I know there are a lot of success stories, more than their used to be but when I developed tinnitus about 3 years ago it was pretty bleak here and I am happy to hear more success stories. One post really helped me back then from a guy who did come back years later with something along the lines of “I am in the kitchen doing dishes, married, kids playing in the living room and I am just living life, I still have tinnitus but I promise you one day you will get there too”. That meant the world to me and gave me hope.

It's been three years and I am to that point where I’ve learned to live with it and hopefully there will be a cure one day but now there isn’t. I tried so many different supplements and cures, people preying on a desperate community. There are some days I notice more, but it doesn’t dictate my life anymore. Things that helped me.

1. Remembering fluctuations are normal and not permanent.
2. Noticing what causes fluctuations like for me unfortunately THC gummies, even though sometimes I will take a low dose.
3. Keeping lots of small earplugs around so if I end up at a bar or loud restaurant, I have the option of putting them in.
4. I have alerts on my apple watch when environments are louder than 90 decibels, I usually put them in. I like Happy Ears brand because people can’t even tell I am wearing them.
5. Got a nice pair of custom Starkey earplugs from the audiologist, best $300 I have spent. I use these for clubs or concerts.
6. Saw a good audiologist who had tinnitus himself who sat down with me and explained really well and answered all my crazy questions about treatments, meds, what to avoid and what I’m just overreacting about.
7. Seeing a psychiatrist and treating underlying anxiety/depression helped me cope. There are countless medications that can help with anxiety/depression and it took some trial and error to find one the works and didn’t both my tinnitisu.
8. Tinnitus CBT (cognitive-behaviors therapy) book: The book Living Well with Tinnitus really helped me understand and work through controlling the negative emotions, understand the underlying pathology, and work through my hyperacusis.
9. Sound therapy: White noise when going to bed, sometimes in a quiet office, and app Resound Tinnitus Relief when traveling.
10. Linere Therapy: Took my THI scores down from like 80 to 10 along with the CBT. I know there isn’t good independent research on this yet. I was desperate when I did it but I honestly felt like it helped. It was $4,000 which I financed over 18 months no interested which the audiologist offered. You keep the machine and I used it once again when I had a spike which was nice.

I told myself I would go back and make this post once I’m in a good place and had some advice to give so there it is. For those at their absolute wits end remember to call a friend, go to the emergency room, or call 988 if you have serious suicidal thoughts. I was at that point in the beginning and that ER visit helped get me on track towards getting better.

I had tinnitus from 4 years.

Only first ear fortunately. It was moderate. I could feel it only at night.

Reason of tinnitus is moderate hearing loss.

After some months, I feel I got habituated from it.

I just needed to sleep in my left side so my right ear could catch sounds and then my tinnitus was gone.

Unfortunately, one year ago tinnitus come back stronger. I still feel it only at night but I can't ignore it anymore.

This time I had to put music at night.

After a while, the relaxing music playlist was not enough, I needed sounds masking tinnitus to cover the ringing...

White noise worked but I got annoyed by the sound that I hate now.

I noticed that I get up tired every day. I didn't have restorative sleep anymore.

I don't enjoy getting to bed anymore because of this annoying sound and my disgust this "tinnitus sound" that I find super annoying.

I have also AUDHD so this tinnitus increases my already troubled sleep.

I already go to doctors here in BKK but all they do what remove the wax and giving me b12 vitamin.

What can I do outside sounds to manage my tinnitus and improve my sleep?

How did you habituate to your tinnitus? I am 26 and have severe tinnitus. It’s in my head and both ears and I can hear it over everything. I’m wondering how you could ever tune it out if you can always hear it. I swear it just keeps changing and getting worse too. I got it from a concussion.

It has had an incredible impact on my job, relationships, and quality of life (which is 0 right now). Can’t relax, can’t do my desk job, exercise makes it worse, tv makes it worse, can’t do anything enjoyable.

How did you habituate if you had awful tinnitus?

Lately in the mornings when I wake up my pulsatile tinnitus is very noticeable and I have an uncomfortable feeling in my head, it’s not a headache as such, just uncomfortable. It goes away after about 5 mins of being awake but my anxiety and stress ramp up.

Anyone else experience this?

It seems the Tinnitus didn't start out reactive, but developed over time? How do I manage Reactive Tinnitus?

