There Will Be Better Days

Hello everyone, I have not posted since back in November but I do come by every now and again to see the success stories. I don't know if I would call my journey with Tinnitus a successful one or not, seeing that I've only had it since October of 2017. I can say however, that I am in a tremendously better place than I was when tinnitus first struck.

The onset of Tinnitus is like a very bad dream that you know you'll never awake from. I went through what looks to be a common trend among many of individuals with Tinnitus. The anxiety from Tinnitus, the anxiety from reading horror stories about tinnitus, and the depression of "I can't live with this, it's torture". It is indeed torture in it's own way I suppose. My tinnitus began in my right ear but somehow switched to my left and that is where it stayed. I still get a ringing in my right ear every now and then but I just shake it off. The left ear though, it is constant. I am pretty sure my Tinnitus was caused from loud earbuds to and from the gym and whilst working out. I will keep this post on the shorter side with a little idea of how I am coping and what might help others.

I won't lie, I struggled very hard with the onset of this condition. I was having more anxiety than I normally did. I experienced depression and bad thoughts. Did I want to? NO! I am a happy person and love life, but some things bring out the worse parts of you that you never knew you had. I couldn't watch T.V because every sound made my Tinnitus louder. Getting a shower masked it but once the water was off, the sound was up. I stopped going to the gym, going outside, listening to music, playing Xbox...you name it. I was done and had hit rock bottom.

About 3 weeks after this all began, my mother got sick and was admitted at the hospital. This was the start of my coping. Not that my mother being sick was a good thing, but it forced me to take control. I had to go and see her, meaning I had to actually go outside...and actually HEAR things. I had to go out and grocery shop. I had to cook and clank pans around. In this time, the Tinnitus either began to fade or I just got used to it.

Now, this wasn't a fast process by any means, there are pages missing. There was crying, swearing, praying, misery, and fear...but guess what...I'm here and I'm alive. A little over 3 months and I am watching t.v like before. I am listening to music, I walk to and from the gym and workout just as hard as before. I can read and not have the ringing bother me. In my own opinion, and how it worked for me is, you won't begin to cope with Tinnitus until you make yourself cope with Tinnitus. I'm not saying to rush yourself into it, but ease in. Your brain is so powerful and it WILL get used to it. My Tinnitus has several levels of ringing but it literally doesn't bother me. I sincerely hope anyone new (or old) to Tinnitus can stick it out and stops showing fear toward it. It sees the fear and uses it against you. Please live your life. DO NOT STOP BEING HAPPY. Now, I have had a few unanswered questions that others might have wondered about as well. So I'm going to leave a few things below that I wondered at one point.

1. Do you still use a gaming headset? Yes I do, with frequent breaks and medium volume.

2. Do you still use earbuds? No, I haven't touched them since my T began.

3. Does working out bother your T? No, it does not bother mine at all.

4. Does preworkout supplements make your T worse? Not at all, I was scared at first to get back into supplements, but it has had zero affect on me.

5. Does salt, spicy food, sugars, alcohol bother your T? Me personally, no. I've read about it spiking other peoples T but as for me, no.

If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer. Thanks for reading and BE HAPPY.