So Basically Once You Get Tinnitus, You're F**ked No Matter What Until Death

And any supposed cure or treatment will just turn out to be another dud or at best a placebo for the foreseeable future (i.e. the next hypothetical 2-10 years that just so happens to reoccur every hypothetical 2-10 years and another hypothetical 2-10 years ad nauseam and ad infinitum) while we scramble over hearsay/petty gossip/cargo cult forum politics, writhe in suicidal despair/nihilism, and run around panicking like headless chickens on a deserted island.

That's the main takeaway here at Tinnitus Talk.

Cool. What fun!

 

You think so?

 

That's how it's been over the course of my tinnitus (since 1992) which is why I never tried to join a "cargo cult" style group like this until I reached a certain threshold of desperation. If you just assume it's hopeless you proceed to latch onto any and all coping mechanisms and get on with life as best you can, even though you're never fully whole.

 

Yes, there is no way out....

Tinnitus has a life of its own.... it might get better or worse. Humans have retarded useless technology against this beast so far. Best solution is to become a zombie or a robot to minimize the distress...

 

That does not happen only with tinnitus. The human body is too complex and the understanding we have of our own system is very limited. Once you ruin a part of your body you're already screwed.

 

I’m sorry, but how do these doomsday posts help anyone?

No, once you ruin a part of your body you are not screwed. And I can say that considering that just within my immediate family of five, we have two cancer survivors(one beating it twice), an individual with severe Crohn’s disease, an individual with degenerative joint disease, and me—someone who beat tinnitus once and is going to beat it again.

Thank god, all my family members live life happily. I will rejoin them soon.

Please no doomsday posts, they don’t help anyone.

 

Tinnitus can really wear on you when you see no way out. It does seem most treatments are in the distant future. We have to live in the now somehow the best we can.

I have severe static at the moment. I was trying @engineerLA's methods as a last resort today.

 

Too bad.

Go read posts from people with mild tinnitus then.

 

I so don't want to agree with you, but this is the way I'm starting to look at things.

I'm going to be beating myself up over getting tinnitus until the day I die.

 

Quite sure it helps the poster in that moment, even if it's just being able to vent a bit: we all need that at times

On the subject itself: no, I don't think we are screwed. Call me an optimist, but even though there are no definite cures yet, some doctors and scientists finally caught up and are at least trying to get us fixed. Yes, it will probably take some time, but bad results are still results: a project for an optional cure that does not end up healing us does carry data, and this data could still hold keys for future projects.

We will have to wait it out until then, that's the hardest part.

 

What are these methods you speak of my friend?

I hope the static quiets down... this shit does wear one down... everyday is a journey, that's for sure.

 

To Sisyphus:
I cannot think of a condition more aptly suited to Sisphyus's tragic situation than our experiences with tinnitus.
I thought that my condition was almost resolved, but last night when I attended a Classical Chorale Concert, the high pitched singing aggravated my hearing such that I heard a loud tea kettle hissing that wiped out any semblance of enjoyment.
"Another pleasurable experience annihilated by tinnitus", I remarked to myself. And my wife is heartily tired of my complaints about it, so I had to shut up and last out this torture.
Our problem is Humanity's dilemma; as Baudelaire said, "Humanity is condemned to hope." This explains Sisphyus's
refusal to stop with his attempts to roll the boulder over the hill.

 

He has some anti-inflammatory methods that helped him. I think it was mostly ETD. I am currently on prednisone 60mg taper. It’s a higher dose than I usually take but that’s what a PA prescribed. I will just follow through at this point.

I thought I was doing better when I woke up this morning but the static still seemed there. I had to put in my old hearing aids. The cheaper Dia has a better white noise option it seems. I would sooner listen to white noise than static. I had lost one again and it showed up in the garbage for the second time. I get careless and don’t put it away like I should and must have put it on a plate again. I tend to eat in bed late at night and that sometimes happens when I’m tired and it’s dark. Anyway I found it this morning in the garbage. I will never learn it seems.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/prednisone-really-helped-me.3578/

 

I said that. Sorry. My English is basic and sometimes and can't find words.

 

Exactly so.
(My coping method.)

Every time we hear our Tinnitus we hate it, compounding the problem.

It is important to practice ‘hearing it’ and feeling relaxed and at peace with it.

Do this at least once every day.

 

I feel so.

