Is Tinnitus the Only Condition for Which People Blame Themselves?
- Thread starter Charles_T
- Start date
Member
Tinnitus is real deal, it destroy lot of ppl harming themselves. We all want to live . Everyone opinions here can save a life and give ppl hope going on living.
"Hahahahahahaha........threefirefour !!
You know - you're alright
.........er........in small doses....x"
I never said to use those methods, but they are available as an option to everyone.
I've had mild tinnitus since I was 19 (I'm 35 now). What I have now is nowhere near the same. It's very intrusive, multitonal, and includes static and hissing noises, and electrical zaps. I can hear it over a motorway for example (freeway), quite easily, because of the high pitched dentist drill that fills my head.
I've had all of those. I don't think you realise how bad my journey has been. Do you think it's been all sunshine and rainbows for me? I actually looked into the most peaceful ways to kill myself at one point. It was unbearable. I had no concentration and I could barely get out of bed. Admittedly, the hyperacusis was not extreme, but I did have it at one point and I still do to some extent.
I get that you are suffering. When it's bad, it's really bad, and I HAVE experienced what you're going through. I've got to pick you up on point 7, because you're saying that only people with mild tinnitus habituate, which is not true. Are you saying that I have mild tinnitus?
You say that nothing works, but here I am 3 years on after my ears got trashed, and I'm saying it's very possible. I am the living proof along with many others in the real world and on here. @I who love music, @billie48, @fishbone etc spring to mind off the top of my head.
If you don't believe it's possible then it never will be. You have to be open to all possibilities and be willing to accept your situation, or your mind will become so obsessed that it will never let go. I didn't believe all this either back in the day; I was too pissed off at life to look at anything positively, and I think you're still in that stage. I'm only trying to help by sharing my experience. What you take from that is entirely up to you, but I wish you well.
This is hypervigilance which is based upon fear (rather than obsession as mentioned upthread). The hypervigilant person is always on the alert and expecting some sort of threat or something terrible to happen - whether it be tinnitus or loud noises (or something else). A person wearing ear plugs is expecting some awful loud noise and will remain hypervigilant (and yes, run away from noises that are safe for normal ears)
That's exactly what some of us are trying to say though. The sooner you fully accept what's happened to you, the better, as only then can you try to move on. If you wait for a cure it can make things worse because we tend to sit around and ruminate all day, and that's a very good way of letting negative thoughts control your life. We can't live in limbo, it simply doesn't work. We need goals and aims moving forward to give us a sense of purpose. Without purpose we set ourselves up for depression. It's a very hard vicious cycle to get out of, but people are capable of overcoming the most challenging of conditions. There's nothing stronger than the human spirit if you believe in it. We are all capable of great things, we just need to learn to tap into it.
Rajin you are very kind, and a gentleman.
Your words are fine.
Very best wishes to you my friend,
Jazzer
Dave x
I'm not offended in the slightest. I'm trying to be as blunt as possible with my answer. I understand how you are feeling, and I really mean that. I can't tell you how long I waited for a cure to come along; back then I saw it as my only hope. At the time it was Autifony's drug, AUT00063, that we were all following as it was seen as the potential breakthrough that was going to save us all. It failed in phase 2 and left a lot of people devastated, including myself. It's strange how things can change. When you're going through hell, you can say what you want, it's totally understandable.
Of my friends and family, none of them wear earplugs in loud places. The only ones I've met wearing earplugs that I've mentioned are the musician and there was another guy in a success story that I wrote. Basically I was at a black tie event and I saw a guy wearing earplugs at the bar so I asked him straight up if he had tinnitus. He said he did, but that he had plugs because of his hyperacusis. At this another guy tapped me on the shoulder and said 'did you mention tinnitus', I said 'yea', and he said 'I have it as well'. To cut a long story short he had quite a severe case as he could still hear his over the noise in the room. We both joked that we thought we were the only people in the room, with a crazy ringing noise, that could be heard above the background noise. Incidentally, I don't remember him wearing any plugs, but I may be wrong. I remember him saying he had it for 10 years or more.
It's anecdotes like this that make me wonder if my ear is really more vulnerable to noise than a non-tinnitus ear. When I first had my acoustic trauma, I immediately assumed that a few things were off limits to me, but it was only a few things (mainly my ipod and concerts). But after the noise exposure I had in February and the TTTS symptoms it triggered (though without increasing my T), I started doing research. That's when I learned that vacuums are dangerous and the dentist is my mortal enemy. But when I read about so many people who don't use ear protection, I start to wonder.
Do you know if there's any medical or scientific information that states whether or not tinnitus ears are more vulnerable to damage than non-tinnitus ears?
