"Your Tinnitus Is a Mild Case and Mine Is Severe"

[Greg Sacramento]

What is loud tinnitus?

1. It's loud when your ears detect sounds as high pitched vibrations.

2. It's loud when you can't hear anything, but the noise in your head.

3. It's loud, when you have no will power to leave your house. No job, no life.

If one with loud tinnitus can focus enough to type one meaningful paragraph, then you do have some coping methods, enough just for survival.

What number above really means that your tinnitus is loud? Number 2 -- and that means number 3 is no can do.

 

[GeorgeLG]

This sentence resonates with me.

Thank you for your knowledge and sincerity. Your above posts are both touching and truthful accounts of what it can mean to suffer.

Thank you for offering your support.

George

 

[Michael Leigh]

The volume of the tinnitus does affect how a person is able to cope with it and manage their life. I have corresponded with people that say their tinnitus is mild or moderate and still find it distressing.

My tinnitus is variable. When it is silent, mild or moderate, I am able to carry on with my daily tasks without any problem. This is not the case when the tinnitus reaches severe or acutely severe levels, as the noise is so intrusive it affects my ability to concentrate on reading, watching the television or writing. It can calm down by itself to mild, moderate or silent but there are times it doesn't. Fortunately 2x 0.5 mg of Clonazepam tablets reduces it to a more manageable level over 12 hours.

Michael

 

[GeorgeLG]

@GeorgeLG, thank you for your posts, I have always been very appreciative of them and totally agree with what you say.

That is very kind, thank you for bringing your hopefulness to this discussion.

George

 

[GeorgeLG]

What is loud tinnitus?

1. It's loud when your ears detect sounds as high pitched vibrations.

2. It's loud when you can't hear anything, but the noise in your head.

3. It's loud, when you have no will power to leave your house. No job, no life.

If one with loud tinnitus can focus enough to type one meaningful paragraph, then you do have some coping methods, enough just for survival.

What number above really means that your tinnitus is loud? Number 2 -- and that means number 3 is no can do.

This is from a man who endures great suffering and yet, when he can he comes here with grace, knowledge and compassion and does his very best to help people. Has the universe been unfair to @Greg Sacramento? At first glance one might say yes. Then you see him here using his limited energy in the service of others so that he can improve people's lives and then this gives his suffering purpose. If there is anyone here who has the right to be angry it's Greg and yet he shows grace.

Thank you Greg for all that you do. These are the examples that have given me my strength and perseverance.

George

 

[Forever hopeful]

No, it's because they have stable tinnitus that doesn't spike permanently from softly closing a door. We don't need toxic positivity, we need effective treatments.

Perhaps the point is there is a continuum of grades of tinnitus. Clearly for several on Tinnitus Talk, it is so bad they can't function. And we've had enough suicides to know that. Mine has gotten much worse. It is higher pitched, it can't be masked and fluctuates. Sometimes I feel like there's literally a table saw going on in my head. And it is not stable at all. It's so much harder to deal with than I when I had the type I could mask.

However, there are also people who would describe their tinnitus as quite horrendous who are able to function. That doesn't make the people who can't wrong or bad it just means that they are struggling.

Conversely some only hear it in a quiet room are still very freaked out by it and find it difficult to deal with. It doesn't make them wrong either or undeserving of support.

I prefer the positivity. What other choice do I have?

So I guess all in all if someone tries to spread some positivity then let them. You don't have to agree with it. And you don't have to comment on it.

 

[GeorgeLG]

Perhaps the point is there is a continuum of grades of tinnitus. Clearly for several on Tinnitus Talk, it is so bad they can't function. And we've had enough suicides to know that. Mine has gotten much worse. It is higher pitched, it can't be masked and fluctuates. Sometimes I feel like there's literally a table saw going on in my head. And it is not stable at all. It's so much harder to deal with than I when I had the type I could mask.

However, there are also people who would describe their tinnitus as quite horrendous who are able to function. That doesn't make the people who can't wrong or bad it just means that they are struggling.

