Let Time Do Its Work: Tinnitus Used to Consume My Attention — Now It's a Non-Issue

[cruise]

I first heard my tinnitus almost 3 years ago. At first I experienced basically all negative emotions that you may have read about or may be experiencing. The continuous anxiety led to a few very bad months. Not sleeping well was the worst part. I also remember saying to myself that if I can only sleep normally again, I could handle the rest. But I never skipped work or any other family duties, I just kept going and kept fighting. Until things slowly started getting better. The cure: time.

The first few nights of good sleep was a blessing. But then came a relapse that made me feel even worse than before. It was simply because I saw some progression that suddenly disappeared again. That was maybe the worst time of all. But after a few weeks I started getting better sleep again. And since then I never had any sleep problems. Again the cure was: time.

So now I sleep like a baby again. I always hear my tinnitus in bed but it doesn't bother me and it just jumps in and out of my awareness, and it's mostly out. How this happened? My only answer: time.

To make a long story short, my experience is that I suffered all the negative because I was prone to get anxious about tinnitus and it was consuming my attention all day and night. Time has made me get used to tinnitus so much that it has totally become a non-issue. The loudness does vary but does not make a difference in how I react, which is basically no reaction at all. Nowadays, if for some reason I get aware of my tinnitus, it usually takes seconds before I am unaware again. It is not a "thing" anymore but I always told myself that I will share my story one day, because stories of others did help me in the early stages, when I was looking for answers and hope.

So for all of you that are suffering now, hang in there, be brave, let time do it's work.

 

[Drachen]

Thank you for stopping by to share your story.

It does seem like for the vast majority of people, time is the answer. As I am now a month into my symptom, I am still in that phase where both the past and present are bleak. Right now as I'm writing this, the noise is particularly piercing, and I came off a rough night of little sleep.

It's incredibly hard to get through the present towards the hopeful future where you might find yourself able to adjust. Feeling as if the days are going by wasted and marred by this incredibly distressing condition is a real honest to God pain.

However, it is certainly inspirational to hear how you've achieved a decent sense of normalcy. Defeating anxiety is a massive undertaking, and I applaud your ability to overcome its grasp.

 

[cruise]

@Drachen It's a very good sign that you realize that you are in a phase, meaning, there will be other, better, phases to come. Time will bring the next phase and the next.

News: your time now is not being wasted. You are building mental strength, believe it or not. Once you are past this, you will realize that the strength you have gained will help you with other challenges and will help you help others with their challenges.

And btw I am not a decent sense of normalcy. I am just at normalcy. Tinnitus has become a non-issue to me.

 

[T Toledo OH]

@Drachen It's a very good sign that you realize that you are in a phase, meaning, there will be other, better, phases to come. Time will bring the next phase and the next.

News: your time now is not being wasted. You are building mental strength, believe it or not. Once you are past this, you will realize that the strength you have gained will help you with other challenges and will help you help others with their challenges.

And btw I am not a decent sense of normalcy. I am just at normalcy. Tinnitus has become a non-issue to me.

How long did it take for you to habituate?

 

[cruise]

How long did it take for you to habituate?

It took about 4 months before I felt OK and that I was confident that the worst part was behind me. I never had sleep issues after the first 4 months, no masking. That was probably the biggest milestone of all. With better sleep, everything becomes easier. It took another 4 months or so before I felt that I fully accepted the sounds and they did no longer influenced my mood, and therefore were no longer present in my awareness most of the time.

 

[Mags]

Thank you for sharing the positive story.

Did you experience worsening of your symptoms in the first 4 months at any point?

My tinnitus was mild/moderate for the first 3 months, but in the last 10 days I've had a new tone that is simply crushing me. I had been starting to do well before it appeared out of the blue. I'm 3 months 10 days in and feel really scared that it's just worsening. Still hopeful it will go back to previous level somehow.

