My Tinnitus: 98% Cured

[Danny Boy]

He sure got that dreamy gaze thing going for him.

Haha...Well, he's a larger than life character!

 

[CarrieLee]

@Tamalak
After reading your story, it actually have me thinking the air conditikner in my room may make my T worse which I have never thought about. I had trouble sleeping last night just thinking about this. At some point, I turned off the AC but it gets so hard and I could. It sleep and constantly thinking about what your post. The summer is hot and we can not sleep without fan or air conditioner especially my husband. I can not wear ear plugs to sleep, too uncomfortable. My T is usually more quiet in the morning even with the air container on for almost a year. The HVAC air conditioner can be a bit loud but I think it should not loud enough to make the T worse. A lot of people use masker to help sleep and did not complain about T getting worse. The cause may be something else. You also need to protect your ears with ear plugs when you go out on noisy street and avoid loud places as much as possible. I try to put this air conditioner sound will make T worse idea away. Anyway, sorry to say your post did freak me out a little and think of the T more. Still thanks for yor efforts to share.

 

[Tamalak]

@Tamalak
After reading your story, it actually have me thinking the air conditikner in my room may make my T worse which I have never thought about. I had trouble sleeping last night just thinking about this. At some point, I turned off the AC but it gets so hard and I could. It sleep and constantly thinking about what your post. The summer is hot and we can not sleep without fan or air conditioner especially my husband. I can not wear ear plugs to sleep, too uncomfortable. My T is usually more quiet in the morning even with the air container on for almost a year. The HVAC air conditioner can be a bit loud but I think it should not loud enough to make the T worse. A lot of people use masker to help sleep and did not complain about T getting worse. The cause may be something else. You also need to protect your ears with ear plugs when you go out on noisy street and avoid loud places as much as possible. I try to put this air conditioner sound will make T worse idea away. Anyway, sorry to say your post did freak me out a little and think of the T more. Still thanks for yor efforts to share.

Hi CarrieLee, the fans I had in my room were certainly not loud, well below the decibel range to damage my hearing. The white noise youtube was louder, but also not loud enough to be dangerous. And yet: the youtube caused temporary hearing loss and then intense T.
I don't think these night noises damaged my ear, rather, they were doing something to my brain that created T. I wonder if it's analagous to that trick where you stare at a red square for a while, and then look at a white wall and see a green square (although that is a property of the eyes sending information, not the brain's processing of it).

I appreciate the difficulty of turning off all sound during summer especially, but I encourage you to try it for a month or two when things cool down. Don't even use a ceiling fan. DON'T use earplugs. Sleep in stillness and silence. Worth a shot, anyway..

 

[Sound Wave]

Sounds like normal habituation to me. Good for you!

 

[Tamalak]

No. It is not habituation. Not even a tiny little bit. I don't notice the sound because there IS no sound. I couldn't hear it if my life depended on it.

 

[CarrieLee]

@Tamalak

Thanks for the reply. I don't use any fan or air conditioner in winter. We have about 4 months hot summer here but most of the time, I don't need air conditioners. It is hard to believe that noise of youtube video causes your hearing loss unless it is loud or you put it close to your ears? I can not think about air conditioners will make T worse. It is driving me crazy. Maybe I overreact.

 

[CarrieLee]

Wearing ear plugs to loud places is very very inportant if you have T.

 

[Cheza]

@Tamalak ... I never use fans or any sort of masking now. I did attempt occasional under-threshold masking for the first six months, as well as sincerely disciplined audio notch therapy, but at night my bedroom was always silent. The tinnitus is bad enough, so adding more sound has always seemed counter-intuitive to me (as well as an extra level of annoyance), especially after the tinnitus migrated and is now central head noise. It's summer now, so I can somewhat hear the ceiling fan at medium speed, but only if I concentrate and really listen for it.

In other words, I'm truly glad that a no-noise nighttime environment worked for you, but for me, it's made no difference whatsoever.

 

[wishingluck]

a strange story, indeed, but what's important is that you are better.

As for 'cures', well it's not a matter of 'demanding'. Demanding from whom? The reality is that the world doesn't own anybody anything. Science is a long and arduous journey, sometimes it gest faster and it gets lucky.
But yes I agree with what you say: this damn problem should be taken a LOT more seriously.

