Encouragement About Someone Who Has Had Tinnitus All His Life

My grandmother told me today that my uncle has a relative that has had tinnitus all his life. The hopeful thing about it is that he has lived an extremely successful life and is now very well off. I figured I would share that with you all. It is hopeful that most after possibly many annoyance flare up will accept the tinnitus for the time being and after a while they will tune it out most of the time and when they do notice it, it will not cause depression or anxiety and therefore the mind will tune it out again.

Maybe in the future something will happen and the tinnitus will be lessened or eliminated but for the time being it can be tuned out, and possibly after a while of acceptance some people might not care much anymore about its elimination.

 

Only problem with any blanket statement about tinnitus is....people have different brain chemistry...different aptitude to assimilate or habituate and moreover, sometimes a much different volume level...the latter being what this forum teaches. Some here are tortured by their sound level...and frequencies of their tinnitus and others only find their tinnitus a mild annoyance. Pretty obvious who can move beyond their tinnitus and go on to lead productive lives. Those with jet engines inside their head struggle a lot more.

So, the notion that coping with tinnitus can be done...sure it can for some if not many but not for all...just like what causes tinnitus is multi faceted as well.
One size doesn't fit all.

 

Yes, this is true! My mother, 3 brothers and a sister all have tinnitus. My boss has tinnitus, and a few of my friends have this too. I cannot imagine why I cannot cope with it in the future. I think that maybe sometimes I'm just being a big baby about it but I tend to think of them as a reminder that I too can overcome this bullshit.

 

Whilst it's good that anyone with tinnitus is able to carry on and lead a normal life as possible. What many people forget, is that the condition comes in many forms and intensities and no two people experience it the same. I thoroughly agree with you stophiss and thank you for raising this point.
I was medically retired from my job many years ago because my tinnitus is so severe. Although I have habituated to an extent, I am still plagued with huge fluctuations in intensity from : silent, mild, moderate severe and extremely severe.
Although we may all have tinnitus, as you rightly say : one size doesn't fit all.
Michael

 

May i ask what a typical day is like for you? You are essentially living a life of lesiure i take it?

 

This is why the new BTA videos don't do the job...their new Take On Tinnitus site shows three people's stories, at no point is the level, pitch of their tinnitus discussed. It leads to people like me dismissing the video completely. Shame, they could have engaged some people on our forum and addressed some of the questions people have about loud tinnitus.
We can all imagine getting used to a faint hiss/noise...that an open window would fix.
It's like saying you have chronic pain, how bad is it...can you move, are you bed ridden? Pretty basic. Shame they missed that point.

 

Hmm. Without being rude Sam, your question is bordering on being impertinent. Because I've known you a while I will forgive your lack of respect but please don't go there in future..

 

Michael, while I, and many others appreciate your encouraging posts - I can't help but notice here that you did not beat tinnitus - and are on literally every thread on this site preaching TRT as if you did... only to say one size doesn't fit all here.

I wish you, and everyone else here a more peaceful existence - but don't you think its a bit.... irresponsible to encourage people to invest thousands of dollars into white noise machines that were unable to help you?

 

Sorry Michael, did not mean to cause offence.

 

@Sam Bridge . I accept your apology Sam.

 

That is exactly my point and I agree with you. Tinnitus is a relatively common condition that many people are able to deal with because it's either mild or moderate. Many of those that are referred to ENT and then on to have tinnitus treatment via a Hearing Therapist, eventually habituate and carry on to lead a normal life as possible. However, there are those that have severe tinnitus and they are in turmoil because each day can be a different experience....

 

Michael, is tinnitus recognized in the UK to the point you can medically retire ? Not the case at all in my country. You can't work because of T and H, but no one cares. You can only get a paper saying you have a condition and some companies hire you more easily, because you know, they have to hire X disabled persons every year.

 

Tom: My tinnitus is variable as I've previously mentioned and I have habituated with the help of Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) and white noise generators. I have had TRT twice in the 20 years that I've had this condition, and each time the treatment lasted 2 years. I also use a tinnitus machine which helps my condition but choose not to mention it.

