to think you can live a happy life with tinnitus

[Guesswhosbacktellyourfriends]

The posts on here re: tinnitus have really got me through the last two months, so I'm just back to ask (pleadingly) - if you were really down about it in the beginning, and really fixated, did it change for you? I know it sounds so melodramatic but I just think it means I can't live the same life I did before. I guess I'm worried too that it could all get so much worse (quite mild in the day, no hearing loss, annoying at night)

Can you really learn to block it out? Do most people manage that? I read posts that say people can go for weeks or months forgetting they have it but it's on my mind all the time (and I know, I'm doing what I can to not have a stress response to it but it's so alien).

I've got ETD and fluid in my ears which also make it hard not to overthink it. And I'm a writer by trade, so I miss my silence. Sorry for the whingy post.

I've learned to mostly block mine out, but it took a few years to get to this point. It's there all the time but I only really notice it if it's really quiet, have ringing in the other ear or I pay attention to it.

My partner has permanent tinnitus due to an assault. I think they just have got used to it over the last 10 years or so. I think they have times where it annoys them but a lot of the time it’s now just background

I notice mine only when I think about it or someone talks about it. The way I explain it ti myself is - Hearing is a collaboration between ears and brain, so if you dismiss tinnitus from your mind, the brain will learn that this isn’t a noise you need to know about, and will stop presenting it for your attention.

It’s worse when I’m not using hearing aids. Is that a self-diagnosed “no hearing loss” or have you had your hearing tested? It’s hard to recognise loss of high frequencies as you still hear mid to low frequencies perfectly. The most you notice is some people not speaking clearly.

@MereDintofPandiculation Yeah I had my hearing tested. My hearing was normal despite the fluid, but it was a good fluid day. I think I’d have some conductive hearing loss if lying down, which is definitely when the T ramps up.

I’ve had tinnitus for nearly 30 years, and yes, I learned to block it out.

Mine started when I got an ear infection and it got slightly better but then I ended up with glue ear which made it worse. Got grommets put in when I was early 20s which helped as any kind of ear congestion makes my tinnitus play up. Then diagnosed with TMJ and a jaw out of alignment and following dental treatment it improved, but it’s still there. Had the test for a tumour in ear too (don’t recall what it’s called).

I mention all the above in case it helps someone explore why they may have tinnitus if there is no other obvious cause (GP’s don’t seem to know much).

Try white noise in the background, and I found at bedtime when it’s quiet you may notice it more. Mine used to seem very noisy then but I learned a deep breathing technique (breath slowly and deeply down to your stomach if you can) and for me, I can actually hear the noise level start to drop considerably. Tinnitus can worsen with stress so it’s worth trying as the louder it gets the more you can panic. Go easy on caffeine and tonic water (the latter contains quinine which is said to be not good for tinnitus), and be very protective of your ears with loud noise. I avoid attending music concerts etc and if I do go then I take ear plugs but don’t jam them all the way in - just enough to take the edge off the loudness.

There is tinnitus charities who can offer more info.

I don't know what it is like living with ETD and fluid in the ears. Is it bilateral, and are sounds amplified and distorted? What tips has your ENT given you?

I do know that I can ignore my tinnitus until it is accompanied by sudden hearing loss, a recurrent problem for me. What helps is knowing that there is nothing sinister causing it, and then working on distracting myself with activities I enjoy and which require concentration. An absorbing book, cooking, playing an instrument. Of course, exercise helps as well. Then I can return to study or quiet time much more settled, regardless of the tinnitus.

My dad chewed gum, my ENT recommended hearing aids...

I only noticed tinnitus at night so I listen to short stories and that has helped a lot. I saw a YouTube video saying tinnitus isn't in your ears, it's your brain making stuff up. Distracting your brain with other sounds can be helpful. I haven't noticed tinnitus for ages now.

Dh has tinnitus and he says he barely notices anymore. He has had it for a long time now, like decades. He is pretty much deaf in one ear from having the measles as a kid and wears hearing aids.

I've had tinnitus for years, varying between ringing and a panning hiss sound. Its a minor annoyance at worst. I've got so used to not listening that I have to focus on it, except for when it changes. The hiss sound only lasts for a few seconds then the ringing comes back then it fades out again.

I am generally good at fading sounds out and don't get annoyed by noises or whatever. I'm also pretty laid back about shit I can't do anything about.

I feel sorry for the people that get really bugged by it

I’ve had mine a long time now- the result of standing too close to too loud speakers for too long too many times! But honestly I barely notice it.

Sometimes it will suddenly pipe up much louder than usual. To get it under control I visualise a round volume knob like you get on a stereo, and I imagine turning the volume down. Sometimes I will actually hold my hand out as if I’m physically turning it down myself. Works every time!

