I Don't Know If I'm Strong Enough

[Hil]

I have always been a fearful person. I'm not one of those tough, take the bull by the horns kind of people. I'm sensitive. Being sensitive has its good and bad points. I feel it's not helping me out much with this tinnitus situation. I am fairly new to tinnitus, but it's knocked me around already by additional sounds getting added on to what I first had. I don't have a "I can take whatever comes my way!" kind of attitude. I'm scared. Can this get any better over time? Will this teach me resiliency? Anyone who's been there, can you comment? (If it's positive!)

 

[Carlos1]

@Hil
Hi Hil I can tell you that time for sure will help you adjust to T. I never ever thought I could say that at the beginning but what time has shown me is that our brains adapt some people adapt quickly some take along time but it happens. I still have tough days like today my ears are ringing as I type but i'm more tolerant of it because of time.
I thought I was tough and could do anything I've run marathons and it doesn't compare to the battle of T.
What I'm saying is whether your strong or sensitive the fight is the same give your self time and I always tell myself "to be kind to your mind"
Stay strong Hil and give it time you'll be ok.

Carlos

 

[Samzen]

The most important thing about tinnitus is that you have to give yourself lots of time. Whether you hear one sound or multiple sounds doesn't matter. It just takes time for your brain to get used to things and soon it becomes easier to deal with. I know your sensitive but take a look at your life and the people you love and who love you. Beating this thing is the way to go, not giving up. Give it time, what have you got to lose. Stay busy, stay active let time pass. Tinnitus is a huge distraction and can block you from being you. You have to remember who you are and make a conscious effort to be you despite the tinnitus. Life is about facing challenges and overcoming them, sooner or later we all must face something. If you were never strong then it's time you learned to be.

 

[Gr8fulDude]

What @Carlos1 said. Give yourself time and you will habituate. I found yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises helpful. You are going to come out stronger. We are here for you.

 

[daniel1111]

I don't have a "I can take whatever comes my way!" kind of attitude

Tinnitus can debilitate anyone, including those that "can take whatever comes their way!". For those people, they are not used to feeling so vulnerable and it may actually hit them harder than the sensitive types when they lose the control they previously had.

This does get better with time and I'm sure you will start coping with it better than you do in the coming months.

 

[Radiohead]

I was in your situation 8 months ago and I was wondering the exact same thing. I'm also a sensitive person and prone to quickly give up and generally being pessimistic about things. I've suffered from panic attacks for years. Some of them were induced by health concerns like constantly being afraid of a heart attack. I was essentially afraid of not being in control.

When tinnitus hit me after a loud party I was absolutely mortified. Now I had this sound in my head that I couldnt control in any way. I lay awake at night and was very afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle it. I saw a dutch documentary about tinnitus only months before it happened and thought immediately that if I were to be confronted with tinnitus, I didn't want to live any more. It seemed like a prison and you're sentenced for life because there is no cure.

Flashforward eight months and I'm basically the same person as I was before. I think about tinnitus sometimes but no longer in the same negative manner as I did before. I don't like that it's there but there is literally nothing you can do about it. There is absolutely no use to try and fight it. It's going to do it's own thing and you just have to ride the wave. I get fleeting tinnitus sometimes (a short loud tv tone that dissapears after 10 seconds) and now I hardly blink. 8 months ago it would've driven me up the wall!

Mind you that I have mild tinnitus. I can hear it all the time but it's not that intrusive. But either mild or heavy tinnitus, the only thing you can do is accept it. Try to condition your thoughts in a neutral manner when you hear the sound. Try to disconnect your negative associations with the sound and take your time to let your attitude become neutral towards it. The weird thing is that I feel more confident now towards the way that I would handle other ailments. I didn't have one single panic attack since tinnitus hit me. It has made me stronger instead of weaker.

I wish you all the best in this difficult time. I am confident that you will overcome this. If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[Telis]

Tinnitus can debilitate anyone, including those that "can take whatever comes their way!". For those people, they are not used to feeling so vulnerable and it may actually hit them harder than the sensitive types when they lose the control they previously had.

So true

 

[Cheza]

Somebody wrote something on this forum that gave me a lot of hope in the beginning when the tinnitus was literally driving me mad (like pipes banging in a boiler room in my head). That person said that in time, your brain will become hardened to the sounds.

Well, right now my brain doesn't feel like it's hardened enough, but it's definitely better than where I was at almost two years ago when it began. It took a while, and I won't say how long because I don't want to influence you, but it became easier to deal with. Maybe by this time next year it will be even less of an issue.

For those people, they are not used to feeling so vulnerable and it may actually hit them harder than the sensitive types when they lose the control they previously had.

Amen.

 

[Claire43013]

I'm a very sensitive and fearful person too. I didn't realize that I even had a problem with anxiety until I developed tinnitus and hyperaccusis, increasing my already high levels of anxiety to full blown, almost non stop panic attacks. Now that I've habituated to tinnitus I'm still struggling with the anxiety, but I can tell you that T doesn't bother me at all anymore. I'm just on here to support others now, because I remember and know what you're going through. It also gives me perspective on the challenges I'm facing now. It takes time, patience, distraction, and a quiet internal determination to habituate to T. Whenever you "hear" it (it disturbs you, causes you panic, etc, this could be a hundred times a day) use a motto and distraction until you forget about it again. My words of affirmation when I heard my T were these "This sound is bothering me right now, but in the future it will not" (this acknowledges the pain, but it also reminded me that I was on the path to healing) then I would engross myself into the activity I was doing, or find something else to do that would distract me. After you do this long enough your brain will get the message and stop reacting so strongly to the sound. And that my friend, is when habituation begins : )