Unfortunately, a lot of doctors are ignorant about it, and the patients just

I thought masking it from the start helps? I seen a study which said it did.

Me too. That's what I have been doing for months, masking. I can't really do without, especially since I am quite isolated.

 

[wishingluck]

@Tamalak ... I never use fans or any sort of masking now. I did attempt occasional under-threshold masking for the first six months, as well as sincerely disciplined audio notch therapy, but at night my bedroom was always silent. The tinnitus is bad enough, so adding more sound has always seemed counter-intuitive to me (as well as an extra level of annoyance), especially after the tinnitus migrated and is now central head noise. It's summer now, so I can somewhat hear the ceiling fan at medium speed, but only if I concentrate and really listen for it.

In other words, I'm truly glad that a no-noise nighttime environment worked for you, but for me, it's made no difference whatsoever.

frankly I have not tried to just do without the masking. In that sense you are far beyond where I am. I find the T noise scary. The fact that I live alone and am alone most of the time for sure has something to do with that, but I have no choice. A shitty year, 2015. My worse year for the last 20 years. I am amazed I always seemed in pretty good shape for 20 years in a row. Only had flu, once. Then in 2009 I started to get lots of different and strange problems, and T was the heaviest blow.

Let's hope this one year will be better, and I sincerely hope the same for all of you.

 

[Mr cricket]

I think you are on to something, I definitely noticed a difference in the morning when I slept with sound.
For me certain sounds while sleeping would cause morning flare up. Central air, TV....
Using purple noise (which best matched my internal sound) didn't cause an issue.
I live on a busy street. That also caused a problem. Mine is finally gone. I was a 10 for 5 months. After that it has slowly gone down.. It took me a year and 3 months to get to this point.

 

[Mike TerMaaten]

Sleep in stillness and silence. Worth a shot, anyway..

I LIKE this Thread !

Tamalak, thank you for reporting/sharing all this.

I fully agree with what you're saying.

No audio / speakers / televison ( especially at night ) ..is a definate necessity ..if one expects their T. to go away

 

[Mithrandir]

Silence is pure ! I prefer sleep with silence + my T's than try any other masks ;-)

@Tamalak I wish you an happy new life without T.

 

[Blackbird26]

I was essentially kicked out of a TRT fanatical group because I have never used any noise at night. Why? because I always woke up worse the next morning. My ears need rest. I follow my body, not simple theories. Regardless 3 years later, still have h& t.

 

[noisebox]

When i first got T in 2012 it never occured to me to use white noise, I liked a silent bedroom. At that point as my T was one sided I either listened to the T or switched my brain to the non T side. My sleep was never disturbed by it. It also was always better in a morning.
I got to point in 2014 of silence many days and hardly ever thought of t. It only got stressed in a loud shop or restaurant.
Anyway 2015 was my medical disaster year and it all came back, and some. I tried masking at night but it drove me nuts and T got worse.
I got a tiny clock and the tick is all I need. I used low dose melatonin and now weaning off that. Its taken months but T is lowering daily as is H and reactivity.
I agree with you for some silence is what our brains really need.

 

[Ed209]

Er, I do not think that's what he said at all, perhaps you should re-read it. What he is saying is that he had significant tinnitus, which he believes was being exacerbated by frequent exposure to sound while sleeping. Whether or not this will be true or helpful for other people is another story, but it's certainly interesting.

I slept with a fan for 30 years. I recently stopped, and I've noticed that now when I have a fan on at night, my T increases and will often be worse the next morning. However, sleeping in the closest to dead silence I can approximate in an urban environment, has so far not cured me

This is very similar to my experience. I never use any masking, the only time I have is when my T has gone crazy on me. I've probably used masking around 6 times in total the whole time I've had it. When did try using it, I found my T reacting and competing with the sounds; I also found it harder to sleep. I just saw it as noise on top of noise and got no real relief.

I also found that it affected my sleep. I used to have dreams about the noises, especially with the rain and water maskers. It almost sent me into a delirious state, very hard to describe. I woke up on 3 of the mornings with horrendous T, so I simply stopped using it.

