- Apr 20, 2021
- 4
- Tinnitus Since
- 03/2020
- Cause of Tinnitus
- idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Hey everyone, long time lurker here, but after feeling pretty good about my tinnitus for a last little while, decided to make an account to post this. A little over a year ago now I suffered sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my left ear, which led to constant tinnitus. I remember trying to find information and asking my doctors about how long it would take to habituate, but it was hard to find much useful information. Obviously my experience is just my experience and won't necessarily be the same as somebody else's, but I thought I'd share my timeline towards habituation as one example of how habituation went for one guy, in case anybody else looks for this kind of information
Day one: Slight loss of hearing in left ear, with loud high-pitched tinnitus. I assume it's earwax or something, book an appointment with my GP the next week, who sees nothing wrong and sends me on to an ENT doctor.
Week three: Haven't been able to read, sleep, or concentrate at all. Very tired every day. Can't even bear watching TV because I can't stop focusing on the ringing. Spend all day every day playing video games because it's the only thing that somewhat stops me from thinking about it. But I haven't been overly worried or depressed because I still have hope that it'll get better. Finally get into an ENT in week 3, who prescribes me Prednisolone but tells me it might not get better.
Months 2 – 4: Very depressed. I've given up much hope that it's going to get better, and the ringing is still as loud and annoying as it's ever been. I drop out of courses for the term on medical grounds. Have a breakdown one night when I call my parents and cry for two hours straight. Can't imagine living like this for the rest of my life and sometimes wish life would just end. Start to be able to sleep a bit better by playing a very loud cricket/bird/wind YouTube video at night to mask the tinnitus.
Months 5 – 9: I start to notice slight improvement. If I'm surrounded by other ambient noise (e.g. outside on a windy day, or outside with bird sounds, or in a coffee shop), I can go up to an hour or two without thinking about the tinnitus, even though it's the same loudness/pitch as ever. The YouTube video I've been using to mask the tinnitus becomes more annoying than the tinnitus itself, so I switch to listening to wind/storm/rain sounds during the night. I start to think that maybe I can live with this one day. I start watching TV again.
Month 10: The storm sounds I've been using to sleep become more annoying than the tinnitus, so I switch to plain old white noise. I find that I'm able to read/study again if I play white noise in the background. Sometimes the tinnitus still gets too annoying/I start to fixate on it and I have to stop, but sometimes I can read or study for up to two hours at a time without thinking about the tinnitus.
Month 12: I start to read and study without white noise in the background, and can go most of the day without noticing the tinnitus. When I do notice it, I don't feel anxious or depressed any more. If I could snap my fingers and make it go away I would, but I'm also fine coexisting with it.
Month 14: Where I'm at today. I've started to lower the volume of my white noise lower and lower at night, and I think I might one day be able to sleep again without any white noise at all in the background. I guess I'll see! I'm not depressed any more, and I only get anxious once or twice a month when the tinnitus gets louder for anywhere from a couple hours to a few days (or I just fixate on it more, I can't really tell). The tone or loudness hasn't really changed at all, and I can still hear it as I type this, but it's just kinda become a part of me now, and it doesn't bother me nearly as much.
It's a longer post that I meant to write out, but I hope it can help someone out or give a bit of hope!
Day one: Slight loss of hearing in left ear, with loud high-pitched tinnitus. I assume it's earwax or something, book an appointment with my GP the next week, who sees nothing wrong and sends me on to an ENT doctor.
Week three: Haven't been able to read, sleep, or concentrate at all. Very tired every day. Can't even bear watching TV because I can't stop focusing on the ringing. Spend all day every day playing video games because it's the only thing that somewhat stops me from thinking about it. But I haven't been overly worried or depressed because I still have hope that it'll get better. Finally get into an ENT in week 3, who prescribes me Prednisolone but tells me it might not get better.
Months 2 – 4: Very depressed. I've given up much hope that it's going to get better, and the ringing is still as loud and annoying as it's ever been. I drop out of courses for the term on medical grounds. Have a breakdown one night when I call my parents and cry for two hours straight. Can't imagine living like this for the rest of my life and sometimes wish life would just end. Start to be able to sleep a bit better by playing a very loud cricket/bird/wind YouTube video at night to mask the tinnitus.
Months 5 – 9: I start to notice slight improvement. If I'm surrounded by other ambient noise (e.g. outside on a windy day, or outside with bird sounds, or in a coffee shop), I can go up to an hour or two without thinking about the tinnitus, even though it's the same loudness/pitch as ever. The YouTube video I've been using to mask the tinnitus becomes more annoying than the tinnitus itself, so I switch to listening to wind/storm/rain sounds during the night. I start to think that maybe I can live with this one day. I start watching TV again.
Month 10: The storm sounds I've been using to sleep become more annoying than the tinnitus, so I switch to plain old white noise. I find that I'm able to read/study again if I play white noise in the background. Sometimes the tinnitus still gets too annoying/I start to fixate on it and I have to stop, but sometimes I can read or study for up to two hours at a time without thinking about the tinnitus.
Month 12: I start to read and study without white noise in the background, and can go most of the day without noticing the tinnitus. When I do notice it, I don't feel anxious or depressed any more. If I could snap my fingers and make it go away I would, but I'm also fine coexisting with it.
Month 14: Where I'm at today. I've started to lower the volume of my white noise lower and lower at night, and I think I might one day be able to sleep again without any white noise at all in the background. I guess I'll see! I'm not depressed any more, and I only get anxious once or twice a month when the tinnitus gets louder for anywhere from a couple hours to a few days (or I just fixate on it more, I can't really tell). The tone or loudness hasn't really changed at all, and I can still hear it as I type this, but it's just kinda become a part of me now, and it doesn't bother me nearly as much.
It's a longer post that I meant to write out, but I hope it can help someone out or give a bit of hope!
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