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I’m excited to share another inspiring success story and introduce you to Chris.
During a overwhelmingly stressful period in his life, Chris experienced the sudden onset of a high-frequency electrical noise in both ears. It was frightening, but for the first few weeks, it seemed to come and go. Every 24-36 hours it would turn on and off, and Chris remained hopeful it would resolve on its own.
But as time went on, things worsened and Chris began to experience spiraling anxiety and depression. Every day or two, his tinnitus would change. It would disappear completely, only to return again with a vengeance.
It forced Chris to put his life on hold. But after just two short months of working together, Chris had already achieved full habituation.
In this conversation, Chris joins me to break down exactly how he succeeded so quickly.
The challenges of intermittent tinnitus:
Intermittent (or highly fluctuating) tinnitus can be especially overwhelming.
When your tinnitus changes in volume, pitch, or sound from day to day, it can feel like you are trying to hit moving target.
Many intermittent tinnitus patients, like Chris, notice a cyclical pattern to the their fluctuations. The volume may rise and fall, or change character on a somewhat predictable schedule. For others, the changes occur seemingly at random.
At first, having quieter or less intense days may feel like a blessing. But in practice, it often creates a kind of emotional whiplash that makes the process of habituation a lot more confusing.
Emotional whiplash:
When your tinnitus comes and goes, it can make you feel like you need your tinnitus to go away entirely for you to be happy and functional. But tinnitus doesn’t need to be quiet for habituation to occur.
As you’ll hear in Chris’s story, the real goal is to feel equally calm, happy, and functional, regardless of what the tinnitus sounds like on any given day.
Expectations are another big challenge for patients with intermittent or fluctuating tinnitus. If you believe your tinnitus is going to be “better” in the morning, but it’s not as good as you expected, it will likely end up being a very challenging day simply because it failed to meet your expectations.
After a while, many patients can’t even enjoy the “good” days, because it can feel like you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But Chris’s journey is living proof that these challenges can be overcome.
In our wide ranging conversation, we discuss:
- What intermittent tinnitus is really like
- The unique challenges of tinnitus that fluctuates constantly
- The onset of Chris’s tinnitus—and the ENT appointment that made things worse
- What his intermittent tinnitus was like and how it changed throughout the process
- The emotional and practical hurdles he faced (shared by so many intermittent tinnitus patients)
- How to measure habituation progress when your tinnitus keeps changing
- What habituation feels like for intermittent tinnitus patients
- The specific protocols we used that helped Chris habituate in just two months
- How much quieter Chris’s tinnitus is after successful habituation
- And much more
Final Thoughts:
If you’re dealing with intermittent or fluctuating tinnitus, I know how confusing and discouraging it can feel. The ups and downs can make it seem impossible to find relief. But Chris’s story is a powerful reminder that habituation is still possible — even when your tinnitus changes every day.
