Motorcycle Passed Today, Two Times

I don't know how to handle this. Twice today when I was standing on the side of the road, some really loud shitty motorcycles passed by. There was no way to escape them. I had standard foam earplugs in my ears but I had pulled them out a little bit earlier due to discomfort.

I am failing to calm down from these incidents. When I close my eyes I see these motorcycles and I just want to die. I am so scared my tinnitus has gotten worse from them.

I don't know what to do..

 

@lifeisover, you have to try and relax. The world is filled with inconsiderate people. The motorcycle riders claim that "Loud pipes save lives", and while that may be true to some degree, they completely ignore the noise pollution aspect of their preference for louder pipes, and let's face it, is it mainly a preference because people alter exhausts in cars to make them sound different as well, and that certainly is not a life saving matter.

From my perspective, there are two things you need to do:

First: search for the best noise blocking/cancelling headphones/earplugs you can get that you feel comfortable wearing out in public.

Second: Try not to panic when such events happen (which is much easier said than done).

Because the only other alternative is that you never go out in public again, because you never know where some inconsiderate motorcycle rider may appear. And, you certainly do not want to let tinnitus destroy your life like that. It is bad enough that you are currently suffering with tinnitus, but you don't want it to shut you out from life.

There are obviously places where motorcycles are more prevalent, and those you would want to avoid, but you really need to try to remain calm. Protect your ears, of course, but also don't panic.

 

@lifeisover The exact same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago. I was wearing earplugs but they didn't have a high noise reduction rating at all. It made never want to go on a walk again. But try to remain calm. I know that feeling of recounting the incident again and again in your mind. It wasn't your fault, and there's nothing you can do to change what happened, and there's not much you could've done in that moment. I measured the db of one of the motorcycles crossing by on my phone and it was around 80 db (but it sounded so much louder.) I had a temporary spike when I got home, which was very stressful, but it went away. It probably didn't give you any permanent damage. Try to take your mind off of what happened, and remember if you get a spike it will probably fade away.

 

Bikes are impossible to deal with when one has hyperacusis. The sound they make is just impossible to block, even with earplugs and earmuffs combined. It is hard to avoid them too, as they will approach fast and there is no way to escape the sound. One trick is turning your back towards the noise source and try to put some distance, whatever few metres you have time to run away from them.

 

Yes, the sound motorcycles emit are so uncomfortable for my ears even when I'm wearing earplugs and earmuffs. I guess it's because of hyperacusis. That explanation was helpful. I was wondering why even when I was wearing maximum ear protection the noise is so painful.

 

It is destroying my life already. I haven't been outside since a year unless it was necessary (like today, I am still angry at myself though, I could have bought the item online instead). If I could choose I would never leave the house again. I started a new job but it is unbearable I have to pass through so much traffic. I constantly arrive in sweat cause I am running away from noises. At work there is this incredibly loud AC and it gives me headaches and hurts my ears, but no one will accomodate and provide me with a more silent office space. I tried to be open with my supervisor and tell them I have hyperacusis but they only told me "noise levels in the office are within acceptable ranges". So I am considering quitting this job very soon even though it pays tons.

I don't care about anything anymore, I just want peace of mind and silence. I used to be very ambitious about my career but I've come to a point where I care zero. All i want is peace of mind. My tinnitus is loud enough and I don't need more external noises on a daily basis. I just want to die whenever I can't escape a noisy place.


I had another panic attack today because I am so scared that the motorcycles worsened my tinnitus and damaged my ears. I regret that I even went outside

 

@lifeisover, I'm sorry that it is already destroying your life. Can you seek counseling? CBT may be able to help with the panic attacks. Unfortunately, there may be nothing that can be done about the motorcycles.

 

I know what you're talking about. I haven't been outside in a year (since I got tinnitus at the beginning of this year) except for when my family members convince me to go out for once, or I have to go to the store... It really gets tiring to go outside to try to cheer yourself up and get exposed to a random, unexpected loud noise and go through the all of the panic every time. I regret that I even went outside after these incidents too.

I'm sorry your boss won't even try to accommodate your condition. You deserve to be listened to. If the job is giving you more anxiety and stress then you can tolerate, than you shouldn't feel guilty for considering quitting. Do you live in the US? Some places offer disability benefits for tinnitus, but of course that isn't much.

I just want peace of mind as well... Hopefully things will get much easier for you. Hold on or you'll never see if they will if you give up too early. You're not alone and many people here know what you're going through.

 

Thank you. I know my anxiety is through the roof. I have made an appointment with a psychiatrist last week and will see if I can get some CBT soon. Without wanting to sound ignorant, I currently don't feel like it will change anything. I feel like I will always be scared that the tinnitus gets worse. I feel like I am lost in life at this point.