I've had mine for 12 years. It took a very long time to get used to it. It was distressing for the first couple of years. Now I just get on with things. I'm used to it now.

I usually always have the radio on if I'm in the house or car. I find that helpful. But it doesn't bother me the way it used to.

I do find, though, if I'm upset or stressed it gets a bit worse and then it can upset me and I end up with a headache. But day to day I don't notice it as much. Notice it a lot right now as I'm writing about it!

Listening to thunderstorm sounds at night helps massively. I highly discourage using white noise.

Honestly doesn't bother me anymore and going to concerts doesn't worsen it so don't worry about those..
Stress does aggravate it so I hear it more then but I take it as a sign to distress and take care of myself:-)

I play white noise from an app, or other sounds, like rainfall, forest sounds, wind etc. It masks the tinnitus and for a while I forget all about it. When I'm bored of background noise I listen to music or podcasts.

FIL say his has finally gone away with hearing aids - I'm hoping hearing loss creeping up on him is why he's seeming more and more confused and not early signs of dementia* *as I was starting to think - though apparently hearing loss that age can be a factor for it anyway.

Yeah white noise and transients are what makes it change from a ring to a hiss

My tinnitus used to drive me mad, and I couldn't imagine how I could put up with it for the rest of my life. Then I watched a young friend in her 20s slowly die of cancer, and it totally changed the way I thought about my own health. After that when I noticed my tinnitus instead of getting worked up about how unfair it was, I would just think about how lucky I was that something so relatively trivial was the worst health condition that I had to deal with, and it almost became a reminder of my good health and fortune when I noticed it. I stopped stressing about it and then over time it just seemed to disappear. If I pause and listen for it, it's still there, but when I'm not actively thinking about it I never notice it anymore.

I've had tinnitus for around 4 years (thanks covid!) To start with I found it quite distressing - it just suddenly started one day and I was extremely upset at the thought of never 'hearing' silence again!! Now I barely notice it most of the time, but it is worse if I'm ill (it seems to echo in my head if I'm congested) or stressed. It used to annoy me when watching TV or trying to sleep, but now I would say I rarely think about it at all.

A lot of the time I don't notice it now. It's more noticeable if I'm stressed or tired, and at night, but DH has tinnitus as well so we usually have an app that plays rain or wave sounds on when we're sleeping.

At first I found it really hard. The only things that worked for me and changed things were a radio on low sound as background noise, and ignoring it. The more i ignored it, the less of a problem it was .

Mine started as very mild in the day and more noticeable at night 30 years ago. It's one ear only.
You do get used to it, I can ignore mine and could hear past it for most of the time I've had it.
Now it's more noticeable in the day as I have hearing loss on that side and it has got louder for me in the last 5 years. Still I can ignore and hear past it with a hearing aid in.
On the plus side I can lie on my good side at night and sleep though any noises.

Mine has been going on for thirty years (rock n roll!). It was so unbearable at first I was suicidal, but now I am used to it and only notice it when I pause to think about it, like now - or if I'm under extra stress.

Also, lots of drugs can ramp it up. Aspirin, eg. And some H2-receptor antagonists and PPIs. Worth checking if any otc or prescribed medications you ever take are ototoxic/cause ringing in ears.

List of Ototoxic Medications - Sound Relief Hearing Center

Mine is very, very, very bad. I can’t “learn to block it out” because as well as a lot of regular, constant noises I get sudden, loud, intrusive new ones that appear out of nowhere. Imagine someone suddenly playing a loud, high, screeching violin note right in your ear one day and making you jump, and doing it at irregular intervals of a minute or a few seconds for several hours.
There have been times when I have not wanted to live. But I do live with it, though I’m not happy.
I hope yours is nowhere near as bad and you can learn to cope with it.

Mine is worse when I don’t wear my hearing aids.

Most of the time I can filter it out. I listen to ocean waves or tricking streams on an app on my phone when I take my hearing aids out at night especially if it’s particularly intrusive.

Yes.

I'm 10 years in. If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd still be alive, still have tinnitus, and be living a normal life I'd have said no because I cannot live like this.

But I did, and now I think about tinnitus maybe 2% of my day. Sometimes 0%. It used to be 99%.

It does get easier. For me, the tables turned when someone said to me what are you so scared of? Its just a noise..

And I realised I was living my entire life in fight or flight mode. Once I stopped, that's when habituation happened.

White noise helped me so much. I urge you to use it if you aren't already.

You will be OK, you know. Coming from someone who honestly felt that death would be preferable to life with tinnitus!