3.5 Month Update

I try not to visit this forum too much anymore as it just instills to much negative thinking preventing me from getting better.

However I just wanted to come back today and give some newbies some hope that things can get better, even in a short amount of time. I can still hear my tinnitus everywhere I go but I am not much bothered by it as I was 3 months ago.

Am I still annoyed by it? Yes I am, but everyday I feel better and better. I can go about 15 minutes at a time where I don’t hear it or think about it so that’s a huge win and I know as time goes on it’ll continue to get better. Once I let the anxiety go and started relaxing my hyperacusis quickly faded.

I am not afraid of noises anymore and my tinnitus no longer spikes to noise. Before I couldn’t even run my washer and dryer because my t would go out of control. I am slowly getting my life back and everyday I am feeling more and more like myself. My words of advice are just continue living life.

Stop googling it and stop obsessing about it. You know what it sounds like so that all you really need to know. Don’t let it take control of your life, you only get one life to live so make it great! I’m certainly not going to let the noises in my head prevent me from enjoying life to it fullest. Hope everyone here finds the strength to move forward to live a wonderful and fulling life.

I’ll be back in a few months to give an update, maybe even a success story if I see fit! Have a wonderful day!!

 

This is why it is important to ensure that one doesn't end up with debilitating tinnitus for the rest of one's life. This means that it makes sense to take into account that your ears had been compromised and to change your behavior accordingly.

Your ability to go along with this plan will depend on your T's volume.

 

I have heard that the volume of T is not necessarily more difficult for coping with T for some, and that a low volume can be more distressing for some than high volume is for others. I don't agree or disagree with these reports, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're accurate.

 

Well Bill. How did I know that you would come here and tear down my post? I can hear mine in the shower so I would say that pretty darn loud. Maybe not I don’t know. People have the choice to live the life they want too. I however choose to live my life the way I want to and not let t bring me down. I have a wonderful husband, parents, sisters and nephew and I am excited to see where my life takes me. Can my t get worse? Sure. Can it get better? Sure. Why worry about something that I have no control over. All I can do is protect my ears when I should and move forward. I can live in isolation for the rest of my life and guess what? My t can still get worse. Or maybe something else tragic in my life can happen. Life is full of uncertainties and worrying about everything that can hurt me is seriously a waste of my time and energy. My grandfather who has pretty loud t and has had it for 70 years never used hearing protection and he said it hasn’t changed since and he’s nearly deaf. So please stop trying to scare people. It’s like a weird agenda that you have to hurt people. You live your life I live mine. Hope you find happiness.

 

I agree. Nevertheless, my guess is that for every person there exists a volume level which will make their body uninhabitable.

The sentiment

really gets to me. I support all of the other ideas and sentiments in your post, but I had to respond to the comment that I quoted above. You seem to be in the process of habituation, and I am happy for you. I hope your lifestyle facilitates healing, too.

I think that attempting to protect our ears gives some minor control back to us...

I don't remember anyone promoting living in isolation (although it is certainly one way that might promote healing). It is all about the probability that it will get worse. It can never get to zero, but, to some extent, we can increase it or we can decrease it.

It seems to me that the two sentences above contradict one another. It is important to raise awareness, so that people don't end up having T for 70 years like your grandfather.

Recently, I received a PM which contained the following (beautiful) passage:

 

That is probably true, but I suspect there's very little chance that it will become that bad for the vast majority of those who have tinnitus, so it's kind of pointless, and even unhelpful, to worry about it. I will continue to do as I see fit to protect my hearing, and I hope everyone else does, as well.

 

Like I said Bill, you live your life as you see fit. You use a lot of posts from people who are still suffering from t. And quite frankly it makes a huge difference. I know several people in my life who have t and none are bothered by it in the slightest. No one can be sure that t will go away no matter what you do. And in my opinion not caring about t and habituating is just as good as not having it. Suffering is a choice and I refuse to suffer. And I have spoken with a tinnitus specialist in my town who assured me the general trend of t is that it gets better over time not worse. She also told me protect my ears when you should protect your ears. But once again people must do what they feel comfortable with. I feel comfortable with the choices I have made. If my t gets ugly again I will adapt.

