Tinnitus Week 2018 / Day 1: What Techniques Do You Use to Manage Your Tinnitus?

[Tinnitus Talk]

We want to get you talking about tinnitus and in doing so, help others who may be needing some support. So together with the other international organisations involved in Tinnitus Week, we will be posting a question a day.

Comment below. You can also respond to our Facebook post.

 

[illegalmonkey77]

I have 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar with 8 oz of water, two times a day. I've been doing that for about 3-4 weeks and so far has seemed to help me pretty well though YMMV. When I go to bed at night I use a Lectrofan machine to play some noise because it gets way too quiet at night. Otherwise my tinnitus would seem like it's much louder than it really is. With my tinnitus (hopefully, continuously) getting better this past week I haven't made us of anything else lately.


When my tinnitus wasn't as manageable I would play rain sounds in the background while I was at home to give me something else to focus on. When I'm at work the hustle and bustle of the office does a good job of making me forget about the tinnitus. Here's to continued success for myself and for everyone else!!

 

[Ambassador]

I have used sound enrichment as well as sound masking via hearing aids only when it's intrusive. In the beginning Clonezapam was an emergency medication that I used occasionally and for short term.
Sitting around doing nothing is the worst thing you can do. The busier I am during the day the less intrusive it is for me.
Of course I would rather not have it but I have learned to live with it.

 

[newarrior]

pink noise. running water. ativan. meditation.

 

[hans799]

Generally, I do not manage it at all - if I hear the noise, so be it.
Special cases:
When I really need to focus (e.g. during meditation), I use sound enrichment.
On those (blissfully rare) nights when the tinnitus is really acting up and I can't sleep, I use either a shot of brandy or 0.5mg Xanax to dull the noise & put me out.

 

[Markku]

I used to have a relatively loud physical fan, nowadays I use a LectroFan (I see @illegalmonkey77 uses one too!).

I actually got the LectroFan in the fall of last year, and it's been great. I don't need to run my regular summer fan anymore, which I did 24/7 for over 7 years.

I don't endorse any specific product though, and I think there are similar alternatives to that brand.

I've tried benzodiazepines; while they do induce relaxation, the long-term benefit can be negative (tolerance, increased dosages, eventual withdrawal, etc.) and hence I tend to avoid it.

Otherwise it's plain old trying to live a life, which is very hard, of course. Working on projects like the Tinnitus Week does provide some welcome distraction, too. Nope, I don't think I'm more focused on my tinnitus when I'm here or doing other things related to tinnitus.

 

[glynis]

In the beginning I used white noise generators and then on to Hearing aids.
I like to listen to relaxing music during the afternoon after work.
Spending time on TT and Moderating Tinnitus Hub.
Looking after my grandsons.
I take a low dose antidepressant for sleep so sleep really well most nights.
I have lots of allergies and use a steroid nasil spray and antihistamines along with asthma meds to keep my eustation tubes clear.
Love glynis

 

[grate_biff]

Benzo, baclofen, beta-blocker. WNG helps when its more faint, otherwise they will just bring forward the T noise.
But the big picture: I can not manage it at all!

 

[Steve]

I don't do anything hugely specific unless it's spiking.

Normally I try and have some sound or music playing, or play video games for distraction - when I'm not distracted with work or TT related work

 

[Akk]

Hearing Aid.

 

[fishbone]

Avoid loud people/places. Avoid negative people/places. Have a positive mindset and know that life shall be ok, even though there is ringing in my head/ears. This is more of a philosophy, but it still works

 

[Localboy]

Hearing Aid.

Does it remove your tinnitus or make it less loud? How much hearing loss you have?

 

[Berik]

Hearing aid with white-noise to deal during the day (life-saver). Often music around.
Amazon Echo playing white noise in my bedroom, all night. If I'm really stressed, some valium. Often before sleep, a few drops of CBD oil and in some cases THC oil. Tamazepam if I really can't fall sleep. Walking pharmacy..

 

[.bill]

Actually did nothing but ignore it then found Apple cider vinegar which brought silence

 

[jp1995]

notched white noise at night, other than that nothing

 

[BuzzyBee]

Try to do some project that takes my mind off it -- organize cabinets, clean, go to the grocery store. The grocery store usually raises it, but if it's already high I don't care and it's a good distraction. If it's late in the afternoon I might have a small snack to raise blood sugar. A really hot bath can sometimes help as well. The only chemical that really lowers it for me is wine, but I'm open to new suggestions.

