Obsessing About What Could Have Caused It

I know it's such a pointless thing to do but does anyone obsess over what could have caused their tinnitus. I constantly find myself thinking "If only I never took those antibiotics, or went to that concert or used headphones" etc etc..

It's exhausting, I doubt I will ever find out what caused it but I can't stop thinking about it.

Just wondering if anyone else does this?

 

When we are dealing... with an issue that drives us crazy, it's normal to think what could have caused it and how could we have prevented it. If we do know of such things, then maybe in the future.... we can try to not make our mistakes that we made in the past (if possible). Dwelling on the past, simply does not help out, look to the future and just try to live your life.

The past and the future are not in our control (100%). It's right now, the moment which we can control.....

 

I know what I did. I am left wondering why I did it.....

 

I think it’s fairly normal because in the early stages we see it as a loss in our lives. A bit like grief really where we wish we could have done something to prevent that loss and wish we appreciated what we had before that loss.

But like grief we eventually end up having to make a conscious decision to move on and act on it. If we don’t start to appreciate what we have left then we drag ourselves down and those around us.

It is our decision. The good news is that most people do move on and rarely notice their T. This can only happen if we let go of any T related thoughts and get better at focusing on other more positive things.

 

Instead of concentrating on what caused my tinnitus, I think about what I can do to prevent it from getting worse. And for me the answer is the same; listening to music through earphones. Been there, done that, and will never do it again!

 

Do you mean listening to music through headphones loudly? I still use headphones at sensible levels with no problems.

I see a few people here have made huge sacrifices due to the fear of making their T worse. Isn’t it about trying to get back into doing what you enjoy doing with sensible precautions?

 

I stopped using headphones/earphones 6 months ago as a lot of fellow suffers I spoke to said they had to go as it was too risky. I think I would be too scared to ever use them again..

 

As a person who knows what exactly caused mine: you don't wanna know. I'd have much rather had this come one night for no reason, because at least then I could pretend or tell myself it was just my ears getting old and I couldn't have avoided it in any way. It just kills me everyday to know that cause of my own actions I got the shitty and dark timeline from Back to the Future 2.

 

I couldn't agree more with your statement! It's how I live my life. I just don't want to take a chance that the very thing that caused my tinnitus may make it worse.

 

I am also obsessed with finding out the cause of my tinnitus.
I'm not sure noise was the reason.
I have better days and very bad.
If I could be sure that noise wasn't the cause of my tinnitus,
it would be logical that noise cannot actually be the reason for a bad day.....
That would make my life easier.

 

Because my fluctuates tremendously in volume, location, type, i cannot habituate, and TRT is out of the question for the same reason, so the only solution would be a cure. But how can you treat something when you do not know the cause, since the cause has to be treated, not the effect (tinnitus).
So yeah, i am obsessed too about what may have caused mine.
And in 10 years i did not find an answer...

 

Yes, I used to do it all the time. But we can't go backwards, only forwards. Try this method, it worked for me -
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

 

I did it constantly in the first few months. Used to beat myself up for every loud party, every concert, every time I felt in retrospect I damaged my hearing.

Well, who knows? the past is in the past anyway. As I started to move forward, I gradually stoped it.

BEst,
Zug