Nothing Changes My Tinnitus

[Martin69]

As most of you I guess, I tried figuring out if something changes my T loudness (to the better of course).
And as most of you know, my T is high-pitched (14-16 kHz), maybe multiple tones (difficult to tell), loud and oscillating. Many said that sugar, salt, MSG, coffeine, alcohol, sleep, stress, supplements, exercising and whatever has an influence on their loudness. Here nothing, nothing changes it.

I had the one or other milder day some time ago. I did not know why. Maybe it was just perception. But no longer. It is now a constant buzzing and hissing in my head. Cuts through everything. Really difficult to handle. Sleep is relief, the rest of the day is just trying going through it as normal as possible (meaning no much influence to the life of my family). No quality of life, just trying gaining time in habituating to it. I really try not reacting to it and do the things I would do without T (I even went for some swimming today). But it is such a damn hissing, not nice.

Question: Is there anything else where you see a loudness change of your T?
In the past I could cope little bit better since I had the one or other milder day or sometimes a milder hour. But now it is really difficult.

 

[Larry OT]

Martin,

You once mentioned you took Xanax when things got bad and it made your T quieter. I's that part of the equation? I don't know how you can decide when you've had too much suffering and take it.
I'm at the point where the small dose of Valium I take makes my T and depression bearable so For now I don't see a way to manage it otherwise.
It's not a great solution as we all know but how do you decide when it's time to take it?
As far as my T goes, it cycles up and down to extremes so I wish I knew why it goes so low and so unbearably high, but the meds make a dent in my anxiety and the levels.
Sorry for your suffering. I hope the new year brings us all closer to habituation.

 

[Martin69]

Martin,

You once mentioned you took Xanax when things got bad and it made your T quieter. I's that part of the equation? I don't know how you can decide when you've had too much suffering and take it.
I'm at the point where the small dose of Valium I take makes my T and depression bearable so For now I don't see a way to manage it otherwise.
It's not a great solution as we all know but how do you decide when it's time to take it?
As far as my T goes, it cycles up and down to extremes so I wish I knew why it goes so low and so unbearably high, but the meds make a dent in my anxiety and the levels.
Sorry for your suffering. I hope the new year brings us all closer to habituation.

Hi Larry.
Yes, Valium lowers it. I really try avoiding benzos, but at the moment it is really unbearable.
Take the lows to breathe a little bit. I no longer have them.
Take care,
Martin

 

[PhilB]

Question: Is there anything else where you see a loudness change of your T?

Hi @Martin69 - I was wondering if you have tried any sound therapy. Earlier this year, I spent a lot of time experimenting with ACRN. To be truthful, I did not experience any lasting benefit but I found (and others have also reported) that listening to ACRN tones produces a short-term effect of "residual inhibition". In very simple terms, by re-supplying your brain with some stimulus at the higher frequencies which have been affected by hearing loss, you can temporarily calm down the spontaneous firing of neurons which manifest itself as T. This principle applies even if you do not succeed in identifying your T-tone precisely, although ACRN reputedly does not produce long term benefits unless you use a tone pattern which is based upon the frequency of your T. Nowadays, I only listen to ACRN tones occasionally to get some short term relief when the T becomes particularly annoying.

Having read quite a few of your posts over the last couple of months, the other observation I would make is that even though you perceive yourself to be coping badly with T, you are perhaps doing better than you think. You have written about attending social events, visiting restaurants, cinema, theatre, sporting events etc. So you are not allowing T to impose restrictions upon your lifestyle. You still do most of the things with T that you did before T, yet you seem to think you are failing. If you could begin to see yourself as someone who is doing really well, rather than someone who is doing badly, then I think you would start to feel a lot better.

 

[Martin69]

Hi @Martin69 - I was wondering if you have tried any sound therapy. Earlier this year, I spent a lot of time experimenting with ACRN. To be truthful, I did not experience any lasting benefit but I found (and others have also reported) that listening to ACRN tones produces a short-term effect of "residual inhibition". In very simple terms, by re-supplying your brain with some stimulus at the higher frequencies which have been affected by hearing loss, you can temporarily calm down the spontaneous firing of neurons which manifest itself as T. This principle applies even if you do not succeed in identifying your T-tone precisely, although ACRN reputedly does not produce long term benefits unless you use a tone pattern which is based upon the frequency of your T. Nowadays, I only listen to ACRN tones occasionally to get some short term relief when the T becomes particularly annoying.

Having read quite a few of your posts over the last couple of months, the other observation I would make is that even though you perceive yourself to be coping badly with T, you are perhaps doing better than you think. You have written about attending social events, visiting restaurants, cinema, theatre, sporting events etc. So you are not allowing T to impose restrictions upon your lifestyle. You still do most of the things with T that you did before T, yet you seem to think you are failing. If you could begin to see yourself as someone who is doing really well, rather than someone who is doing badly, then I think you would start to feel a lot better.

Hi Phil,

Thanks for your kind words.

