Chit Chat and All That...

I nearly did de-boot to photograph a grimy foot for upload here, however, a small herd of black bulls (could've been steer) was lurking nearby and had us a bit nervous that we might need to, leg it, for cover! Hugged the tree though.

 

Some days be like:



And other days like:

 

You mentioned some time back that after your holidays you had a spike in your tinnitus? Have you figured out the cause of the spike? Airline travel? Noise? Got a belt on the ear while boxing?

In my case, most of the time I can relate tinnitus spikes back to: loud noise, a head cold or flu, herbs high in salicylate.

Just curious.

 

Hi @Joeseph Stope!

My tinnitus spikes just mostly randomly. That spike, like many others, got resolved by itself. They usually last one to two weeks, sometimes three. I used to try to figure out what triggered them, then I decided it was driving me nuts to do it, so I just wait until the storm passes. It's always scary.

I NEVER expose myself consciously to loud sounds by ALWAYS carrying ear protection with me. Two days ago I made 7 years with this crap and I've been obsessively cautious with my ears. Not paranoid, thankfully, just obsessed...

I train with foam earplugs on plus a very good quality headgear, in fact the most expensive out there. I have received many hardcore blows in my face and head but never had a spike afterwards.

Regards.

 

Before and finished first coat. Latest scrap wood from the shop.

 

Just made the third batch of wine. This is plum wine. It just settled down to even bubbling in the airlock.

 

I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist!

 

In case he pops in again, hi @Damocles, miss you.

 

Not sure if you’re around anymore, @aura. But I have your next Halloween costume idea. Alcina Dimitrescu. Search her up. She’s hot, from Romania, and if my memory serves me right, she kinda looks like you which is wild. WTF.

He reacted to my post!

 

I know! I saw it, lol.

 

lol. Hello @ZFire and @tpj.

Yeah, I had logged on with the intention of giving an update on my abysmal state of being, then realised I still didn't have the energy to give that update, so here it is (now):

Course was going well, had 100% attendance in classes and was meeting assignment deadlines, then last Wednesday morning started feeling "not right". By Wednesday night I've got fever, headache and pain all over my body. Had intended to get through the infection without using any drugs (like usual) because tinnitus spikes, but symptoms were so bad I couldn't even make it through the first night. Had to take paracetamol, which eventually made things bearable, but I still couldn't sleep.

Made the mistake of watching Don't Hug Me I'm Scared while in my insomniatic malaise, which made the whole thing feel like a fully interactive LSD trip. Felt so horrid I couldn't focus on anything anyway. Tried to start watching Dragon Ball Super at one point, but that just made the headache worse, so settled for watching Train to Busan for the 4th time.

Fever and headache etc. lasted for four days and I had to keep taking paracetamol regularly to get through it, which was spiking my tinnitus, but that had become a small price to pay to lower the fever at the time. Still, the most problematic symptom didn't develop until the Friday, when the whole of the back of my mouth, tonsils and throat, ulcerated. Couldn't eat or drink anything without it feeling like I was swallowing a dozen razor blades. And so that lasted five days. Five days I survived by eating (I say "eating", but it was more a torturous form of wrestling down my throat) nothing but one bowl of soup a day.

In short, a total nightmare. And the worst part is I've marred my 100% attendance record for this year. Of course I understand it's a good thing to take time off when you need it, but try explaining that to our communistic academic institutions. "Sick day? I'm sure we can find a better student who doesn't believe in such an inefficient and outdated concept.".

TL;DR:vLife was going well, then I caught the bastard of all bastard Flus and enjoyed a week in one of Hell's thousand realms along with spiked tinnitus from the constant need to pop paracetamol like Tic Tacs.

The spikes were temporary btw, tinnitus is back down but the illness has f*cked my already f*cked left Eustachian Tube, so equalisation is going to be off for a while it seems.

Apart from this I'm good, recovered and have a monster assignment to tackle this week.

Hope you're all keeping well.