Conversely some only hear it in a quiet room are still very freaked out by it and find it difficult to deal with. It doesn't make them wrong either or undeserving of support.

I prefer the positivity. What other choice do I have?

So I guess all in all if someone tries to spread some positivity then let them. You don't have to agree with it. And you don't have to comment on it.

Well said.

George

 

[Marcuso22]

Very interesting thread. Tinnitus, hyperacusis, noxacusis, phonophobia, etc... all these conditions are not well understood by the medical & health professionals.

Today there is a small percentage of audiologists & researchers that are taking more interest in these debilitating conditions. It's important that us living with these conditions spread the word as much as possible to others so one day we can get to point that anyone even in small communities can quickly get good advice & 'treatment' & support when they end up with one or all of these conditions. If you're bold enough you may even want to suggest to others to donate to tinnitus causes. We have to be aware of negative counselling from any health professional, & call them out on it when it happens.

We are so much more fortunate than those that came before us with this/these condition(s) back in the day's when the internet didn't exist. Not only do we have forums like these to share our stories with each other but we can also research studies, find professionals who 'treat' these conditions, & watch videos or have live local community meetings on the subject. And of course more importantly try keep our minds off it by reading & watching videos on what ever interests us.

This is a very challenging condition to cope with. The challenge is not just the loudness & intrusiveness of the sounds we hear but also the psychological aspect that is intertwined with it. This is what makes it so difficult to deal with especially at the very onset of getting chronic/acute tinnitus. If it affects your daily life where you feel you can't work & you find remedial tasks challenging then this is obviously going to have an impact on your mental health. This is obviously true for all chronic conditions. If you suffer with other chronic ailments then that only piles on the challenges which we will have to face on a daily basis.

But we shouldn't underestimate our abilities to overcome some of these challenges hopefully to point where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may seem like an order of herculean proportions but it's really amazing what our brains can handle if we would just give it the respect it deserves with doing our best to limit negative thinking & increase positive attitude. That's key for neuroplasticity which I believe does exist. So we need to do our best to take advantage of that. As the Andrews sisters song goes, Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative. That's a little crude but it gets the message across. And believe me I know how difficult that can be on a daily basis. Stress isn't easy to deal with, especially if you're in a situation like mine where you're not working & your piggybank savings are shrinking daily. Nobody asked for this wretched condition & nobody wants it. But now that we have it we owe it to ourselves to give 110% our best efforts to find way's to manage & cope with it. It's our new life's challenge. It's a daily roller-coaster ride which we need to unfortunately accept for the time being. It may feel like a curse & each day a Sisyphean task but it's going to boil down to will power & finding something of worth in the world that makes us appreciate we are still alive & able to experience something we find beauty in. That can be something as simple as a beautiful sunny day or taking in the sunset.

Wishing everyone the best on this crazy adventure.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

If you suffer with other chronic ailments then that only piles on the challenges which we will have to face on a daily basis. But we shouldn't underestimate our abilities to overcome some of these challenges hopefully to point where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Most chronic ailments are painful.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I wonder why in my county of 1.6 million, that tinnitus caused from noise is only 50%, when we have so many firecrackers and fireworks in the streets. Tinnitus related to Eustachian Tube Dysfunction is very high, allergies, neck and jaw is fairly high, second COVID-19 booster suspicion, elderly medication use is high and Lyme disease has dropped.

 

[GeorgeLG]

I wonder why in my county of 1.6 million, that tinnitus caused from noise is only 50%, when we have so many firecrackers and fireworks in the streets. Tinnitus related to Eustachian Tube Dysfunction is very high, allergies, neck and jaw is fairly high, second COVID-19 booster suspicion, elderly medication use is high and Lyme disease has dropped.