Tinnitus isn't beaten, one learns to live with it, habituate. I still have my downtimes but I have two choices: sink or swim and I choose the latter. You might like to read my tinnitus story which gives a more in depth view of what I've been through, then you might think differently https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/my-experience-with-tinnitus.12076/

I agree with you about TRT and wish is wasn't so expensive but it is considered one of the best treatments for tinnitus. We in the UK don't pay for TRT ( or other healthcare) if we are able to be referred to a hospital that practices it as I was.

Thank you for your kind comments
Regards
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh - by "beat" tinnitus - I mean live a mostly normal life. I'm sorry to hear you were forced into retirement. There was a time that was my biggest fear. Thankfully I'm able to work again.

 

@Foncky If you don't mind I would like to answer your question by messaging you if that's alright? And if so, later on..
All the best
Michael

 

Yes, of course, thank you. Sorry for the OT.

 

I live a normal life as possible Tom, for I am a positive thinking person even when I was at my lowest ebb. I visit tinnitus talk, to try and help others that have difficulty managing tinnitus as I was once helped when I first got this condition. Regarding my job. I wasn't forced into retirement as such, I had a very understanding employer that done everything possible to help me and I spent many years there and got a handsome settlement and have nice income. I now live by the sea having moved from London and like it here a lot.
All the best
Michael

 

Oh it can be beaten, even with current "state of the art". By beaten I mean it actually disappears, as a physical stimulus. I'm not talking habituation or residual inhibition. I'm talking about a real cure.

Pulsatile T comes to mind, but also "regular T" coming from diseases such as otosclerosis. In the otosclerosis case, T goes away after a stapedotomy in about 50% of the cases. Not bad. I wasn't so lucky unfortunately.

Habituation is another form of victory. It's great if you can pull it off.

 

Thank you for the information as I didn't know that it tinnitus can be completely cured in the manner that you state. I believe I have habituated for the second time in the twenty years that I've had tinnitus. Although the 2nd time took 4 years: from 2008 to 2012. One of the most difficult times of my life.....

 

A worthwhile reminder that tinnitus is of course a symptom, not a disease entity in itself, and for some there is a potential for a cure if they push with persistence for an accurate diagnosis.

 

Paul,
Speaking of the heterogeneity of tinnitus, Paul when you speak of a cure, I presume you are stating that certain forms of tinnitus can be cured. It would be informative if there were a publication and/or flowchart of different kind of tinnitus symptoms which advise what kind of diagnosis and possible tests are suggested.. I am not sure I have ever seen any type of tinnitus publication to address this...only anecdotal conjecture.
So if you believe your tinnitus is due to a loud noise versus an ear infection, or acute bout of anxiety etc, what would be the test protocol to discern what form of tinnitus each of us have?

 

Sometimes I feel as though I'm not even talking about the same condition with some people. Tinnitus plus hyperacusis plus reactive tinnitus is a life changing condition no matter who you are, a little ringing in your ear in quiet places doesn't have to be life altering.

 

It would be nice wouldn't it... see here.

 

I think that sort of thing would be an excellent place for a researcher with the time and money to start looking. Different causes could easily have subtly different presentations which, given that this is a subjective condition, could be teased out and captured through well structured history-taking. We have excellent Cardiology these days because over time we teased out the differences in how chest-pain presents in relation to different conditions. Why not the same for tinnitus/hyperacusis? (Priorities I suppose).

 

It would be good if someone were to show this to a Doctor or two. It may be useful to them to know, if its not too much trouble for them.

The Australian variation goes: Pt presents with hyperacusis, try not to look baffled, tell pt tinnitus is incurable (don't mention hyparag...hyperuck..whatever that is), tell pt go home and stay away from the internet. Pt goes to Internet: refer to ENT who repeats previous steps.

 

If there is a lesson learned about tinnitus in the absence of any solid methods of curing tinnitus in all its forms, you have captured the signature essence of what tinnitus is or isn't for many people. The 'range' of tinnitus can be a game changer. Tinnitus is far from the same condition for each person. It can be vastly different.
My best to you Alue.