Tinnitus Doubled in Volume After 10 Years of Being Habituated

[Stu1983]

Hi all

I'm Stuart I'm 35 years old and I live in Toronto Canada and have had tinnitus with some hearing loss for about 10 years.

On Dec 8 I started to take Effexor XR daily for insomnia and anxiety issues and also Lorazepam about 3 times a week until the AD kicks in so I can at least get some sleep.

On Dec 20 my tinnitus doubled in volume, I figured my body was just getting use to the Effexor and kept it up for several more days and then decided to discontinue use.

My life has been very difficult since and I don't know what to do about this high pitched ringing that I have in my head and could use some advice, support and encouragement.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[JoeC100]

Stu,

I'm not an expert on what the meds have to do with your spike. I'm replying because I experienced a spike myself, after having tinnitus since 2007. My spike occurred the second week of December. Since the volume got cranked up, I have been paying close attention to my tinnitus. I would say that it easily doubled in volume, and has been bouncing back and forth from left ear to right. Kind of a suck situation.

So here I am, 6 weeks later. Nothing has changed for me, and I am on my second road to habituation (my spike has been attributed to noise exposure/sinus infection/aging- dealers choice, with such a poor understanding of how tinnitus functions I'm left to guess). I will say with certainty that I am doing a whole lot better than I was 6 weeks ago. I was a wreck for a month, now I'm on to mildly focusing on my tinnitus. It is not as easily masked as before, but I can feel myself getting used to it being my new version of silence.

My advice, as someone who is on the same path as you (as far as spike and previously habituated) is to start accepting that this could be a new volume for you, and begin coping as you already did once before. Masking, staying busy, slowly drawing focus and obsession away.

I am 39, and I have begun to accept that I will likely go through a few more spikes in my lifetime. That helped calm me down. As we age, and our hearing deteriorates, tinnitus will be more apparent. But that's no reason to get down. I have heard back from folks on this forum, and they have all been really kind and comforting.

Best advice I've got is to accept it, and if it gets better then that's a bonus. Also heard back from folks who have habituated after a spike with permanent increase in volume.

Hit me back, I'm 39, we seem to have a couple things in common.

Joe.

 

[Bill Bauer]

As we age, and our hearing deteriorates, tinnitus will be more apparent.

Normally, one gets tinnitus as a result of losing hearing suddenly (e.g., due to a one-time acoustic trauma). It is my understanding that gradual hearing loss (i.e., what happens during aging) usually doesn't result in tinnitus.

 

[Stu1983]

Hi Joe and thanks for taking the time to respond and for the advice. Agreed masking and staying busy is key.
Any issues with sleep?

 

[JoeC100]

Stu,

Yes and no.

Sleep has been a weird journey with my tinnitus. When I first got it, I was losing sleep like crazy. Part of the obsession I think. But then sleep became the only time I didn't think about it/hear it/care about it! This time was the same. I was nervous, anxious, and obsessing once again. I was waking up and the noise in my head was dizzying to me. I broke out my old noise machine, and used that to this point. I'd say I'm good sleeping now. Also been taking 6mg of melatonin and the occasional Benadryl. I work nights (12-8 am). I typically stay up during the day with the kids or work day overtime. My sleep has been 5pm to 11pm with moderate success. On my days off I've been sleeping a solid 8-9. Sleep helps me so much. Fatigue has always been a trigger for my tinnitus to be more noticeable.

Joe.

 

[JoeC100]

Normally, one gets tinnitus as a result of losing hearing suddenly (e.g., due to a one-time acoustic trauma). It is my understanding that gradual hearing loss (i.e., what happens during aging) usually doesn't result in tinnitus.

Bill,

Maybe I wasn't clear with what I was trying to say. As we lose hearing (the population that has tinnitus as a result of acoustic trauma, such as myself), I had the understanding that as we hear less (less ambient noise recurved by the brain) then T will be more recognizable or more difficult to mask with everyday sounds. Thoughts?

Joe.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I had the understanding that as we hear less (less ambient noise recurved by the brain) then T will be more recognizable or more difficult to mask with everyday sounds.

