Tinnitus 90% Gone After 6 Months

[unlucky_eli]

I've been waiting to post this to make sure that my tinnitus has actually gone rather than just a temporary low volume fluctuation, but I am happy to say that after 6 months, my tinnitus is now 90% gone.

I posted my story in an introduction thread if you'd like more detail, but in summary I got very, very loud tinnitus from an ear infection. Reading other people's tinnitus stories, it was clear that mine was very severe. The only thing that would mask mine was the shower. Other than that it was loud and clearly audible over every other sound. To give an example, I tried sleeping with a humidifier running just a few centimetres from my left ear and it didn't come even close to masking the sound. Impossible to relax, watch TV or function normally.

It stayed like this for 3 months. That was pure torture and I really came close to losing my mind.

Then about 2.5 months ago I started to experience improvements. I would hear silence anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours per day, but each time the intrusive tinnitus would return just as loud as before. The times of silence were really encouraging though, and it's at about this time that I started to feel some hope.

About 2 months ago my recovery really started to accelerate. The periods of silence or near silence were becoming longer and when the T did come back it was much quieter. The improvement continues to this day and I am now about 90% free of tinnitus. For the past month my tinnitus is silent for most of the day and even in a totally silent room I cannot hear it. On some days, especially if it has been a stressful day, the tinnitus is a very mild hum that I can only hear in a silent room if I concentrate on it.

The exception to this is lying down (which is why I'm not saying 100% cured). I think there might be some kind of blood pressure issue going on, because when I lie down the hum becomes reasonably loud over a period of 1-2 minutes, and when I get up, even in the same room with the same ambient noise, the hum recedes and then disappears over a period of about 2-3 minutes. It's quite a dramatic effect. Just to give an example, every morning when I wake I can clearly hear the hum, but by the time I walk to the bathroom it's 90% gone and once I'm out of the shower I hear total silence again (even with ears plugged). It has been like this for about 2 months now. Very strange.

The good part is that this pattern has been consistent for 2 months and the hum that I hear at night falling asleep causes me no anxiety at all, since I know that within a few minutes of waking it will be gone again.

I'm not sure if there is any more improvement for me, but if it stays like this then I am effectively cured. The tinnitus is at such a low level now that I would be embarrassed to complain about it.

I didn't do anything special to get better, the recovery has been very slow, but seems to be due to the damage from the infection healing.

I have been taking Ginkgo Biloba every day, but I'm not sure if that has had any impact.

I will mention that stress is a major trigger for me. If I have a stressful day then I will hear the hum during the day and it can get irritating, however I know the pattern now, and I know that a good night's sleep will get me back down to silence again. This really has completely removed all anxiety related to tinnitus for me, so even on my louder days (maybe 5 slightly louder days this past month), I'm really not stressed by it.

So, in summary I went from crippling tinnitus which I could hear all day even around loud ambient noise to complete silence most days with only a very mild hum (easily masked by TV) at worst.

I have to say though, that the mental toll this has all taken is now my biggest challenge. Even though my tinnitus is now almost completely gone I still find myself monitoring and thinking about it waaaay too much during the day. I think it will take quite some time for me to completely move on from this traumatic experience, maybe another 6 months or longer. Tinnitus may have left my ear, but it is still firmly embedded in my thoughts. That's probably more due to my anxious nature though.

Sorry for the long post, but I really got a lot out of Tinnitus Talk and didn't want to leave without sharing a story of success and hope for anyone new who stumbles onto the site.

 

[Hollly]

I've had mine for only 2 weeks and my mindset fluctuates from the annoyance of the tinnitus and the anxious thoughts about it! Bloody rough process. So happy to hear yours is 90% gone hang in their with the anxiousness it will get better!

 

[LukeYoung]

Sounds like habituation.
Don't be too comfortable as things can change. I've had it a few years now.. I was very comfortable but have had other ear issues and annoyances once my t went quiet. I was at a point where I never noticed it. But things can happen. Enjoy your habituation for now though

 

[Bill Bauer]

Sounds like habituation.

Habituation is unchanged volume that doesn't bother one as much as it used to. People CAN distinguish between severe tinnitus and near silence. Even with habituation, when they consciously look for the sound, the sufferers instantly become aware of it. Also, I doubt someone with "severe" tinnitus can habituate in 6 months. So, no, it isn't habituation, and his tinnitus ought to continue to fade.

 

[unlucky_eli]

Sounds like habituation.
Don't be too comfortable as things can change. I've had it a few years now.. I was very comfortable but have had other ear issues and annoyances once my t went quiet. I was at a point where I never noticed it. But things can happen. Enjoy your habituation for now though

I've achieved complete silence for 90% of the day now (quiet room, ears plugged etc.), so definitely not habituation. My catastrophic tinnitus is still fresh in my mind, so I can clearly remember how loud that monster really was.