 

You are very kind. I am sorry you are going through something like this. I didn't think there are others that are this affected by tinnitus and what is accompanying it. My family always tells me to just enjoy life and go out etc. I tried for a while, but as soon as there is an incident with noise I isolate myself again and feel guilty for days for having gone outside in the first place and potentially having caused damage to my ears. I feel so pathetic. But all I crave is quiet.

Then I can go days at home without being bothered by my tinnitus. I do not mind the solitude as much as I mind tinnitus. So I am ultimately alright with staying at home, even though I do acknowledge that I am "wasting" time with regards to my career.

But of course I have to work some time. So I got this extremely sought after job this year but I cannot focus on it very well. My performance suffers of course, but I don't think my boss took me seirously when I said it was a medical condition. He just repeated that no one else ever had issues with the AC noise.

I do not live in the US, I am from Europe. I don't think many people care about tinnitus because a lot of other people have an easy time coping with it. It is just seen as a minor annoyance. Me, I used to be able to somewhat cope well with my tinnitus. At least I was not aware of EVERY sound I heard and would not avoid places to this extent. It all kind of changed when I moved 2 years ago, to an area where there were a lot of construction sites. I grew more and more anxious and irritated over time until I couldn't stand the construction site noise anymore. From then onwards, I've been alert of every noise, especially outside.

Thank you for your nice words. I really hope something changes, soon. I'd love to feel carefree again and focus on things that I used to care about once (I haven't read a book in ages).

 

My family tells me that too. To go out, and just try to enjoy life. Others don't really understand how hard it is to live with this. And I know my family cares. They just don't want to see me like this. I want to make them happy so I try to go out but every time something loud happens I go through the same thing and isolate myself afterward.

You're not pathetic. You didn't choose to have this condition and it can be really hard to live with. Many people have gone through the exact same thing you're going through and have felt the same worries, fears, disappointments. If you read the "success stories" section on this website, https://www.tinnitustalk.com/forums/success-stories.47/ there are so many people on here who explain how they felt so much anxiety, depression because of tinnitus before and were able to overcome it and live a happy, normal life.

I miss being carefree too. I often wish I could feel a sense of peace again. Tinnitus can really take the joy out of life, but if we can still find moments of happiness, there is hope. Try to find these moments of happiness, no matter how little, everyday and eventually things will get easier. Hopefully, there will be a cure someday. I do believe there is a cure; it just hasn't been found yet. Don't give up until it's found. And remember, don't lose hope!

 

I've very sorry that you have all this stress and pain from your situation. Going to a therapist for CBT is one of the best things you could do for yourself, it will change your outlook very quickly if you put the work into it. If you like, you can start immediately with a good self-help book, such as Feeling Good, by David D. Burns, M.D. You will learn how to counter your fears and negative feelings, and replace them with more appropriate thoughts,which will create a better mood and more. I've used this book, before I had tinnitus, and recently started reading it again. And don't forget, you habituated before, and you can do it again, even if you have to learn some new methods or techniques. It can be done, we're behind you, and good luck!

 

CBT will help you cope with things like anxiety, etc.. Anxiety is thoughts running away in your head telling you lies that stress you out. CBT will help you not only recognize when you are having those thoughts but it will teach you how to combat them and replace the erroneous, anxiety inducing thoughts with more positive and accurate ones.

 

Kolisar,
I understand what you are saying. I also heard good things about CBT for anxiety and depression. I am just wondering how this should even work for someone who has a (questionable) real fear of tinnitus/ hearing worsening. Sure I can manage to get my anxiety under control, but if the worry about the tinnitus is real (as in, there are actual noises that make it worse, so I need to avoid these), how will CBT help?


I will check the Success Stories section, but if anyone knows some examples of people who used to be similarly anxious, I would appreciate some insight in how psychotherapy will take the fear of worsening tinnitus (which is all I worry about on a daily basis)

 

The sound hits through bone conduction, so it is impossible to fully block it. The only tip is not being there (hard to accomplish) or be as far as possible from the source of noise (run).

 

CBT cannot protect your ears, and cannot prevent sounds from potentially making your tinnitus spike or worse. What it can do is give you the tools and techniques to prevent you from worrying to the point where it causes you anxiety and stress. It is not going to make you not take precautions, or not protect yourself. If that is the definition of "worry" than it will not stop you from worrying. What it can do is help you learn to not let your worrying run out of control, dominate your life, and paralyze you to where you are unable to participate in a more "normal" life and are unable to enjoy most of the activities that you previously enjoyed.

The "classic" text on CBT, and one that can teach you the techniques that may be able to help you is "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by Dr. David D. Burns. Here is a link for that book

(I could only find a kindle version on the Australian site is I included a US link as well)

https://www.amazon.com.au/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy-ebook/dp/B009UW5X4C/


https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336

It is well worth the time and money.