And as far as my grandfather he was 8 years old who had a trama to his ear. I doubt he would have found himself in noisy situations at 8 to keep his t from healing. He has had a great life. For some it goes away for others it doesn’t.

 

One way to judge this discussion is to volunteer at a very large nursing home or work a crisis hotline. I did both - the hotline was in the seventies and the nursing homes were more recent, but before I got tinnitus.

Many in nursing homes have tinnitus. Some got it from noise, then more noise. Some got it from whatever, but their health went down hill where drugs were needed. There are T combinations of effect from all sort of things. For the young bodies can often heal, but for the old - not always. Many nursing home patients have told me that their T is loud, but they consider the pain from physical conditions more of a burden.

My point is to be health conscious first and a fool second. Look at the study that Steve posted on personal make-up and then look at other studies. What's high on the list is that those with T are risk takers. Live your life as wished, just understand the biology bar will be raised upon getting older. The point is hearing loss can be accumulate and as we grow older we are more faced with Whom the Bells Toll.

 

I just tried to get a sense of how high this chance is.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK217859/

https://www.livescience.com/55500-tinnitus-prevalence-rates.html

The above implies that between 4.5 and 14.2 percent of the general population have chronic (likely permanent) T that had already lasted for five years.

The most conservative estimate of "probability T is severe, given a person is suffering from T" is 1 in 25.3 (25.3% have T, and 1% have severe T, so given one has T, the chance that one has severe T is 1/25.3.

One could use the information above to argue for this probability being likely higher. In any case, 1 in 25.3 is almost a 4% chance. This seems to contradict the statement:

We will have to agree to disagree.

I often point out the fact above to new posters. As long as they manage to avoid a secondary trauma, their outlook ought to be good.

Makes sense.

 

Bill we can most certainly agree to disagree. I believe this a journey that is very unique for everyone. Would i still like for it to go away? Yes. But if it doesn’t I’d rather not give it any power. I’m only 28 and I still have a lot of good years left. Also, I would say that I live a quiet life though I do play bagpipes. Haven’t touch them since my onset (medicine induced not noise induced t). I do agree with the statements of allowing your ears to rest which I do. I work in a quiet office and live in a quiet home. However I still take showers, use the blender, drive a car, hear my dog bark, hear a baby cry, use a washer and dryer, go to restaurants you get the point. At first these made my t go crazy but I really do think that was my anxiety as nothing happens anymore. As I am in the process of habituating I hope to return to all my activities when the time is right for me. But for now I am stepping away from TT to work on me. Hope everyone finds the best way to move forward. God bless.

 

As I posted in another post, simply use the ignore feature... when people start to annoy you. Don't give up a supportive forum (which we all need) for people that post fear and negativity. The support + love you can get from this forum is un-matched and for newcomers that is very crucial for their success. Simply ignore the people that bother you and possibly read more success stories and interact with those that are positive and helpful...

 

@fishbone

Oh I don’t disagree at all. I am so thankful I had found this forum to read so many positive posts. I have saved the posts on my computer that I like and read when I have a bad moment. It’s hard being on the forums because it’s just a daily reminder that I am suffering. And plus I had more of an addiction to the forum which totally isn’t healthy. I need to use that time and energy into something a little more productive. And stepping away to focus on something else is what I have found to be the most helpful. I know that if I need support I can always return. I am just very fortunate to have such a loving and very understanding family who I can lean on. I know others may not have that. I will return at some point because i hope that one day I can help someone.

 

@Bill Bauer The difference in those stats is because of reporting agencies where some include care treatment numbers and others don't.

Many with T never see a doctor about because it's not a concern. Many only have it temporary. This leaves a small percentage with severe T and these people are often older that have a disease/other conditions.