 

[Pughma84]

Hi @cruise, I am intrigued by your amazing progress and story. I have now had my tinnitus for the best part of 7 months (right ear only). No hearing loss or diagnosis unfortunately provided by anyone.

If I look back 6 months, it used to regularly start and stop but now it is a permanent albeit very quiet noise I only tend to hear in silent rooms. Central heating masks it coupled with certain TV volumes, I also struggle to hear it outside now which is progress to an extent.

However, what bothers me and gets me down the most is even though it's very quiet noise it has a pulsing quality to it and I'm trying to be brave and go into silent rooms but I don't just want to sit there and listen to it as it still makes me super anxious and if I'm tired I will sleep but it takes up so much of my mind.

I don't know how to get out of this routine of checking it all the time I'm somewhere quiet. Since Christmas I haven't had to work too hard to find it's always there. The point is it still bothers me whenever I go to a quiet room and I know you mention time is a great healer but my brain doesn't seem to be getting used to it at all, it feels like a constant circle and if it was a static pitch would be half the battle for me but its a very quiet irritating tinny noise I just cannot get used to.

Majority of the day I don't hear it with central heating and I play my radio or if I go running or tennis (lockdown now in Britain sadly).

I just feel like I'm caught between what best approach is, I feel like my brain just can't put it to background in a quiet room so is there anything I can do to help tell my brain it's not an important sound and please put it in background. More and more things seem to help mask it now but now I'm hyper aware of what those natural maskers are which sucks. Nothing seems to help in total silence but I can't completely avoid this full stop.

I just feel in complete limbo everyday and wondered if you had any tips or why it seems to be taking me so long to find any moments of progress now? I feel I've come some way but now feel it won't get to improve to any further level and I literally want a 10-20% further improvement to be happy again once and for all and stop even thinking or talking about this stupid sound.

Kind regards,
Steve

 

[Forever hopeful]

@Pughma84, Steve, your story sounds very similar to what happened to me when I first got tinnitus. I got bilateral tinnitus in 2015 after a rock concert. I had my hearing tested it was fine. Generally speaking I could only hear it in quiet rooms. For me it sounded like light sabers in my head and an occasional ring. I went through hell. I was taking anti-anxieties but I managed to still function, go to work etc. etc. When I found this site I realized that I actually had it quite mildly but it doesn't diminish your own experience with it. Although truth be told, there were some people on the site who were quite nasty to me because mine was mild. After two years I noticed I didn't need to sound machines anymore or the sound pillow. For me my tinnitus actually went away for about three years.

Then last year, in March, I developed an echo in my left ear. I went to the ENT completely convinced I had an ear infection or fluid in my ear and I didn't. I had a hearing test and I had hearing loss at one low frequency and the hearing loss was very mild. The ENT felt like I may have acquired a virus because unilateral tinnitus is actually quite rare. A month later I developed bilateral tinnitus that is very high-pitched and was very hard to mask. But I have to say that it didn't annoy me as much as I thought it would. It was also very variable and fluctuated constantly. Over time I learned to focus on it less and the echo seashell roaring noise in my left ear didn't bother me so much. In part because like you, it was easily masked by every day activities and noises. When it was somewhat quiet and I could hear it I was able to tune it out when I was working or what not. It inadequate no emotion to it.

Then yesterday morning, my echo sound changed to a low hum like the sound of your TV going off line. I would occasionally get that noise on and off over the last year but it would never last very long. Well it's been 24 hours so I suspect it's here to stay. And yes, you can imagine I'm right back where I started again. And this time it's a little bit louder and I can hear it over things that I would not have heard it over before. I'm trying very hard to remember that I got better before and I will get better again. I think the key is just trying to not focus on it or survey it so much. Believe me I know that's easier said than done. I am there. I've even started taking my trusty Clonazepam again which I had stopped taking. So what I would say is you are really lucky that you can easily mask this noise and attend to your life. But I know you know that. I think the thing that makes us listen for it so much is because deep down inside we keep hoping it won't be there. And that's super hard for me considering that mine actually went away for three years. And it went away. I didn't habituate it was gone.

