Bad. Not Good.

It has been bad this past week. I went to a concert but wore ear plugs but I think it was getting bad before that. I was never in that great place that people on here kept talking about.

Maybe partly because I googled tinnitus news this past week and don't do it. There is a really scary story on there.

 

It all depends what you expect from your tinnitus @Marie79? You say that you've never been in the great place that people keep talking about here. I remember you saying that your tinnitus is low most of the time or perhaps I'm mistaken. I have habituated to my tinnitus for the 2nd time for quite a while now. It ranges from silent, mild, moderate and severe. I take clonazepam if it reaches severe levels for more than a few days.

Most people that have mild or moderate tinnitus are able to live quite comfortably with it. It all depends what one is looking for? A person I know told me his tinnitus is very low and only hears it in very quiet surroundings. In his bedroom at night for instance. Yet this person isn't content, won't use a sound machine at night. Instead he deliberately stays in the quiet yearning for completely silent surroundings like it used to be before he had tinnitus. Quite strange and sad when you think of it.

Michael

 

What's this story you read about? Perhaps we can help with the fears it triggered. And discuss whether it is as bad as it seems. In addition, for me it's worse to hear "there are really scary news" without knowing what it is exactly, since now my imagination is trying to figure out what it could be. If you don't want to post it here, could you send a private message?

 

I guess it's about the drummer that committed suicide about 2 weeks ago.

 

it is. I google tinnitus news every so often and this past week that one came up. Maybe that's the reason for the spike. I don't know. It seems a LITTLE better today but still louder than normal.

 

I can see why those news would upset you. It is a really a really horrible fate for anyone, to suffer so much and then give up. However, I would like to point out that this was a very atypical case. And one of the reasons why it shocked us is that it was an exceedingly rare type of story - an ultimate extreme, one could say. We are not hearing about people with T dropping like flies - even the percentage of those who never adapt is small. This is because there are extremes to everything - from life-destroying migranes to those who have mild ones temporarily.

Same goes with T - and there is absolutely no reason to scare oneself of ending up in the 0.00001 % who have it worst, incapacitating and permanent. And even among those people there are many exceptional individuals who find positive coping methods and can say they are truly enjoying life. This forum is full of those examples - people with unimaginable loud T combined with H, yet they survive and not only survive - find happiness as well.

So... I am a catastrophe thinker myself. I am right there in the worst possible scenario and totally convinced it will happen to me. If bad news and spikes send you into a bad place, then something needs to be done about it. When we have anxiety and stress, our defenses broke down and we are "naked" in front of all the horrors. Let's say you would see a child in panic, crying about T and being very afraid. Would you go over and start a full tirade about how some people commit suicide, spikes can be permanent etc.? No way, since that would only make things worse. I am bringing an example of child here because that's what we almost are, when in panic - our adult defense mechanisms aren't working under such pressure. Try to find this perspective when you feel like something triggers your anxiety (and usually spikes as well - my T reacts to stress too); be mindful of what kind of stories you tell your brain and instead try to encourage, soothe, comfort and find more neutral (or even positive) points of view.

Heh - all this about mentioning piece of news, huh! Just thought that perhaps it presents a bigger picture and wanted to share these thoughts.

 

Tinnitus can be a very debilitating condition when it is severe. I visit other tinnitus forums and correspond with musicians that play in a band. Some are drummers and others guitarists. A few have had to give up their art because the loud environment they are in makes the tinnitus worse even when using noise reducing earplugs. The reason being, if external sound is loud enough it can still reach the inner ear via bone conduction and irritate the cochlea.

It is up to the individual on the course of action they wish to take. According to the wife of the unfortunate gentleman, he wouldn't wear ear protection which I don't think was a wise choice. Neither did he reach out to ENT for help, but instead continued subjecting his ears to loud sounds. I believe this contributed to him taking his life because of the immense distress he was put under by loud intrusive tinnitus. The situation now is this: his wife is without her husband and his children without a father.

Very sad and I feel it could have been avoidable.

Michael

 

Don't focus on these creepy stories.

It's the worst thing to do because you're putting yourself in their conditions and it doesn't represent 99% of sufferers.

The brain is a special thing.

Example : You'll fly to a location the next month. BUT today you read something about a crash which occured with the plane company you'll take. Then you are stressed and scared about taking this plane.

Example : You take your car everyday, BUT today you read that some cars like yours (Ford, BMW, Opel.........) did exploded :O Now you're scared taking your car again and when you drive you focus on EVERY SINGLE NOISE that your car makes.

It's 100% normal that after reading a creepy story you'll focus more on things related to it.

It's not only for tinnitus, like I said it's for every single thing happening during life.

I bet that if you stop going on the Internet looking for tinnitus during let say 2 months, you won't think about yours.

Just an advice (obvious but important) : Stop going regularly reading news about tinnitus. Even reading the word "tinnitus" will make your brain think about it and finding it.

EDIT : IMPORTANT ! I did stop going to this website during 2 weeks and I didn't focus a single time on my mild tinnitus. Just a bit before sleeping but I was tired. If I did it you can do it

 

You can tell your drummer friends that they can use an e-kit, which lets them control the volume that goes into the headphones. Acoustic drum kits are just too loud, even for "healthy ears". It's the nature of the beast.

 

I have a drummer friend, when I told him I had tinnitus he did reveal that he had it too because of drumming.

Now he always wear earplugs and he doesn't seem to be annoyed by T anymore.