I'm really sorry to hear that.
I once read something about the prevalence of depression in people with tinnitus. I was surprised by it, but I didn't really consider how disruptive it must be when you're accustomed to not having it. By contrast, I've had it basically my whole life. I remember laying awake at night, listening to the deafening ringing, thinking about how weird it was that silence isn't silent. It wasn't until later that I knew my experience isn't the norm.
I'd love to have a treatment or cure. Especially for folks like you that truly suffer from it.
> silence isn't silent
Blindness isn’t “no sight” or pitch black, there’s visual snow.
If you pay attention, you can always feel your muscles/joints. Sometimes I smell burnt popcorn, but not usually, but maybe that’s because smell is always present. Similarly always taste saliva.
Also see sensory deprivation experiments. We don’t seem able to experience “absence of sensation”.
As I fall asleep the blackness of what I see suddenly disappears. I would describe it exactly as the absence of sensation.
Unfortunately my mild tinnitus doesn't stop at the same time.
This is not analogous to tinnitus. I remember before and after tinnitus, and it’s as different from visual snow as real snow is from an ice pick in your ear.
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