Pregabalin Changed My Life Forever (Negatively)

[AVIYT]

I was prescribed Pregabalin for GAD after I went to a psychiatrist on recommendation from my neurologist. I was experiencing periods of depersonalization (from anxiety) and it was probably more situational in retrospect. I wish I could take this decision back, but what's happened has happened now and I have to live with the consequences.

I love my life, I used to love myself madly, I love my girlfriend and family and used to profoundly love money and success. Now it seems that health is the most important to me, whether it be mine or other people's. I understand the struggles of being disabled now. I DO find tinnitus and being sensitive to sounds a disability, as it directly impacts my work and studies. I can't focus on Med School and it seems I have to avoid loud places now, so my life has definitely become much more uncomfortable.

Whereas I used to be the loud guy, now I've been reduced to an anxious introvert. I took Pregabalin for 1.5-2 weeks before I started experiencing a whole slew of side effects, the main bothersome one being ringing in my ears. I read that some people went DEAF from Pregabalin, and immediately started tapering from 300mg. In total I took it for 34 days. Probably around 60-70 pills. And it's now April approaching May, I'm still not myself. I've been permanently changed.

My girlfriend has been the most supportive person throughout this time, and I love her for that. I've become more empathetic and "stable" in some ways (calmer, less eccentric) but that's about the only positives. My ears are much more sensitive to loud sounds and I've had suicidal ideation where before it wouldn't have occurred in my mind.

I still have dreams and goals, but they're more based around other people now. I finally created an account here after Zoloft caused my tinnitus to spike. I'm now off all medication and am hoping for my tinnitus to fade down a bit, as I'm essentially wasting my life away at home now.

 

[Jack Straw]

I was prescribed Pregabalin for GAD after I went to a psychiatrist on recommendation from my neurologist. I was experiencing periods of depersonalization (from anxiety) and it was probably more situational in retrospect. I wish I could take this decision back, but what's happened has happened now and I have to live with the consequences.

I love my life, I used to love myself madly, I love my girlfriend and family and used to profoundly love money and success. Now it seems that health is the most important to me, whether it be mine or other people's. I understand the struggles of being disabled now. I DO find Tinnitus and being sensitive to sounds a disability, as it directly impacts my work and studies. I can't focus on Med School and it seems I have to avoid loud places now, so my life has definitely become much more uncomfortable.

Whereas I used to be the loud guy, now I've been reduced to an anxious introvert. I took Pregabalin for 1.5-2 weeks before I started experiencing a whole slew of side effects, the main bothersome one being ringing in my ears. I read that some people went DEAF from Pregabalin, and immediately started tapering from 300mg. In total I took it for 34 days. Probably around 60-70 pills. And it's now April approaching May, I'm still not myself. I've been permanently changed.

My girlfriend has been the most supportive person throughout this time, and I love her for that. I've become more empathetic and "stable" in some ways (calmer, less eccentric) but that's about the only positives. My ears are much more sensitive to loud sounds and I've had suicidal ideation where before it wouldn't have occurred in my mind.

I still have dreams and goals, but they're more based around other people now. I finally created an account here after Zoloft caused my Tinnitus to spike. I'm now off all medication and am hoping for my tinnitus to fade down a bit, as I'm essentially wasting my life away at home now.

I've got good news and bad news and good news.

Good news is that prescription ototoxic tinnitus is more likely to fade over time and go away than noise induced. So you are already have a better outcome than most. This is based on many anecdotal reports of people getting better due to ototoxic medication. Take it with a grain of salt.

The bad news is that regardless of whether or not you Tinnitus fades you have to be very diligent about protection your ears from ototoxic medication and dangerous levels of sound going forward (for the rest of your life).

The good news is that if it is permanent, there are treatments coming out in the very near future that may reduce your tinnitus. Google Neuromod or University of Michigan. Or check out their respective threads on TT.

Regardless of what happens you will learn to cope with it better and learn to take the emotion out of it. You may be lucky enough to also habituate to it.

If you want to play a more active roll in helping treat / cure tinnitus, get in touch with @Markku or @Hazel if you want to make a difference.

Last piece of advice, get whatever advice you want from here and leave for a little until you become accustomed to your tinnitus. Some of the fear mongering here can really mess with your brain. Take everything said on here with a grain of salt.

