Do You Consider Your Tinnitus a Disability?

Wow. I've come to this forum to offer support for others that are new to tinnitus. I'm not going to apologize because I've habituated. I don't have to be here, but I am. So I don't understand why research "would be doomed." I've taken an active interest in trying to help others that have this and are having trouble.

 

And back to you Stelar. What about my post "trivialized" T? I wrote "if one fails to habituate, I understand how the long-term effects can be debilitating." How is that "trivializing?"

Perhaps you are having a bad day. If so I'll give you a pass. Otherwise, you're way off base.

 

I think this is unfair to @pef, he simply answered the question from his own personal point of view. What can be an problem is when people make gereral assumptions about others based on their own experience, Pef has in NO WAY done this. Nothing wrong with him sharing his own personal experience here!

As btw, you are very helpful to those of us who still struggle. Thank you

 

Yes, it's a disability for me. My job involves listening to audio in my transcription service, and then proofreading the work. When the T is really loud, it competes with the audio and makes it difficult to focus on the work. But proofreading is even harder because it's almost impossible to concentrate and exhausts me.

I had to turn down a lot of work in the first 8 months of T and lost a significant amount of income. Overall, I'm still only able to work at about two-thirds of my former capacity. It's a matter of the noise and the depletion of energy resulting from trying to cope with the noise every day. I'm in the intial stages of selling my house so I can live off the proceeds and cut my work down to maybe one day a week. Maybe in another year or two the T will subside. But it's been over a year and I haven't been able to get used to it yet.

In case anyone wonders, I've never listened to the audio with headphones and always played the volume at normal conversational level. I don't consider my job as the reason for the T, but rather that my limbic system went haywire because of things I've had to deal with.

 

So you have hyperacusis? Just wondering.

 

Not hyperacusis, thank goodness, because from what I've read on this forum it sounds like a living hell, as if tinnitus weren't bad enough. I just have extremely sensitive hearing. It's like my brain doesn't filter out unimportant noise around me, especially voices and any kind of music. Maybe it's because my job depends on listening intently and so over the years it's just become part of how my brain functions.

 

Not my T exactly but the other symptoms that come with it as it affects my balance and vision so I can't drive sometimes and never at night. Or it could be that the other symptoms are causing the T, I have yet to find out. But the whole package can be disabling. But I fight hard not to allow it to be.

 

As I understand H is easier to treat then T . I developed absolutely catastrophic H and T in 2011. The sound of my neighbor's air-conditioner sounded like a jet plane taking off in my ear . I kept my storm windows closed during the summer because the sound of the crickets was overwhelming . I got the quietest hear pump air conditioning system I could install and it was still too loud for me to take .

So I understand the nightmare. I couldn't sleep. I lost 25 pounds I was unable to eat . I couldn't go to the store without flinching… at the worst I was barely able to drive a mile or two.

TRT or perhaps the Klonopin ( originally 2 mg every night ) seemed to have been the things that helped address the H -- although it could've been the acupuncture and craniosacral therapy . I also did self massage with organic sesame oil . ( this is based on Ayurvedic practice .) I went to the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico and Dr Lad prescribed Ayurvedic herbs which calm the sympathetic nervous system.

Sleep was a nightmare I didn't get a full nights sleep for months . I now use 10 mg of melatonin, good night sleep tea which consists of chamomile skullcap and velarian, One and a half milligrams of Klonopin , celesta, and Jatamamsi oil which is an Ayurvedic oil that promotes calm and sleep . ( you can order products from the Ayurvedic institute in New Mexico, (505) 291-9698. Using this combination combined with ocean noise as well as 45 minutes of music on my iPod has given me back fairly reasonable night of sleep .

The book on tinnitus by Kevin Hogan may also help .

I managed to reduce the catastrophic tinnitus down to a lower severe level where I could at least semi-function. Unfortunately the tinnitus increased in pitch and volume after I stopped using Klonopin.

