- May 18, 2018
- 50
- 27
- Tinnitus Since
- 2/2017
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Noise exposure (music festival)
Hi everyone,
I've read alot of stories on this forum, but I feel like I should share my own story and view on tinnitus. I hope some people will actually take the time to read this.
I always considered my life to be near perfect. Great friends, family, hobbies, education, etc.
I couldn't have wished for more than I had, but with this comes one great flaw. I wasn't prepared for any setbacks.
About 1,5 years ago one of my greatest hobbies, visiting festivals (hardstyle), stabbed me in the back. Or actually I stabbed myself in the back. Why would I not wear any earplugs!? I never experienced tinnitus before and I didn't even know what it was, until it was too late. I woke up after an indoor festival that turned the volume up WAAAAY too loud, and what I heared was awful. An extremely high pitched sound blasting in my left ear, almost like a dog whistle topping every other sound. From that moment I knew I screwed up. Doctors told me it'd go away after a few days, but something in me knew that wasn't true.
Fast forward to today, I've been through alot. So many setbacks but also better days. Unfortunately right know I'm kindof stuck in a setback. I feel like last year I coped so much better with my tinnitus then I do now (I don't feel like its louder, or at least not much, but I've been through alot the past year so I think its my awareness of it that has increased). The worst part is still doing all the fun things I did before I had tinnitus, but not having as much fun as back then. I feel like tinnitus is holding me back from truly enjoying myself in life.
Right now I feel like tinnitus is a game. I'm very certain that soon a way to treat tinnitus and hearing loss will be found. Companies like Decibel therapeutics and Frequency therapeutics are in a high-speed race to find a cure, and those are definitely not the only ones. There has never been so much research on restoring the inner ear than there is now, and the winner will be rewarded greatly. Its a very interesting time to have tinnitus indeed. But that's not the only part of this game. As a "sufferer" of tinnitus, it's our goal to not let this get us down, but instead make us stronger.
It all comes down to the powerful word of "Habituation". I feel like it should be my goal to get as far into habituation as I possibly can until we reach the point of having a cure. I want to be able to look back on this later in life and not think "that part of my life was hell", but instead think "that part of my life made me a stronger person". Perhaps this setback is just what I needed. Life isn't all fun and joy, it has its bad parts too. The better I learn to deal with these bad parts the easier my life is gonna be in the future.
Having said this, I hope my post, even though I have not yet habituated, encourages others to play this "game" with me. Right now my best way of coping is through keeping busy, and listening to tinnitus masking sounds when in a quiet room. What's your best way of coping right now?
Feel free to respond, start a discussion or share your own views. I'd love to hear from others that can relate to me in any way. And for those who actually read all of this, thanks. Sometimes having people hear your story can go a long way.
- Roy
I've read alot of stories on this forum, but I feel like I should share my own story and view on tinnitus. I hope some people will actually take the time to read this.
I always considered my life to be near perfect. Great friends, family, hobbies, education, etc.
I couldn't have wished for more than I had, but with this comes one great flaw. I wasn't prepared for any setbacks.
About 1,5 years ago one of my greatest hobbies, visiting festivals (hardstyle), stabbed me in the back. Or actually I stabbed myself in the back. Why would I not wear any earplugs!? I never experienced tinnitus before and I didn't even know what it was, until it was too late. I woke up after an indoor festival that turned the volume up WAAAAY too loud, and what I heared was awful. An extremely high pitched sound blasting in my left ear, almost like a dog whistle topping every other sound. From that moment I knew I screwed up. Doctors told me it'd go away after a few days, but something in me knew that wasn't true.
Fast forward to today, I've been through alot. So many setbacks but also better days. Unfortunately right know I'm kindof stuck in a setback. I feel like last year I coped so much better with my tinnitus then I do now (I don't feel like its louder, or at least not much, but I've been through alot the past year so I think its my awareness of it that has increased). The worst part is still doing all the fun things I did before I had tinnitus, but not having as much fun as back then. I feel like tinnitus is holding me back from truly enjoying myself in life.
Right now I feel like tinnitus is a game. I'm very certain that soon a way to treat tinnitus and hearing loss will be found. Companies like Decibel therapeutics and Frequency therapeutics are in a high-speed race to find a cure, and those are definitely not the only ones. There has never been so much research on restoring the inner ear than there is now, and the winner will be rewarded greatly. Its a very interesting time to have tinnitus indeed. But that's not the only part of this game. As a "sufferer" of tinnitus, it's our goal to not let this get us down, but instead make us stronger.
It all comes down to the powerful word of "Habituation". I feel like it should be my goal to get as far into habituation as I possibly can until we reach the point of having a cure. I want to be able to look back on this later in life and not think "that part of my life was hell", but instead think "that part of my life made me a stronger person". Perhaps this setback is just what I needed. Life isn't all fun and joy, it has its bad parts too. The better I learn to deal with these bad parts the easier my life is gonna be in the future.
Having said this, I hope my post, even though I have not yet habituated, encourages others to play this "game" with me. Right now my best way of coping is through keeping busy, and listening to tinnitus masking sounds when in a quiet room. What's your best way of coping right now?
Feel free to respond, start a discussion or share your own views. I'd love to hear from others that can relate to me in any way. And for those who actually read all of this, thanks. Sometimes having people hear your story can go a long way.
- Roy
Member