All the best

 

[winstona]

I was prescribed Pregabalin for GAD after I went to a psychiatrist on recommendation from my neurologist. I was experiencing periods of depersonalization (from anxiety) and it was probably more situational in retrospect. I wish I could take this decision back, but what's happened has happened now and I have to live with the consequences.

I love my life, I used to love myself madly, I love my girlfriend and family and used to profoundly love money and success. Now it seems that health is the most important to me, whether it be mine or other people's. I understand the struggles of being disabled now. I DO find tinnitus and being sensitive to sounds a disability, as it directly impacts my work and studies. I can't focus on Med School and it seems I have to avoid loud places now, so my life has definitely become much more uncomfortable.

Whereas I used to be the loud guy, now I've been reduced to an anxious introvert. I took Pregabalin for 1.5-2 weeks before I started experiencing a whole slew of side effects, the main bothersome one being ringing in my ears. I read that some people went DEAF from Pregabalin, and immediately started tapering from 300mg. In total I took it for 34 days. Probably around 60-70 pills. And it's now April approaching May, I'm still not myself. I've been permanently changed.

My girlfriend has been the most supportive person throughout this time, and I love her for that. I've become more empathetic and "stable" in some ways (calmer, less eccentric) but that's about the only positives. My ears are much more sensitive to loud sounds and I've had suicidal ideation where before it wouldn't have occurred in my mind.

I still have dreams and goals, but they're more based around other people now. I finally created an account here after Zoloft caused my tinnitus to spike. I'm now off all medication and am hoping for my tinnitus to fade down a bit, as I'm essentially wasting my life away at home now.

Hang in there AVIYT, tinnitus is a different beast than most and it takes time for your ears to heal. I too would like to take back some of the stupid decisions I've made before but it's probably not gonna happen so the only thing we can do is to look forward.

You will get better, there's no doubt about it. But in order to get from your current situation to a better place may take some time. For me, it took roughly 1 year to get better. Also, for some, tinnitus could fade away within the first 6 months.

 

[Agrajag364]

I was prescribed Pregabalin for GAD after I went to a psychiatrist on recommendation from my neurologist. I was experiencing periods of depersonalization (from anxiety) and it was probably more situational in retrospect. I wish I could take this decision back, but what's happened has happened now and I have to live with the consequences.

I love my life, I used to love myself madly, I love my girlfriend and family and used to profoundly love money and success. Now it seems that health is the most important to me, whether it be mine or other people's. I understand the struggles of being disabled now. I DO find tinnitus and being sensitive to sounds a disability, as it directly impacts my work and studies. I can't focus on Med School and it seems I have to avoid loud places now, so my life has definitely become much more uncomfortable.

Whereas I used to be the loud guy, now I've been reduced to an anxious introvert. I took Pregabalin for 1.5-2 weeks before I started experiencing a whole slew of side effects, the main bothersome one being ringing in my ears. I read that some people went DEAF from Pregabalin, and immediately started tapering from 300mg. In total I took it for 34 days. Probably around 60-70 pills. And it's now April approaching May, I'm still not myself. I've been permanently changed.

My girlfriend has been the most supportive person throughout this time, and I love her for that. I've become more empathetic and "stable" in some ways (calmer, less eccentric) but that's about the only positives. My ears are much more sensitive to loud sounds and I've had suicidal ideation where before it wouldn't have occurred in my mind.

I still have dreams and goals, but they're more based around other people now. I finally created an account here after Zoloft caused my tinnitus to spike. I'm now off all medication and am hoping for my tinnitus to fade down a bit, as I'm essentially wasting my life away at home now.

I know a lot of people who are on or who've tried pregabalin for pain. Some say it's helped but at least half who've trialed it seem to report pretty serious sounding mental or physical effects. It is the successor drug to Pfizer's neurontin and is chemically closely related to it. Pfizer were fined for unauthorised marketing of neurontin and there was a lot of "ghostwriting" in the medical literature on this drug, which usually means side effects get played down. Pregabalin was recently reclassified as a class C drug in the UK, I think because it was being used as a street drug and others were getting addicted to it.