Point taken though, I am enjoying the silence, but staying vigilant. I am super paranoid about ear health now, so no loud noise exposure and doing my best to try to prevent further ear issues like infections.

PS: I hope yours gets quiet again man, nobody appreciates silence until it's gone.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I've achieved complete silence for 90% of the day now (quiet room, ears plugged etc.), so definitely not habituation.

You have got to change your username!

 

[morgothaod]

Did you have a middle ear infection (Otitis media)? Were you given amoxicillin to clear the infection?

 

[LukeYoung]

I've achieved complete silence for 90% of the day now (quiet room, ears plugged etc.), so definitely not habituation. My catastrophic tinnitus is still fresh in my mind, so I can clearly remember how loud that monster really was.

Point taken though, I am enjoying the silence, but staying vigilant. I am super paranoid about ear health now, so no loud noise exposure and doing my best to try to prevent further ear issues like infections.

PS: I hope yours gets quiet again man, nobody appreciates silence until it's gone.

Mine is quiet again. But dealing with some other ear stuff now, ETD etc.

 

[unlucky_eli]

Mine is quiet again. But dealing with some other ear stuff now, ETD etc.

Happy to hear it, the tinnitus is the worst of it I'm assuming, so glad to hear that it is better. Good for others new to tinnitus to also hear that it can get better. Hope your other issues settle down soon too.

 

[LukeYoung]

Happy to hear it, the tinnitus is the worst of it I'm assuming, so glad to hear that it is better. Good for others new to tinnitus to also hear that it can get better. Hope your other issues settle down soon too.

Thanks mate. I never had ear or ETD issues until tinnitus. So unfortunately for me I have had other problems stemming from onset of tinnitus.

Having TMJ doesn't help either.

 

[unlucky_eli]

Thanks mate. I never had ear or ETD issues until tinnitus. So unfortunately for me I have had other problems stemming from onset of tinnitus.

Having TMJ doesn't help either.

Hey mate, don't mean to pry or anything, but what kind of ETD/TMJ issues came from the tinnitus?

 

[LukeYoung]

Hey mate, don't mean to pry or anything, but what kind of ETD/TMJ issues came from the T?

I had TMJ before tinnitus.
But the ETD started after tinnitus.
I have fullness, popping of the eardrum (I think) and crackling sounds... mainly in my left ear... which is my tinnitus ear. Never in my right. This is more evidence that I didn't have issues before tinnitus.

Spring time is the worst time for it.
I've also been told my left ear canal is different and not straight like my right? And not as open and/or wide...

TMJ has been acting up a bit lately. I have been very tense though so jaw pain and popping and crackling sounds in my TMJ have been prominent the last 2-3 weeks.

 

[Grand05]

Hey mate, don't mean to pry or anything, but what kind of ETD/TMJ issues came from the tinnitus?

What was the dosage of Melatonin, Valium and Ginkgo Biloba you took in a day? Thanks mate for your experience, glad you are better.

 

[Jack V]

The exception to this is lying down (which is why I'm not saying 100% cured). I think there might be some kind of blood pressure issue going on, because when I lie down the hum becomes reasonably loud over a period of 1-2 minutes, and when I get up, even in the same room with the same ambient noise, the hum recedes and then disappears over a period of about 2-3 minutes. It's quite a dramatic effect. Just to give an example, every morning when I wake I can clearly hear the hum, but by the time I walk to the bathroom it's 90% gone and once I'm out of the shower I hear total silence again (even with ears plugged). It has been like this for about 2 months now. Very strange.

The good part is that this pattern has been consistent for 2 months and the hum that I hear at night falling asleep causes me no anxiety at all, since I know that within a few minutes of waking it will be gone again.

I'm not sure if there is any more improvement for me, but if it stays like this then I am effectively cured. The tinnitus is at such a low level now that I would be embarrassed to complain about it.

I didn't do anything special to get better, the recovery has been very slow, but seems to be due to the damage from the infection healing.

I have been taking Ginkgo Biloba every day, but I'm not sure if that has had any impact.

I will mention that stress is a major trigger for me. If I have a stressful day then I will hear the hum during the day and it can get irritating, however I know the pattern now, and I know that a good night's sleep will get me back down to silence again. This really has completely removed all anxiety related to tinnitus for me, so even on my louder days (maybe 5 slightly louder days this past month), I'm really not stressed by it.

Question - doesn't the ringing when you lie down interfere with your sleep?

Or rather, how do you get the ringing that ramps up when you lie down not interfere with your sleep?

