Here I Go Again

#92
Ed209 said:
I totally get where you're coming from lequack, I'm the same as well but I was a lot worse a few months back.

If someone or something goes bang nearby my instinct is to check on my ears, but you know what? I've decided that doing this all the time is just as bad for my sanity! Once the loud noise has happened there is nothing we can do about it, it's in the past. If you feel its warrantied and the bangs are dangerous, then get yourself some impulse ear plugs.

Other than that life has to go on, we can't all quit our jobs and stay at home all day. Try not to let these issues get you down.
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Thanks man, what you are saying is all true. Just wish I could convince myself that what's past is past. I keep thinking about what if I had done this or that, than this wouldn't have happened. Like it's my fault for being so stupid to stand there while my coworker was cleaning the dishes and not expecting this to happen somehow.
 
#93
It's just how were wired up, we can't help who we are. We can however change our thought processes if we repeat behaviours enough. Similar to how CBT works. Anytime you find yourself reacting in a way that doesn't benefit you, stop yourself and refocus on something else. If you drill this process in enough you can retrain your thought process from: "I've now damaged my ears and it's my fault; why did I have to stand there. My day is ruined", into: "Another loud bang, oh well who could have expected that. I think ill make some plans for the weekend later and find something fun to do."

I'll restate that if you feel your ears are genuinely being damaged then buy some impulse ear plugs for further peace of mind.

Quick impulsive sounds are usually not dangerous until they get into the high decibels though. The only time I'd get worried nowadays is if someone let a firecracker off near me, or fired a gun etc.
 
#94
Ed209 said:
It's just how were wired up, we can't help who we are. We can however change our thought processes if we repeat behaviours enough. Similar to how CBT works. Anytime you find yourself reacting in a way that doesn't benefit you, stop yourself and refocus on something else. If you drill this process in enough you can retrain your thought process from: "I've now damaged my ears and it's my fault; why did I have to stand there. My day is ruined", into: "Another loud bang, oh well who could have expected that. I think ill make some plans for the weekend later and find something fun to do."

I'll restate that if you feel your ears are genuinely being damaged then buy some impulse ear plugs for further peace of mind.

Quick impulsive sounds are usually not dangerous until they get into the high decibels though. The only time I'd get worried nowadays is if someone let a firecracker off near me, or fired a gun etc.
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How do you tell if my ears are being damaged though? I mean I didn't feel any instant ear pain or sudden ringing/muffled hearing after the noise exposure. But I don't know that I can rely just on that fact.
 
#95
LeQuack said:
How do you tell if my ears are being damaged though? I mean I didn't feel any instant ear pain or sudden ringing/muffled hearing after the noise exposure. But I don't know that I can rely just on that fact.
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I would say it's highly unlikely, but for peace of mind it may be of benefit in your case. Life is full of loud impulse sounds, they rarely reach the "instant damage" territory though.
 
#96
Here to do more complaining. Just as I was recovering from yesterday's incident today again I was in staircase at work walking down when someone up made a loud noise like slamming something and it echoed all through the staircase. Why can't I have a normal day. Why are people such assholes. Why is the world against me. This world is an awful place to live.
 
#97
I was hoping the recent noises wouldn't have any effect but it seems my right ear now has worsened because I hear a slight hissing now and for the past two days I've been getting random sharp electrical pain in that ear, it's weird like it just comes out of the blue and lasts for a second and then it's normal again.
 
#98
I am almost 100% sure that your hearing new noises and experiencing those weird sensations because you're 100 % focused on your T 24/7.
You think the world has turned against you because of door slamming etc in your office when the truth is that it happens to all of us. I hear loud noises practically everyday. Someone slamming a door, the neighbors dog barking, a child with a balloon exploding next to me.
Your reaction to it is what makes T worse I guarantee you. Whenever I go out and worry too much about how it influences my T I get the same result. Louder T, new noise, etc.
if you want to change something you really need to see a psychologist or start some kind of behavior therapy. You're constantly on high alert and that's what makes you feel miserable. I think we all go through phases like that but for you it seems like you're currently too much into that high alert depression state and you need some help to stop it, get out and better and move on.
 