I hope you start to feel better now you are off that drug. I am sure it helps some people. Personally I refused to take it when a neurologist wanted to use it to treat pain.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...t-pfizer-over-neurontin-idUSBRE93303R20130404

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC416587/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47766520

https://jimedwardsnrx.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/pfizers-neurontin-documents/

 

[Vukis]

I was prescribed Pregabalin for GAD after I went to a psychiatrist on recommendation from my neurologist. I was experiencing periods of depersonalization (from anxiety) and it was probably more situational in retrospect. I wish I could take this decision back, but what's happened has happened now and I have to live with the consequences.

I love my life, I used to love myself madly, I love my girlfriend and family and used to profoundly love money and success. Now it seems that health is the most important to me, whether it be mine or other people's. I understand the struggles of being disabled now. I DO find tinnitus and being sensitive to sounds a disability, as it directly impacts my work and studies. I can't focus on Med School and it seems I have to avoid loud places now, so my life has definitely become much more uncomfortable.

Whereas I used to be the loud guy, now I've been reduced to an anxious introvert. I took Pregabalin for 1.5-2 weeks before I started experiencing a whole slew of side effects, the main bothersome one being ringing in my ears. I read that some people went DEAF from Pregabalin, and immediately started tapering from 300mg. In total I took it for 34 days. Probably around 60-70 pills. And it's now April approaching May, I'm still not myself. I've been permanently changed.

My girlfriend has been the most supportive person throughout this time, and I love her for that. I've become more empathetic and "stable" in some ways (calmer, less eccentric) but that's about the only positives. My ears are much more sensitive to loud sounds and I've had suicidal ideation where before it wouldn't have occurred in my mind.

I still have dreams and goals, but they're more based around other people now. I finally created an account here after Zoloft caused my tinnitus to spike. I'm now off all medication and am hoping for my tinnitus to fade down a bit, as I'm essentially wasting my life away at home now.

Hi, how you are feeling now? Did your tinnitus subsided? I got severe tinnitus from Lyrica one month ago, before i had just mild. I cant believe, i just took 75 Mg pill 3 evenings

 

[JohnAdams]

Good news is that prescription ototoxic tinnitus is more likely to fade over time and go away than noise induced.

Do you have any links for that?

 

[just1morething]

Hi, how you are feeling now? Did your tinnitus subsided? I got severe tinnitus from Lyrica one month ago, before i had just mild. I cant believe, i just took 75 Mg pill 3 evenings

I don't think it's common to get tinnitus from Lyrica. It's one of Pfizer's best selling drugs. I am taking 75mg and do have severe noise atm but I'm taking zolpidem and clonazepam also.

For some people Pregabalin actually helps their tinnitus. Pregablin's predecessor Gabapentin was used by Dr. Shulman with clonazepam to treat tinnitus. Not sure of the long term repercussions of taking that combo though.

I've read that listening to white/pink noise for 8 hours a day can distract the brain from the tinnitus. R. David Case's Tinnitus Mix may be an option also.

 

[Lane]

I don't think it's common to get tinnitus from Lyrica.

I have a friend who's gotten tinnitus from Lyrica, though it appears to be relatively mild at this time. I'm concerned it may worsen with time.

 

[just1morething]

I have a friend who's gotten tinnitus from Lyrica, though it appears to be relatively mild at this time. I'm concerned it may worsen with time.

Yeah you never know the side effects of drugs. Some people get side effects and others don't. I was taking Lyrica mainly for spinal issues. If I knew for sure it was causing my tinnitus I wouldn't take it. I probably need a L4L5 fusion in my lower back. I've been dealing with some mild lower back pain and numb toes for over 5 years. Lyrica is just a band aid for now.

 

[AVIYT]

Hi, how you are feeling now? Did your tinnitus subsided? I got severe tinnitus from Lyrica one month ago, before i had just mild. I cant believe, i just took 75 Mg pill 3 evenings

No. In fact it's worse than it was when it first arrived. I have hearing aids which have helped, but life is torture. And of course I didn't have money for the hearing aids, so I used crowdfunding which helped with 70% of the fees, but then had to take the other $1,000 out of other important stuff and now I'm behind on payments for other stuff.

I'm thinking of moving back to the States within the next 2-3 years. The main thing with tinnitus is that it took away a lot of my career opportunities at 20-21 years old. I can't work near loud environments because my ears hurt. Good-bye lucrative oil-field jobs and pretty much anything physical labor that pays well. I was doing well before in Poland because I could work online and speak the language. But...

