New to This. How Loud Is Your Tinnitus, Have You Tried Meditation, Problems with Hyperacusis...

[2131e]

Hi everyone,

I'm so grateful to have found all of you guys here on this forum -- I've had tinnitus for the past month and it has been increasing and driving me crazy. I used to sleep pretty well but I've been lying awake at night just freaking out about it. I went to the GP and she just said "it's permanent and no one is really interested in investigating it" and gave me some Valium. I would have been completely despondent if I had not found this forum.

I wanted to ask a few things --

1. How loud is other people's tinnitus? For example, I can hear mine in the bedroom, but not near the fridge, or near traffic, or in conversation or in the shower. Is this loud or soft tinnitus? It is driving me nuts so if other people have it louder I admire how they cope with it. I did an online test and have about 30dB hearing loss across some frequencies. Years of concerts and bars and too loud headphones..... which like I guess everyone hear with acoustic trauma I really regret but no one tells you all this stuff will kill your ears!

2. Does anyone here meditate? I saw some comforting posts from Dr. Nagler on CBT for tinnitus and I wonder whether mindfulness meditation -- like the mindfulness based stress reduction program Jon Kabat-Zinn developed for people with chronic pain -- would be a helpful practice. I suspect it would be in terms of teaching yourself to not get emotionally distressed by the sound. But I'm finding the anxiety unbearable when I sit to meditate in a quiet room. The noise gets SUPER loud and I freak out. It is easier with white noise in the background but that makes me feel like I am just avoiding 'facing' the tinnitus. Love to hear form anyone who meditates and how they do it with the tinnitus.

3. I've been reading last night about the AM101 trials which look really promising but apparently only work in the acute phase. However it sounds like a lot of us here have tinnitus that is getting worse, corresponding with further unintended hearing damage (I guess a lot of us have sensitive ears). Wouldn't it follow that we are in the 'acute' phase not just the first time we get tinnitus, but every time our tinnitus gets worse (i.e. every time we have new acoustic trauma that makes the tinnitus flare up)? In that case I would have thought that AM101 would be effective for tinnitus sufferers regardless of how long they had it.

4. Does anyone find that they just can't stand noise? Since the tinnitus I can't be in bars and even the road feels too noisy. Is anyone else like this? How do you cope with the outside world of noise?

Thanks. Love to hear from anyone who's been thinking/worrying about the same stuff.

2131e

 

[Markku]

2131e!

1. How loud is other people's tinnitus? For example, I can hear mine in the bedroom, but not near the fridge, or near traffic, or in conversation or in the shower. Is this loud or soft tinnitus?

I can hear mine in all the situations you mentioned (except for very busy traffic), over the sound of a loud-ish fan and moderately loud music as well.

I'd say yours is mild, or in the lower range of moderate.

2. Does anyone here meditate?

I haven't, but we do have Dr. Gans who you could ask for tips. She has a section in Doctors' Corner.

3. I've been reading last night about the AM101 trials which look really promising but apparently only work in the acute phase. However it sounds like a lot of us here have tinnitus that is getting worse, corresponding with further unintended hearing damage (I guess a lot of us have sensitive ears). Wouldn't it follow that we are in the 'acute' phase not just the first time we get tinnitus, but every time our tinnitus gets worse (i.e. every time we have new acoustic trauma that makes the tinnitus flare up)?

This would make sense to me, but I don't believe there is any data yet that confirms this. One can hope.

4. Does anyone find that they just can't stand noise? Since the tinnitus I can't be in bars and even the road feels too noisy. Is anyone else like this? How do you cope with the outside world of noise?

I do sometimes, mostly when going to sleep. I actually have a worse period right now; I was doing much better but seems like the noise has continued to gradually increase and it now impacts me negatively more than it used to, say, a year ago.

But I can be in bars (earplugged in of course), and roads don't pose a problem.

Maybe you have developed a mild case of sound sensitivity? That often gets better in time.

Your tinnitus is very recent...

Anyway, lots can happen. Yours can still resolve even. Keep us posted and best wishes!