I wish you all the best. Hang in there. Period.

Danielle

 

[matthew_bk]

Just curious, @cruise, do you also suffer from hearing loss? Unilateral, bilateral?

 

[cruise]

Just curious, @cruise, do you also suffer from hearing loss? Unilateral, bilateral?

No, I did not have hearing loss. I was tested and my hearing was perfect.

 

[cruise]

Hi @cruise, I am intrigued by your amazing progress and story. I have now had my tinnitus for the best part of 7 months (right ear only). No hearing loss or diagnosis unfortunately provided by anyone.

If I look back 6 months, it used to regularly start and stop but now it is a permanent albeit very quiet noise I only tend to hear in silent rooms. Central heating masks it coupled with certain TV volumes, I also struggle to hear it outside now which is progress to an extent.

However, what bothers me and gets me down the most is even though it's very quiet noise it has a pulsing quality to it and I'm trying to be brave and go into silent rooms but I don't just want to sit there and listen to it as it still makes me super anxious and if I'm tired I will sleep but it takes up so much of my mind.

I don't know how to get out of this routine of checking it all the time I'm somewhere quiet. Since Christmas I haven't had to work too hard to find it's always there. The point is it still bothers me whenever I go to a quiet room and I know you mention time is a great healer but my brain doesn't seem to be getting used to it at all, it feels like a constant circle and if it was a static pitch would be half the battle for me but its a very quiet irritating tinny noise I just cannot get used to.

Majority of the day I don't hear it with central heating and I play my radio or if I go running or tennis (lockdown now in Britain sadly).

I just feel like I'm caught between what best approach is, I feel like my brain just can't put it to background in a quiet room so is there anything I can do to help tell my brain it's not an important sound and please put it in background. More and more things seem to help mask it now but now I'm hyper aware of what those natural maskers are which sucks. Nothing seems to help in total silence but I can't completely avoid this full stop.

I just feel in complete limbo everyday and wondered if you had any tips or why it seems to be taking me so long to find any moments of progress now? I feel I've come some way but now feel it won't get to improve to any further level and I literally want a 10-20% further improvement to be happy again once and for all and stop even thinking or talking about this stupid sound.

Kind regards,
Steve

One of the things I did in the early months was to force myself to just listen to my tinnitus. I removed all noises that would mask and I would cover my ears or sit in a very quiet room and just listen. I would listen for up to 10 minutes and would just try to breath calmly. At some point, my mind would start wandering. When that happened, I tried to focus on my tinnitus again. I did this exercise on a daily basis. What I was actually doing was making my brain get bored of the sound of tinnitus. And I think this helped. It also helped taking away the fear and anxiety. I was teaching my brain that it was OK to hear my tinnitus. If I can survive actively listening to it for 10 minutes, then I could survive any unmasked situation without a problem. Once the fear subsided, everything became easier. No more anxiety and sleepless nights.

So the idea is to not to run from your tinnitus but to face it and eliminate the fear.

 

[cruise]

Thank you for sharing the positive story.

Did you experience worsening of your symptoms in the first 4 months at any point?

My tinnitus was mild/moderate for the first 3 months, but in the last 10 days I've had a new tone that is simply crushing me. I had been starting to do well before it appeared out of the blue. I'm 3 months 10 days in and feel really scared that it's just worsening. Still hopeful it will go back to previous level somehow.

My tinnitus did not worsen. It has always been the same with low days and high days. Nowadays I do not notice differences in loudness because most of the time I forget that I have tinnitus.

 

[Damocles]

Someone get this thread copied and sent off to the good men and women at Otonomy and Frequency Therapeutics ASAP. Many thanks, but we won't be needing you anymore.

We've found our "cure": time!

