting back into downhill skiing and then learning how to ski at a level I have never been capable of before, getting involved in my local community both politically and in terms of some Qi-Gong and Zen meditation groups that meet here, etc etc etc.
I am not suggesting you should do all, or
any of that stuff, as much as, when you eventually come to a better place and then several years later someone finds your posts and asks you "well, how did you do it and what did you do?" you may end up giving an answer like this.
It's your story, the ending isn't nearly written yet, and we all have very specific needs and also very specific physical factors that contribute to our condition.
"Learn to love yourself in spite of the tinnitus, everything else will follow", is the
really facile way of looking at this.
Best and warmest wishes and feel free to reach out.
P.S. Also my own story is similar just in that I had tinnitus I was aware of from 1999-2010, I was actually on Klonopin 2000-2005 and then withdrew without having much tinnitus problems, and then ravaged my ears with an insanely loud concert in 2010 which made this whole thing a different beast. Or was it 2011? Don't even remember now, or care, really, this is just my life now. I was obsessed for years with "what if I hadn't gone to that concert" and now I can't even tell you what year it was!
And one other tidbit: if all else fails, and you have the time to do it, go do something like volunteer in a soup kitchen or any other thing where you feel like you are providing a service to other people. Not because this will make your problem go away, but because the act of realizing your existence even in this state of suffering has value to other people, may help you find good thoughts to cling to in moments of insane darkness.
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