I believe that the hearing system has protection mechanisms for loud noises that functions well in most people which is why a fireworks display does not give every participant tinnitus and in the general population, 80% or more do not have tinnitus. For some people they become susceptible when there is a deficiency like glutathione from stress, diet, etc or there may be a genetic predisposition or damage to a system that is not 100% perfect in function like the TTM reflex. That's why they are studying giving soldiers NAC to boost their glutathione stores so that 4 years of munitions detonation does not harm the susceptible ones. IOW proactively make sure that everyone gets their "antioxidant booster" if you will. Maybe the new food pyramid could be 4 serving of vegetables and 200 mg of NAC every day, especially if you're going to the racetrack or a fireworks celebration.

This TTM example references age but I believe that for some younger people this mechanism does not work as well as it could:



George

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@GeorgeLG, thanks for your reply and I agree with your thoughts, but then abductive reasoning gets in my way.

Abductive reasoning uses all available information, even if it's incomplete, to determine the most likely outcome or an educated guess. While it uses the information of thought, it's usually not enough to make a fully informed, certain conclusion. Deductive thought uses only information assumed to be accurate. It does not include emotions, feelings, or assumptions without evidence of personnal experience. Personal experience - knowing that loud tinnitus and severe pain must be experienced to fully understand - realism. Deductive thought uses only information assumed to be accurate. It does not include emotions, feelings, pain, distress - or assumptions without evidence, and as evidence being personal experience. It's just difficult to use abductive reasoning with overcoming a personal challenge.

National average statistics and for most counties with the same demographic profile as mine, noise induced tinnitus is higher there. In my county, all healthcare must report cause or suspicion of tinnitus and half the time a physical cause is reported. Tinnitus reporting by healthcare or questionnaire in my county is not higher than any other community or state. Noise reports as disturbance in my county is much higher than other counties or cities with comparable data.

In my county, there's a high risk when being outdoors of being blasted with a loud illegal firecracker. Our county has six neighborhood chat lines that cover the entire county of 1.6 million residents. All day and night, there is reporting of loud firecrackers, loud fireworks, firecrackers being placed in street drains causing explosions that can be heard for miles. Gunshots. Police can't handle the number of calls for this and often never send a patrol car to investigate.

 

[Hottopic29]

I have lived with tinnitus since 2014. I thought it was bad, it made me sad and depressed. 2 years later I forgot about it. It never bothered me. I had one good ear with hearing loss and no tinnitus. I could sleep and focus.

This year it got worse. It started in both ears. I started hearing multiple tones. I thought I had it bad.

Well an audiologist's test made it even louder. Now I have multiple reactive screeching tones in the left ear on top of my old mild tinnitus. I got pain hyperacusis.

I didn't even know it could get this bad. I know it can get even worse because when it spikes, it gets even louder, the reactive tone goes super loud to fans and AC but I use the AC to mask the rest of the tones. It's crazy.

 

[MindOverMatter]

@GeorgeLG, I said it before, and I'll say it again - your input and thoughts are very much appreciated on this forum. It's always refreshing to read your posts.

Hope you continue to stick around.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[GeorgeLG]

@GeorgeLG, I said it before, and I'll say it again - your input and thoughts are very much appreciated on this forum. It's always refreshing to read your posts.

Hope you continue to stick around.

Thanks for sharing!

@MindOverMatter, thank you.

George

 

[AnthonyMcDonald]

@Ben Haziri, is something you see here funny to you, buddy?

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Since this thread has surfaced again, and after reading all comments once again, my heart goes out to all who have experienced trauma.

"The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma" — Judith Herman​

Emotions are not logical, and thinking about emotions, or even the reason for the emotions, don't always lower the intensity of the emotional response.

The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation, Stephen describes what happens to the social engagement system of trauma survivors.

Trauma can turn off the social engagement system. Attempts to engage a person with trauma history, may trigger defensive and aggressive behaviors.

Many caregivers that work in trauma hospitals fear going to the dentist, but they often tell patients they need dental work. Often those with fear, will give others advice to overcome the same fears.