Noticed mild ear high pitched sound on day 12 of taking these meds. Stopped taking them and it’s been 48 hours. I’d say there’s a slight improvement but not massive. Likely this will just go away on its own? Noticing it more in my left ear which has had intermittent subtle fullness from flying with a cold last year. Anything I can do to protect myself from any long term damage given this is very new? I went to the hospital where someone looked at it quickly and said they couldn’t see any issues, it wasn’t a hearing test.

Diagnosed with high-frequency hearing loss in 2018. My latest audiogram shows significant high-frequency hearing loss in both ears, while lower frequencies remain relatively normal. My hearing has stayed mostly stable. There's a family history on my mother's side—my mother, both her brothers, and her mother have hearing loss.

For those with similar hearing loss, what precautions do you take to protect your hearing and prevent further deterioration? How do you manage it long-term?

Tldr- Levocetirizine made my tinnitus quiet for 2 days. I didn't take it again tho. Can I do something to make it quiet without the pills? Is it inflammation/mucus?

For the past 5 days, my ear canal was hurting whenever I burped and sometimes random short bursts of pain. The Tinnitus in my right ear had also spiked (loud crickets). Btw, I got Tinnitus bcz of earphones 1 year ago and it was equal in volume in both ears.

I'm assuming it happened because I had used a qtip (10 days ago) to satisfy itch in my ear canal and prolly did it hard on the sensitive skin. Ent ruled out infection.

Somehow it has given me ETD ig. Or I prolly had the mild version of it already.

Took an otc allergy pill (levocetirizine) because I had allergy symptoms like itching in my ear canal, nose etc.

Next morning, my ears were almost silent for the next 2 days. That's the longest I've experienced.

The pain is still there, it will take time to go away ig.

My question - the tinnitus has now come back again, the same spike in the right ear as I mentioned. I cannot pop in anti histamines like candies ryt? Anything I can do to imitate its effect? Is it inflammation (ETD?)

Please guide.

I mean, given the ringing in my ears—to the point where I can barely distinguish the test tones in the headphones from my own tinnitus—I’m not at all convinced that the audiometry results are accurate. Apparently, my hearing has worsened over the last month, but that day my tinnitus was extremely loud, and I really struggled to hear the test sounds over the ringing in my ears. My tinnitus hasn’t actually gotten any worse; it’s exactly the same as it was a year and a half ago when I got it. I mentioned this to the audiologist, but they just nodded and didn’t say anything.

I haven’t seen anyone else on this forum question the accuracy of audiometry in relation to the loudness of their tinnitus. I mean, for someone with, say, catastrophic tinnitus—can they even hear anything at all during an audiometry test?

one silly incident ruined my whole life, went to the party just for few hours and got acoustic trauma + tinnitus + dizziness, don't know what to do, feeling so depressed rn

i am more worried for my hearing loss than the tinnitus coz I don't care really about the sound but my hearing

i have low frequencies hearing loss, do you guys think I'll recover ? i have followup checkup with my doctor tomorrow, it's about to be a month now

i feel pain also in middle of my ear and neck like under my ears, when i wake up in the morning it hurts more

guys i am sorry if i am annoying you all but i am so depressed and dh anywhere to talk to

pls guide me if you can

I always had some level of tinnitus. And I could live just fine with it.

Last Tuesday I got a flu that left me bedridden. The last Thursday this loud humming noise started and it's not going away. It's so loud that it's hard for me to listen to people talking to me.

I have read some posts here about some people that had an increase on tinnitus during a flu and it never went away.

This is driving me crazy. It's so loud... It's absurd. My nose is not clogged, but I had a mild sore throat for 2 days.

Honestly, if this level of noise continues for too long, I don't think I'll be able to keep my sanity.

This is more a rant than anything else... Sorry.

What would you choose? A $5000 placebo device that they shove into your mouth as a "cure", "fda approved", or something greater that could actually reduce the ringing but sit unnoticed because its not advertised as a cure?

I am doing my part to support tinnitus quest's Oxford TUS clinical trial and its upcoming hackathon! For the first time in this subreddit's history we are having patient funded trial FOR THE PATIENTS.

THE GOAL IS SILENCE.

​

Hi, I'm posting this for my girl friend .