 

[grecianmax87]

Just to pick up on the whole masking when sleeping thing. Personally, when I first had it and the noise was at a high level I was really attached to my white noise app and a fan I plugged in.

However when I stopped using these I noticed I'd wake up with much softer tinnitus. My theory is that your brain gets a good 6/7 hours to get used to this alien noise and it helps the habituation process.
Certainly one of the major factors for me and would recommend to anyone with mile to moderate tinnitus (obviously if yours is louder then I understand a silent room is probably hell)

 

[Rina]

I tried masking at the beginning when I first got t and it made it worst for me.... Louder t ... Waking up every half hour .. And waking up in the morning with louder t.. One day I read a post here about not masking at all and I tried and it has worked for me .. I wake up with lower t and if I wake up I. The middle of the night my t is not crazy and it does not prevent me from falling back to sleep.. Actually when my t is screaming I just go to my room in silent and slowly my t starts to calm down ... I sleep better now... No masking at all

 

[Zorro!]

I've tried to sleep with the radio on softly in the background but I always find I'm not as rested compared to nights I sleep in silence. And yes, I've tried the fan thing also but it doesn't help either. If anything my tinnitus is louder in the morning when I use maskers like the radio or the fan. Plus I tend to wake up more frequently in the middle of the night due to the noise from these things.

 

[Cheza]

@Zorro! I just clicked on this thread to get a better look at your avatar.

 

[Zorro!]

@Zorro! I just clicked on this thread to get a better look at your avatar.

Gravity Falls. Rainbow-puking gnome. Best cartoon evah.

 

[mandi]

@Danny Boy trobalt brought mild tinnitus and keppra has ended all tinnitus and hyperacusis? no side effects from these drugs?? what happens when you feel you need to get off?

 

[Kitsune]

Hello to you all! That is my first post here, but I am lurking since my T had started over a month ago. I'm working on my introduction post, but it still hard for me to finish it during this Rollercoaster. But I couldn't help myself to write after reading this post.

I think my T is also triggered by other sounds. It is definitely reactive - I can hear it fluctuating "under" different sounds, especially when I'm covering my ear with a pillow and the other ear is stimulated. That makes it hard to mask, I had some bad episodes of masking it at night and then waking up in the middle of the night with a nasty spike. On the other hand, I experienced some quieter awakenings when sleeping in total silence. I don't know if it's a coincidence but it happened a few times. Right now I experience a pitch shift in my T so I'm kind of stressed a lot, but I try to verify it again when everything calms down.

 

[Kayla L]

Hi, I have experienced exactly what you have previously described. The intermittent "static/electrical" noise that comes and goes all day.. Seems to be really bad when I first wake up and progressively get a little better throughout the day. Then I go to bed it it restarts again the next morning. It seems to be triggered by noises like bottle crunching, typing on computer, mouse click... it's very bad right out of the shower or when I brush my teeth.. also when chewing/swallowing sometimes.

I got tinnitus out of nowhere 2 years ago.. I've habituated to it and I barely hear/nor think about it anymore.. This intermittent buzzing noise started months after T started.. Lasted a few months then went away last Spring.. I barely had any symptoms from about May 2016 - March 2017... Now It's back worse than ever.. started off quiet in the beginning of this April and slowly got worse and worse. I think it has a lot to do with stress.. possibly allergies.. not sure. I need help. Please, if anyone is experiencing this and it's gone away, please let me know..

 

[Greg Sacramento]

This is an interesting thread. Some studies say that CBT works, other say it doesn't work. Of course when there's a buck to be made, inexperience people become creative innovators.

https://www.psychminded.co.uk/cbt-does-not-work-says-second-high-profile-clinical-psychologist/

 

[Luman]

This is an interesting thread. Some studies say that CBT works, other say it doesn't work. Of course when there's a buck to be made, inexperience people become creative innovators.

https://www.psychminded.co.uk/cbt-does-not-work-says-second-high-profile-clinical-psychologist/

Politics can be tricky. There have been numerous studies that show CBT works as well, or better than, drugs for depression and other conditions. Even if CBT worked only half as good as drugs, this still would be a worthwhile form of therapy for some.

