Sorry, for wanting to vent/rant... or needing a virtual hug.
Had a decent spike going on for about two weeks, tried to take it easy... which in wintery Canada generally means staying at home. I jog now and then and find it a great way to remove the stress/anxiety from me during a spike... it usually spikes after the exercise then subsides to it's pre-jogging level but overall the endorphins or whatever "feel good" chemicals generally make me "at ease" with whatever tinnitus or spike I have.
Last Thursday, running in a quiet park... and I heard what I thought was a snowblower way off in the distance of the crisp winter air. I thought okay, well it's far away and won't bother me... but as I got within 200m of my car, it turned out to be a helicopter (a Eurocopter AS 350 B3 for aviation buffs, not the quietest on the block)... flying directly over me at about 900 ft (according to FlightRadar 24).
Stupidly, if I had recognized it earlier I could have put my plugs in... but I froze dead in my tracks with my worse ear turned to the chopper. I reckon it peaked around 85-90 dB with the whole episode lasting about 20 seconds from the time the noise became unbearable and until it passed. I held my hands over my ears, which I now reckon does nothing for attenuation, except for the really high frequencies.
Needless to say, my ears the next day were spiked even more with the second day after worse (I always seem to have a delayed reaction... or is that delayed hearing loss setting in?). Debated about Prednisone... but after being on it early in January for a short course, decided against it (made me way too panicky)... it was "only" around 85db for a very short time, so I thought it wouldn't warrant it.
Flash forward to today (Thursday)... talking on the friend to an associate in my office, when I hear the familiar rumble. Same day, different time, same chopper and almost same route (closer to me than the previous route of course). At one point my room began to rumble, so I opened the door and stepped out only to hear the whine in my house after a curious family member decided to open the back door (in the freezing weather) and take a look at the chopper. FFS.
Then I am sitting watching the CBS Evening News and they have a report about Trump and they cut to a clip of his now infamous (in my mind) "heading to the chopper press conferences"... and I get the full-on whine of Marine One in my living room. Despite keeping the volume low, the networks definitely boost the gain on these clips so you can actually hear what he is saying... along with the noise of his chopper.
Is it just me or does anybody hate these contraptions with a passion? I used to think commercial jets were a nuisance, but I think I have found a new foe in trying to keep some peace and sanity in my life.
Whats especially bothersome is that I was planning to head on a long-deserved trip overseas within a week or two (I somehow find my peace with the world in a swimming pool in Bali under the stars).... but now with this all-time-high tinnitus, flying is way out of the question. I often feel like my body is keeping me prisoner here.
Had a decent spike going on for about two weeks, tried to take it easy... which in wintery Canada generally means staying at home. I jog now and then and find it a great way to remove the stress/anxiety from me during a spike... it usually spikes after the exercise then subsides to it's pre-jogging level but overall the endorphins or whatever "feel good" chemicals generally make me "at ease" with whatever tinnitus or spike I have.
Last Thursday, running in a quiet park... and I heard what I thought was a snowblower way off in the distance of the crisp winter air. I thought okay, well it's far away and won't bother me... but as I got within 200m of my car, it turned out to be a helicopter (a Eurocopter AS 350 B3 for aviation buffs, not the quietest on the block)... flying directly over me at about 900 ft (according to FlightRadar 24).
Stupidly, if I had recognized it earlier I could have put my plugs in... but I froze dead in my tracks with my worse ear turned to the chopper. I reckon it peaked around 85-90 dB with the whole episode lasting about 20 seconds from the time the noise became unbearable and until it passed. I held my hands over my ears, which I now reckon does nothing for attenuation, except for the really high frequencies.
Needless to say, my ears the next day were spiked even more with the second day after worse (I always seem to have a delayed reaction... or is that delayed hearing loss setting in?). Debated about Prednisone... but after being on it early in January for a short course, decided against it (made me way too panicky)... it was "only" around 85db for a very short time, so I thought it wouldn't warrant it.
Flash forward to today (Thursday)... talking on the friend to an associate in my office, when I hear the familiar rumble. Same day, different time, same chopper and almost same route (closer to me than the previous route of course). At one point my room began to rumble, so I opened the door and stepped out only to hear the whine in my house after a curious family member decided to open the back door (in the freezing weather) and take a look at the chopper. FFS.
Then I am sitting watching the CBS Evening News and they have a report about Trump and they cut to a clip of his now infamous (in my mind) "heading to the chopper press conferences"... and I get the full-on whine of Marine One in my living room. Despite keeping the volume low, the networks definitely boost the gain on these clips so you can actually hear what he is saying... along with the noise of his chopper.
Is it just me or does anybody hate these contraptions with a passion? I used to think commercial jets were a nuisance, but I think I have found a new foe in trying to keep some peace and sanity in my life.
Whats especially bothersome is that I was planning to head on a long-deserved trip overseas within a week or two (I somehow find my peace with the world in a swimming pool in Bali under the stars).... but now with this all-time-high tinnitus, flying is way out of the question. I often feel like my body is keeping me prisoner here.