The Positivity Thread

Well it is cold winter in Canada. So like the snowbirds that fly south to stay away from the cold, me and my wife went on an extended vacation in Florida and Caribbean. What a good time to be warm and sunny and fishing all days plus dancing to the music with my sweet wife. Life is not just great. It is awesome. Years ago when my ultra high pitched tinnitus and severe hyperacusis hit me suddenly, I was in a mess physically and mentally, depressed, tired, suffering from relentless anxiety and panic attacks. Lost interest in things and home bound lots of time, lonely and seemingly hopeless. I survived on medications and each day was a long, suffering, dark and stressed filled day. I never thought good life will return again. But never say never. Today I am enjoying my life to the fullness. The heck with the T bully. I kicked its butt. Scream all it want. Don't care. Don't pay attention. Don't give it any time. Couldn't do that when T was new. But things change for the better. Positivity is what gets me to this state. Wrote my success story with detail on how I moved 'From Darkness to Light...' with my T & H journey. Let's try to be positive each day, each moment. God bless. you all.

 

A poem:

I imagine I'm a robot,
it helps me cope.
My T has lower volume now,
it gives me hope.

I have noticed my tinnitus has changed. It used to pierce my mind that I had bit balance problems. Now the high pitch has lowered a bit and now it reminds more of a white noise with a high pitch more in the background. Good? I don't know.

 

I will write more good news.

I slept quite well. Not enough but half hour more than usual and my sleep was more solid.

When I went to bed I almost had normal feeling. It was more silent than usual inside my head. I have a feel this has gone down to notch. That is good...

So there is hope for you!

Rest your ears and demand that ENT that they give you a good dose of prednisolon! It has reduced the pain in my left ear and the feeling of constant pressure has reduced as well.

I have 80mg / 7 days, 40mg / 2days / 20mg / 2 days.

T is still there and my right ear is sounding like a tire deflating but for some reason I can now control it by biting my teeth together and moving my jaw back.

I am so glad if this is getting better

 

One of the nice things about living in a relatively warm climate is that the cicadas are out at night, and they cover high pitched tinnitus fairly well.

 

I remember when I woke up sometime in July of 2015 and thought my fan or something in my house was making the noise. I remember closing my ears with my fingers and still hearing it. I remember thinking that my life was over and I would NEVER be able to deal with it as I already had terrible anxiety and stress and this was going to push me over the edge. I remember as time went on the most I adapted. I remember that it will NOT become my life even though it tries every chance it gets. I remember I still enjoyed my life and being around friends, family and outside my bedroom really helped. I remember I have spikes and bad days/weeks but they DO get better. I remember the friends I made on here and how they helped me get through it. I remember that although you think tinnitus is going to beat you, you WILL beat it. Remember everyday is a day to make things better, even just a very little bit no matter how bad they seem to be.

 

Thank you for the post. I have had t for 3 years and kinda going thru a rough patch right now. I am just trying to stay positive and move forward

 

One can never have enough friends, their support and encouragement can be vital, especially in the early days of tinnitus. The friends we make here on TT are valuable to us, more than we know actually. This is because they truly understand what tinnitus can do to a person.

This forum has been a lifeline for me and I suspect it has been for many others as well.

Thank-you for your post @Kylie V.

 

This is my first post on tinnitustalk and it could only be to this thread because I truely believe the only way to make a change is through positivity like this!! We all need positive support to get through this.

I’ve had constant T since the beginning of this year so I’m still fairly new to it. My T goes all over the place from mild and barely noticeable to a loud demon I can’t escape and my emotions are all over the place with it. The anxiety is the toughest part and the fear that I’ll get stuck in a loud flare up forever, but the one thing that keeps me going is reading peoples positive messages. So thanks to everyone who’s posted to this thread .

The things I’ve learnt so far:
- try not to think about it. If it’s quiet don’t check if it’s still there. This is a trap I keep falling into
- avoiding caffeine helps me
- passionflower tablets and the sound of rain from a noise generator help me sleep
- staying active is a great distraction

Good luck everyone and if you are suffering remember you are not alone, there is help out there and you can still have a fulfilling life.

P.s if anyone has advise on dealing with the fear of a spike/ flare up happening let me know

 

Welcome to the forum, @Cleat90, it is nice to meet you. The positivity thread is a great place to start reading when you join Tinnitus Talk. I spent many hours browsing this part of the forum during my early days with tinnitus. Like you, I needed to remain as calm and as positive as possible.

Thank-you for this, it is comforting to know that we are not alone.