ACRN does not do much for me. My T is too high. The only residual inhibition I have is when I am in very loud environments (concerts, circus, waterfall, etc.) where I do not hear my T. Also if listening to loud music. But of course I don't want to damage my hearing much more. I need to listen to crickets to have a little bit of relief. Also, I listen to audio books.

Yes, I push myself living a life I would do without T. But it is really so damn loud, like the rail tracks when the train has passed. This high, annoying hissing sound. F..., what a concert in my head.

I really want to cope and habituate. I do not stay at home, but prefer going outside. But this volume and pitch at the moment is in my opinion catastrophic T. Most concerns currently are, how to do my job once vacation is over.

Martin

 

[tinnitussufferer]

how do you know its 14-16khz?

 

[Magpie]

Martin wrote:
Question: Is there anything else where you see a loudness change of your T?
In the past I could cope little bit better since I had the one or other milder day or sometimes a milder hour. But now it is really difficult.

I have very loud T and nothing has ever changed the volume or intensity of my tinnitus and nothing ever will. I have an aversion to antidepressants because I strongly believe that if you can't change the causes of why you are depressed then sedating yourself will solve nothing. Of course others may disagree and that is your prerogative.

I think that you can bang your head against the wall looking for answers or solutions and become even more frustrated and stressed. Yes tinnitus is a bitch, its horrible and it can make your life miserable in the beginning. BUT! in the realm of life there are other more important issues that will sometimes rock your very existence and when you figure out what is really important it will put tinnitus into perspective.

Martin maybe you are trying to hard to habituate when what you should be doing is living your life and realizing that in spite of tinnitus you are very fortunate to have such a lovely family. In time tinnitus will take care of itself and you will habituate or get to a point where your tinnitus bothers you only occasionally.

You should use sound distraction techniques to help you when you are more stressed and the more you think about your tinnitus in negative terms the harder it is to overcome it.

You have been battling this now for quite awhile and maybe it is time to look at what legitimate sound therapies are available. I can't recommend one because from what I have read there have been mixed results and I also wouldn't want you to waste your money on something that may not work for you. But maybe something that is structured might help you.

Greg

 

[I who love music]

Nothing has helped me as well as a technique I learned here on the forum. And as the weeks are going by I'm discovering that not only do I not hear my T 98% of the time, but when I DO, I can turn it off. This is great. Try it. https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

 

[amandine]

@I who love music

I have tried your method. Every day I say '' I am tired of the noise'' over and over again. Doesn't seem to make any difference. What am I doing wrong? It is the only sentence that I can recall that you said would be a good one to say.

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music

I have tried your method. Every day I say '' I am tired of the noise'' over and over again. Doesn't seem to make any difference. What am I doing wrong? It is the only sentence that I can recall that you said would be a good one to say.

If you're not noticing a decrease in the number of your responses, then yes, you should probably change your 'wording.'
Maybe the word, "Tired" is not the best word. Try another.
And maybe you should look for a change in the number of these responses as well as some new feelings. If you continue to listen for the T and measure it there is no way this will work.
But I believe the hard part is over and you're on the right path. Because having faith in this and actually starting it can be the most difficult aspects of this technique.
As a matter of fact, this technique is revealing wonderful things to me this very stressful holiday week. I'm learning that when I do happen to hear my T, it's getting very easy to just turn it off. This is such a great thing, I want everyone to experience this. If I keep going like this, I'll be a 100% success story. And I've had T my whole life !!!!! Hang in there.

 

[amandine]

@I who love music

Thank you for your rapid response.
Well please can you give me some idea as to how to change it - some examples of sentences that I could try.
Also I do not have to try and listen for it - it is there loud and clear all the time over riding every other sound except for water running or the kettle boiling or the wood fire burning.
I really need some help with this please if I am going to try it out. If it works for you then why not for me too. Just need a guide please, if possible.....?
What like, I am annoyed or pxxxxxd off or utterly sick of this noise? I am unsure about what sentence to formulate.
I say it out loud or mouth the words.....

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music

Thank you for your rapid response.
Well please can you give me some idea as to how to change it - some examples of sentences that I could try.
Also I do not have to try and listen for it - it is there loud and clear all the time over riding every other sound except for water running or the kettle boiling or the wood fire burning.
I really need some help with this please if I am going to try it out. If it works for you then why not for me too. Just need a guide please, if possible.....?
What like, I am annoyed or pxxxxxd off or utterly sick of this noise? I am unsure about what sentence to formulate.
I say it out loud or mouth the words.....

You sound exactly like me a few weeks ago.
Here's what I say, "I hear you, you got me nerved up like yesterday."
Or, quite often I say, "Ya I hear you, so what."
To know if this is working, DON'T check on the volume of T. Check on the number of responses you make from day to day.
I mean, my T isn't gone. It's here for good. But this technique lets me 'get around' it and that means not hearing it most of the time. If I listen for it, I'll never get around it.