Tinnitus sufferer

[Pups72]

Hello. I am a 49 year old male. I have been suffering with tinnitus for about a year, starting after a period of stress. It is in my brain rather than my ears (been to ENT/audiologist and my hearing is in the normal range for my age). T severely impacts my sleeping, getting quite intense in the middle of the night, when white noise no longer works. I have tried antidepressants and anti anxiety pills, but neither gets to the core of the issue. I don’t seem to be habituating. I don’t really have any question, other than I feel a bit stuck and looking for support from people who understand (my support network is getting bored of me going on about it!).

[Happyrosie]

You are among a group, Pups72, of people like you! It does take time to habituate, though, I was thinking about this a half an hour ago when out for a walk: I live not far from Gatwick airport and as such hear the planes. Before Covid, i really didn’t hear them at all because the noise wasn’t particularly intrusive and was so common it didn’t register. Now, however, there are so few planes that when I hear them I really notice them although the sound is exactly the same as it used to be.

In other words. I used to be habituated to the sound of planes and now I’m not.

It does take a while to get habituated to tinnitus. Please do go to the website of the British tinnitus Association and have a read around their articles, especially I’d recommend their modules called “Take on Tinnitus”.

Others on this forum will, I’m sure, give their take too.

[doglover1973]

Hi Pups72 Welcome to the forum. I know how you feel. I got stuck around the one year mark but - after a short course of CBT - I moved forward again . I did have to pay for this as i was still on the NHS waiting list at the time. Sleep is a difficult issue. There's some very good advice given by surreycccfan on the subject. You can find this by clicking on his name. Hopefully .

[1966366]

Good evening Pups72. As I write this my t. is roaring like mad in my brain. Is it similar to what you have? It has progressed from the one ear to both and when I'm going through a bad time, returns to the ears, although remaining in the brain. And like you sound therapy does not work, in fact the t. seems to compete with it. Also like you said, friends and relatives are no longer interested in my moaning! I am into the eighth year and still not habituated, so you can have hope that you will as it is still very early days. I don't know if any of the above is useful for you, I hope so, your post struck a chord. All the best

[bournville]

Hi I would try one of the local or online Tinnitus support groups - they are listed on the BTA website. I have done both and they are helpful, they stop you feeling alone in the situation at the very least and always supportive of each other. Give it a go once no need to continue if it’s not for you.

[SalsaMay58]

Hi Pups72. Your story resonated with me (if you'll excuse the pun!). I've had constant T in my ears/head for 10+ years which seems to correlate with the deterioration in my hearing. I've worn bi-lateral hearing aids for 5+ years and they help a little particularly daytime. Sleep is a problem. Also suffer with anxiety that is impacted (but not caused by) the T. Recently started using audiobooks (e.g. free on BBC Sounds) that have been really effective in getting to sleep, and can reduce my anxiety if I wake in the night, shifting the focus from my T.

[surreycccfan]

Hi Pups72, Welcome to the foum

As Doglover1973 stated I have posted some tips on sleep, let me know if you need me to repost.

As well as the forum you tried any of the BTA support groups (both virtual and/or face to face) as I found these really useful for not just learning but also the shared fellowship from others with the condition.

Additionally another avenue of support is you could ask the BTA to allocate you a befriender

When you talk about the core of the issue, is this because you cannot habituate?

I now live well with my T and although I have periods of habituation it is more about me feeling totally OK with my T, I no longer have any negative emotional reaction to it (fight/flight response). This shift (which took time and a lot of work) has helped me with not just sleep but also with every other facet of life. Although distraction techniques helped me to cope it was the behavioral techniques I learnt through the BTA and support groups which helped me slowly take the mental shift towards accepting my T and no longer fighting and focusing on it.

Stay safe

[Pups72 in reply to surreycccfan]

Thanks for your response. Your sleeping tips would be helpful. Thanks

[surreycccfan in reply to Pups72]

Here you go, hopefully makes some sense

• I used a sound generator app (I used ReSound Relief but plenty of others out there). I mixed sounds that (1) I found pleasant and (2) mapped well to my T. Audiologists tell us to map the volume of the sound to just below the volume of your T. As time went on and I felt more 'positive' towards my T I slowly reduced volume until I no longer needed the sound generator

• I tried to use positive reinforcement in relation to the sound from the generator app. The sound I had chosen was beach, waves, and rain, when I would go to sleep, I would listen to the sound and think of lovely holidays I have had walking on the beach. As T creates such a negative emotional reaction, these types of thoughts allowed me to calm down and think about something other than my T

• When I was lying in bed if I felt stressed and my mind was focused on my T I would follow a mindfulness body scan. I found this very calming and did take my mind off my T

• I used BTA support group to help me learn more about T and techniques to move towards living well with T. As I learnt more and managed to reduce the negative emotional reaction to my T I would even say 'hello' to my T when I first settled down to sleep. The reason I did this is I found when I was stressed by my T it was always at the forefront of my mind so I found that if I said hello to it then (1) I had acknowledged it and my mind could move on to something else (2) by saying hello I was reducing my fight/flight reaction to it and this helped me to 'normalise' it for me.

• I tried to follow a good sleep hygiene pattern (maintain a regular sleep routine, avoid daytime naps, don't watch TV or use the computer in bed, no caffeine after 18:00 and as I am a clock watcher I put the alarm clock out of sight so I wasn’t constantly looking at it.

• Exercise was also important as this allowed me to be physically tired

[Hidden in reply to surreycccfan]

That is a good routine...I didn't know about the befriender scheme. That is excellent.

I keep my alarm out of sight and cut caffeine too 👍

[Hidden]

Hi welcome to the forum. Hope you get some respite.As you can see you'll get lots of advice. This site has been a real help for me..

My tinnitus is cyclical and building up today unfortunately. I like the sound of water, it is calming and helps. I enjoy walking and nature.

Indoors I often like distractions and am currently listening to 70s music channel. When mine's builds up I have to lie down due to tiredness and ear pressure - I have hearing aids (sensorineural high-toned hearing loss) I take cinnarzine when it peaks, which is available at chemists (sturgeron) It helps with vertigo, nausea and ear pressure so may not be the right thing for you...

I get very tired when people talk all the time as I have to concentrate. And that is hard cos I used to be chatty! So I'm naturally quieter now in the hope that people will 'mirror' my style. It is isolating at times, no doubt about it.

When it all subsides I enjoy a couple of days silence, no TV and enjoy listening to the birds outside...then it starts again. My head can feel like a washing machine. I'm not working anymore due to this.

Advice? Try to see what works for you with various apps, YouTube etc...

...and stay hydrated. I'm on the water tonight!

On a positive note it builds resilience and empathy. Everyone is so kind on here.

All the best. x