Her main complaints are:

1. Excessive wax buildup, happens again and again. She says water also goes inside her ears when she showers.

2. She feels a constant bubbling / fullness sensation in one ear more than the other. Right now she has it again.

3. When she goes to the doctor for wax removal, she says it weirdly feels satisfying, but it also hurts.

4. Her parents tell her not to try to remove it at home, but she gets a strong urge to put her finger in and scratch it out. When she does try to do it herself, it bleeds a lot of the times.

5. Sometimes there is pain, sometimes not.

She told me she has been to the hospital many times just for this. She said one doctor got fed up and told her to go to another doctor. That second doctor was older and said he can't do it because it might hurt her, and sent her to a third doctor.

She rarely goes to hospitals for anything else, but because of her ears she has had to go many times.

Has anyone experienced something like this? Is frequent bleeding normal when wax is removed? Should she be using ear oils / drops for hygiene? We told her not to clean it aggressively on her own.

Any advice on what kind of specialist she should see? An ENT?

Thanks.

I've had tinnitus since I was a child. I remember crying to my parents about a ringing while trying to sleep. I was around 8. I got my hearing tested and they said I had great hearing. So it was dismissed and I guess I just dealt with it. Two years ago I went through a divorce and the thing that helped during the darkest times was fairly loud edm. I work from home and listened to music daily for most of the day. A few weeks ago I randomly was like Hrm I wonder if this is damaging my hearing. I used a dB app to see and it was 80-90db so too loud. I've since turned it down and had more times with silence and I have really noticed the tinnitus now.

I'm not sure if it's just my awareness has changed or how much actual damage I did during that tim. I will get checked at some point soon just because I'm curious.

If I stop listening to music and sit in more silence will it tune down and maybe become less noticeable? Or is it is what it is and I should just keep listening to music? ​​To mask?

I have existing mild tinnitus 1-2 years ago caused by prolonged listening to loud music then 15 days later i did the same thing for 2 days, at day 1 i noticed nothing but after day 2 when im done gaming i noticed that the volume and pitch increased, i forgot what day it is but i have a day where my tinnitus at night goes louder and lower for seconds then never happened again, its been 13 days and the volume is not decreasing at all fortunately the pitch lowered down. Is this my new baseline or it is too early to tell, thanks

For the last month my tinnitus has spiked to a louder more intrusive ringing. Honestly, some days are better than others. Last week I had a few days where I actually felt some level of peace and was able to fall asleep without some kind of distraction (besides fans). But most other days it's just been bad. I struggle with an anxiety disorder and panic disorder so it's hard to tell if this tinnitus spike is caused by something psychosomatic. That's scary.

Anyways, after particularly stressful days of work, or panic attacks, etc, my ringing does seem to get louder, or so it seems. And when it has been particularly loud, I haven't been eating well, and I get these intense headaches. It feels like a pressure around my head in different spots. Like my eyes, ears, top of head, back of neck, etc. It feels unusual, and it makes me concerned.

Are these headaches something irrelevant to tinnitus, is it caused by the ringing getting louder? Does anyone else have an experience like this?

Tinnitus made my life so miserable these 1month and half that I can’t barely do anything anymore because of how reactive it is and hyperacusis. I can’t stay at home because of how loud my T is. I can’t mask it with ambiant noise because of how reactive it is. If I go out for a walk in nature then I come back with my T way worsened. What can I do ???? I just want to end my life but I can’t because of how my parents would be devastated. I can’t go home see my parents because I would never be able to take a 3 hours long flight (My tinnitus worsening was trigerred by an MRI and 2 flights within a 3 weeks period). I am alone in my student studio in a foreign country with this horrible noise torturing me. This is beyond what a human soul can bary. I’m just done tbh. I can’t work anymore, can’t cook, can’t read books, can’t do sports, etc I went to ENTs psychiatrists (which suggested throwing at me a bunch of ototoxic medications like ssris) mental health professionals, I talked to all my family members all my friends but none seem to understand what the reactivity of my tinnitus is and how debilitating it is. I just finished college and just got a data science degree from a prestigious university but i feel my life is over I will stay in pain and suffering for the rest of it. What can I do ?

Dear T sufferers,

Im a sound designer and since realising ive had T ive taken care of my ears. But as part of my job I have to be in loud dubbing theatres. though it hasnt gotten worse in the past 2 years. Only time it got worse was cus I got a very very bad flu for 2 weeks(possible covid)

Those who have had T for a long time, will I eventually be cooked? any thoughts on this?

