New Member — Advice on Habituating to Intermittent Tinnitus?

[Annie3]

Hello. I'm wondering if anyone can give advice on habituating to intermittent tinnitus. I have a ticking noise off and on in my left ear and a tinkling noise off and on in my right ear. Every day I hear the noises short-lived but many times but it makes me jumpy not knowing when they're coming. Stressed and my BP is up.

 

[MikeL1972]

Hi @Annie3,

Welcome aboard. Everyone's nervous system is wired differently, but what worked for me is not to focus on it. This includes going for walks, reading, watching movies, listening to jazz, etc. Basically, any activity where your mind is not focused on it. Yes, the best treatment is habituation. Millions have habituated to it and you can too! Best of luck.

 

[Contrast]

Hi @Annie3,

Welcome aboard. Everyone's nervous system is wired differently, but what worked for me is not to focus on it. This includes going for walks, reading, watching movies, listening to jazz, etc. Basically, any activity where your mind is not focused on it. Yes, the best treatment is habituation. Millions have habituated to it and you can too! Best of luck.

The best treatment would be regenerating the lost cochlear hair cells and ribbon synapses or modulating the audiotory brain to stop producing the tinnitus signal.

 

[Annie3]

@Mikel 1972 Thanks for the advice and support. I know you're right. During the day when I'm active, I'm bothered much less by T. But sleeping is difficult if I wake up in the night and hear the ticking. I get upset and go to a fear-based mindset and then can't fall back asleep. I'm trying to accept the sound and not react but it makes me edgy because it's unpredictable.

I have mild hissing, too, but that's not a problem because it's constant and easy to tune out.

 

[fishbone]

Hello. I'm wondering if anyone can give advice on habituating to intermittent tinnitus. I have a ticking noise off and on in my left ear and a tinkling noise off and on in my right ear. Every day I hear the noises short-lived but many times but it makes me jumpy not knowing when they're coming. Stressed and my BP is up.

Habituation/coping/adapting is different for all of us. It can take anywhere from 6 months to 1-2 years to get it going. Talking to a counselor and lots of support is crucial to getting there. Accepting what you face and not being angry about the sound/tinnitus is crucial. It's hard for newcomers to do this. Trying to not listen, for the sound/tinnitus is important. many including myself use to do this as well, it's hard to not do it, but its best if we try to not listen for it...

It took me some time to get to this stage. I have very intrusive tinnitus and horrible hearing loss. each day feels like a spike, but I still don't let it get me down. I make use of sound therapy and I seek support when I can get it. It's a long journey with tinnitus. Controlling your mind, fear, emotions is crucial to making the best of it.

Take it slow and take it day by day. I been at this almost 31 years and it still takes work to make life move forward and making it special....

 

[Annie3]

@fishbone Thank you so much for responding. You're walking a much rougher road than I am with tinnitus yet you stay positive and rational. I will listen to your advice and try to pay less attention to the sounds and put my energy/focus elsewhere.

 

[JohnAdams]

@Annie3
Have you tried posting memes in My Posting Place?

 

[Michael Leigh]

Hello. I'm wondering if anyone can give advice on habituating to intermittent tinnitus. I have a ticking noise off and on in my left ear and a tinkling noise off and on in my right ear. Every day I hear the noises short-lived but many times but it makes me jumpy not knowing when they're coming. Stressed and my BP is up.

HI @Annie3

The advice Fishbone has given you is good and advise you to follow it. Please click on the link below and read my post: The habituation process. I have included other links that you might find helpful. I advise you not to use headphones even at low volume.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

 

[fishbone]

@fishbone Thank you so much for responding. You're walking a much rougher road than I am with tinnitus yet you stay positive and rational. I will listen to your advice and try to pay less attention to the sounds and put my energy/focus elsewhere.

Anytime! The best thing for me since I got tinnitus was to keep busy, talk my issues out and using a bit of sound therapy. All of these elements are CRUCIAL to living with this ordeal. Being busy, exercising is the best medicine for managing tinnitus. The stress we are releasing is vital to coping with the tinnitus. I workout so hard on a weekly basis that I have no time or energy to even think about the loud/intrusive noise that lives in my head. I am so dedicated that I have been to the gym pretty much with injuries and I still lift the same, if not more. I am not advising for you to adopt my mentality on lifting and exercises. I'm just saying that once we are determined in life, then lets rock it!

Find someone that you trust and talk out your issues. The person that you are talking to or expressing yourself to does not have to have tinnitus. You can play youtube video or what tinnitus sounds like and possibly show some vids of those that have it. That other person will get a good idea that you could be suffering. Talking it out is way better than any forum. This is a great place, do not get me wrong. talking it out is still important.