 

Thanks for the welcome @emmalee. I've taken a quick look at your profile and I just want to say you are an inspiration. The amount of people you've taken the time to reply to is something else. Being so helpful and positive even in the face of your own T is a real credit to yourself.

I hope you are dealing with you T well and if you have any advice on reducing anxiety that would be great. I'm hoping that will help reduce the intensity of my T as it seems to spike/flare up the more anxious I get.

 

Oh my, thank-you for your kind words, @Cleat90.

I deal with my tinnitus one day at a time and this has helped me a great deal. If today was a good day, then hopefully tomorrow will be just as good or maybe even better. I try not to let my mind wander too far into the future with all of the "what ifs" that can make me anxious, or even stressed.

What works for my anxiety, which I surely do deal with, just as you do, is by doing easy yoga (think gentle stretching) every evening before bedtime. This helps me to sleep better by relaxing my muscles and easing any neck and jaw tension.

I also incorporate meditation and mindfulness into my yoga, all three are very much intertwined together to begin with. They each require one to focus on breathing properly, something that is so very important when anxiety strikes.

I posted this link in another thread, yesterday. You may find it helpful. It is a nice easy beginner guide to meditation.

https://zenhabits.net/meditation-guide/

 

Thanks for the advice and link @emmalee. I’ve realised that anxiety and stress go hand in hand with the intensity of my T so this is very helpful. It’s difficult to avoid stress in daily life so anything to manage that and then control the anxiety will hopefully make a difference. I’ll give meditation and Yoga a go and report back! I’ll also keep an eye on this thread and try to support anyone else who is going through this just like you have.

Thanks again

 

What kind of yoga stretches do you do?

I have been doing yoga daily for a couple of months now (on average 15 minutes a day), but I can't say I have had much benefit of it yet. It helps (sometimes) a bit when doing it, but no lasting effect.

I will keep it up though... maybe at some point I will get benefit from it.

 

Here is the video I use @TheDanishGirl. I try to do my yoga at the same time every day, evening/before bedtime. I find this helps me to commit.

She also has plenty of other videos that you may prefer.

Yoga For Beginners - Gentle Full Body...

 

You are more than welcome @Cleat90.

 

Not sure how many people monitor/ look at this thread but I wanted to share a positive experience I had last night. I went to a British Tinnitus Support Group meeting and it was amazing. I may have been lucky that everyone who was there was positive but meeting other people who are going through the same thing as me has been a big help. The members who have had the condition for a long time were particularly great to chat to. I felt so much better after the meeting and feel really positive today. If you are in the UK I would highly recommend finding your nearest support group and going along. If you're not in the UK have a look online to see if you can find an alternate support group, it's worth the effort.

I'm not the most outgoing guy and I've been particularly introvert since the onset of my tinnitus so it took a lot to go along but I feel like a slight weight has been lifted as a result!

 

Hi, @Cleat90.

I am very happy to hear this. Support groups can be so helpful, how nice that you have found one where you feel comfortable, even better that it is near enough to you. The closest support group to me is over 35 miles away.

 

I have had tinnitus for a month, every night as I try to fall asleep, I tell myself that this will get better and I listen to my partners breathing, it is enough to soothe me into sleep.

I find that I don't notice T much during the day, only at night as I fall asleep and on the mornings as I wake up. It definitely motivated me to get out of bed and start my day with enthusiasm!

As a nurse, I feel grateful for my health I have and I have faith that this will get better. I have been practicing mindfulness techniques and redirecting my brain away from the ringing. I am determined to take care of myself.

We are so much more powerful than we give ourselves credit for, we can overcome this.

 

I have the utmost respect for nurses, they deal with people who endure pain and suffering on a daily basis. You are to be admired @Brydie, taking care of others while dealing with tinnitus is truly inspiring.

I practice mindfulness techniques, too. We have to do whatever it takes to help us cope, and yes, we do have much more power than we give ourselves credit for.

 

Wish I had that outside my house. Is your tinnitus loud and it still covers it?

 

Do you hear your tinnitus in a quiet room with no tv or music on? How loud is it in a quiet room?

If it’s not impacting your job and you mainly hear it at night and can sleep in silence, your tinnitus is probably very mild!

I too don’t notice it much during the day when I’m out of the house. But in silence it’s loud enough to be bothersome and I need some music or sound on to block it.

 

I think to myself, I could have worse health problems, and be thankful this is all I have. I'm still able to do everything I need to do. I guess that's what keeps me going.

I have had this since 2008. I'm starting to adjust to the new level of tone loudness that has come on a few months ago.

The current loudness has cause me to go have my ears checked, and it sound like It's possible to have the hearing restored in my bad ear, so that's a good thing.