I stopped uploading on YouTube because I hate many things online now. Not that I hate them, but I hate the process of doing them. In a quiet room. It's a weird mix. I soundproofed the windows to my apartment but it's not enough, I'm forced to probably move to another apartment. And this is the problem...

I can't stay still in one spot or office space, because it's either too quiet or too loud. I NEVER cared about that stuff before. So it's like the best jobs are either very loud, or in a very quiet office spaces. I don't know what I will do. I regret taking Pregabalin every, single, day. Day 339 of tinnitus, going on 340. Pretty soon is the anniversary of when I first took Pregabalin, December 19th.

Tinnitus is making me feel like a 50 year old in a mid-life crisis. Stress literally every single day.

 

[Marian C.]

I think it is terrible that drugs like this are even allowed to be prescribed at all, when the potential side effects can be so devastating. I got constant tinnitus 6 years ago because of being on Naproxen and Lansoprazole for a few days. Mercifully, mine has subsided a lot over time, but I still feel a certain amount of anger and regret. I empathise with your situation and I admire your attitude, and hope that in time there will be a cure for this affliction.

 

[Bobby Sinatra]

What are some things you may want to try in the future to fix this Avi? I think it's just a misfiring of nerves... have you considered any neuromodulation therapies?

 

[AVIYT]

It has been 423 days since I got tinnitus. Since then a lot has happened. I've tried many things, I wear hearing aids now, I've lost a lot of money and I'm dead broke again.

I had work but decided to go back to my main skilled area, marketing. The major problem is that I have to be at home with my computer, in the quiet. And my ears scream throughout the day making it damn near impossible.

I know I will continue, despite the constant efforts of my brain telling me to end this nightmare somehow.. I will continue until old age hopefully either ends my suffering or a cure is discovered.

What frustrates me is knowing that I could make good money working online, but I need time to develop this. And for some reason I feel so much better getting outside and working in open areas where the sound echoes around me. I feel if things don't go over too well within the next few weeks, I'll return to work low-paying jobs. I know I won't go homeless, I know I'll struggle but I'll be able to pay the bills.

But it just sucks knowing I live each day tortured by my sounds. I check every day the amount of visitors and followers here, the latest news articles on tinnitus, the latest tinnitus treatments. Heck, I'll even make a youtube channel soon entirely on tinnitus. I see that I must record for few do, and if I were to die I'd want others to know. I ruined my main channel with tinnitus content but I post because I won't stop until this thing is cured or I'm dead.

I just wanted to post on here.. that it's getting worse. The past few weeks feel like my tinnitus has spiked and not gone down. It feels like it's getting louder and changing tones. My hissing/screeching sounds feel like alarms that would be constantly going off. It's 2am and I can't sleep. I just suffer in non-silence. And I'm afraid of it getting worse.

I see many of us suffer on here, but I feel like there's a lot of people who get better or habituate after 1 year. For me it's 15 months in 2 days and it's almost as if every few months it has been getting louder. The world is noisy and my ears will continue to get damaged, for as much as I try to protect and maintain the right balance between protecting and not worrying and avoiding overprotecting... I feel small things make this more difficult. Car alarms, people yelling, extremely loud random sounds of life. Maybe it's hyperacusis. I'm not sure anymore.

22 years old and this is SEVERE. Therapy last year didn't help, it just cost me money. Same with psychiatrists. My girlfriend helps, and I'm moving in with her next month to save more money and to be with someone who will take care of me on the bad days. But it just hurts. Every. Day.

I'm optimistic about the future... but I'm not so sure how I'll survive the next 20-30 or maybe even 40-50 years of my life. It'd be easier if I got it later on in life when I actually earned my money and had a good career... not right before I started earning well.

Anyways. I'm counting down till 500. Then 1,000. Then 10,000. I won't have kids until tinnitus is cured. So if that means I'll have kids at 78 or won't have 'em, so be it.

I'm trying to avoid posting about this, but I'm just surprised that... I've recorded "HOLY &*!) IT'S BEEN WAY LOUDER" for so many days for the past few weeks. Maybe it's stress. Maybe I'm turning deaf.