 

I have had moderate Tinnitus since 1990, but then very severe noise induced Tinnitus since June 2014.
Check out my video on YouTube:
‘Dave’s Tinnitus Story.’

The beautiful life I knew, as a professional jazz trombonist, bandleader, playing at international jazz festivals, on cruise ships etc... was destroyed after one ferocious noise trauma.
Obviously I now live with a head full of loud noise, where once my head was full of music, jazz phrases, improvisations, ideas....x

I live with my beautiful missus, lovely kids, grand children, 3 adorable pussycats cats
(see my More Pussycat Therapy thread)
and everything else in my life is good.
My tinnitus is constant and pretty bloody hateful - but I am not ready to ‘leave.’

I have considered all types of treatment, read everything, studied this subject over 30 years, and know full well that there is nothing out there (yet) to help us.

For encouragement I read the works of Eckhart Tolle.
“Where silence is denied - find the stillness that lies beneath all experience.”



Best Wishes

Dave xx
Jazzer

 

Nicely put jazzer, I always find your posts reassuring and calming, God knows we need some of that on this crazy journey. Finding peace with a head full of noise, I never thought it was possible but very slowly I'm beginning to get a glimpse.

 

Thank you.
We may never regain silence, but in meditation we can find this magical stillness that Tolle speaks about.
It can happen in quiet meditation.
All we need to do is lie quietly (or sit) and observe the breath.
It will get slower and slower until we are just
‘at one with the breath.’
Not controlling it - just observing it as a witness.
I manage to reach this position nearly every day.
And guess what - the ‘stillness’ stays with me.
Perhaps I should write it out more fully some time.
Best wishes,
Dave xx

 

Hey Jazzer.

As a fellow ex-jazz musician I greatly sympathise with your story. I'm sometimes amazed at how you managed to have such a long career with moderate tinnitus...
Because everyone's tolerance is different I wanted to ask how moderate tinnitus manifested itself to you when performing or listening to music? I suppose it didn't get in the way of listening on a hifi or when performing? Could you hear it over these situations? Did you use earplugs from then onwards? Can a trombonist even use earplugs? As you say you've researched it for 30 years, I'm assuming it was somehow on your radar since the 90's and at least a Force to be reckoned with?

I'm aware of the incident that led up to your current tinnitus, so I'm not implying you should have protected better, if anything it goes to show one can keep on performing regardless of tinnitus, and depending on the severity of symptoms. Although if I recall correctly you managed to continue performing even after your incident?

It shows that people shouldn't necessarily give up music when afflicted with tinnitus, as is too often the advice on the forum.
It's probably the low-risk approach and sensible advice, but losing performing is hard and I think not too many people can relate to the joy performing or creating music can bring.

Anyway, I should stop rambling, but in conclusion, it's good to have you here, even though none of us want to be here at all.

 

There's nothing currently out there to cause doubt to the OP's conclusion. I agree with it.

 

It's a contentious opinion but when I was suicidal and consumed with Tinnitus and despondency, I had to leave this forum. I think habitual breaks are beneficial for people's mental health because the pessimism is detrimental to someone in a vulnerable state; do not dismiss me as a mild Tinnitus sufferer, I've had multi-tonal, music hallucinations, singing, and reactive Tinnitus and the best thing was to stop reading posts every day.

If you define your life by this condition, it will consume you. Yeah, I've resigned myself to having no cure and I've had to take SSRIs to attenuate anxiety but I've moved on. I vehemently refuse to be dictated to by my ears .

You are not fucked. The blind, the terminally ill, and the dead are fucked and I'm not patronising anyone or being self righteous. I'm not diminishing your suffering but the relentless pessimism and the hierarchy established here about who can speak and who's got a valid opinion because they perceive their T louder and more cacophonious than someone else's is terrible.

Tinnitus demands you change. It demands you adapt. You're not fucked because you're human and humans have incredible capacity for adaptation.

Ironically because I came back here after an email, my Tinnitus is screaming in both ears. Go figures.

 

Hi Buddy
I’m intrigued.
What instrument did you play?
What jazz style were you in?
Why did you pack it in?

To keep it short:
I played cornet in the local Salvation Army Band from age 10 to age 18.
My two brothers both played trombone in the same band.
At age 18 I picked up my twin brother’s trombone and in an afternoon worked out all the slide positions for myself.
I have never had a trombone lesson, but self taught very quickly - I was so keen to get out there and do it.
Having had three years piano lessons I knew all about chord structures and had a very good ear.