Nobody knows. There is no concrete proof either way. At least, not that I know of.
fishbone
Member
- May 5, 2016
- 2,594
- Tinnitus Since
- 1988
- Cause of Tinnitus
- loud noise and very bad sickness
@SugarMagnolia I had an actual explosion go off a hundred yards away from me two weeks ago and it was loud as hell....nothing happened to my T. Today I woke up and it was bothering me so I fretted and got super anxious about it again and now it's raging. In my experience anxiety is way worse than sound.
- Jun 6, 2013
- 1,373
- Tinnitus Since
- January 2002
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Dental Surgery
Yes - for all your questions @Ed209. The ATA had a huge program created and implemented in 2004. It was to help tinnitus patients. A lot of money was given and the program lasted a few years. It was successful until egos took over thinking that "research funding" was now taking over the organization. They made a big mistake.
Programs to help the sufferers at that time was a bridge for the reason for donating to research and the assistance program. But EGO took over. The program was axed. And the organization started failing big time.
That is the problem. EGO among those within any organization pushing for their own personal reasons. EGO to become the tinnitus king and only source for information.
Tinnitus Talk is going to make a difference in the years to come. It is not based on making personal financial gains for retirement off of sufferers. I don't think anyone could become rich enough to do that.
A bridge connecting the tinnitus suffering and a reason for increased research and better medical treatment was the goal back then in 2004 to 2006. But EGO from others killed it off. They were more concerned about getting the attention directly.
And it still goes on.
Blame is not on the tinnitus sufferers. Blame for me is a bad dental surgeon having an off day. Blame is on those who don't use funding wisely.
Blame is on no-one, really, unless someone causes one damage directly. I just don't think it helps to complain, about the lack of a cure, because it holds most people back in my opinion. And the ones who usually complain the most that there are no treatments, or a cure, do nothing to help change that. I'm from the school that believes we should help contribute towards the changes we wish to see. I just don't think we should expect miracles to save us.
A lot of other conditions generate a lot of money for research, but tinnitus doesn't, it's as simple as that. We can't expect a cure anytime soon with next to no money to look for one.
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This is exactly the type of ignorant thinking amongst the tinnitus community I was talking about when I started this thread.
While there is no guarantee that money would give us a cure for Tinnitus it would certainly improve the chances of a cure for Tinnitus. Cancer in some forms actually can be cured these days. For example last year my wife's dad got cancer and then he had chemotherapy and surgery and he was cured. It would not have been possible 20 years ago. Things change over time and the man is alive as a result.
Spreading awareness to people who dont know about the condition and explaining it to them and/or helping fund research for a cure will go a long ways to help.
But most of those are treatable. Tinnitus isn't. Tinnitus research operates on a shoestring budget so yeah a little money can go a long way. If you're gonna donate focus on that.
I'm very sorry that you feel this way about my post @Charles_T but as I'm sure you are aware, as there are so many possible causes of tinnitus, it can be difficult to nail a specific cause in some people.
I agree, tinnitus can make people very depressed - suicidal even, but, if a cure can't be found for tinnitus, then logically, one has to try and treat the underlying depression.
I would be interested as to why you think I'm an "ignorant thinker".
I too have tinnitus (otherwise I wouldn't be here); I have been to some dark places myself but refuse to let tinnitus rule my life. In my own humble opinion, there are far worse conditions such as cancer, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer's etc.etc. I'm not demeaning tinnitus but just trying to look at it in perspective to other conditions
I understand what you are saying, but ironically in order for me to have a purpose, I need my good hearing. I do admit that my original post wasn't about accepting the condition, but rather if I knew I had no chance of recovery, I wouldn't be writing this, I would be dead by now and not regretting my decision one bit.
I guess the way I see it is the same as living life as a blind person: yes, you can have a life and maybe have a purpose, but that's not a life I want to live and the option is not even open for a discussion.
I realize this thread has moved on but I finally have a spare moment to respond.
I protect my hearing in my bad ear out of a reasonable belief — supported by multiple audiograms — that I have severe hearing loss for all frequencies at 6k and above. As one audiologist put it, my cochlea is a quick slide to 4k. All of those hair cells that should still be there, that should eventually die through presbycusis or even still be intact when I'm old and gray, well they are already long gone. The better I protect 4k, the longer I can go without a hearing aid.
It's not unlike the caution I take with my eyesight to avoid reading in poor lighting. But just like my eyesight, I recognize that brief experiences — like glancing at a menu in a dark restaurant or hearing a child scream — are not going to leave me suddenly blind and deaf.
Because duration matters. I protect against actual, continuous unsafe noise levels. I think that is the catch. Some people argue that a door slamming once will damage hearing. Unless it's true acoustic trauma (an explosion, gun shot), our hair cells are not going to suddenly curl up and die because a door slammed. If the hair cells of tinnitus sufferers are that weak and vulnerable, hearing loss would be apparent on audiograms for all of us. Or on acoustic emissions tests which can actually show damage before it is apparent on audiograms.
