In Loving Memory of Allan1967

I have 2 of them but yeah. Chronic pain is probably the worst ever. Literally 1000% hell.
And like with tinnitus the medical field is totally useless. But the good thing my chronic pain is slowly subsiding with all the things I do. Hopefully tinnitus goes away too but I am less optimistic here.

 

Correlation does not imply causation. It could very well be PTSD, depression and combat-related guilt that are more of the reason for veteran suicides.

 

While the majority gets better, it's not 99%. I don't know if you meant this literally or more as in "the vast majority is fine"! Just wanted to share some information about how many people are affected because numbers-wise, tinnitus isn't a small issue. It's a much bigger issue than many people know.

The 2007 National Health Interview Survey (raw N=75,764) was analyzed, identifying adults reporting tinnitus in the preceding 12 months.

Regarding subjective severity
(these numbers include people who don't have chronic but intermittent tinnitus)

• 7.2% believed it to be a big or a very big problem
• 20.2% thought it was a moderate problem
• 41.6% noted it to be a small problem
• with 31% not bothered by it at all

World-population

• it's estimated that 1-3% of the world's population is severely affected by tinnitus, that would be 78-234 million people - source
• 1 in 8 have persistent tinnitus, around 1 in 10 will find it has a significant impact on their quality of life - source

US

• 20 million people struggle with burdensome chronic tinnitus
• 2 million have extreme and debilitating cases - source

Germany

• every 4th tinnitus patient says their quality of life has been negatively affected - source

Chronic tinnitus population

• There isn't one study that's based only on chronic tinnitus patients, so we don't know how high the percentages of mildly, moderately and severely affected chronic tinnitus patients are.

 

I think it's not exactly accurate to put that solely on tinnitus. Soldiers get exposed to a whole bunch of awful shit I can't even imagine, and of course injuries are incredibly common.

PTSD, Chronic Pain, and other maladies take their toll. Severe tinnitus certainly doesn't help, but it's not just that. (That being said, I'm sure it's much harder for them to habituate. As if tinnitus wasn't hell already.)

 

I'm sure you didn't upset anyone. Just don't tempt fate, like often you mention you are grateful for having a loving wife/a family for example. Yes severe tinnitus is GRIM. One of the worst things for me lately is the havoc it wrecked on the rest of my life over time.

 

Yes we could all argue endlessly about the minutiae of comparative suffering.
I suggest it’s a fair bet that dear Gaby and our own lovely Allan could imagine nothing worse than what they were going through.

Just put it down to mere guesswork on my part.

 

Aj - it seems, from what you say, that your tinnitus has impacted on your relationships.
I am so so sorry - I don’t even want to imagine how I would be.
I think there is always an impact on our partners, because of the impact on our own lives, but when it destroys a loving relationship - oh dear - I am just so sorry.

Something else took my attention from your recent posts.
‘Don’t tempt fate.’
I have always taken credit for not being sucked into any religious faith, and also for being devoid of superstition.
‘Don’t tempt fate.’
On top of everything else - should I now start looking over my shoulder?

 

Not relationships but feeling well enough for children and other stuff.

 

May he rest in peace .

 

The system failed you and it's a shame. Nobody deserves to live with this torture. I pray you are at peace. I'm sorry.