I don't think this is the case. Few people get to the point of being borderline deaf. As long as one's hearing loss is moderate, one can still get the benefits of masking by just increasing the volume of the sound one wants to use for masking. If one gets T when one is over 60 or 70, aging won't have enough time to make a big difference. If one gets T when one is younger, one can begin protecting one's ears. As a result, hearing loss shouldn't be as dramatic (so I think it is reasonable to hope that if one can take one's mind off of T when one is outside now, it will continue being the case for as long as one doesn't harm one's ears making one's T louder).

 

[JoeC100]

I don't think this is the case. Few people get to the point of being borderline deaf. As long as one's hearing loss is moderate, one can still get the benefits of masking by just increasing the volume of the sound one wants to use for masking. If one gets T when one is over 60 or 70, aging won't have enough time to make a big difference. If one gets T when one is younger, one can begin protecting one's ears. As a result, hearing loss shouldn't be as dramatic (so I think it is reasonable to hope that if one can take one's mind off of T when one is outside now, it will continue being the case for as long as one doesn't harm one's ears making one's T louder).

Bill,

I get what you're saying. My question is that if thebears have been through trauma, is it not more likely that protection only does so much moving forward? I have always thought of my noise exposure as a younger man as something that would continuously effect my hearing as I age. I guess I'd need some science to back those thoughts up. I am a big supporter of hearing protection since my 20s, I'm hoping that this lessens my likliehood of hearing worsening as time goes on!

 

[Bill Bauer]

My question is that if the ears have been through trauma, is it not more likely that protection only does so much moving forward?

One experiences the worst within months after the trauma (as hair and nerve cells take some time to die). After that, the body tends to heal. Often it can't finish the healing. However, one shouldn't get worse years after the trauma as a result of the trauma. One might get worse as a result of new traumas, or as a result of ear diseases, or aging.

 

[Alue]

Normally, one gets tinnitus as a result of losing hearing suddenly (e.g., due to a one-time acoustic trauma). It is my understanding that gradual hearing loss (i.e., what happens during aging) usually doesn't result in tinnitus.

O' I think it can, but people that get tinnitus through age related hearing loss seem less likely to be bothered by it. Probably because it's onset is very gradual and it's not as severe. I have talked with some older folks that have tinnitus but can't remember when they got it.

Hearing loss is cumulative, and in some cases I think that last acoustic trauma that causes everything to go wrong is just the straw that breaks the cammel's back.

That being said, a sudden hearing loss does seem more likely to cause the brain response that results in tinnitus.

 

[Fabrikat]

people that get tinnitus through age related hearing loss seem less likely to be bothered by it. Probably because it's onset is very gradual and it's not as severe.

There's a lot of validity to this notion in my opinion. I saw my audiologist last week who told me about seeing an elderly lady who had some severe losses in her hearing, yet felt that she had no problem hearing everything. I suspect people having to raise their voices and repeat words to her would have a different opinion.

Since the onset was so gradual, her perception of hearing loss was hardly noticeable to her. Yet I'll present with my mild to moderate hearing loss, suddenly onset and feel like my ears have been plugged up with corks. And with loud tinnitus to match.

When it comes to hearing and tinnitus issues, perception is everything.

 

[Finn]

Hi Stuart. Sending a digital hug. It sucks, but we will both be ok in time. Sending support.

 

[weab00]

This is the problem with habituation. It can take up to 2 years and then BOOM permanent spike or setback and you're right back to square one. This is why I hate TRT'ers.

 

[GBB]

This is the problem with habituation. It can take up to 2 years and then BOOM permanent spike or setback and you're right back to square one. This is why I hate TRT'ers.

Some TRT/habituation people on this site:

 

[Bartoli]

Normally, one gets tinnitus as a result of losing hearing suddenly (e.g., due to a one-time acoustic trauma). It is my understanding that gradual hearing loss (i.e., what happens during aging) usually doesn't result in tinnitus.

I happened to stumble upon this and it got me thinking. One of my first encounters with a tinnitus story was the video of "The Noise" by Michael Berardi on YouTube. He describes how it is living one day with his tinnitus (watch your volume if you're going to watch it, because of the beep).

He describes saying he's done songwriting when he was younger, but without apparent reason, the sound just switched on one day. I have since heard many stories that are the same. Often people cannot find a reason (or maybe they don't look for it enough).
But the point I'm trying to make is: these people abused their ears. The damage was there for a long time. Then, years later tinnitus just switches on like that. From zero to severe in some cases, with no apparent further deterioration in hearing to go along with it.
I happened to chat with a fellow sufferer on Reddit. Severe tinnitus. Had it for over a decade. At some point long after acquiring his tinnitus, he lost all hearing over 4 kHz. Tinnitus did not get worse...