I do not use ear plugs because I'm afraid a loud noise will suddenly happen. I use ear plugs because I am in a loud environment for an extended period of time. And by loud I mean above 80dB.
I feel like I'm missing things, but I have to run again! If you'd like a specific run down of where I use ear protection, let me know.
@Tinker Bell
From what I've read, anything 85db or higher is dangerous for everyone if it is for an extended period of time. If that's true, you're only protecting a little more than everyone should protect.
According to the chart I looked at, a lot of everyday things are higher than 85db and they're not all brief exposures. This makes me wonder how everyone does these things everyday without a problem. For example, the subway is 95db and people ride everyday. I used to ride everyday. I never had a problem. (My T came from an accident with a speaker phone.)
From what I've read, anything 85db or higher is dangerous for everyone if it is for an extended period of time. If that's true, you're only protecting a little more than everyone should protect.
According to the chart I looked at, a lot of everyday things are higher than 85db and they're not all brief exposures. This makes me wonder how everyone does these things everyday without a problem. For example, the subway is 95db and people ride everyday. I used to ride everyday. I never had a problem. (My T came from an accident with a speaker phone.)
- Jun 6, 2013
- 1,373
- Tinnitus Since
- January 2002
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Dental Surgery
@Ed209
I agree with you Ed. One reason, a big reason for me personally participating on Tinnitus Talk is the fact that both Steve and Markku are doing exactly what you wrote about. They do so much to "contribute towards the changes we wish to see." Steve travels so much at his own expense and time going to tinnitus conferences and representing all of us with tinnitus. Markku created this place and the moderators help maintain a place for all of us.
I never want to see their efforts fail. So by supporting TT it seems to help the cause and the need for good research.
I am too afraid to tell my story openly. But Markku helped me get here and knows the background and how I am taking small steps just getting back into things about tinnitus.
@threefirefour Exactly!! Well stated.
OMG. It is like what came first the chicken or the egg. A circle without any way to get out. I remember my first ENT appointment with the highest rated hearing related office in Los Angeles. And I was told I was depressed and needed ADs. F-that thought. Of course I was depressed because I had intrusive tinnitus and don't tell me an AD will cure that type of depression.
So just what are we supposed to do? I had to find my own path and even today it isn't easy.
I agree with you Ed. One reason, a big reason for me personally participating on Tinnitus Talk is the fact that both Steve and Markku are doing exactly what you wrote about. They do so much to "contribute towards the changes we wish to see." Steve travels so much at his own expense and time going to tinnitus conferences and representing all of us with tinnitus. Markku created this place and the moderators help maintain a place for all of us.
I never want to see their efforts fail. So by supporting TT it seems to help the cause and the need for good research.
I am too afraid to tell my story openly. But Markku helped me get here and knows the background and how I am taking small steps just getting back into things about tinnitus.
@threefirefour Exactly!! Well stated.
OMG. It is like what came first the chicken or the egg. A circle without any way to get out. I remember my first ENT appointment with the highest rated hearing related office in Los Angeles. And I was told I was depressed and needed ADs. F-that thought. Of course I was depressed because I had intrusive tinnitus and don't tell me an AD will cure that type of depression.
So just what are we supposed to do? I had to find my own path and even today it isn't easy.
CBT, psychotherapy and TRT - possibly neuromodulation if proved successful.
Unless you can come up with some better ideas ?
I agree with you one million percent. Unfortunately, TT doesn't get anywhere near as many donations as it should (and deserves) and I include that in my original statement about affecting the change we wish to see. Some complain a lot, but don't even attempt to look for solutions, and don't appear to help in any meaningful way. That's just how I see it.
If I could, I would add a link here and see who wants to donate to TT for all the efforts Markku, Steve, and all the other volunteers have put into this site. I will donate £50 ($70) right now. Who wants to join me? It doesn't have to be the same amount; just donate whatever you can. If we all really want to help the cause then why not?
Who's with me?
Well done @Contrast 
Although now I'm thinking: weren't you always a benefactor?
If anyone is on the fence just donate a small amount. There's enough of us here to help TT achieve some of its goals. The time some of these guys are spending behind the scenes - for the benefit of all of us - is astounding, and I think we could do more to help support them. After all, it's for the benefit of everyone here who is suffering with tinnitus, including all future users.
Although now I'm thinking: weren't you always a benefactor?
If anyone is on the fence just donate a small amount. There's enough of us here to help TT achieve some of its goals. The time some of these guys are spending behind the scenes - for the benefit of all of us - is astounding, and I think we could do more to help support them. After all, it's for the benefit of everyone here who is suffering with tinnitus, including all future users.
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