I Hear It Only When I Think About It or When I Am Not Doing Anything

Hello,

I got hit by Tinnitus while I was writing my final engineering exams. I remember I was sick and was on antibiotics. I was also under lot of stress. I also remember getting hurt on my right ear in my teens. So, I really do not know what triggered it and I assumed all of these.
I still remember I was looking for the source of the sound all around me in the exam hall and when I was back home. I eventually decided to visit an ENT specialist. He told me I got T and I will go deaf in next 15 years. He was very blunt. I went to the doctor who prescribed those antibiotics, since my ENT specialist indicated it might have been the cause. The doctor just told me to forget what ENT specialist said and assured me it was not his prescription. That was back in 1996. Now it is more than 15 years. My hearing is okay but I did lose some percentage of hearing. My hearing doctor did not prescription hearing aid but said I might need it sometime in the future. I do miss certain frequency but it is not an obstacle at this moment.

But what I found is that I do not hear ringing until I think about it or talk about it. At nights I do hear it but now it does not bother me. I think I am at peace with it. I just accepted it long time back and used to imagine I am outside in the night, and crickets chirping all around me. I think it took me a year to be at peace with it. It did not bother me much but it was very annoying and made me nervous.

I am writing my story because recently one of my good friend got hit with T and I feel sorry that I should have told him about it while he was involved with musical play. I was fully aware of his involvement but I totally forgot about my T and it did not register to me that I should have warned him.

He asked me many time to write my story. I did not write and I did not care much. But may be I was also afraid to think about it and I knew fully there is no cure for it. He requested many time, I just politely declined.

For some reasons we are not on friendly terms anymore and it pained me to loss such a good friend.

I just want to confirm to you that it is possible to overcome T. You should make it part of your life and try to be patient with it. Overtime it stops bothering you and you will not notice it most of the time.

My best wishes to you and I hope we will find cure for it soon. Regards.

 

So basically you have mild tinnitus?

 

Thank you for your inspirational story!

 

Is your T mild? Sometimes I can't hear it when I'm outside or doing physical activities indoor. The only time I notice it is when I sit in a silent or almost room or lying down in my room. Sometimes I do hear it outside but just a REALLY,REALLY faint sound which to the point that I can ignore it.