The Positivity Thread

Since I got my ear problems, I've found out two people, a newish friend and a colleague both have tinnitus. My colleague, in his early 50s, has had it since his early 20s after gunshot noises (at least 100 shots inside a room, no ear protection). He lives a normal life and only hears it when searching for it. My friend is a drummer and has had it since his early 20s. He hears it after a night out, fire alarm going off etc, but after a few hours it disappears again. Both live a happy life. Positive.

 

I can no longer go to live events. ∴ I'm now less likely to get exploded in terrorist attacks.

 

So I have had unilateral noise-induced tinnitus since mid-November 2022. The baseline has been the same for 2 weeks now (around 5/10) after getting quieter every day, and I gotta be honest. I don’t expect it ever going away again. 0 expectations. However, I will not let this affect my life. I simply refuse.

I will still work out daily (without headphones), I will still go to the movies/cafe/restaurant every weekend with my friends (with earplugs), and I will still listen to my favorite hiphop artists and watch the best TV shows around, just not with headphones or my AirPods. Although this still irritates me immensely, it is a small price to pay for going on with my life. Since I’m a muslim, listening to music is haram anyway, so maybe this condition will get me closer to God

Reading this forum every day for the last couple of weeks has been both a positive and negative experience for me, as I get humbled by how moderate my tinnitus is compared to others, but also seeing people’s tinnitus get worse after years, even though they did everything right, which makes me very anxious, but I digress.

Can my tinnitus still get worse? Of course, but I will try my best to not let that happen. I can’t do more than that.

 

I have recently discovered that playing chess is a good distraction from my tinnitus. Maybe playing chess occupies a part of the brain that diverts the mind away from the noise. Using my time over the holiday to play chess on my phone. If you used to play chess, but have not played since getting tinnitus, then I would recommend giving it a try. Watch some Magnus Carlson videos on YouTube for inspiration. He is world number one.

 

I was given a new alarm clock as a present. Thankfully it is not like the one below, which I found amusing. Definitely not for tinnitus sufferers.

Warning: Don't play the video at loud volume.

World's Loudest Alarm Clock!

 

I marvel at Pete Townshend's lackadaisical attitude. Wish I could be that blasé about my tinnitus and ear problems.

Pete Townshend Speaks about his Tinnitus

 

I watched this clip. His description of his tinnitus sounds very similar to the tinnitus I had from birth - and I lived a perfectly happy life, until it worsened.

 

Tinnitus. It's a lot better than a poke in the eye w/ a sharp stick.

 

I think this woman has a great attitude towards life. I think of her very often when I'm down about my tinnitus and visual snow (she's deaf blind, and yet keeps enjoying life!).

Deaf and Blind: Being Me Heather

 

Found this on the internet:

"For me, tinnitus is like seasons, it changes and fluctuates sounds and volumes and has different flavors of sound. All I can say is some days are worse, some days are better. On the bad days, I always tell myself it's going to get better, just to hang on. And so far, it always has. Like waves, it will come and go. Just stay strong through the bad days. Better days will come."

 

My tinnitus is still there. But as of a month ago, I no longer need to take medication to sleep.

 

The guy has it mild.

 

Hi everyone! I rarely write on any forums on the internet, but I wanted to thank you for all the positive stories you have been posting. They have given me a lot of hope!

My tinnitus started in 2011 and it has been quiet for years. I haven't been thinking about it for a such a long time, but it came back last summer. It's a lot louder than what it was when it started in 2011 and it has gotten me spiraling with anxiety. I have also been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder a few years back so it certainly doesn't make it easier to habituate.

But something amazing happened to me a couple of days ago! I was crying because of suffering from tinnitus and felt entirely hopeless. I'm not a very religious person, but sometimes i pray when I'm feeling truly hopeless. I prayed to God for help and strength and suddenly the voice in my head got quieter! It truly felt like a miracle since my tinnitus had been louder than ever before. And this happened during the prayer. I guess anything is possible.

Anyway, I wish we all get better!

 

He is literally deaf in one ear and barely hears in the other. I very much doubt he has it mild, for fuck's sake.

 

You can be deaf or have significant hearing loss and have no tinnitus at all, so mild is certainly possible. I know people like that who can barely hear anything yet have no tinnitus.

 

He described his tinnitus on a US talk show as being relatively mild to moderate, and sounding like birds chirping. I used to have that very bird chirping tone (as well as experiencing about 100 others) and it was relatively easier to deal with than screeching, buzzing or tonal tinnitus.

I was also pretty hard of hearing but my tinnitus was mild. My audiologist reports show my hearing before worsening through microsuction and after to be relatively the same. Yes, we all hear of 'hidden' hearing loss, but I would not expect my tinnitus to go from mild to severe due to a 5% drop in hearing.

It may explain why musicians do not generally get hyperacusis with it, or sound reactivity - which seems to be brought on, usually, by a one-off noise trauma rather than cumulative noise which over time reduces hearing.

 

Yeah, it’s really wild how some people can have profound hearing loss or be deaf and have no perceptible tinnitus at all while others with mild hearing loss or even no loss can have intrusive tinnitus.

The exact mechanisms behind why tinnitus occurs in some cases and not in others with hearing loss remains one of the greatest mysteries on Earth. What a dumb condition :/

 

Happy New Year to all our members here.

Let's hope 2024 will bring you more improvement to your tinnitus. Positivity will help. May the force of this Positivity thread help you in the new year.

I have enjoyed a wonderful family reunion and cruise vacation during Christmas and New Year despite the ringing and the loss of hearing. I play badminton, go fishing, do gardening, eat out, even dance with my wife regularly.

The heck with tinnitus and ear problems. May Positivity reign.

 

Hi all. My positive is finding this thread. Going through a rough patch right now and I needed to find some good news and here it is. Stay strong folks, we can do this.

Amazing!

 

It's sad that even when I click on The Positivity Thread here, the first things I see are scrutiny and undermining of suffering for someone who has done a favour to the world by speaking openly about this condition. It's confusing.

The biggest positivity I've found in this journey so far is that it's made me more resilient. I feel that if I can survive this, a permanent, distressing condition in my life that always has its presence, every other temporary issue that arises in life becomes less impactful and quicker to be resolved. A strengthening to my spirit.

 

This is the opposite for me. I had mild to moderate tinnitus for many years, and I've had severe variable tinnitus for over two years. So, since my tinnitus got severe, instead of making other temporary issues easier to deal with, it has made everything more difficult. It compounds other issues that would be easier to handle on their own. It has a debilitating effect that wasn't there when I had mild tinnitus.

Anyway, keep up the positivity. Not everyone suffers the same, and there is hope.

 

I'm glad you're seeing positives from this. It's insane actually to say this, but my severe tinnitus has actually IMPROVED my life somewhat. Just off the top of my head, it:

• Made me more compassionate towards others
• Taught me more about my hearing and the dangers of loud noise exposure
• Made me pick up old hobbies as a way to distract my mind, like photography
• Made me be healthier and get on top of my checkups at the doctors
• Made me understand what's important in life, and if you don't have good health, you really have nothing
• Made me understand my own mental health more and the importance of keeping that in a good spot with this