Thanks in advance!

 

[unlucky_eli]

Question - doesn't the ringing when you lie down interfere with your sleep?

Or rather, how do you get the ringing that ramps up when you lie down not interfere with your sleep?

Thanks in advance!

It doesn't interfere with sleep at all.

It's all relative. I had sudden 9/10 tinnitus 24/7 for 3 months (shockingly bad, as bad as the worst stores on this site.). It's really hard to be bothered now by tinnitus which I can only hear for 30 minutes a day while falling asleep.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Or rather, how do you get the ringing that ramps up when you lie down not interfere with your sleep?

Use masking. Playing crickets sounds works well with a high pitch tone tinnitus. The idea is not to play so loud that you stop hearing tinnitus. The idea is to give yourself something else to listen to besides your tinnitus. Initially you will still be focusing on your tinnitus. But hopefully after 5-15 minutes you will be able to start focusing on the masking sound.

 

[unlucky_eli]

Did you have a middle ear infection (Otitis media)? Were you given amoxicillin to clear the infection?

Hi, sorry for the late reply.

Yes I had a very severe middle ear infection secondary to a sinus infection. I went almost completely deaf in my left (T) ear for about 2 weeks followed by severe dysacusis (doubled, distorted hearing of high pitched sounds, particularly women's voices and my kids crying for 3 or 4 weeks, along with mild hyperacusis for approx 1 month).

I took amoxicillin for 5 days which I started just 48 hours after the ear infection. At this point I already had very bad T, but I assumed it would pass after the very severe ear pain and deafness would go away (it didn't). As per my original post it's taken 6 months since the original ear infection for my T to go away,

 

[unlucky_eli]

You have got to change your username!

sorry for the late reply.

I think you're right! I do feel quite fortunate now

 

[Jack V]

Thanks. That's heartening.

One thing that doesn't seem at all clear to me is the question "how long does it take to potentially get better?"

One doctor says "2 weeks," another says "6 weeks," another says "3 months," and then there are stories in this forum of things improving far beyond that.

I'm new to this and I already feel like I'm on a rollercoaster, so I appreciate hearing your story, hearing that you experienced that level of tinnitus for 3 full months, and then largely recovered.

 

[Jack V]

Use masking. Playing crickets sounds works well with a high pitch tone tinnitus. The idea is not to play so loud that you stop hearing tinnitus. The idea is to give yourself something else to listen to besides your tinnitus. Initially you will still be focusing on your tinnitus. But hopefully after 5-15 minutes you will be able to start focusing on the masking sound.

Thank you.

It would be hard to play anything louder than the tinnitus at this point.

I've been using a fan at night which has a kind of institutional whirl to it.

I try to listen to it. Sometimes I can.

I'll collect some crickets tomorrow, put them in a cage next to my bed, and give it a go.

Actually I just found some cricket sounds on YouTube -- I'll try that on top of the fan tonight, thanks.

 

[Blossom]

Thanks for posting your story, it offers me some hope as I've also had really severe intrusive tinnitus after developing etd from an upper respiratory infection 7 months ago, during which I started having stabbing pains in my ears although it didn't progress to an ear infection.

My teenage son had it at the same time as me and his did, although cleared quickly.

My ears felt very full and a mild ringing soon turned into a full myriad of sounds, crickets, bells, really loud eeeee sound, it was completely unmaskable and I couldn't sleep for weeks I thought I would lose my mind trying to work, look after my family etc with my head and ears screaming 24/7.

Thankfully over the past 2/3 months the sounds have reduced as have the pain and fullness.

You say yours is still worse when lying down, could this be due to some fluid still remaining in your middle ear and by lying down it changes position? Hopefully as it continues to drain this should improve. I've had a build up of fluid unable to drain down the clogged tubes. My noises would always ramp up at night, not because it was quieter and they were more noticeable but due to lying down. I used to have to play the sound of cars flying down a motorway to try and mask it somewhat, but not pleasant. My doctor prescribed zopiclone which helped a bit. I had several nights of zero sleep followed by a full day of work.

Was your tinnitus also a sensation as well as a noise? I can almost feel the sounds as a humming vibration I suspect this is due to the fluid and eardrum been affected.

I am also now having days with hours of silence, and these are getting longer, I am sat here now and can only faintly hear it however this could/will ramp up again later!

My doctor says my right eardrum is still slightly retracted but not as dark.

I hope you continue to improve and I know exactly what you mean about needing time to recover from the mental aspect of this.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Actually I just found some cricket sounds on YouTube -- I'll try that on top of the fan tonight, thanks

There are also sound machines sold on Amazon and possibly even at Walmart.

