Living a Happy Life with Severe Tinnitus

This is the success Story of my Dad, a 59-year old, who has very loud severe Tinnitus for 16 years and is the happiest, most active and successful 59-year I know. he has very high pitched, whistle-like Tinnitus.
Let me tell you a bit about my Dad as a person, how he got T, and how he got over it.

My dad works in a bank as a software developer. It’s a very stressful job with a lot of hours per week. He goes to play badminton every week, is a great and wise dad and is always making jokes, and is very happy in general.

I didn’t know that he had T. when he manchend that he had T I thought to myself “Well it must be very mild then, if he is so full of joy”. Then one day I was very depressed and told him again about my Tinnitus. He then told me that he had piercingly loud T (!!) I didn’t believe him!- WHY? – because he is so happy and active and enjoying life to the fullest. So I couldnt understand. He has T since 16 years. He describes his T as very high pitched, like a loud whistle on both ears.

In the year of 2000 he had an operation because he had a perforated eardrum when he was 17 that left a hole in his ear that never healed. My Dad was always very active. He says that stress at that time also might have caused his T. Having a 4 year old child, having final exams in uni, no money, being one of the leaders of the Iranian group in Germany and also helping an HIV infected person might have caused due to the stress.

This Operation was also made because his middle ear was always infected. he says he remembers sitting in a car right after the operation, and realizing that a high pitched sound was there. He didn’t know what it was. He felt really scared at that time (no hyperacusis though)

"The first time hearing it I got scared. It scared because I was thinking “ I always hear drums, ringing” That feeling of being scared was everything I felt. "

He then had Novocain infusions multiple times, which didn’t help one bit.

“ I can ALWAYS hear my Tinnitus, if I focus on it. In the shower. In the train, on a car drive. In the middle of a big city. Traffic noise everywhere”

When I explained to him the scala 1-10 from severity he said that he rates his T a 9/10

TRT and psychological counselling

“I was scared and the infusions didnt help one bit. So they sent me to her (a psychologist)"

“My psychologist taught me what hearing is. And how to focus on other things. For example being focused on T, then I went outside and listened to the other sounds.. Because I understood that we hear on different levels. I went outside and heard a dog barking in the distance, birds singing, the sound of rain….From that moment when talking to the psychologist I understood that I can oust my T. I felt better immediately and started to live again.”

Then he said, that he forgets about his T. earlier today we were cooking together, and he told me that while he was distracted he didn’t hear his T. He didn’t know the term “habituation” probably because he never read so much on the internet like I did. But he is habituated.

He says to me on’t sit down and think “I have Tinnitus”

“Its true. Having T is nothing to be happy about. But since I have so much other stuff to do than concentrating on my T its not wearing me down. Tinnitus means: running, laughing, going to a museum, meeting friends, make money, studying hard”

“I am not a superman but I don’t see Tinnitus as an obstacle in my well-being and ability to do things”

So yeah..that was the story of my Dads T. He is a strong person but also full of love and joy.I think sometimes we forget how many people are habituated because the majority of things we see on the forum are negative ones (not criticizing anything - just saying that not every person that feels better and not bothered by T anymore comes to this forum). The people who suffer do.

He even goes to clubs ( for people who are over 40) with his Tinnitus and without earplugs!!! (a 59-year old lol) and then his Tinnitus was louder, but he doesn’t care at all. He knows that nothing is going to happen. No pain. “That’s how I think about it” - that’s what he said.

So yeah its good to basically have a success story in real life just in front of me. A happy successfull man, with severe Tinnitus, living his life to the fullest!

Stay strong fellow sufferers!

 

I'm 54 and new to this type of tinnitus. I hope I can habituate like your dad. Thanks for the post.

 

Best definition I have read yet
What a great story! Thanks so much for sharing!

 

Lucky him!

 

@Zora Your dad is an inspiration. Thanks for posting this!

 

Great story Zora. Thanks. -- Please tell your dad that his story is helping many others get through the tough times..