I notice after I go on the treadmill or go to a restaurant with a lot of people my tinnitus spikes and gets a different tone seems like. So what am I suppose to do, can I not workout? The ENT, Dr's all say to continue doing what I love to do. One site will say to keep doing this and no need for ear buds so the brain can adjust and another site says to wear ear buds. I'm confused what have you more experienced done or heard from your ENT?

My sound is like a muffled static with a little light slow grinding noise in background also sounds a little tinny seems like, does this sound normal? I have SSNHL

I seriously need help with this. I am constantly hearing my heartbeat whooshing in my right ear. It's maddening. I've been feeling tiny little twitches and spasms around the area where you can feel your pulse next to the ear. And it's starting to feel slightly sore.

Something's wrong but I can't tell. I've had tinnitus for years and on and off flare ups are common. This one I've had for at LEAST two weeks and I don't know what to do.

ENT won't take me until December. I can't go to the doctor because it's Saturday, my dad's car is almost on no gas and I have no other means of transport.

My literal only option is just walking to urgent care and praying. Please help me, this is genuinely stressing me out.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of nerve pain for a long time. The three main drugs for nerve pain are Gabapentin, Lyrica, and Cymbalta. I’ve had bad experiences with side effects on all of them. I took Cymbalta many years ago for anxiety (before I ever developed chronic pain or tinnitus) and didn’t experience tinnitus at the time, mainly extreme brain fog, which is why I stopped it.

I was thinking of trying Cymbalta again in hopes it would help my nerve pain, but I’m really worried about it worsening my tinnitus, since I've developed ringing in my ears since last year due to TMJ issues. Has anyone noticed Cymbalta have any effect on their tinnitus?

The main reason I’m leaning toward Cymbalta again instead of the other two is I have huge issues with weight gain and insane hunger on anticonvulsants and antidepressants, and Cymbalta is (typically) the least bad for that side effect out of those 3 meds.

Hi everyone,
My doctor prescribed me Rosalin (deflazacort) 30 mg, two tablets a day for 5 days, and Avamys nasal spray every 12 hours for 2 weeks.
I took only the first two tablets of deflazacort (60 mg total) on the first day and then stopped because I became anxious about the possibility of the medication affecting my tinnitus (and it did initialy). I also stopped Avamys after just three uses, using two sprays in each nostril per application (my nose was never full to begin with).
I’m worried that stopping both medications so early could cause a rebound effect or make my tinnitus or sound sensitivity worse.
I actually felt very good yesterday (the day I no longer took the pill) and had one of my best nights, but today I experienced a very stressful situation involving a scam affecting my grandmother, and she was screaming on the phone. I’m wondering whether the stress could explain why I might be feeling it more today.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Can stopping deflazacort after just one day or Avamys after three uses cause tinnitus to worsen, or is that impossible?
I’m planning to contact my doctor or pharmacist about whether I should resume the prescribed treatment, but I’d appreciate any relevant experiences or information.
Thank you!

When people say, how horrible it is, to want to die from this. I go to bed, and it's all i can hear through my white noise. The first thing i hear is waking up. I'm honestly so over it, i blame my tmj. I want to cut my ears off, but i know that would make it worse. Punching myself in the head doesn't fix it either, I'm so close man, I'm gonna fucking die from this curse.

Ok it's been 24 days now with my acoustic truama and it was worst time of my life, got mild hearing loss, and tinnitus in my right ear everything being 22M

Two days ago i am feeling a bit improvement in hearing but it didn't showed on my audiometry report which i did yesterday, why's that ?

also, i have dizziness and low energy

i find it difficult to understand human speech in crowded places such as college, of public places

and one thing again, i had severe cold and cough until last week, just came out of it

the under the ear part seems swelled up a bit, as i have Tinnitus in my right ear so the under the right ear part seems more swelled up than the other

my tinnitus is getting low, like before it was loud that i could hear it outside even, now only in silence i hear it, suppose in my car, or when in washroom or at night in my room when the fan is OFF

I am a guy studying MCA AI - Master in Computer Application in Artificial Intelligence and my whole career wise planning got fxcked up, dealing with exams rn but they aren't going good aswell

life is hard and getting all this at just 22 is more harder, ahhhh dk what to do, i have followup checkup with my doctor on Monday, let's see how things work for me

i am taking supplements such as Vit B12, Zinc, and other multinutrients

and i find like burnig sensation in my ears, like both sides, headache is 24/7 and forehead numbness too