 

[Tara Lyons]

I've had mine for only 2 weeks and my mindset fluctuates from the annoyance of the tinnitus and the anxious thoughts about it! Bloody rough process. So happy to hear yours is 90% gone hang in their with the anxiousness it will get better!

Hi,

How is yours?

 

[twa]

Thanks for posting your story, it offers me some hope as I've also had really severe intrusive tinnitus after developing etd from an upper respiratory infection 7 months ago, during which I started having stabbing pains in my ears although it didn't progress to an ear infection.

My teenage son had it at the same time as me and his did, although cleared quickly.

My ears felt very full and a mild ringing soon turned into a full myriad of sounds, crickets, bells, really loud eeeee sound, it was completely unmaskable and I couldn't sleep for weeks I thought I would lose my mind trying to work, look after my family etc with my head and ears screaming 24/7.

Thankfully over the past 2/3 months the sounds have reduced as have the pain and fullness.

You say yours is still worse when lying down, could this be due to some fluid still remaining in your middle ear and by lying down it changes position? Hopefully as it continues to drain this should improve. I've had a build up of fluid unable to drain down the clogged tubes. My noises would always ramp up at night, not because it was quieter and they were more noticeable but due to lying down. I used to have to play the sound of cars flying down a motorway to try and mask it somewhat, but not pleasant. My doctor prescribed zopiclone which helped a bit. I had several nights of zero sleep followed by a full day of work.

Was your tinnitus also a sensation as well as a noise? I can almost feel the sounds as a humming vibration I suspect this is due to the fluid and eardrum been affected.

I am also now having days with hours of silence, and these are getting longer, I am sat here now and can only faintly hear it however this could/will ramp up again later!

My doctor says my right eardrum is still slightly retracted but not as dark.

I hope you continue to improve and I know exactly what you mean about needing time to recover from the mental aspect of this.

Hi, how are your ears doing? I have many of the symptoms you had.

 

[Blossom]

Hi, how are your ears doing? I have many of the symptoms you had.

Hi twa

Sadly I do still have tinnitus 17 months on, however it continues to improve & I have more days of total silence interspersed with bad days! I do have faith one day it will go completely as I'm following a path of very slow improvement.
I can go to bed with silence and wake to a high pitched hiss, very strange.
Did yours start after a viral infection too?

 

[twa]

Hi twa

Sadly I do still have tinnitus 17 months on, however it continues to improve & I have more days of total silence interspersed with bad days! I do have faith one day it will go completely as I'm following a path of very slow improvement.
I can go to bed with silence and wake to a high pitched hiss, very strange.
Did yours start after a viral infection too?

It's hard to say what caused mine. I initially had very mild tinnitus since 2017 from either an MRI or prescribed drug withdrawal. I have not had any problems for 3 years and then my son yelled in my ear during the quarantine which was very stressful. The otologist said it was probably stress induced with an acoustic trauma. Good to hear you have some good days with silence. I actually have heard that a hiss is a good sign. That is a blessing!

 

[Blossom]

It's hard to say what caused mine. I initially had very mild tinnitus since 2017 from either an MRI or prescribed drug withdrawal. I have not had any problems for 3 years and then my son yelled in my ear during the quarantine which was very stressful. The otologist said it was probably stress induced with an acoustic trauma. Good to hear you have some good days with silence. I actually have heard that a hiss is a good sign. That is a blessing!

Yes I agree, mine has morphed into a hiss from a pure tone ring and then all sorts of strange & disturbing sounds. It has also stabilised and reduced in volume. I am having a good day today, not silent but very faint and easily ignored. My good days are definitely increasing.
Sounds like it's fairly early days still for you this time around, so like me I'm sure you'll improve with time even if it's months rather than weeks.

 

[twa]

Yes I agree, mine has morphed into a hiss from a pure tone ring and then all sorts of strange & disturbing sounds. It has also stabilised and reduced in volume. I am having a good day today, not silent but very faint and easily ignored. My good days are definitely increasing.
Sounds like it's fairly early days still for you this time around, so like me I'm sure you'll improve with time even if it's months rather than weeks.

So glad you are having a good day, with better days. At the moment, I'm having a hard time but trying to persevere. Thank you for the encouraging words.

 

[n_li808]

@Blossom hey when did yours turn into a hiss??

 

[twa]

Habituation is unchanged volume that doesn't bother one as much as it used to. People CAN distinguish between severe tinnitus and near silence. Even with habituation, when they consciously look for the sound, the sufferers instantly become aware of it. Also, I doubt someone with "severe" tinnitus can habituate in 6 months. So, no, it isn't habituation, and his tinnitus ought to continue to fade.

@Bill Bauer, I appreciate your positive insights.