Hello

Hi everyone. I received H and T in late November 2015 from a firework misfire. Probably 10 feet away from the explosion. December and January were the worst days in my life. It all began with extreme sensitivity to any sound. Noise from a computer fan, hearing water run, driving, or music on the lowest volume was like a searing hot pain in my head. Having a conversation with someone was nearly impossible without extreme pain. It was like the volume in my left ear got turned up as loud as possible. Suffered some extreme anxiety and depression initially. The good news is that now the H has mostly gone. I can now bear sound again....which is a big relieve and has helped relieve daily depression and anxiety. I always had some bothersome ringing after the incident in November but that was largely overshadowed by the severe H. Now with the H largely gone, I'm trying to learn how to deal with the ringing / tingling sensation in my left ear. I'm in the good day / bad day part of this adventure and I'm trying so hard to get back to doing those things I love most. I'm riding my bike again and just signed up for a challenge race in June. Sometimes, the doubt creeps in but I know I must move forward. This is giving me something to work toward and is helping. I'd recommend everyone to try to find that thing you are most passionate about and invest yourself into that. It really helps. I've also read some incredible posts here that are helping with the mental battle of T. One particular post here by "@I who love music" called "Back to Silence" is one everyone should read. I created my account today, just to throw a Big Thank You out to him. Battling this thing is more difficult than I could have every imagined and having a forum here to share thoughts on this is helpful. So, I'm here with everyone else to talk and share thoughts and hopefully get back to a normal life one day.

 

Welcome to the forum. I have empathy to your T & H suffering. I had them both too. Your description of H kind of brings back memory of those miserable days where every normal sound hurts so much, even the soft voice of my wife hurts. LOL. Like you my H faded too but T stays. I lived through 'hell' with these two tortuous monsters back then and I never thought I would have good life again. But today I live a normal and absolutely enjoyable life and I wrote my success story too like many others. I list many helpful points and strategies which have help me turn around the T suffering. Do read as many stories as possible as they contain the insights and strategies of the members who posted their stories. Welcome again.

 

Thank you for your empathy and kind words @billie48 . I'm so glad to hear you've been able to restore to a normal enjoyable life. I'm hoping for the same.

 

Hi Darrell,
The BTS Method is your best bet if you ask me.
Why, why, why more people aren't doing this - I don't know.

 

Thank you @Karen for taking a moment to respond. It feels good to have support from others. Trying so hard to stay in the right head space with this. It's like a roller coaster at times, sometimes I can hear this and be totally ok and other times I want to cry. It really tests your resolve.

I hope you have had a good day and many to come, Darrell

 

@I who love music Again, thank you for such an inspiring post in Silence Again. I practiced this today and I believe your method will probably get easier with time. I find if I'm feeling down for whatever reason, it's harder not to respond to the sound than to the emotion. Any advice on how to focus on the emotion when you're feeling down?

 

Because, because, because not all of us are getting such wonderful results. But we keep trying.

 

Many times I couldn't really pinpoint the emotion. I'd just say, "I feel bla."