I'm aware these are isolated cases and anecdotal at best, but there are quite a lot of similar stories out there. Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck having severe T decades ago, still playing gigs and managing their issue. Then they seem to downplay it in recent years.

Many of us seem very focused on noise exposure, and rightly so, because it's what spikes so many people's tinnitus, so spikes must mean that we're doing something wrong. Or do we?
It's often said on here that you can be more liberal with headphone use and noise exposure when you have tinnitus that isn't noise-induced. Can you really?

There's just no understanding this condition. People with normal audiograms go looking in the extended audiograms to find a cause (myself included). What about the general population? I know plenty of people with less-than great hearing and no tinnitus. They never had an audiogram, let alone an extended one. Would they fare better than us?

Just thinking out loud because of your post @Bill Bauer. Have you applied any sort of scientific method to get to the conclusions you made, or is it just your intuition? I get the impression that you seem quite convinced of the 18-24 month window of possible improvement that you mention every once in a while.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Have you applied any sort of scientific method to get to the conclusions you made, or is it just your intuition?

I have no idea why people keep saying this.

It's often said on here that you can be more liberal with headphone use and noise exposure when you have tinnitus that isn't noise-induced. Can you really?

This statement is based on the studies I read about this topic, but now I am having trouble finding those studies again.

I get the impression that you seem quite convinced of the 18-24 month window of possible improvement that you mention every once in a while.

Many people report these improvements. Normally one notices fading within the first 3 months, and then tinnitus continues to fade. I remember one case where the fading began after 9 months of no fading...

 

[Bartoli]

I have no idea why people keep saying this.

I had no idea people have said this before. But it must be because you're an analytically inclined person.

This statement is based on the studies I read about this topic, but now I am having trouble finding those studies again.

I would love to see these if you find them. It would definitely settle a lot of the debate on that matter.

Many people report these improvements. Normally one notices fading within the first 3 months, and then tinnitus continues to fade. I remember one case where the fading began after 9 months of no fading...

I remember you asking me the same thing about my old tinnitus when I became a member, as you do often with new people. Therefore, I figured you might actually be keeping track of this.
Based on my former experience habituating to my old tinnitus around 2010-2011, I cannot guarantee the volume went down. I actually suspect it didn't.
Habituation however, was a night and day difference in terms of distress, and I got to a point where it wasn't a big issue for me. That was after spending more than a year in a state of anxiety and depression because of it. I'd still rather not have it at that point, but it was no big deal anymore. I scoffed when people proposed TRT and psychological treatment, and I didn't follow any protocol at that point because it wasn't good enough and I wanted none of that. I was convinced only a reduction in volume could work. Then habituation slowly kicked in and it was wonderful! This is of course the textbook story of habituation and I wasn't different in that regard.

However, it also makes me think that a lot of people confuse fading of volume with a fading of their reaction and awareness to it, and fail to correctly assess that effect. Just something to take with a grain of salt when people mention fading. They work back from memory, and when asked when they heard their tinnitus in the last, say, month, they will think of the moments when it was most dominant and reached their conscious perception, which is in near-silence or silence. Therefore, their mind tends to register it as softer because of hindsight. They will compare it to onset, when their distress was greater, and label the onset of their tinnitus as being louder. I can't guarantee this is the case for everyone, but I have a strong suspicion.
People will perceive the same parameters differently when their mood is different.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Then habituation slowly kicked in and it was wonderful!

Did it take about 2.5 years for it to fully kick in, or was it less than that?

 

[Bartoli]

Did it take about 2.5 years for it to fully kick in, or was it less than that?

I'd say less. About 15-18 months.

 

[Bartoli]

I'd say less. About 15-18 months.

For the record, @Bill Bauer isn't not habituated at all to my current tinnitus at 20 months. I wonder if it's even possible when I hear it over TV, outside, in the car at motorway speeds etc...

 

[Stu1983]

Hi Stuart. Sending a digital hug. It sucks, but we will both be ok in time. Sending support.

Thanks for the comforting words. It's been a rough last two years but things have improved. How are you these days?

Love and Respect,
Stu