 

[Uklawyer]

One of the things I did in the early months was to force myself to just listen to my tinnitus. I removed all noises that would mask and I would cover my ears or sit in a very quiet room and just listen. I would listen for up to 10 minutes and would just try to breath calmly. At some point, my mind would start wandering. When that happened, I tried to focus on my tinnitus again. I did this exercise on a daily basis. What I was actually doing was making my brain get bored of the sound of tinnitus. And I think this helped. It also helped taking away the fear and anxiety. I was teaching my brain that it was OK to hear my tinnitus. If I can survive actively listening to it for 10 minutes, then I could survive any unmasked situation without a problem. Once the fear subsided, everything became easier. No more anxiety and sleepless nights.

@cruise - are you the person who wrote an article for a paper or online detailing your tinnitus journey and how you overcame it?

 

[Mags]

My tinnitus did not worsen. It has always been the same with low days and high days. Nowadays I do not notice differences in loudness because most of the time I forget that I have tinnitus.

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm back to my old level of mild/moderate loudness, habituating gradually

 

[cruise]

@cruise - are you the person who wrote an article for a paper or online detailing your tinnitus journey and how you overcame it?

No, but I did read an online article about actively listening to tinnitus as an exercise. You are probably referring to that same article.

 

[Damocles]

If I hadn't made it clear from my earlier post on this thread @cruise, I find this thread you've created to be patronising and harmful to the best interests of everyone on this forum.

I don't want you to think I'm picking on you specifically; unfortunately I'm just landing on you as a most recent example of what I dislike about tinnitus "success stories" in general.

You've obviously posted this with the best intentions, but some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions.

You see, while you think you're delivering a message of hope to all those of us who suffer, what you're actually doing is discrediting us and the condition, as a whole (especially people on the severe end of the spectrum).

Using phrases like "now it's a non-issue". Just imagine for a second you were someone who had only just today learned of "tinnitus", and you wanted to know more about it and what it was like to experience it etc. Well, the first place you might visit is right here, but you've got a normal life like a normal person; job, girlfriend/boyfriend, Instagram to check etc. So you're only going to dedicate 10 minutes or something to your research. So you search through the forum, and in those 10 minutes you land on this thread, read it and go: "oh, well it doesn't sound so bad if this guy says it's a non-issue, sounds like if you just put it in perspective or do some of that.... what's it called? TRT, you can live a normal life". And so off that person goes to become a doctor or an audiologist or an ENT, or maybe just an English teacher, forever believing that people who can't cope or make a big deal about tinnitus are just mentally unhinged or weak willed.

No, you're not doing us any favours, in my opinion.

And here's the thing, maybe today you're feeling great and things are going swell today, but you have tinnitus; which means you're basically living with a bomb inside your head; a bomb which can go off an infinite amount of times. There pretty much is no bottom to tinnitus. In fact, the only conceivable bottom, really, is being deaf and having nothing but this noise to "comfort" you for the remainder of your days. So just because you feel like you've got it sussed and everything's under control, don't play it down like it's not a problem. Tinnitus is a very big f*cking problem. It's a silent (yes, pun intended) killer.

The worst part is, you're only 3 years in. Some of the people on this forum have had tinnitus for decades and you're trying to teach them to suck eggs.

And yes I quoted Jurassic Park in the third paragraph, deal with it!

 

[cruise]

No, you're not doing us any favours, in my opinion.

Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. I only joined to forum so I can help others, because I was helped by this forum in my early days. Do you think I should share my story in another form, or do you think it is best to not share my story all?

 

[Johan001]

I really believe that some people habituate to such a degree that it becomes, like cruise says, a non-issue to them. It's all very individual. Tinnitus has been destroying my life for over a year, so for me it's a huge issue. But I have talked to many people with loud tinnitus, who seem to carry on just fine, after they adjusted of course. I think the key here is in our circumstances, how fast we can heal. Some recover from an illness faster than others. Some die, some survive.

@cruise's story helped me, to be honest. I read the habituation stories and it gives me hope.