We do not yet have the ability to cure tinnitus, but we can certainly use a safe way of coping with it, which CBT seems to be able to provide for those willing to try. CBT is generally not a long-term process, but if some people need to return for more treatment(s) at some point after the initial treatments were given, as it says in the article in the link, I don't think that's so bad, either. Just my 2¢

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Luman I'm not knocking CBT. You make a good point. I wanted to mention the most discussed topic on this thread that I found interesting, but I didn't get there. Some state that sound at night doesn't help him. No opinion on that either.

 

[Luman]

@Luman I'm not knocking CBT. You make a good point. I wanted to mention the most discussed topic on this thread that I found interesting, but I didn't get there. Some state that sound at night doesn't help him. No opinion on that either.

I understand, Greg.

I moved my sound machine further from the bed last night, turned it very low, and I heard no T at all when I woke up a few times during the night - first time this has happened since the T and H started last summer. The T was gone for a very good portion of the day, as well. Tonight I will try sleeping with no sound at all.

I thought my T was caused by overcleaning my ears, but now I am considering other possibilities, which are too theoretical to go into here.

Whatever the cause, which I will likely never really know, or level of T from now on, I am going to utilize CBT, because it had been helpful to me in my pre-T days, as well.

 

[Tony Phylactou]

Flickering, intermittent (at first) pure high pitched tone in my left ear, much gentler crystal-hum in my right ear. Not accompanied by hearing loss. I had it for four years and there was a terrible 1.5 year period where it was essentially nonstop.

Cause was unknown but almost certainly not caused by noise, as I was pretty careful not to expose myself to loud noises/concerts and hadn't had any noise trauma when it suddenly began.

The ENT visits went as they do for everyone else here. They did some tests and concluded "You have tinnitus!"

"Okay," I said, "what do I do. Let's figure out what's causing this and stop it," because I foolishly believed that is what medicine is all about.

"There's no cure or real treatment, your only hope is CBT which doesn't actually help the symptoms at all but essentially trains you to pretend it isn't a problem." they said.

I gave them the middle finger and left. NOT HEARING THE NOISE was and is the only thing I considered an acceptable solution.

Finally there was a clue: a party downstairs in the place that I lived that was making my sleep even worse, so I put a "white noise" Youtube video on. The sound was like a passenger jet engine and was about as loud as it would sound from within the cabin of the plane. It did the trick just fine to drown out the party.

The next day I had severe hearing loss in my left ear. This is the first time I have EVER had hearing loss in either ear and the first time I had ever used a "white noise" youtube video. The worthless ENT of course dismissed the idea that the video could POSSIBLY cause what I experienced, decided it was a virus, and put me on steroids.

The hearing loss went away in about 24 hours and was replaced by unusually nasty tinnitus which then settled in 3 days.

This is how I discovered that my T was being caused, or at least fueled by, NOISE AT NIGHT. Not intense noise, ANY noise, especially steady "white" noise like a fan. I shut down the fan that I had been using almost constantly for all that time, and even the ceiling fan (I'll tell you this is not easy in the summer..), closed my windows at night, etc. My T went into a slow but unambiguous decline. No longer constant, then half on half off, then essentially gone with occasional "bad weeks". Then bad days. Then bad moments. This was 8 months ago.

Currently, most days I do not even think about T much less hear it. I do not think I will ever stop enjoying the sound of silence, however

I have no idea how many people my case may apply to and I expect it isn't many.

But have hope and demand a cure. T is not a philosophical problem to be "reframed". It is a physical problem occuring in a physical space the size of your thumb. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE LACK OF A CURE, NOR ANY SUBTITUTE FOR ONE.

A strange thing happened to me to day. I woke up at 4 am with low T.Too early to get up went back to sleep woke up with high T.Went to nice quiet spot in the countryside mediated for half an hour no change.Then I started deep slow breathing and in 10 minutes my T went from 9 to about 1-2.I was amazed.The question is was it the fresh country air, was it the silence, was it the meditation ,was it the deep breathing, was it the slow breathing, a combination of all of them or did it just happen ? I thing I will have to experiment with them individually to come to a conclusion.I hope it is the deep slow breathing because I can easily practice it anywhere.

 

[Jack23]

@Tamalak

How are you doing now? Is your tinnitus still gone? Also you said your doctor put you on steroids, which ones? Did you get steroid injection into ear?