With conductive hearing loss, there is always hope for treatment.

I have hearing loss that's off the charts and 10/10 tinnitus - as loud as a gas lawn mover or leaf blower. The nerves in my ears contain plaque. Benfotiamine with thioctic acid sometimes helps to lower my tinnitus by a slight amount. What helps a slight bit more - is compression stockings by slowing down my blood flow nerve trauma.

Thinking about trying a harmless and safe treatment for better sleep, such as using a strip of a laparotomy sponge behind lower front teeth with three inches overhang on each side of mouth - may be better for some with tinnitus, than counseling.

The number one cause of a somatic spike is pressure to nerves at the brainstem. Often the atlas is slightly unbalanced. Sleeping on back and forward head posture shouldn't be done.

 

[Joe Cuber]

The number one cause of a somatic spike is pressure to nerves at the brainstem. Often the atlas is slightly unbalanced. Sleeping on back and forward head posture shouldn't be done.

Does sleeping on your back increase the pressure on nerves in the brain stem? So the recommendation is to sleep on my side? My hip gets rather uncomfortable if I'm on my side for too long...

 

[Lane]

My hip gets rather uncomfortable if I'm on my side for too long...

I don't have hip problems, but I find laying on my side much more comfortable putting a pillow between the legs. Have you tried that?

 

[Joe Cuber]

I don't have hip problems, but I find laying on my side much more comfortable putting a pillow between the legs. Have you tried that?

Thanks for the reminder @Lane! It's been a while since I've been sleeping on my side, I forgot this tip. I'll give it a shot tonight. BTW, I slept on my side last night despite the hip discomfort, and I woke up to a good day today

 

[GeorgeLG]

Thanks for the reminder @Lane! It's been a while since I've been sleeping on my side, I forgot this tip. I'll give it a shot tonight. BTW, I slept on my side last night despite the hip discomfort, and I woke up to a good day today

Wonderful.

George

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Does sleeping on your back increase the pressure on nerves in the brain stem?

As good as back sleeping is for spinal alignment, it isn't the best position for those who get occipital nerve tinnitus spiking flare-ups. If one has neck muscle problems, figure out what positions are best for neck pain and tinnitus spikes.

Side sleeping has some interesting health benefits for those with tinnitus. During the day, your brain creates waste proteins. These proteins build up and clog the tiny interstitial spaces in the brain. While you sleep, the glymphatic system removes these toxic proteins. The cleansing process causes brain cells to shrink, which opens those tiny spaces so spinal fluid can flush through. This system works 24 hours a day, but it's 90 percent more active while you're asleep.

Right side sleeping is best for all with tinnitus, unless spinal alignment is off. Sleeping on the left side isn't necessarily bad, it's just not as healthy as sleeping on the right side.

For those with conductive hearing loss tinnitus, sleeping more on right side is better.

For those where emotions cause tinnitus flare-ups, sleeping more on right side is better.

Most important for those with tinnitus - for those having difficulties adjusting to tinntitus:

• For the first hour after getting up, avoid emotional upset.
• Avoid emotional upset when tired.
• Introduce to noise slowly for one hour after getting up.
• Use good posture - always, but most importantly for one hour after getting up and later in the day/evening when tired.
• Drink some water during the day and always hydrate - one to two hours before going to sleep.

 

[Joe Cuber]

As good as back sleeping is for spinal alignment, it isn't the best position for those who get occipital nerve tinnitus spiking flare-ups. If one has neck muscle problems, figure out what positions are best for neck pain and tinnitus spikes.

Side sleeping has some interesting health benefits for those with tinnitus. During the day, your brain creates waste proteins. These proteins build up and clog the tiny interstitial spaces in the brain. While you sleep, the glymphatic system removes these toxic proteins. The cleansing process causes brain cells to shrink, which opens those tiny spaces so spinal fluid can flush through. This system works 24 hours a day, but it's 90 percent more active while you're asleep.