But I also agree with @Damocles that it's a very serious problem.

The cruel truth is that people will always disregard tinnitus or any other invisible serious condition unless they get it themselves. That's just how humans work "I don't see it, so it's probably not that bad". Cancer is visible, paralysis is visible etc. Tinnitus, hyperacusis, any other things that people don't see just won't be taken seriously. "You look healthy, so it surely can't be that bad"... those kind of things.

 

[Tanni]

Thank you for coming back and sharing your story, @cruise.

You were speaking for yourself about what worked for you, so you have every right to tell your story. I'm sure it will help a great deal of people, as many do get much better in time.

Please don't be put off by any aggressive reactions to your posts. Sometimes people forget that everyone experiences tinnitus differently and try to speak for everyone, or expect everyone to speak for them.

 

[twa]

I first heard my tinnitus almost 3 years ago. At first I experienced basically all negative emotions that you may have read about or may be experiencing. The continuous anxiety led to a few very bad months. Not sleeping well was the worst part. I also remember saying to myself that if I can only sleep normally again, I could handle the rest. But I never skipped work or any other family duties, I just kept going and kept fighting. Until things slowly started getting better. The cure: time.

The first few nights of good sleep was a blessing. But then came a relapse that made me feel even worse than before. It was simply because I saw some progression that suddenly disappeared again. That was maybe the worst time of all. But after a few weeks I started getting better sleep again. And since then I never had any sleep problems. Again the cure was: time.

So now I sleep like a baby again. I always hear my tinnitus in bed but it doesn't bother me and it just jumps in and out of my awareness, and it's mostly out. How this happened? My only answer: time.

To make a long story short, my experience is that I suffered all the negative because I was prone to get anxious about tinnitus and it was consuming my attention all day and night. Time has made me get used to tinnitus so much that it has totally become a non-issue. The loudness does vary but does not make a difference in how I react, which is basically no reaction at all. Nowadays, if for some reason I get aware of my tinnitus, it usually takes seconds before I am unaware again. It is not a "thing" anymore but I always told myself that I will share my story one day, because stories of others did help me in the early stages, when I was looking for answers and hope.

So for all of you that are suffering now, hang in there, be brave, let time do it's work.

Thank you for sharing your story. It's your unique experience. I would not expect my experience with tinnitus to be like yours, although in some ways it is similar. It does give hope for the future. I appreciate you sharing your story to the many who are seeking hope for better days.

 

[Eleanor89]

Hello,

I was habituated for 26 years and @Damocles is right, it is like a ticking time bomb in your head.

My tinnitus has become loud in my right ear and I'm trying to adjust to it but finding it extremely difficult. It's been worse for about four weeks now.

Prozac helped me all those years ago as my tinnitus was extremely loud. Although I've read on here that Prozac can cause tinnitus too.

What medication would any of you recommend?

The good news is my results after my major operation (total hysterectomy) eight weeks ago have come back BENIGN and I am so happy. I feel so relieved, I received the results yesterday. My tinnitus worsened four weeks after my surgery x

 

[Uklawyer]

So now I sleep like a baby again. I always hear my tinnitus in bed but it doesn't bother me and it just jumps in and out of my awareness, and it's mostly out. How this happened? My only answer: time.

Do you still always hear the tinnitus in bed? And do you consciously think about it when you turn off the light for bed (i.e. does your mind look for it at the moment you settle in to sleep) - or can you turn off the light without your mind moving back to the tinnitus?

 

[Matchbox]

I really believe that some people habituate to such a degree that it becomes, like cruise says, a non-issue to them. It's all very individual. Tinnitus has been destroying my life for over a year, so for me it's a huge issue. But I have talked to many people with loud tinnitus, who seem to carry on just fine, after they adjusted of course. I think the key here is in our circumstances, how fast we can heal. Some recover from an illness faster than others. Some die, some survive.