Having some kind of noise, to listen to besides our own tinnitus has been very helpful to me. I use low volume on the sound therapy, it relaxes the mind and does not bother my tinnitus.

I have super loud ringing and its impossible to not hear it. I still listen to tranquil sounds and focus on those sounds and not dwell about the sounds that comes out of my head.

Living with tinnitus can make life a bit harder, but we can still manage to live a good life. It's all about having a game plan and sticking to it. It's all about thinking positive, even if the odds are stacked against us. Focus your energy on positive people, posts and ideas. Negativity helps no one, it just bring us further down. I use to have that mentality and it was a waste of time and it held me back.

I wish you lots of luck!

 

[Annie3]

@Michael Leigh I appreciate your input and all the links. Thank you.

 

[Michael Leigh]

@Michael Leigh I appreciate your input and all the links. Thank you.

You are welcome @Annie3 Please feel free to ask anymore questions and if I can help I will try.

Best of luck
Michael

 

[Annie3]

@fishbone I agree that exercise is very important! I had a hip replacement 2 weeks after getting tinnitus and it was actually quite diverting to focus on PT exercises and logistics of how to go up and down stairs, etc. The T bothered me more after I recovered and had time to focus on it. I'm now trying to get back in a walking and exercise routine and find that T almost disappears when I'm active. It's sleep that's quite difficult. I have that fear/anger reaction when I can't go back to sleep at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and usually listen to a guided meditation audio which sometimes helps. Thanks much for your encouragement.

 

[SillyMama]

@fishbone I agree that exercise is very important! I had a hip replacement 2 weeks after getting tinnitus and it was actually quite diverting to focus on PT exercises and logistics of how to go up and down stairs, etc. The T bothered me more after I recovered and had time to focus on it. I'm now trying to get back in a walking and exercise routine and find that T almost disappears when I'm active. It's sleep that's quite difficult. I have that fear/anger reaction when I can't go back to sleep at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and usually listen to a guided meditation audio which sometimes helps. Thanks much for your encouragement.

Hi, Annie, There seems to be a small subset of us with intermittent tinnitus. Several of us describe our tinnitus as "high-pitched cricket" sounds. I think I've identified about 5 of us with this so far.
Since you said yours was intermittent, I wondered if this (cricket sounds) description relates to what you're experiencing?

 

[Annie3]

Hello @SillyMama. No, I don't hear crickets. I do have mild subjective T that's a hissing sound, though, and it's intermittent. It's mild and I can tune it out. I only hear it anout three times a day.
The other T that's intermittent is "ticking" sounds in primarily my left ear but occasonally the right. "Tick, tick," then 5 minutes later, "Tick." Then 30 min. later "tick tick tick-tick-tick." Then maybe 2 hours of quiet until another "tick." I can deal with it during the day but it's really hard to sleep since often the ticking starts at 3 am or 4 am and goes off and on for hours in the early morning.

An audiologist and ENT did many tests this week. They think it stems from Eustachion Tube Dysfunction, middle ear muscle spasm or soft palate spasm. So it's probably objective tinnitus although it's so sporadic they didn't hear any ticking. Unfirtunately, my ears were quiet through the whole appt. So they couldn't give any answers about where it's coming from. Sounds like the only treatment might be an anti-epileptic drug to stop the spasms. I don't want that since I get several hours of quiet every day. I just need to sleep!

 

[Lane]

It's sleep that's quite difficult.

I just need to sleep!

Sorry to hear how difficult your sleep is. I could only sleep about 5 minutes at a time, and less than 30 minutes per day total when I first got tinnitus about a year ago. Since then, I've frequently posted on how regular mHBOT sessions helped my sleep dramtically. -- I've also recently discovered that eating oatmeal at least once each day significantly improves my sleep as well (oats are a well-known nervine). All the Best...

 

[vttbx]

What helped me sleep when my T first started, was listening to classical music. In particular, Verdi's Requiem. But I would only play the first movement. I found it to be very therapeutic. But you need to stop after the 9:00-minute mark otherwise the "Dies Irae" section will knock you out of bed.

 

[Annie3]

@Lane
Thank you for the advice. I've never heard of mHBOT before but will read up on it. Also, you made me realize maybe I just have to deal with poor sleep at this point until my fear/anxiety reaction to T comes down. I don't think I could function on 30 min. a night, though!

 

[Annie3]

@vttbx Thanks for responding with your creative sleep tip and for posting the video! I usually go to the "Calm" app on my phone and listen to a sleep story which is sometimes helpful.