I have friends and relatives with bad legs, constant watery eyes, severe allergies, etc and I just tell myself that my ailment could always be worse. -- I look forward to the day when I barely notice it. -- Mine is a 6 out of 10 in the right ear but outside noise, showers, the gym, etc seem to "turn it off" for a while and I never have a hard time sleeping.

Healthy diet, working out and a little exercise does wonders for me. Take care.

 

So sleeping is not a good element to include in this list, right?

 

Great story, Zora. Like previous commenters said, inspirational. Your dad must be a very strong person to deal so well with such a loud tinnitus.

 

I agree this is a great story. Thanks for posting it, Zora. Your dad may be a strong person, but he is not superhuman. Remember the part that he was scared initially. It is not like he is a stoic. He is capable of fear just like everybody else when he doesn't understand T and didn't know how to distract from T. After he learns the technique to focus away from T, he felt like he could live again. That is a powerful testimony that it is possible to live a happy life even with loud T with the help of some positive strategies and he proves that. Good for him. Thanks again for sharing.

 

I just turned 60. I had to learn to live with tinnitus or commit suicide. Obviously suicide is not an option for me. So whether or not I have to learn to live with tinnitus. It is a forced prison sentence.
Now, that being typed, I was harassed and got no sympathy whatsoever when I worked outside the home. Employers would scream at me and ask me why I couldn't talk to them at the same time while taking a phone call. Really? Seriously? They would look at me and say, "You have 2 ears."
It didn't matter how much I told them I am completely deaf in one ear. No, I can't talk to you and answer the phone at the same time. You see the only good ear I have left to me is now pressed up to the receiver. Add to that the tinnitus and concentration is totally gone.
I was called stupid. I was asked if I was stupid. All because of tinnitus. I couldn't half hear, only one ear remember and tinnitus high pitched screaming. The tinnitus gets louder the more sounds are introduced. That makes concentration even harder. So to say you can get on with your life and have a full active life? No, you can't.
Stereo hearing, 2 ears I found out is vitally important. Especially when someone wants to talk to you and the phone is ringing. Tinnitus makes it impossible to have perfect concentration.
I got fired. Why? Because of tinnitus and the inability to concentrate and do the job.
So much for American's With Disability Act. What a joke that is.
Some times I have actually experienced and thank God this doesn't happen all the time a jet plane taking off inside my head. I grew up next to an air base with jet airplanes flying over the house so I know what one sounds like, believe me! It freaked me out beyond belief. I was terrified wondering what on earth was happening inside my head.
It reserves itself for maybe once a year or two to strike me unannounced with that particular jet taking off sound!!
But for 24/7 I have the high piercing, teeth gritted screaming pitch. Never goes away. NEVER.
Then pulsating and whooshing sounds on top of that.
Doctors just wanted to drug me up. I don't take any drugs. I found the elephant tranquilizers that I loving like to refer to them did not do anything for me. Nothing.
It didn't stop the tinnitus or torture I was just drugged up. You understand?
I guess the thing that gets to me the most is the total insensitivity to people with handicaps in this world. Believe you me, tinnitus is a handicap. Such as what I received on the job.
One woman told me, "I don't care." Then she proceeded to rail at me because I explained to her I was hard of hearing and could not hear her and needed her to repeat.
Oh, then here comes the insensitivity of , "Why don't you get a hearing aide?" Seriously? A hearing aide for what? Did I not tell you I am completely 100 percent deaf, nothing left in that ear? What are you going to magnify? 100 percent deafness.
The true reality check came when after seeing the hearing specialist he sent me some literature in the mail offering me the purchase of a very expensive hearing aide? Are you kidding me? My own doctor was that insensitive and cruel. People you can't hear any better with a hearing aide with their is nothing left. I have nothing left in my ear. It is 100 percent fried, nerve damage, dead, nothing, nada, zip.
Sigh......................unless it happens to them, most people are jerks about it.