 

@Damocles, it's really nice to hear from you again. Sorry you got so sick but very glad you've recovered and importantly, that your tinitus has gone down.

Take care x

 

Welcome back @Damocles. I knew something was brewing with you. I was the first to spot these anomalies I’ll have you know. You’ve trained me well.

Tell me about it! I had the same severe throat pain when I got caught COVID-19. It was one of the most sharpest throat pain I’ve ever experience. It felt like my whole tonsil area was being stabbed by a combat knife anytime I would swallow. I mean, the pain was so immense, that it made my tinnitus look trivial in comparison and I’m not exaggerating. I was unable to eat or drink for 2-3 days. Just impossible. I don’t want to experience that again.

I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better and your studies are going well apart from the 100% attendance. Swell update, no pun intended.

Yeah DB Super is mega trash. Not surprise it made you more sick. Should have warned you to avoid it like the plague it is, my bad dude.

 

Yeah he put a like on the tables I made from scrap wood he's sneaking in.

 

Today's story:

I had an aunt back in Ohio, she was out back of the Chiny laundry. Washing her dog, Chiny man came along, choked her to death.

It's easy to die. Easy to die.

 

That's interesting. Glad someone else knows what I'm talking about though.

Same, sh*t was surreal. I'm genuinely terrified it's going to come back.

Literally traumatised.

LOL.

I only made it 20 seconds into the intro of the first episode before my headache doubled in severity.

I had to lie in dark and silence for about 10 minutes before I could turn the TV back on.

Thanks @tpj.

Just wanted everyone else to know if they get this illness (like me and @ZFire have), they'll probably feel like they're going to die; so just take lots of paracetamol (as the spike is very unlikely to be anything but temporary) and hold on 'til the end of the week.

Hope you're okay (aside from the reason we're all here).

 

Oh, @ZFire...big boobs, Freddy Krueger metal glove, crazy eyes... that's so me!

Even though I think I will go with something really scary this Halloween.

It's a bit edgy but hey... isn't this what Halloween is all about?

So... no makeup for me this time. Just my pale face, dark circles and psychotic smile. That should scare the s*it out of everyone.

And yes, I'm still around. Watching you guys from the shadows. Waiting for someone to summon me

 

@aura, you have been gone for a bit. Hope you are doing well. We miss your smiling face. I'm summoning you. Now step forward.

Elmer

 

That's the spirit, D.

 

Yea come on, @aura don't stay away too long. Only a couple of months to go and we can wish each other another Happy Fucking New Year

 

I don't know... something about cats and sacks.

 

Thanks.

I'm just so inspired by our new Prime Minister.

 

It's all in the eyes.

 

Sigh. I was walking near a park this evening and some kids lit a firework near me then ran off. I was about 6-8 meters away and it was almost like one of those small aerial firework shells only exploding on the ground. Definitely illegal. It was much louder than being underneath an aerial firework and even kind of had an echo. You expect that sort of thing on the 4th of July, but not on Halloween! I guess they did it to 'scare' people that were out trick or treating.

Luckily I had foam earplugs in which helps some, but I'm still pretty shaken up and my ears feel more sensitive and tinnitus is a bit louder.

I've been dealing with reactive tinnitus and hypearcuisis for over six years, and sometimes I still don't know what to do. Sometimes when I have an additional trauma I try to recreate the event with hearing protection or otherwise estimate what my ears were exposed to in order to ease my mind (it's the engineer in me), but in cases like this it's nearly impossible to estimate.

 

Which one???

 

Gone, but glad to see not forgotten

I'm missing my smiling face too, not the best period of my life (tinnitus and hyperacusis worsening unfortunately...)

BUT this is Chit Chat & All That after all, so let's give people what they wanna see, bad jokes and juicy drama

The show must go on!

 

@UKBloke, friends don't tell friends that another year has passed and we're still around struggling whit this s*itty condition

 

Yes, quite. Anyhow, in case we don't speak before, Happy Fucking Bonfire Night