 

[astaff14]

I'm so sorry tinnitus has affected you this badly. Does anything you can do help give it relief at all? Like for example I find drinking a lot of water, taking magnesium supplements and wearing ear plugs any time I'm in public has taken the edge off of the tinnitus somewhat. I'm right around your age so I totally empathize, it feels so unfair to have such a limiting condition so early on in life... you said you remain optimistic and I think that's important too so I'm happy you're able to do that, I try to be too and it does help to think things like "there's a pretty high chance that in the next 10 years there'll be, if not a cure, then a few good treatments" and I really do believe that too, some of your suffering will be alleviated you know?

I hope things get easier for you. If you don't take meds for sleep I'd recommend trying it out, sleep is really important in terms of tinnitus loudness at least from what I've experienced and read here.

 

[Chinmoku]

17 months here and same story. 3 am awaken. Constant worsening. I don't know why. We have pregabalin in common. I have been off the drug 8 days after a long taper and overall 2 years use. I'm older than you but worried for my kids. You think the worsening is due to continued mini noise-traumas? I wonder all the time. It's my source of puzzlement. I hope that being off the drug will help it to settle in time but I'm not sure. I was hoping that yours would fade after some time after the initial trauma. Like for people who get it from benzos, they have to wait years sometimes. But they don't have constant worsening, it rather fluctuates. So far we both experienced continued worsening. Mine started with a ear infection after being stable on the drug for 6 months, so our cases are different. But I suspect the drug made it the monster it is rather than the mild one I had initially.

Have you tried Lenire? I'm not optimistic for our type of tinnitus.

Do you think FX-322 or OTO-413 will help us?

Would you go on benzos if desperate? Clonazepam?

What type of hearing aids do you have? Mine reach 8 kHz and have white noise too but while they give me temporary relief they exacerbate tinnitus after use.

 

[ajc]

My girlfriend helps, and I'm moving in with her next month to save more money and to be with someone who will take care of me on the bad days. But it just hurts. Every. Day.

Be grateful you have a supportive girlfriend, some of us live alone and have no friends.

 

[all to gain]

Be grateful you have a supportive girlfriend, some of us live alone and have no friends.

This 'disease' makes loners out of us all in many ways. That said, if it wasn't for my children I don't know what I would do.

I feel @AVIYT is being sensible though by putting off having children for now. It's a very big commitment to bring kids into the world and not easy even when in good health. He's still only 22, so let's hope some proper treatments come his way in the not too distant future.

 

[FGG]

When I was in vet school, I remember one instructor telling us that if we don't give our clients education at the same time we hand over a script, we could do more damage than good. I think that very much applies to human medicine, too. Simply handing someone a handout at the pharmacy is not patient information and does not cut it.

I hate that so many of us are destroyed by the profession we went to for help.

 

[all to gain]

When I was in vet school, I remember one instructor telling us that if we don't give our clients education at the same time we hand over a script, we could do more damage than good. I think that very much applies to human medicine, too. Simply handing someone a handout at the pharmacy is not patient information and does not cut it.

I hate that so many of us are destroyed by the profession we went to for help.

I fully agree.

Unfortunately, many doctors are so arrogant and all knowing that they don't think the patient can understand, or needs to know, the possible dangers of taking medication. They KNOW best!! They KNOW what is best for us!! In fact, the whole medical establishment is like that. And then, of course, economics plays a big part, e.g., give the patient Prozac first for depression instead of some therapy and get him out of the door as quickly as possible. It doesn't matter that the patient may suffer a myriad of side effects that put them in a worse off position than to start with.

 

[Matchbox]

It has been 423 days since I got tinnitus. Since then a lot has happened. I've tried many things, I wear hearing aids now, I've lost a lot of money and I'm dead broke again.

I had work but decided to go back to my main skilled area, marketing. The major problem is that I have to be at home with my computer, in the quiet. And my ears scream throughout the day making it damn near impossible.

I know I will continue, despite the constant efforts of my brain telling me to end this nightmare somehow.. I will continue until old age hopefully either ends my suffering or a cure is discovered.

What frustrates me is knowing that I could make good money working online, but I need time to develop this. And for some reason I feel so much better getting outside and working in open areas where the sound echoes around me. I feel if things don't go over too well within the next few weeks, I'll return to work low-paying jobs. I know I won't go homeless, I know I'll struggle but I'll be able to pay the bills.

