Hi Guys!
2 years ago, after an intense experience, my tinnitus changed my whole life. I thought about it all day, I felt I was on the verge of a breakdown, complete paranoia. It got a little better after some months dealing with this anxiety, and I didn't think about it that much, but on the bad days, the anxiety was back: I was scared that I was going insane.
We'll as most stories, it gets better with time. I have now had serious tinnitus for 2 years, but i hardly ever think about it. It doesn't really bother me. Maybe a few times a week I listen to it, but most times it actually feels positive, and it reminds me.. I've beat this thing. It has maybe been the worst experience in my life, but I have overcome it, it's not a problem anymore.
I think that the level of the tinnitus is about the same, so it's not that it is gone, but the way I think about is is completely different. It's insane how much your mind defines your whole world.
I have meditated about 30 minutes a day, on an off for the last 5 years, and I think that has helped alot. Meditation gives me a space to view the 'bad' and 'scary' thoughts and my tinnitus, from a way more calm place, and not from a headspace of panic and anxiety.
Some thoughts that helped me along the way:
-If I can beat this tinnitus, I can beat anything. (This gave me a lot of willpower, and motivation to beat this thing).
-Tinnitus can be a motivator to be a better human. It can make you take up, yoga, meditation, better diet and all that. So in that sense, it can be a wake up call, a weird sort of gift.
-The tinnitus I can hear, means that I can still hear things. I am blessed with hearing, and though I thought I could never enjoy music again, it doesn't botter me anymore, and now I'm more greatful for the hearing in general.
When it was at its worst, I was begging and searching for a cure. Just thinking about technology and the potentiality for a cure made it a bit better, but habituation is fine with me. I just didn't believe it was possible but it was.
So another classic habituation story, hope it helps someone.
Here's a bit more backstory to my tinnitus for those who are interested.
I am a 23 year old electronic musician, and i started noticing my tinnitus in 2015. It was only when I was about to sleep and everything was quiet, or if I came in contact with alcohol or marijuana. It didn't bother me at all at this point.
In August 2016 I had a terrible bad trip on LSD. I was acting recklessly, and I didn't have a sitter. (I still believe in the wonders of psychedelics- but it has to be researched and done in safe matters, this cannot be understated enough).
I was living in a big noisy city at this point, and during the trip, that realization came to me. There's always so much noise around me. Then I started listening to my tinnitus, and it just kept getting louder and louder, and I felt like I was encapsulated with 100 washing machines going WUSCH WUSCH WUSCH, and getting louder and louder. It was the most traumatic experience of my life, and after that day, i couldnt stop listening to my tinnitus. I think it is really weird because I don't know if the tinnitus was the same volume as before, but this intense trip had got my mind focused on it. Or maybe the LSD and the bad trip caused the volume of the tinnitus to be much louder. Maybe it is HPPD, but again, there's not much research so this is just speculation. All I know is, that I didn't care about the tinnitus before this day, but after that day, I felt like a lunatic for months. Today I feel free, so now I'm just coming to share.
Thanks so much for this forum, and a big thank you to anyone sharing their success stories. I almost had forgotten about this forum, so I suspect that there are many more success stories out there, but people just move on, and forget that this was once a big problem in there life.
-Kasper
2 years ago, after an intense experience, my tinnitus changed my whole life. I thought about it all day, I felt I was on the verge of a breakdown, complete paranoia. It got a little better after some months dealing with this anxiety, and I didn't think about it that much, but on the bad days, the anxiety was back: I was scared that I was going insane.
We'll as most stories, it gets better with time. I have now had serious tinnitus for 2 years, but i hardly ever think about it. It doesn't really bother me. Maybe a few times a week I listen to it, but most times it actually feels positive, and it reminds me.. I've beat this thing. It has maybe been the worst experience in my life, but I have overcome it, it's not a problem anymore.
I think that the level of the tinnitus is about the same, so it's not that it is gone, but the way I think about is is completely different. It's insane how much your mind defines your whole world.
I have meditated about 30 minutes a day, on an off for the last 5 years, and I think that has helped alot. Meditation gives me a space to view the 'bad' and 'scary' thoughts and my tinnitus, from a way more calm place, and not from a headspace of panic and anxiety.
Some thoughts that helped me along the way:
-If I can beat this tinnitus, I can beat anything. (This gave me a lot of willpower, and motivation to beat this thing).
-Tinnitus can be a motivator to be a better human. It can make you take up, yoga, meditation, better diet and all that. So in that sense, it can be a wake up call, a weird sort of gift.
-The tinnitus I can hear, means that I can still hear things. I am blessed with hearing, and though I thought I could never enjoy music again, it doesn't botter me anymore, and now I'm more greatful for the hearing in general.
When it was at its worst, I was begging and searching for a cure. Just thinking about technology and the potentiality for a cure made it a bit better, but habituation is fine with me. I just didn't believe it was possible but it was.
So another classic habituation story, hope it helps someone.
Here's a bit more backstory to my tinnitus for those who are interested.
I am a 23 year old electronic musician, and i started noticing my tinnitus in 2015. It was only when I was about to sleep and everything was quiet, or if I came in contact with alcohol or marijuana. It didn't bother me at all at this point.
In August 2016 I had a terrible bad trip on LSD. I was acting recklessly, and I didn't have a sitter. (I still believe in the wonders of psychedelics- but it has to be researched and done in safe matters, this cannot be understated enough).
I was living in a big noisy city at this point, and during the trip, that realization came to me. There's always so much noise around me. Then I started listening to my tinnitus, and it just kept getting louder and louder, and I felt like I was encapsulated with 100 washing machines going WUSCH WUSCH WUSCH, and getting louder and louder. It was the most traumatic experience of my life, and after that day, i couldnt stop listening to my tinnitus. I think it is really weird because I don't know if the tinnitus was the same volume as before, but this intense trip had got my mind focused on it. Or maybe the LSD and the bad trip caused the volume of the tinnitus to be much louder. Maybe it is HPPD, but again, there's not much research so this is just speculation. All I know is, that I didn't care about the tinnitus before this day, but after that day, I felt like a lunatic for months. Today I feel free, so now I'm just coming to share.
Thanks so much for this forum, and a big thank you to anyone sharing their success stories. I almost had forgotten about this forum, so I suspect that there are many more success stories out there, but people just move on, and forget that this was once a big problem in there life.
-Kasper