#99
I agree with @seal, you are definitely paying too much attention to your T. You will never be able to avoid doors slamming, baby's crying, dogs barking etc. The only thing you can do is wear earplugs all the time, which I personally don't recommend. Using earplugs may help you cope with your situation, but it may also enforce a new behaviour on you believing it's not safe to go outside without them. You may find it hard to ween yourself off using them if your behaviour is obsessive and it's also not good for the health of your ears to have them plugged all the time.

Our ears need ventilation so plugging them all the time can breed infections amongst other things. You also have to think about it from a safety point of view, if your hearing is impeded you may find yourself in a dangerous situation and not even realise it. I will say though that if using them for the next few weeks/months can bring your anxiety back down to normal levels, then it may benefit you. That's as long as you can stop using them afterwards and not make it a permanent solution.

Seeing a psychologist or a counsellor may be the best way to go.
 
#101
LeQuack said:
I was hoping the recent noises wouldn't have any effect but it seems my right ear now has worsened because I hear a slight hissing now and for the past two days I've been getting random sharp electrical pain in that ear, it's weird like it just comes out of the blue and lasts for a second and then it's normal again.
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Bad news, the spike from last week is still there I'm afraid, the hissing in my right ear. Don't know if it was a one specific event that did it or maybe just the damage accumulated but it doesn't seem to be going away and it's waking me up at night. Very worried now. The shooting electrical pain in my right ear is gone now, but I am guessing it was probably related to the new sound that I am now having. :(
 
#103
Hi Lequack,
It wouldn't hurt to see your doctor and see if can give you anything and check your ears again....lots of love glynis
 
#105
I know it doesn't help for me to say this, (it's like expecting a depressed person to feel better because you tell them to snap out of it) but I'd say your biggest problem is anxiety. You need to regain control it's the only way you can move forward. At this point tinnitus is secondary, you have to get your anxiety under control. It may be time to seek professional help to help get you there.
 
#106
LeQuack said:
Well today I stupidly dropped my phone while on the toilet at work, and it's an enclosed space and tiled floors so it made a great loud noise when it landed. Luckily it didn't break at least, but it made me worry again because of the noise.
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You dropped a piece of plastic on the floor from what 2 feet high? It couldn't possible have been more than 70 db.

As many others have pointed our, tinnitus is likely not the main problem here.
 
#107
Nucleo said:
You dropped a piece of plastic on the floor from what 2 feet high? It couldn't possible have been more than 70 db.

As many others have pointed our, tinnitus is likely not the main problem here.
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It was a glass Galaxy S6, if it was plastic it probably really wouldnt make a lot of noise.
 
#108
LeQuack said:
It was a glass Galaxy S6, if it was plastic it probably really wouldnt make a lot of noise.
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still unlikely to be more than about 70 db.

You need to stop obsessing and worrying over every little sound; if you can't find a way to do that, you're going to keep revving yourself up forever.

You have a few different problems, LeQuack. You have an unpleasant and unfortunate condition with your ears, which you may or may not ever be able to really medically address. But this is all caught up with a bunch of aberrant, self-reinforcing feedback loops of anxiety and primal fear, which do not have to have a long-term connection to the ear problems themselves. Breaking those links is likely to be difficult, but I am optimistic that it's possible to do so.
 
#109
linearb said:
still unlikely to be more than about 70 db.

You need to stop obsessing and worrying over every little sound; if you can't find a way to do that, you're going to keep revving yourself up forever.

You have a few different problems, LeQuack. You have an unpleasant and unfortunate condition with your ears, which you may or may not ever be able to really medically address. But this is all caught up with a bunch of aberrant, self-reinforcing feedback loops of anxiety and primal fear, which do not have to have a long-term connection to the ear problems themselves. Breaking those links is likely to be difficult, but I am optimistic that it's possible to do so.
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It sure is difficult. But on the other hand yesterday I went cycling for an hour and didn't wear any ear plugs and was not bothered by outside noise or wind. I am more allergic to sudden loud noises, or even afraid of them. And today's sudden noise was more in a 90-100 dB range I think, which is why I worry. Well hopefully I can live through it somehow.
 
