What are your Thoughts on Habituation

[Buzbee50]

Having had Tinnitus for 15 years i cannot remember habituating to it, maybe i did and did not realise....Now my noises have doubled since taking antibiotics a month ago and my eyes are out on stalks, im hoping habituation will occur and the noise reduce..... but does it........ or do you just have to get used to what you have..... I really hope the noise does drop , cannot imagine life with this howling din ......

[Liamovy]

I’m wondering the same. 3 years in and still not habituated. Trying to stay positive from reading others positive stories on here but it’s hard. Sorry you’re going through this and hoping you can find some relief soon. Xx

[Buzbee50 in reply to Liamovy]

Yes sure is hard , its 3am and still not asleep , got a noise machine on so in the spare room..... getting to be a lonely life.....

[Liamovy in reply to Buzbee50]

Was thinking of you when I was laying in bed at 5 this morning unable to sleep because of this awful noise. Really hoping that last night was the night you got some sleep xx

[Buzbee50 in reply to Liamovy]

oh dear oh dear i am sorry you cannot sleep.... last night was my 5th night in a row with no sleep... i was pacing around the bedroom at 5am not knowing what to do with myself ..... it is such a horrid thing , cannot get away from my head it follows me around........ x

[Liamovy in reply to Buzbee50]

I feel for you. Maybe the doctor can help you with some medication to help you sleep xx

[Buzbee50 in reply to Liamovy]

Thankyou i really need some sympathy right now, i have been taking Kalms sleep herbal but all they do id make me feel ill..... on the last visit to the doctor she issued me with some travel sickness pills which are ment to make you feel drowsy... one of the side effects is tinnitus ! plus a load of others, great..... so scared to take them but i think no sleep is forcing my hand..... do you take sleeping pills herbal remedies to help you x....

[Liamovy in reply to Buzbee50]

I am lucky normally my tinnitus doesn’t effect my sleep but it was particularly bad last night and kept me awake. It’s scary how much medication can effect tinnitus. I have seen a number of people on here that have been prescribed sleeping medication from doctors that has helped them immensely maybe you can get something prescribed. Might be worth going through some old posts and read some comments as as people quite often name the sleeping medication that has helped them and ask your doctor. I think you are in a vicious circle right now if you don’t sleep your tinnitus will be worse. Hopefully if you can get some medication to help you sleep it might help break the cycle a little bit. Wishing you lots of luck xx

[Xene]

Fortunately or unfortunately we are all unique so as to if our T improves or gets worse is anybody’s guess. I’m nearly 40yrs in now and after a major increase in volume after being given an antidepressant 10 years ago it has never reduced even after I stopped the antidepressant immediately. As hard as it is I have learnt that I have to suck it up and get on with it and I do everything with it. Not promising I know but that’s just me. Many others can have big improvements with habituation but I’m no longer holding my breath. Good luck. 🤞

[Buzbee50 in reply to Xene]

Yes im wondering if this high volume is permanent now ,,,its 3am and still not asleep , got a noise machine on so been banished to the spare room , its getting to be a lonely life

[ToetappingPoet]

If you had tinnitus but reached a point where it wasn't bothering you, I think that's what's called habituating to it. A lot of people on here have been long term sufferers who coped ok until their noise changed. You pin point antibiotics. It seems often its a drug-related change. I think it helps to adopt an attitude that says I've adjusted to this before so I'll adjust again. I do think that if it's reached at a stage where its impacting quality of life, causing depression, depriving sleep etc that we have to press on for help. It seems some ENT specialists are more equipped to offer specialist tinnitus help than others, just by reading threads here. Press for hearing aids that include maskers, emotional and behavioural support through well being service, proper investigative work like scans and hearing checks. Don't be fobbed off, because it's really hard just doing self help. It's a genuine health problem! People lose weight, stay in the house, become very run down. It affects relationships. So press for help. An ENT consultant who just says "yeah, you've got tinnitus. Here's a leaflet on coping" isn't supporting your road back to sanity, so ask to see someone who is a tinnitus specialist.

[Buzbee50 in reply to ToetappingPoet]

Yes your totally correct..... four nights now with no sleep.... i fell out of bed and was sick everywhere , partner fed up and just gone to work leaving me to look after our young son.. im in the spare room now so feel isolated and lonely head screaming,,, got to have ears vacuumed out not done on NHS which scares me because of the noise before she will even refer me to ENT then im told could be a years wait , dont know how to cope with today yet alone future , got a hip and back problem too .... think im done for... thankyou for your concern Mr Poet....