 

[Chris Holland]

I have a bluetooth portable speaker playing nature sounds when I'm indoors and play it at night when sleeping.
For sleep I also have a pillow that can play sounds, I play rain sounds on this at night.
I'm seeing a psychiatrist who coincidentally also has tinnitus, seeing how he is calm motivates me to push on.
Try to keep busy, watch movies, series, read, go grocery shopping, watch my son, eat nice food.
Get regular massages, trying to pick up yoga, going for walks, mindfulness (still learning this though).
Other than that Xanax during the day and Temazepam at night but I want to get off the drugs eventually.

And in the moments I'm feeling low I try to read succes stories on habituation and tell myself that even though the tinnitus might be here to stay my feelings towards it and the stress it brings will not always be there.

 

[Rings-a-Bell]

I noticed that when on high doses of Prednisone my T was reduced so I tried to find a natural anti-inflamatory to mimic the effect. Around the same time I started taking Fish Oil capsules, my T started to bother me less on a daily basis. T is still there, just don't notice it as much. Probably a placebo, but Fish oil is good for you anyhow so I will continue it

 

[January Jon]

I have had success with cold laser treatment.
Also, I have found a few sites on YouTube which offer binaural beats - brainwave entrainment - and specify tinnitus relief frequencies really helpful. One is:


However, taking a few days' holiday from the computer and smart phone makes a huge difference in my case, with a major return of symptoms right after I go back to screens. I am very sensitive to EMF's generally and find my laptop makes me massively fatigued along with causing the tinnitus.

 

[Mic]

Keeping myself busy with work, listening to music or walking outside (rich ambient noises work like a charm).

When at home I use smartphone apps:

• Relaxio (especially the white noise app) https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Relaxio&hl=en
• Signal generator (1300hz square sound for 5 seconds gives 10 seconds relieve for my high tone T and leaves me with only the sound of a sweat hissing...) https://play.google.com/store/apps/...app&pcampaignid=APPU_1_Tph4WomnCKTQgAan84KYBQ

The latter tends to be a temporary but universal solution to silence high tone T because of the generation of sound on all the frequencies a human can hear. You can try it out (with headphones medium volume for 5 seconds):

 

[Cheza]

Supplements like bioflavonoids, melatonin, and GABA were helpful after the first awful months. After a couple years, I began using Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation (ACRN). Definite help there. Also began fasting, which brought some improvement.

Off and on through the years I've tried to follow the Back to Silence method. Now I'm using a slightly modified version. The more diligent I am with it, the more it seems to help. The more it helps, the easier it is to follow.

I've returned to writing a children's book I had started before the T attacked me . The T tends to retreat into the background when I'm focused on scenes and dialogue.

 

[Contrast]

During the day birds chirping


At night I add a low volume water fall with a bluetooth speaker under a pillow.

 

[Jazzer]

My Tinnitus is constant.
I have hearing aids but will not use them.
I do not want amplified noise entering my head.
My noise is unmaskable.
I have always been a musician, and listen to music when I fancy it, but do not consider so called 'sound enrichment' of any benefit to me.
I use no meds, other than 1 mg ! of melatonin at night. (Actually a 2mg tablet split in half.)
Amazingly, that works for me and I usually sleep for six hours.
My only help comes from 20 mins meditation in a warm bath, when I wake up.

You will find details on one of my threads.
But basically:

Close the eyes,
Head laying to the right,
Ask my tummy to take over my breathing
(diaphragmatic breathing),
As everything slows down,
Start by 'listening' to my noise,
My concentration soon centres on my breathing,
I drift off to a place of comfort.
I feel 'at peace.'

During the day, when on numerous occasions my noise intrudes, I restart 'tummy' breathing.
I do this whenever I prefer to concentrate on breathing, rather than 'T.' - whether I am shopping, or just walking about.
Anytime I wish to find 'Peace.'
Relaxed 'tummy' breathing is my secret weapon.

 

[Taylorslay]

My techniques involve masking and stress management.

But also not to allow Tinnitus to bother me when it does spike and become louder than everything and can't be masked.

I've come a long way with my Tinnitus. When it howls like no others business it doesn't bother me. I just don't react. I even make jokes about and laugh. Because it's like "Ha, you monster! Can't hurt me anymore. Jokes on you.".