#110
LeQuack said:
It sure is difficult. But on the other hand yesterday I went cycling for an hour and didn't wear any ear plugs and was not bothered by outside noise or wind. I am more allergic to sudden loud noises, or even afraid of them. And today's sudden noise was more in a 90-100 dB range I think, which is why I worry. Well hopefully I can live through it somehow.
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You're going to be fine :) Noises have to be orders of magnitude louder than 100db to be immediately damaging.

edit: don't get me wrong, sometimes I wince when I drop a dish or someone slams a car door or something. It used to send me into a blind panic. Now it just makes me wince and maybe blink one eye and cock my head, and then I go right back to whatever I was doing.
 
#111
So today my ears got assaulted by a dog. I was cycling up the hill so I was going very slow and there was a woman with a medium sized dog walking and I could see the dog was being aggressive and coming towards me and sure enough it came right next to me and started barking loudly. It wasn't until the woman finally pulled him away that he stopped but the damage was already done. I feel like shit now and I will probably give up cycling, too many fucking dogs.
 
#114
@LeQuack

I feel for you but I'm going to give you some tough love. Did you use any earplugs? Especially the impulse ones? If not, why not? Last time you posted it was established you had a phobia of all loud sounds; so as a short term method of overcoming this we mentioned the use of ear plugs and professional help (counselling, CBT etc). Have you done any of these to help yourself?

Whenever we have problems in life, no matter what those problems are, there are nearly always ways of overcoming them but we have to make the first steps. There is only so much people on a forum can say to help you, the rest is up to you.

Hang in there you can beat this but you must make the effort.
 
#115
Sorry to burden you guys with my problems again but I just have to vent. I was doing pretty okay this week, no loud incidents, that is, until today.

I was sitting and having a cup of coffee with my friend when nearby some guy emptied a whole bin of glass into a trash can, also full of glass. It was so loud I almost jumped out of the chair. :( Even my friend commented on the loud noise, even though he doesn't have T. And now my day is ruined again. I wasn't expecting something like that at all, and even though I lately try to protect my ears, it's hard to sit and talk to people with earplugs because my voice sounds so weird and loud and it's hard to tell how loud you're talking. Screw this world.
 
#116
LeQuack said:
Sorry to burden you guys with my problems again but I just have to vent. I was doing pretty okay this week, no loud incidents, that is, until today.

I was sitting and having a cup of coffee with my friend when nearby some guy emptied a whole bin of glass into a trash can, also full of glass. It was so loud I almost jumped out of the chair. :( Even my friend commented on the loud noise, even though he doesn't have T. And now my day is ruined again. I wasn't expecting something like that at all, and even though I lately try to protect my ears, it's hard to sit and talk to people with earplugs because my voice sounds so weird and loud and it's hard to tell how loud you're talking. Screw this world.
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Hi
Sorry to hear you're having a hard time. I think it is really hard to wear earplugs and chat to people and probably isnt necessary unless you are having coffee on a firing range. But sounds like you're doing pretty well in meeting up with friends and working and so forth. Hope you get a better week nexk week.
 
#117
barnacle said:
Hi
Sorry to hear you're having a hard time. I think it is really hard to wear earplugs and chat to people and probably isnt necessary unless you are having coffee on a firing range. But sounds like you're doing pretty well in meeting up with friends and working and so forth. Hope you get a better week nexk week.
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It's these sudden loud noises that are killing me. And it's usually really loud as in not just loud by my standards but actually loud enough to cause damage. Like today with the glass bin, sounded like 100dB at least, which is enough to cause permanent damage. :(
 
#118
No offense man, but why do you keep posting the same thing over and over? At this stage, what is the point to the posts? Are you hoping that someone comes up with a better answer than the last 20 times that you heard a noise and posted about it?
 
#119
Telis said:
No offense man, but why do you keep posting the same thing over and over? At this stage, what is the point to the posts? Are you hoping that someone comes up with a better answer than the last 20 times that you heard a noise and posted about it?
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Just venting I guess. Don't have anyone in real life I can complain to about my troubles unfortunately.
 

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