Right side sleeping is best for all with tinnitus, unless spinal alignment is off. Sleeping on the left side isn't necessarily bad, it's just not as healthy as sleeping on the right side.

For those with conductive hearing loss tinnitus, sleeping more on right side is better.

For those where emotions cause tinnitus flare-ups, sleeping more on right side is better.

Most important for those with tinnitus - for those having difficulties adjusting to tinntitus:

• For the first hour after getting up, avoid emotional upset.
• Avoid emotional upset when tired.
• Introduce to noise slowly for one hour after getting up.
• Use good posture - always, but most importantly for one hour after getting up and later in the day/evening when tired.
• Drink some water during the day and always hydrate - one to two hours before going to sleep.

Fantastic advice @Greg Sacramento, thanks so much for spending the time to explain all this. I have suspected that something is happening to me during sleep when my brain is removing toxins. Your advice really stitches it all together for me. I wanted to tell you that I have detected, over the past several months, a correlation with which side I sleep on and whether I have a bad day the next day. And, guess what, if I sleep on my right side, it's correlated with having a good day, and sleeping on my left side is correlated with having a bad day.

Another thing I've noticed is this: On days I wake up and my tinnitus is present, if I lay on my right side for about 1/2 hour with my arms laid out in front of me, I can sometimes cause my tinnitus to go away.

I'll follow your advice to the tee. I'm especially bad at staying hydrated, so that's one thing I'll focus on a whole lot more. Is there anything else one can do to promote a better glymphatic system?

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Is there anything else one can do to promote a better glymphatic system?

This article has some sameness to some of us with tinnitus.

How To Boost The Glymphatic System and Detox The Brain

 

[Joe Cuber]

This article has some sameness to some of us with tinnitus.

Thanks @Greg Sacramento, that was an informative read. I'll follow your advice and the advice in the article. It did leave me wondering how they got rats to sleep on one side or another. Also, it's interesting that they used rats to draw these conclusions. I suppose there's enough similarity between rats and humans to do so

 

[Lipshitz]

"You only habituated because you have a mild case".

"It is impossible to ignore this hellscape of loud and varied tones, you don't know what suffering is. I have a severe case."

"I am just trying to hang on until a cure is found."

"I am sick and tired of people with mild cases parading their success stories around, it pisses me off."

Many people with tinnitus and its close cousins hyperacusis and noxacusis suffer tremendously. Tinnitus Talk is filled with people deeply affected by this condition. The largest thread on this forum is called "Suicidal" so clearly many people have their lives deeply affected by this condition. The sounds are real, the suffering is real, the devastation of so many lives is real. Here's the thing. Tinnitus Talk is also filled with success stories. In addition, tinnitus affects 10-20% of the entire population (that's a BILLION people) and the vast majority of people with tinnitus do not have their lives brought to ruin. How many have you discovered to have tinnitus only after you started talking about it? About 35,000 of us are registered here, a relatively small number.

Some statistics from a scholarly article on the subject:

"Tinnitus, described as a sensation or awareness of sound that is not caused by an external sound source, affects approximately six million people in the UK -- 10 percent of the UK's population. Approximately 1 in 100 people are very distressed or disabled by it and as many as 1 in 20 people are at least moderately distressed by it. Tinnitus is associated with complaints of emotional stress, insomnia, auditory perceptual problems and concentration problems"​

So why are most people barely affected and some pushed to the absolute limit of survival? Are there mild and severe cases? To be sure, but what does that mean? Is it decibels, frequency, number of discrete noises, distortion levels, ... It's a lot easier to ignore a pleasant low level hiss that sounds like a sea shell than perhaps jackhammer noises and possessed screech owl noises for sure. The latter is a bigger hill to climb. Consider, however, that the physical characteristics of the sounds does not tell the entire story. There are multiple threads here where a member is absolutely devastated by their tinnitus but yet they report that they have to go into a quite room to find it. Others talk of tinnitus so loud that they can't hear the people talking in the room but yet they habituated. So what gives, what does mild or severe case really mean? Why are the numbers severely devastated so small compared to the universe of tinnitus?