Markku

 

[MichaelM]

1. How loud is other people's tinnitus? For example, I can hear mine in the bedroom, but not near the fridge, or near traffic, or in conversation or in the shower. Is this loud or soft tinnitus?

2131e

Dont know about other people´s tinnitus but i can hear mine every second when i am awake. First thing in the morning, the last before the sleep. Stadium concerts, while driving motorbike... i hear it all the time. It is unmaskable these days since i have a severe hearing loss in my sick ear. Pretty much all i hear with my problem ear is T.

I´d say like Markku: your´s is mild, perhaps the base camp for a T. I understand your suffering and frustration but since it is such a new problem there´s a good chance it will fade away. I dont cope with mine, this is more like a staying-alive-thing, or at least it has been so for some months now.

I dont medidate. I find some noises totally annoying but it has nothing do with the volume itself.

All the best and may T the fade away for all of us.

 

[Barrowww]

Hello, 2131e,

1. I hear it all the time, because it's reactive to sound (after acoustic shock almost two months ago). When a truck goes by, it escalates to match its loudness. When I am in a cafe, it reacts to other people's voices and all that ambient noise. And whenever I talk just a bit louder, it reacts to my own voice. So yeah, could be worse. You'll be alright, don't worry.

2. I used to meditate, but now it's too hard. Anyway, I am willing to get back to it, because mindfulness CBT seems a way to go. So I'm gonna meditate. I did meditate on yoga session last week and it put my tinnitus based anxiety at rest to some extent. I am a huge believer in the habituation aspect of mindfulness meditation. Btw., the meditation is focused on accepting and actually listening to tinnitus, get comfortable with it, so I guess silence is ok.

4. Oh, yes. The noise is much more intrusive now. Maybe it's an aspect of hyperacusis or ttts or phonophobia, I'm really not sure - the reactiveness of my tinnitus plays a big role in it. I'm just trying to habituate my ears to sounds, I literally tell myself "it's ok man, you never had a problem with this sound, it's just your mind playing tricks on ya".

b.

 

[gary]

T is there all the time. I notice it only when I listen for it. If I am watching say a really good movie and focused on it, I do not notice it. if I get up to get a snack and get un-focused it's there.

 

[2131e]

Hey all, thanks so much for sharing your experiences and answering my questions, it really helps. This is such a supportive community. I have no idea how people coped with this before online forums.

Thanks Markku I will for sure! It's great you can still be in bars though I'm sorry to hear the T is getting worse. Do you have earplugs where you can still hear what people are saying?

Michael what happened to your sick ear? Have you got a hearing aid/masker?

B: Thanks I hope so! Hopefully yours will lessen too... if yours is that recent maybe you could do the AM 101 trial in the US or UK.

I'm certain mindfulness meditation will help with habituation, I just know it will take a lot of patience and courage and I don't have either of those things yet. I figure if it works for people with chronic pain it must work for tinnitus.

Gary I've noticed like you if you're paying attention to something it's just not there. But when you lost your concentration or switch tasks it comes back.

I'm really freaking out about what seems to be a pretty new and mild case - I so admire all of you who are able to make it through with even louder and more invasive noises. I hope that the new possible cures some people on here are talking about can offer us all relief!

 

[MichaelM]

Long story short: i got tinnitus when i was a teenager.

Probably the classic way it was: rock concerts, playing rock music, shooting, listening music a lot with headphones... who knows. That was some 20 years ago. I somehow habituated to that mild tinnitus. I remember saying to people "i hear it when it´s really quiet"... those were the days. Had i known then what was to come i wouldnt have believed!

Now I have Meniere´s Disease but that´s another story. It gives me hell with T (my old T was absolutely nothing compared to this T 2.0, which is my Main Problem nowadays), it takes part of my hearing, creates balance problems and aural fullness among some other symptoms. To this Meniere´s thing i cannot habituate anymore, i just try to live day by day.