 

[derpytia]

I get at least 7 hours of sleep. How? I use a fan 5mg of melatonin, a white noise machine, and cricket noises on my phone. If I'm having a really bad night, I use a very very low does .25 mg of Xanax which I get from my doctor and only use maybe once or twice a month and sometimes zero times a month.

 

[Starthrower]

Stress/anxiety management!

 

[anusha]

Daytime during weekdays goes by fine with work hustle.
Evening I stopped spending time on cough relaxing and started walking/exercising, Cooking everyday or every other day instead of weekly meal prep. So, it would take my mind off T. Initially the moment I tried to relax I used to hear T and panic and cause anxiety and crying.... Now it is not completely gone (crying) but became less with being busy.
End of the day nights - Increased bedtime hours. The moment I enter my bedroom I turn white noise on below my tinnitus level. Read that is supposed to be sound enrichment. So, I hear T and roll on bed for an hour or more to sleep.... I feel very sleepy but T disturbs irrespective of white noise. So, I count numbers or chant gods name.

Taking chamomile tea helps calm the T a bit.

Started drinking ACV beginning of Jan but fell sick last week. So, had it for 3 weeks felt T was becoming soft but everything came back to loud T due to flu. Trying to get back to managing T with ACV and teas.

Weekends...
Since weekends I have time to address T... I am trying my best to lay plans to be very busy. I make appointments with friends, clean my house more, talk to family more via skype and extended family. Not talk about T more.. When I feel sad about T...I stopped being sad more than 5-15mins. Trying CBT and mindfulness...

Hearing T like meditation. Breathing exercises and ACV and working on CBT and mindfulness AND PRAYING everyday to keep me sane.

I am not sure am managing it best but I am surviving my days with T without going crazy.

I am setting work goals, workout goals to divert the focus away from T.

My challenge with T is sleep . white noise - sound enrichment is what I am trying. Its hard to fall asleep.. So, I close eyes without looking at phone and counting numbers even when I hear T eventually makes me fall into sleep. Once I sleep I am fine. Morning I hear it loud once I open eyes.... so immediately I get up and get to work. On weekends I am moving myself to living room thereby starting weekend activities.

I would like T to go away completely one day for me and for everyone. Sometimes it feels end of the world but its not (That's what I say to myself when I am down with anxiety with T sounds). Believing in good things can bring good things

 

[Joe4]

Just keep moving, constantly staying busy and preoccupied really helps. At night a fan or whatever takes my fancy on Spotify.

 

[BLane]

In the beginning I used a sound machine and melatonin for sleeping and stayed busy or stood in the shower when awake. Deciding to accept it and learning to deal better with stress helped. If it's spiking bad, getting shit-faced drunk will shut it down completely. Avoid loud or negative situations. Lately I've been trying castor oil, seems to reduce it some when ingested on a regular, long-term basis, but can't confirm yet, still testing it.

 

[BobK544]

For "tonal" tinnitus the notched file wav file therapy (learned how to from Cheza's book on T) seems to work a fair amount and for hissing T, i'm trying magnesium bisglyconate and it may be helping a bit, but still monitoring. I'm also avoiding foods that have moderate to high salicylates and i think this is helping to keep the "tonal" down, but T seems to go in cycles, so its easy to mis-identify what's helping. But one of these approaches seems to be working as my T isn't as gosh aweful horrendous as it was a few weeks ago and i'm now able to get about 5 hours of sleep a night without a masking device, thanks to the great help and information on this forum and Cheza's new book on Tinnutus.

For example here are some low salicylate foods i eat every day, pretty boring but whatever it takes to keep the torture at bay: oatmeal, soy milk un-sweetened, rice, chicken, fish, green beans, quinoa, banana, unsalted cashews sunflower seeds, no salt soy sauce, no tea, no coffee, no alcohol, avoid all salty foods.

By the way, i got T back in 1991 after taking a sulfur based antibiotic before a long flight to CA and i eventually habituated after about a year and lots of alcohol i suspect and so for years it was just a hiss in the background and i didn't follow any particular diet at all, but recently i tried NasaCort and my T came back with a vengeance to the point where i couldn't get more than 1 or 2 hours of sleep a night and was in a total state of panic! But thanks again to the great folks on this Tinnus Talk forum as they helped get me back on a path to sanity!