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to ToetappingPoet]

Worth saying that an ENT consultant is a surgeon and that if an underlying cause of tinnitus does not have a surgical remedy, it may be the best thing to be discharged from their list and referred - ideally by them - to a more relevant specialism like audiology.

[ToetappingPoet in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Absolutely.

[777john]

I decided to fully except my T, simply because there is no cure, by doing that you will habituate, habituate is just another word to say you get used to it, I also decided to go cold turkey at night, by that i mean i used to listen to a sound machine at night to help me get to sleep, but then i realised all i was doing was adding more noise and to be honest the extra noise didn't help , audio books are good, they did work for me but then again, it was something else i was listening to so by going cold turkey my T gradually became the norm and that's the same during day time it really is just a case of the longer you have T the more you get used to it, i can hear my T 24/7, but i know nothing else now its part of my life, and do you know what, because of that iv excepted it , i have my life back, i know we are all different and T can have a devastating effect on our lives, you mention you are on antibiotics and its made it worst, tablets can also have an effect on me as well, its not a nice position to be in, I can only wish you look on your journey, we all get there in the end.

[Buzbee50 in reply to 777john]

thankyou for that John..... i got T 15 years ago after taking some cold meds , business folded up and marriage went out the window but after a couple of years like you i got used to it.... a month ago now i had a prostate opp and i was filled with antibiotics.... my tinnitus has exploded in my head , now got 3 horrible noises I hear above sound machine on full volume ... no sleep the last four nights in a row.... i think your correct on the getting used to it but i have been clinging on to the hope it may come down as at the moment i think im finished and im normally a positive person.... i wish you all the best....

[777john in reply to Buzbee50]

Sleep is massive, get yourself some sleeping tablets for a few days, , once you get a few hours solid sleep your T will reduce in volume, it will make a big difference. It sounds like you've had your fair share of bad luck, life can be horrible cant it and having T can be a lonely place i know its not much consolation when you are at the point that you are at and its an old cliché but you are not alone.

[Buzbee50 in reply to 777john]

The doctor has issued me some pills mainly for travel sickness but apparently they make you sleepy..... a common side effect is tinnitus and bladder retention..... great scared to even open the box .....

[777john in reply to Buzbee50]

I was given zopiclone and they worked great, for me these did not make my T any worse

[Hidden in reply to 777john]

Well said. Fighting tinnitus, or running away from it, reduces our quality of life. Once I accepted that, I was surprised how quickly I got back to an almost normal life.

Regarding medicines, the Tinnitus UK leaflet "Drugs and tinnitus" is very reassuring and well worth a read.

[Demeb4dat]

Habituation, not sure it's the right word for me, I just get used to it. It is there 24/7, some days louder than others, I tried some supplements to no avail, it is there. I was offered hearing aids because with the cacophony in my head I lose some sounds, I ask if the appliance would stop or cover the noise, they told me no chance. I refused because I am not sure I want to hear more and the day I tested T, was at the pick and the tester had an accent that I had a hard time to understand so......., A plus to T, at times I can not hears the dog's barking on the other street in the back of my house has much as other days. I do not believe that my hearing is so bad, because I can hear better than my spouse who supposedly has no problems.

[Buzbee50 in reply to Demeb4dat]

can i please ask what your tinnitus sounds like.... mine went through the roof a month ago after taking antibiotics... i now have a very loud hissing topped off with a screech then a low hum .. not sleeping, driving me mad....

[Demeb4dat in reply to Buzbee50]

My T sound like a party of crickets in a summer night at the pond trizillions of them,it pulse in sync with my heartbeats and at times other sounds that I can not describe, when I had my last hearing test they tied to replicate the others sounds to no avail, it differ but the crickets are there. I kept a diary for a year for my fibromyalgia pains and tinnitus, when pain high T is high too and if barometric pressure drops lower then 1000 it is worst, worst pain body, head, arthritis and tinnitus.

[Buzbee50 in reply to Demeb4dat]

i am so sorry to hear that.... i have a bad hip ball n socket impacted they say and no lubricant layer left in my spine ,,, head is so noisy since prostate opp and medication not slept for four nights dont know how im standing up , scared i wont sleep tonight either .... what a joy getting old is ........ hope you have no pain and tinnitus gone tomorrow.....

[WildIris]

My tinnitus is pretty loud, but pretty constant. One trick is to have a constant pleasant noise, like your noise machine, and practice switching your focus between the pleasant noise and the tinnitus. I don't know about you, but I used to go to great lengths not to hear the ear noises, so actually listening to the ringing really helped, also knowing I can choose not to focus on it. I really don't mind it any more.