 

@Ping43 Enjoy your life. When I got my first onset of T from noise and ear disturbance of ear syringing, I also got severe hyperacusis. A few months later I went to Home Depot where a worker was using a power saw and I left the store. Then months later I was able to go to Costco, but I wasn't able to do the check out so my wife did that.

At 1.5 years my hyperacusis disappeared. Then at year 4, I made peace with my T as it lowered somewhat from extreme. From then on I lived a good life and used protection when cutting the grass, vacuuming or on a busy highway.

Now I'm older and I received whiplash T and some H. I have a problem with high pitched noise, but not normal noise of 80 decibels - unless it's close to my ears. I do have some neighbors that have been setting off fire crackers and even some fireworks and I have received several spikes this year. Spikes make my T extremely high pitched. My T can't get much louder than it is.

Wishing you a life where your T is not always in focus. Be the person that I was in first two paragraphs. Take care.

 

@Greg Sacramento

Thank you so much for your kind words! I am really sorry to hear that your tinnitus worsened due to an accident. I do hope you have a decrease in volume soon or feel at peace with it once again! This is a horrible affliction that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I will forever protect my ears as I know how important that is. I just need to find a way to live on and enjoy my life as it is much to short! I will return someday to give hope to others that there is a life after tinnitus. Take care! And God bless!

 

@Ping43

It sounds like you're doing well for someone 3 1/2 months in. I'm at 4 1/2 months and haven't gotten to where you are. I wish you continued success in getting used to your t and hope your t becomes less noticeable with time.

 

Thank you for your kind words! You will get there. It’s a lot of work and a lot of good positive self talk. The first 2 months were horrible! I even went to the emergency room because I had a complete melt down and didn’t know where to turn. It was nice to talk to a human doctor who had sympathy and reassured me that it was going to be okay and he had heard of so many patients who had t and it no longer bothered them. That was a turning point for me. And it continues to get better. Not the t my mind. Hang in there!

 

Can you hear your T over the noise of a shower?

 

@Ping43,

That's an amazing turnaround in such a short amount of time! Please come back and write your "Success Story" some day. It will help and encourage others. I admire you and wish you the very best!.....

 

@jimH

Thank you so much for your kind words! It hasn’t been the easier journey but it’s one that will make me stronger. I hope you are coping well!! I will for sure come back when I feel I am closer to 100%. The journey is most certainly a one step forward two steps back, two steps forward and one step back sort of deal but I’m okay with that!! keep smiling.

 

Hi @Ping43

Thanks for coming back and sharing--congratulations on all your improvements... -- And thanks for bringing a little sunshine with you!​

 

@Bill Bauer

No, I can't hear t over the shower but I never could.

 

The first two months were the low point of my life as well. It's so sudden and so loud and you think it's going to be that way forever. Anyone reading this post know that it will get better with time so please don't do anything drastic. People said that to me when I first came here and I didn't believe them. I wish I did. It would have saved me much anxiety.

 

@Lane

Thank you for your kind words!! Hope you are coping well!!

 

The fact that your T hasn't faded is a huge event that has happened (after you ignored your T "going crazy"). It might not be too late for you to try "the non-reckless approach". I hope that you will experiment with it, and that it will end up working out for you.

 

@Bill Bauer

I appreciate your concern. But I am comfortable with my choices. Using ear plugs for my normal daily life will just instill negative thinking and bad habit. My t no longer spikes and as I have said before I believe it is decreasing or I am habituating. Since mine is AD (lexapro) induced I feel I have a strong chance of recovery. If not I’ll habituate as many have before me.

 

Awesome news Ping! I knew you could do it and I’m so happy to see that your life is heading in the right direction. You’re no longer feeding your obsession with it which is a very difficult thing to do.

Keep it up and stay positive. And Remember: we are what we think! We are nothing more than an accumulation of thoughts that drive our emotions and moods. Once we relearn to take control of our emotions (primitive brain) it becomes so much easier to navigate ourself through life.