But it just sucks knowing I live each day tortured by my sounds. I check every day the amount of visitors and followers here, the latest news articles on tinnitus, the latest tinnitus treatments. Heck, I'll even make a youtube channel soon entirely on tinnitus. I see that I must record for few do, and if I were to die I'd want others to know. I ruined my main channel with tinnitus content but I post because I won't stop until this thing is cured or I'm dead.

I just wanted to post on here.. that it's getting worse. The past few weeks feel like my tinnitus has spiked and not gone down. It feels like it's getting louder and changing tones. My hissing/screeching sounds feel like alarms that would be constantly going off. It's 2am and I can't sleep. I just suffer in non-silence. And I'm afraid of it getting worse.

I see many of us suffer on here, but I feel like there's a lot of people who get better or habituate after 1 year. For me it's 15 months in 2 days and it's almost as if every few months it has been getting louder. The world is noisy and my ears will continue to get damaged, for as much as I try to protect and maintain the right balance between protecting and not worrying and avoiding overprotecting... I feel small things make this more difficult. Car alarms, people yelling, extremely loud random sounds of life. Maybe it's hyperacusis. I'm not sure anymore.

22 years old and this is SEVERE. Therapy last year didn't help, it just cost me money. Same with psychiatrists. My girlfriend helps, and I'm moving in with her next month to save more money and to be with someone who will take care of me on the bad days. But it just hurts. Every. Day.

I'm optimistic about the future... but I'm not so sure how I'll survive the next 20-30 or maybe even 40-50 years of my life. It'd be easier if I got it later on in life when I actually earned my money and had a good career... not right before I started earning well.

Anyways. I'm counting down till 500. Then 1,000. Then 10,000. I won't have kids until tinnitus is cured. So if that means I'll have kids at 78 or won't have 'em, so be it.

I'm trying to avoid posting about this, but I'm just surprised that... I've recorded "HOLY &*!) IT'S BEEN WAY LOUDER" for so many days for the past few weeks. Maybe it's stress. Maybe I'm turning deaf.

I don't know if your girlfriend would be cool with never having kids. Most women who start dating you don't sign up to be a nurse maid, they signed up for what they got from their impression of you and your social status (sense of humour, looks, etc all help but most even though they aren't thinking it, do have that long term babies fantasy) as far as potential is concerned.

Gotten any better? Are you 100% it was the Pregabalin or did you listen to loud noise and possibly get yourself set up for this?

I recently took Pregabalin for my reactive tinnitus. It helped a bit, my normal tinnitus spiked something fierce though... so yah it's not for me.

Gabapentin ironically enough I found safer even though Lyrica replaced it effectively as "safer".

 

[AVIYT]

I don't know if your girlfriend would be cool with never having kids. Most women who start dating you don't sign up to be a nurse maid, they signed up for what they got from their impression of you and your social status (sense of humour, looks, etc all help but most even though they aren't thinking it, do have that long term babies fantasy) as far as potential is concerned.

Gotten any better? Are you 100% it was the Pregabalin or did you listen to loud noise and possibly get yourself set up for this?

I recently took Pregabalin for my reactive tinnitus. It helped a bit, my normal tinnitus spiked something fierce though... so yah it's not for me.

Gabapentin ironically enough I found safer even though Lyrica replaced it effectively as "safer".

I'm now engaged, we won't have kids for the next decade that's for sure. I don't want kids ever, but we'll see.

I now have a normal job in sales, it's quiet for the most part and I'm just saving up money for the future. Never know what can happen.

I did get better in terms of mental health and distracting. I don't visit Tinnitus Talk often anymore, don't look up tinnitus anymore (at least not that often) but... my tinnitus has gotten drastically worse. I do have tough days still. My left ear for some reason got 10x worse than right. I think 3 events in 1 month, half a year ago did this: dentist appt, loud car exhaust in parking lot, + earwax cleaning on left side.

I do have some ok days when distracted by work. Work's really the only thing keeping me going. I don't think much of tinnitus when busy. I work 45-50 hours but am trying to get to 60 hours per week. I will NEVER take anything from the gabapentinoid category again.

Only things that help me are: quiet gentle music for masking, driving my car and distracting myself with work. I'm saving up money for stem cell treatment 2-3 years from now. Hearing aids sometimes help, but for the most part no.

But I do think working and getting a better job and apartment and living a 'SEMI NORMAL' life help. So I'm somewhat better. Habituated? no. But maybe some day...