I have now going back to seeing my acupuncturist twice a week, seeing a craniosacral therapist and osteopath, using Kevin Hogan's hypnosis tapes, doing tai chi and yoga, doing the oil massage from time to time, and trying to do flow state activities such as tai chi and modern dance that Focus my mind elsewhere . I have been on disability for four years. Work is impossible as computers immediately set off high spikes and it is difficult for me to read and concentrate .

I wish you the best. This has been a life shattering experience for me and I empathize .

 

Just curious. When people say they have mild T, catastrophic T etc. How does one know what what level of severity their T is?


Also,

All I read here is "oh, you have mild T" "oh,you don't have catastrophic T". How does one person know what another persons level is?

 

there are at least two questionnaires that I know of, I think one of them is called the tinnitus handicap inventory ( or something similar).

The questions are rated on a scale and include items such as ability to concentrate, sleep, read, level of anxiety and so forth.

http://www.soundidears.com/tinnitus_hand.html

I believe it is also possible for an audiologist to determine the pitch and decibel level of the tinnitus . But the limbic or emotional response is also critical in terms of the person's reaction to the sound and thus the level of impairment in their life . I've taken the test a few times and I think it's reasonably accurate. During the time when I was doing somewhat better my level came down from catastrophic to severe. During the last year the tinnitus has been much more challenging and the level is now back at catastrophic .

 

of course I consider it a disability. Duh. Not only that, it IS a disability.

the meaning of the word 'disability' from the dictionary:

a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

Well, doesn't it limits your 'activities' ? It completely messes your life! You don't have to be blind in one eye or be stuck in a wheelchair. We aren't robots made of flesh and bones. If it messes with your mind, it's a disability. 'Disabled' doesn't just mean you can only use 1 arm instead of both.

As for the ones who chose 'no', well it's not a disability for them, because their tinnitus is not too bad. Simple explanation. For certain people it's much worse, it's louder, more unpleasant. 'Tinnitus' it's not all the same. It's the same dumb thing I hear about 'tinnitus is common'. BS !
I don't hear around me people saying things like 'ahhh! I have had this weird loud ringing in my ears for months! what the hell is it? aaaaargh! '.

Common? Trash. What's common is some OCCASIONAL ringing in the ears, not one that doesn't go away anymore.

 

I was taking ibupfrofen just before my T onset. But I also blasted my ears inadvertently, for a fraction of a second. I have accidentally done the latter before, while it's been the first or second time in my life i have taken ibuprofen.

 

Accidentally hit no, but I meant to hit yes. I believe it is a disability. I've turned down 2 great jobs because of the loudness of where I'd be working.

 

@wishingluck , same here , using Ibuprofen quite heavily for the first time in my life when this happened.

 

as always, the plural of anecdote isn't data, so my experience doesn't in any way dismiss or trump yours... but I have known a lot, a lot, a lot of people with some degree of chronic T. Several family members, several good friends, several coworkers, and a hell of a lot of returned servicemen, lifetime hunters, motorcyclists, band members, etc. I do not in any way think the "15% of the adult population has some degree of chronic tinnitus" statistics are wrong.

 

I consider it a handicap in my life. While I can lead a generally "normal" life, certain things are much harder than they would be without T's impact. I'm a university student. Lectures make me want to die. I haven't taken notes in 2 years because I just can't concentrate on the professor's lecture when the T drowns them out. I can't enjoy a quiet moment with my boyfriend. Sometimes I have to leave places just because something is aggravating my T. I have anxiety attacks and pretty severe depression that anti-depressants so far can only take the edge off of. I can't sleep at night because it is too quiet, so I sleep during the day which has totally messed me up. I'm constantly on the verge of tears because I feel like I'm losing my mind. While I would not consider myself in the realms of those with severe disabilities like blindness and such, this thing has negatively affected my life enough that I privately think of it as a handicap.

 

just as further anecdotal data, I had an Uber driver tonight who asked me why I was visiting the town I'm in, and I told him I was participating in a tinnitus trial. He said that he's been dealing with incessant ringing for the past 6 months, and has been seeing VA doctors about it... so, that means, of the roughly ten random strangers here that I have explained my visit to, two of them have chronic tinnitus. 10%!

 

YUP