Started playing jazz trombone that year.
In 1990 I became aware of a faint hiss in my left ear.
Audible but very quiet - no problem.
Things went on as normal for years.
Played professionally in New Orleans, Dixieland, Mainstream styles, numerous bands.
Did recordings, broadcasts, international festivals, Germany, Holland, Montreux, Sacramento, cruise ships etc...
My wife Sylvie opened our own jazz club in 2006 which she ran for ten years.
Just a one concert a month affair.

Then in 2014 I had a terrible acoustic trauma which did real damage.
I have written that up in other posts.
I don’t really want to revisit that any more.
I started using ear plugs to prevent further damage, but in 2017 decided I could no longer accept the gamble, so I folded my career.
I was first call for five bands at that time.

Such a loss.
I had a good sound, understood the chords, knew how to run with the sequence, everything.
Suddenly ripped away by the negligence of another person.

I have just had to accept it.

Please tell me a bit about your career buddy.

Dave x
Jazzer

 

@Jazzer we're very lucky to you have tinnitus veterans like you around on this forum. Thanks for your positivity. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Re your relaxation techniques etc, I wanted to ask a question. What kind of routines etc do you go through before bed to get a decent night's sleep?

 

One should always have hope but at the same time not fully rely on hope. When I first got tinnitus, I was 100% sure my life was over. There was no possibility that I could ever have the same quality of life as I did before tinnitus. It just totally messed me up in every way imaginable. Today, I can honestly say that I enjoy life exactly as I did before I got tinnitus.

I can still have bad days/periods now and then, but for 95% of time I am actually feeling really well and not bothered by tinnitus.

 

We just shouldn’t forget that it doesn’t get better for everyone and that there are many long-term severe sufferers whose quality of life won’t noticeably improve until we find real treatments. Especially people new to tinnitus need support and encouragement but we can help them without ignoring the severe stories that don’t improve. If you got better, if you’re able to cope, if you can say that tinnitus doesn’t control your life - that’s great! But please remember that many severe sufferers did the same things you did and unfortunately didn’t get better.

 

I’ll come back in the morning if that’s okay UK.

 

Me also - with tinnitus - the first time. It was loud. Was otherwise in good health. I finally was able to control stress and my tinnitus faded a fair amount.

Then at an older age came physical injuries that caused unimaginable tinnitus, severe pain/disease, anxiety and stress that raised my blood pressure. High blood pressure then caused me more disease. All hypertension and pain meds adds an extremely high pitched sonic whistling that blows out my ears.

 

@Greg Sacramento and I talk many times.
It still shocks me that this life can be so unbelievably cruel..
It does nothing to turn me on to any possibility of a god.
The universe does not give a ‘Fuck.’
We have each other to talk to, but in very real sense we suffer alone.

 

Well even with loud tinnitus I have always been able to fall asleep.
I certainly know I have severe tinnitus, but being a realist, I also know for sure that I am stuck with it - it ain’t going nowhere.
So approaching sleep is just really an acceptance of the inevitable.
No point in unnecessarily stressing about it.
Falling asleep is just a collapse.

The bigger problem for me is staying asleep long enough.
I tend to wake after say three hours, and then need to fall asleep again.
I don’t want to take an actual sleeping tablet, but I do use Melatonin.
In the U.K. you need a prescription for Circadin from your doctor.
Melatonin occurs naturally in the body, made by the pituitary gland - so it is really more of a supplement than an additional drug.
Circadin contains just 2 mgs of Melatonin, and I actually cut mine in half with a pill cutter, so I just take 1 mg.
Then when I wake, obviously in noise, I have a pee, then fall back asleep easily for another 3 or 4 hours.
If you tell your doctor you have troublesome tinnitus he should prescribe Circadin.
If he won’t then see another doctor.
It is a product readily available without prescription all over Europe and the US.

Re: my relaxation techniques:
Longing for something we cannot have (silence) is counterproductive and damaging.
Through meditation - sitting or lying quietly - I can usually find a condition of (comparative) calm in my psyche - a stillness.
Silence - I cannot have.
Stillness - I can.

I don’t know if you ‘teeth grind’ which will prevent relaxation from happening - but if you do, look up my post on:
‘How to Cure Bruxism.’
Best wishes
Dave x
Jazzer