I do hear OK with my other ear, so no hearing aid needed. I dont use a masker. The thing is i cant hear the masker in my sick ear that well anymore. I tried listening to white noise with earbuds couple of days ago but it really didnt help: i had to put the volume so loud to hear it that it started to be painfull. and the sound also became distorted, which is one of my many symptoms.

 

[2131e]

Michael I'm so sorry to hear that. That makes me feel like mine is nothing to worry about (at least for now). nonetheless i'm worrying. that's why I did the quiz -- it sounds like people are suffering symptoms at such different levels.

A professor at my uni just quit because he has Meniere's. He is not able to teach because of the trouble hearing and he has tinnitus too. Its very sad for him because teaching is his life. I hope that you find the relief that you need. There must be others on here who have Meniere's too.

 

[MichaelM]

Thank you, 2131e. Meniere´s is an unknown disease for most of the people. Many diseases are, actually, i know. With MD the funniest things is it is totally invisible, cannot really be measured in any way, it doesnt kill and there is no cure and hardly any meds exist. In severe balance problems some surgeries can be done but they are rare.

So... it doesnt exist in a way many other problems do. That is the way i feel about this. The scientist dont have interest towards this, so it seems. Someone somewhere might have but i feel there has been no real scientific work done for years, at least i havent found anything from google.

We all suffer from T in our own way. One cannot really compare one T to another. If you suffer from your T it is real and therefore it is a problem though it might be only a mild version of T.

I absolutely understand that professor´s situation. I, too, had to quit working because of this in last month. MD has changed most of my life, the way i think and feel about things.

 

[BobDigi]

I can hear mine over everything. Be it the TV, conversation or even loud music. Quiet tinnitus you can drown out with a TV is for wimps.

 

[Sean]

Hi everyone,

I'm so grateful to have found all of you guys here on this forum -- I've had tinnitus for the past month and it has been increasing and driving me crazy. I used to sleep pretty well but I've been lying awake at night just freaking out about it. I went to the GP and she just said "it's permanent and no one is really interested in investigating it" and gave me some Valium. I would have been completely despondent if I had not found this forum.

I wanted to ask a few things --

1. How loud is other people's tinnitus? For example, I can hear mine in the bedroom, but not near the fridge, or near traffic, or in conversation or in the shower. Is this loud or soft tinnitus? It is driving me nuts so if other people have it louder I admire how they cope with it. I did an online test and have about 30dB hearing loss across some frequencies. Years of concerts and bars and too loud headphones..... which like I guess everyone hear with acoustic trauma I really regret but no one tells you all this stuff will kill your ears!

2. Does anyone here meditate? I saw some comforting posts from Dr. Nagler on CBT for tinnitus and I wonder whether mindfulness meditation -- like the mindfulness based stress reduction program Jon Kabat-Zinn developed for people with chronic pain -- would be a helpful practice. I suspect it would be in terms of teaching yourself to not get emotionally distressed by the sound. But I'm finding the anxiety unbearable when I sit to meditate in a quiet room. The noise gets SUPER loud and I freak out. It is easier with white noise in the background but that makes me feel like I am just avoiding 'facing' the tinnitus. Love to hear form anyone who meditates and how they do it with the tinnitus.

3. I've been reading last night about the AM101 trials which look really promising but apparently only work in the acute phase. However it sounds like a lot of us here have tinnitus that is getting worse, corresponding with further unintended hearing damage (I guess a lot of us have sensitive ears). Wouldn't it follow that we are in the 'acute' phase not just the first time we get tinnitus, but every time our tinnitus gets worse (i.e. every time we have new acoustic trauma that makes the tinnitus flare up)? In that case I would have thought that AM101 would be effective for tinnitus sufferers regardless of how long they had it.

4. Does anyone find that they just can't stand noise? Since the tinnitus I can't be in bars and even the road feels too noisy. Is anyone else like this? How do you cope with the outside world of noise?

Thanks. Love to hear from anyone who's been thinking/worrying about the same stuff.

2131e

If it's only been one month, there is a chance tinnitus will go down a lot in upcoming month . Try to be patient ( I know it's hard ) .
For lot of people tinnitus does subside in 3-4 months .