Hey all,
It has been a long time since I posted here. I have been trying to avoid reading too much about it because I have developed my own perspective on at least my tinnitus. I am also writing this to keep myself accountable and to have something to return to whenever I need a reminder.
I would like to share some experiences and thoughts, and if you are interested, I would love to hear your feedback.
It all started a few years ago. I had a rough weekend with booze and more, then flew to Spain on Monday. The next morning, I woke up with tinnitus. I have been dealing with it ever since. I cannot sleep without blasting a loud awful screeching sound through my speakers, not to mask my tinnitus but to change it into something slightly more bearable. My tinnitus has no fixed position. It shifts, moves, scratches, and morphs in ways I cannot predict.
Some time after it started, I came across a doctor who believed that stress and anxiety were the main causes of tinnitus. He explained that ear hydrops create pressure in the inner ear, leading to the sound, and anxiety reinforces it. He claimed that this was the cause in ninety nine percent of cases. I was highly skeptical, but I followed his therapy anyway. It involved drinking a lot of water, following a specific diet, getting IV diuretics, and taking various medications for anxiety and stress. And then my tinnitus was gone after one month. Can you believe it? I could not. But it was.
The only problem? It came right back as soon as I stopped taking the medication.
Life went on with ups and downs. Like for most people, my tinnitus fluctuated. I moved to another country, had panic attacks, and my anxiety skyrocketed, and guess what? My tinnitus did too. Even though I was struggling, I had three or four episodes where my tinnitus disappeared completely, sometimes for two hours, sometimes for just ten minutes. These moments always happened when I was deeply relaxed, serene, and not overthinking, just like I felt during that therapy except without the medication.
Then I came across a book by Julian Cowan Hill. He had severe chronic tinnitus and managed to heal. In simple terms, he describes the healing process as a journey of self discovery, learning what you enjoy, and taking care of yourself. It might sound obvious, but I now have proof. When I feel at peace, which is rare, my tinnitus dissolves. And I do not mean it just gets quieter, I mean it is completely gone.
Julian argues that the timing of tinnitus onset does not really matter. If you are an anxious, stressed, and overactive person, which I am, then if it had not happened that day, it would have happened some other time. Anything could have been the trigger, like that stressful weekend for me. Sometimes I ask myself, what if it was something I took that physically damaged my ears? But if something was permanently broken, how could my tinnitus completely disappear, even for a short time?
So now I have shifted my focus to getting better, seeing a psychologist, prioritizing well being, and even using some medications.
The conclusion? It is easy to think of tinnitus as the source of all our problems, but that is not necessarily true. Things can change and will change if you take the right actions. Start listening to yourself, stop obsessing over things like money and success, and focus on what truly matters. It is a somatic issue, just like my hands, which are freezing as I type this. Right now, I am using sound to mask my tinnitus because I need it. In the past, I did not. Things will change again.
Thanks for reading.
It has been a long time since I posted here. I have been trying to avoid reading too much about it because I have developed my own perspective on at least my tinnitus. I am also writing this to keep myself accountable and to have something to return to whenever I need a reminder.
I would like to share some experiences and thoughts, and if you are interested, I would love to hear your feedback.
It all started a few years ago. I had a rough weekend with booze and more, then flew to Spain on Monday. The next morning, I woke up with tinnitus. I have been dealing with it ever since. I cannot sleep without blasting a loud awful screeching sound through my speakers, not to mask my tinnitus but to change it into something slightly more bearable. My tinnitus has no fixed position. It shifts, moves, scratches, and morphs in ways I cannot predict.
Some time after it started, I came across a doctor who believed that stress and anxiety were the main causes of tinnitus. He explained that ear hydrops create pressure in the inner ear, leading to the sound, and anxiety reinforces it. He claimed that this was the cause in ninety nine percent of cases. I was highly skeptical, but I followed his therapy anyway. It involved drinking a lot of water, following a specific diet, getting IV diuretics, and taking various medications for anxiety and stress. And then my tinnitus was gone after one month. Can you believe it? I could not. But it was.
The only problem? It came right back as soon as I stopped taking the medication.
Life went on with ups and downs. Like for most people, my tinnitus fluctuated. I moved to another country, had panic attacks, and my anxiety skyrocketed, and guess what? My tinnitus did too. Even though I was struggling, I had three or four episodes where my tinnitus disappeared completely, sometimes for two hours, sometimes for just ten minutes. These moments always happened when I was deeply relaxed, serene, and not overthinking, just like I felt during that therapy except without the medication.
Then I came across a book by Julian Cowan Hill. He had severe chronic tinnitus and managed to heal. In simple terms, he describes the healing process as a journey of self discovery, learning what you enjoy, and taking care of yourself. It might sound obvious, but I now have proof. When I feel at peace, which is rare, my tinnitus dissolves. And I do not mean it just gets quieter, I mean it is completely gone.
Julian argues that the timing of tinnitus onset does not really matter. If you are an anxious, stressed, and overactive person, which I am, then if it had not happened that day, it would have happened some other time. Anything could have been the trigger, like that stressful weekend for me. Sometimes I ask myself, what if it was something I took that physically damaged my ears? But if something was permanently broken, how could my tinnitus completely disappear, even for a short time?
So now I have shifted my focus to getting better, seeing a psychologist, prioritizing well being, and even using some medications.
The conclusion? It is easy to think of tinnitus as the source of all our problems, but that is not necessarily true. Things can change and will change if you take the right actions. Start listening to yourself, stop obsessing over things like money and success, and focus on what truly matters. It is a somatic issue, just like my hands, which are freezing as I type this. Right now, I am using sound to mask my tinnitus because I need it. In the past, I did not. Things will change again.
Thanks for reading.
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