Tinnitus Since 1967

I started teaching school in 1967 as a band and choir director. The first time I noticed tinnitus really strong was after a Friday night basketball game. The band was loud, the crowd was louder and the whistles and horn were loudest. I was up for hours afterwards until it finally diminished.

However, after 17 years of band rehearsals, 10 x 12 rooms with 8 screaming trumpets, trap set lessons in 5 x 5 rooms and uncounted basketball games for 17 years, it no longer diminished. Changing to less noisy work didn't make it better but not worse either - actually it couldn't get much worse.

Then I had surgery on the back of my head in April, 2015 for another purpose and in the process the 8th cranial nerve - the one for my ear on the left side - was nicked or cut. Now I am totally deaf on the side of the tinnitus and it roars away unabated louder than ever.

What's really amazing is that much of the time I am able to tune it out. I don't let it get the best of me. After so many years of hearing it (48) I guess I have become accustomed to it - but I still don't like it!!

 

I'll be dead long before 48 years go by. If it takes that long to get used to it, I am well and truly screwed. A year and a half after being hit with tinnitus and I still lose it on occasion because it JUST. WON'T. STOP.

 

ive had almost 3 years and its slowly killing me.will never get used to it ...

 

There is a way to move forward with tinnitus, but one has to be realistic and learn to have a more positive outlook on life. If someone is looking for a complete cure of their tinnitus they will find it difficult to habituate (get used to it) and will make themselves miserable. We still have a life to live, so must try and make the best of it.

Positivity and tinnitus

For some people prolonged intrusive tinnitus can be very stressful and at times debilitating. This can sometimes lead to depression and a person may need to go on a course of antidepressants. I have been told in tinnitus forums and by email “It is great if you’re able to be positive, but simply telling someone to be more positive about tinnitus isn’t going to change anything”. I want to clarify here and now, that isn’t what I mean.

Thinking more positive about tinnitus and bringing positivity into your life takes time it isn’t achieved overnight or by simply thinking to yourself “I must be positive about my life”.

If a person wants to improve the quality of their life they have to be prepared to try and help themselves, because there is no wonder drug or operation that can cure tinnitus at this time. Unless a person faces these facts they will forever be trawling the Internet going from forum to forum complaining why there is no treatment for tinnitus when actually many of these people want a complete cure.

I once read a newspaper article that mentioned: nineteen out of twenty medical conditions cannot be cured. Someone once told me “I don’t want to be positive about tinnitus, I hate it, being positive wont make it go away".This is true, however, thinking more positive and bringing positivity into your life will reduce the perception on how you relate to tinnitus. CBT and TRT are based on having a positive attitude, without that these treatments aren’t effective.

Long before CBT, TRT and the Internet came on the scene Doctors have been telling tinnitus patients, there’s no cure you’ll have to learn to live with it. Most of us know this is easier said than done.

So how does one start to think more positive about their tinnitus and to bring positivity into their life?

The fact that someone with tinnitus is reading this page suggests to me their tinnitus for today at least isn’t so intrusive that they are able to function, for that I’m pleased because this is something positive, instead of lying in bed on medication doing nothing. If you are able to work that’s even better as your tinnitus isn’t so severe you’re incapacitated. I see this as something positive in a person’s life. Being able to earn a living and support yourself. Therefore, you’re able to do all the daily tasks one needs to survive in this world. You may have some difficulty granted, but you’re still achieving and that's progress.

It is still better than someone that is visually impaired or severely disabled and unable to earn a living. Or, people with severe tinnitus that are depressed and on medication and unable to work. So by looking at our own circumstances and seeing what we’re able to do and achieve we can think more positively about ourselves. There is nothing more satisfying than being independent and I suggest you hold onto those thoughts.

If you live by yourself consider getting a cat or a dog so your home environment won’t feel so lonely. If you have a partner and family think about spending some quality time with them, as this can help reinforce your sense of belonging, and the love that binds you together, then your T won’t make you feel so isolated. Sometimes opening up sharing your thoughts and how you feel can help immensely and keep negativity at bay.

I have just given a synopsis of what I believe can help a person’s quality of life improve with positive thinking. It doesn’t happen overnight but a lot can be achieved when one is prepared to try. By moving forwards and taking one day at a time you can occasionally look back and see how far you have come.

Michael

 

What do you mean "long before"? That's what doctors will tell you even today, as there is no cure for T.
CBT/TRT are only coping mechanisms at best, I wouldn't even consider them a treatment. In fact, I would go as far as considering them a "racket", especially TRT since it "promises" improvement in the same time frame that a person would actually achieve some sort of habituation without any help.

Anyway, the whole "positive" thinking is good I suppose if you are that sort of a person.
Unfortunately some of us are more calculating and pessimistic by design I guess, therefore believing in all these "mind over matter" pep-talks is a challenge in itself.

 

@undecided
We all know there is no cure for tinnitus but there is treatment available, as I have mentioned in my post. If a person chooses to have a pessimistic outlook on life and wants to blame tinnitus for this then that’s fine. However, I advise them to please stay away from tinnitus talk and not drag other people down with their negativity and pessimism, because many people come here for help and support and want to go on to live a fulfilling life, and it is possible in my opinion.

TRT, CBT are not "rackets" when administered correctly. I have had two courses of TRT in the 20 years that I’ve had tinnitus. Both lasted for two years and helped me. If one wants to feel sorry for themselves and can only find relief by moaning and groaning about their tinnitus, and why a cure hasn't been found. Please, seriously consider what I have said: stay away from tinnitus talk, because we don’t want it or need it.

Michael

PS: I will not be corresponding with you further, if your soul purpose is to cause unease and disquiet in this thread.

 

Who is "we"?
I didn't know I needed your permission to state my opinion or reply on these public forums.

 

Yes, as far as I'm aware TT is open to a wide range of opinions and viewpoints. @undecided expressed him/herself in a way that seems to me to be in keeping with the netiquette. As long as I've been a member great tolerance has been shown toward disagreement, so long as it is respectful. "Advising" people to stay away because they dare to disagree with you is not particularly respectful, however.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/netiquette-of-tinnitus-talk.1070/

 

The idea of having another constant noise on top of my tinnitus does not sound even remotely appealing to me. I'm very introverted. I love silence. Tinnitus has taken that away from me though.