@cruise's story helped me, to be honest. I read the habituation stories and it gives me hope.

But I also agree with @Damocles that it's a very serious problem.

The cruel truth is that people will always disregard tinnitus or any other invisible serious condition unless they get it themselves. That's just how humans work "I don't see it, so it's probably not that bad". Cancer is visible, paralysis is visible etc. Tinnitus, hyperacusis, any other things that people don't see just won't be taken seriously. "You look healthy, so it surely can't be that bad"... those kind of things.

There's literally a guy on here (two) who had cancer, got tinnitus from chemo... and now wish they had cancer instead.

That should be evidence enough of how serious this can be.

 

[Johan001]

There's literally a guy on here (two) who had cancer, got tinnitus from chemo... and now wish they had cancer instead.

That should be evidence enough of how serious this can be.

Yes, I have never seen tinnitus as something trivial. In fact, I'm still suffering greatly. My case is quite serious too. What I wanted to say, is that I believe Cruise when he says it's a non issue in his particular case.

 

[mohn]

The habituation strategy is best when tried ~1 year after the onset, once you have attempted all other potential treatments?

 

[Massi91]

I first heard my tinnitus almost 3 years ago. At first I experienced basically all negative emotions that you may have read about or may be experiencing. The continuous anxiety led to a few very bad months. Not sleeping well was the worst part. I also remember saying to myself that if I can only sleep normally again, I could handle the rest. But I never skipped work or any other family duties, I just kept going and kept fighting. Until things slowly started getting better. The cure: time.

The first few nights of good sleep was a blessing. But then came a relapse that made me feel even worse than before. It was simply because I saw some progression that suddenly disappeared again. That was maybe the worst time of all. But after a few weeks I started getting better sleep again. And since then I never had any sleep problems. Again the cure was: time.

So now I sleep like a baby again. I always hear my tinnitus in bed but it doesn't bother me and it just jumps in and out of my awareness, and it's mostly out. How this happened? My only answer: time.

To make a long story short, my experience is that I suffered all the negative because I was prone to get anxious about tinnitus and it was consuming my attention all day and night. Time has made me get used to tinnitus so much that it has totally become a non-issue. The loudness does vary but does not make a difference in how I react, which is basically no reaction at all. Nowadays, if for some reason I get aware of my tinnitus, it usually takes seconds before I am unaware again. It is not a "thing" anymore but I always told myself that I will share my story one day, because stories of others did help me in the early stages, when I was looking for answers and hope.

So for all of you that are suffering now, hang in there, be brave, let time do it's work.

How bad is your tinnitus? Can you hear it over TV or in the car?

 

[cruise]

Do you still always hear the tinnitus in bed? And do you consciously think about it when you turn off the light for bed (i.e. does your mind look for it at the moment you settle in to sleep) - or can you turn off the light without your mind moving back to the tinnitus?

I turn off the light and my mind does not move back to the tinnitus, even though it is clearly audible. At first I tried to mask with sounds on my phone or even with a speaker. But soon I realized that I could better just try to get used until my mind does not focus on the tinnitus anymore. And that is what happened.

How bad is your tinnitus? Can you hear it over TV or in the car?

My tinnitus changes from day to day. On loud days, I can hear it while watching TV and driving a car.

The habituation strategy is best when tried ~1 year after the onset, once you have attempted all other potential treatments?

I went with the habituation strategy from early on because for me the main problem was the anxiety, it was not the tinnitus itself. This of course, is different for every individual.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

There's literally a guy on here (two) who had cancer, got tinnitus from chemo... and now wish they had cancer instead.

That should be evidence enough of how serious this can be.

I guess it beats being dead... maybe.

 

[Uklawyer]

But soon I realized that I could better just try to get used until my mind does not focus on the tinnitus anymore.

So when you are in bed, do you have to think about something else in order not to be aware of tinnitus? Or can you lie there without thinking of anything and still not be aware of the tinnitus?