The clinical experience of professionals studying the workings of the brain as well as those who treat tinnitus and other ailments with a high distress component talk about a model where there is the original arrival of the sounds, the initial shock of this new unwanted visitor living rent free in our heads AND then our reaction to the new visitor. Some people have a much higher tendency to having a hypervigilant reaction to these sounds, they have a harder time accepting the freeloader as the new normal, a non threat, an unimportant change that is merely the result of ageing and/or exposures to life (and headphones of course). It's the same reason why some people absolutely love living in NYC with traffic noises, constructions, jack hammers, car horns, etc and some people cannot fall asleep if they faintly hear a TV 3 doors down the hall. It is the combination of the original new sounds and our reaction to them, our emotional relationship with the "beast".

I have no idea if there will ever be a "cure" for tinnitus but there is something that you can do right now to get relief if tinnitus is ruining your life. There are lots of names for exploring our emotional reaction to our tinnitus - Back to Silence, CBT, mindfulness, ... Bullshit or effective? A published study on the subject:

"In a study of 182 adults with chronic tinnitus distress, MBCT-t resulted in significant, reliable improvements. These improvements occurred regardless of tinnitus severity or comorbidity (e.g., hearing loss, hyperacusis)."​

Another study on the subject:

"Results: A total of 75 patients were randomly allocated to MBCT (n = 39) or RT (n = 36). Both groups showed significant reductions in tinnitus severity and loudness, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and disability. MBCT led to a significantly greater reduction in tinnitus severity than RT. Treatment was effective regardless of initial tinnitus severity, duration, or hearing loss."​

And finally, a search of published literature on the subject:

"Results: The systematic search yielded seven articles (425 patients). Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), three cohort studies and one comparative controlled trial. Different types of MBIs, including MBCT and MBSR, were assessed with various questionnaires. Two of three RCTs showed a statistically significant decrease in tinnitus distress scores directly after treatment in the mindfulness group compared to the control group. Six of seven studies showed statistically significant decrease in tinnitus distress scores directly after mindfulness therapy. One of three RCTs showed a statistically significant improvement of depression questionnaire scores after MBI compared to the control group directly post treatment."​

There are two takeaways from this research. First, techniques such as mindfulness or CBT where you learn to accept tinnitus and reduce the relevance of and focus on tinnitus makes you better AND it does not matter how severe your initial reported symptoms and perceptions are. Yes, there are more mild and more severe cases but our emotional reaction to the new condition are part of mild vs. severe and all cases can be helped by improving our reaction to it, our relationship with it. Our emotions about it.

Get out the flamethrower if you must but consider the reasons for such a reaction should you have it. If you need your tinnitus, if your current goal does not involve getting better, if you're here for other reasons that's cool, continue on your journey. Your life, your choice but for those who are here to find things that can make them better there is an opportunity for a better life for every one on Tinnitus Talk. If you are looking for hope and guidance, science based options for relief then this may help you. I have no dog in this hunt, just my own life experiences with chronic illness and unspeakable loss and what I have learned through research. Also remember that not all books and practitioners are created equal. Sometimes you have to bring your car to several mechanics before you find one that fixes it right.

No judgement, I just have a heartfelt need to try to help people get better. It's a calling born out of the loss of my dear wife and all of my friends to cancer and my struggles with my two cancers. Tinnitus brought me here but these events have elevated my purpose in life.

George

You're so wrong, junior. The majority of people with mild tinnitus never really have to habituate because the sound is rarely noticeable, and they go on with their normal lives without paying much attention to it.

Sure, there are cases where mild tinnitus bothers people, but that's usually when pre-existing psychological issues play a bigger role than the tinnitus itself.

The majority of people who need to habituate are those with moderate to severe tinnitus. So claiming that people with loud, disruptive tinnitus can't habituate is absurd and makes no sense.