It Will Get Better for Everyone Who Wants It To

[Ricardo1991]

I would like to start this by saying that I still have tinnitus. This isn't a letter to say it goes away or whatever; all I want to say it gets better.

The last time I posted on this forum, I was attacked by people who want me and others to live as miserably as they do. Truth is, they were probably miserable before tinnitus. So if you don't like me or what I have to say, I politely ask you to turn around and go on as you were.
Thank you.

This is a letter to all those who visit this forum without joining in the hopes they'll see some positivity - there is.
When I first developed tinnitus, I was so scared. I cried every day because of this noise in my ears.
The doctors said it was probably an infection, took the treatment, etc. Nothing changed.
I had steroids injected into my ears; did not do anything either. Didn't even bring my hearing back (Hearing loss dip at 4500 hz).
Anyways, I don't want to go into a ton of details. My point is that things will get better for you. YOU just have to make things better for yourself.

Get some exercise
Learn to cook new recipes
Do crafts
Learn a new language
Whatever floats your boat

I always thought, "I just want to go back and live my life again like it was!"
Now, I say Fuck that! I am going to live an even better life!
I treat myself now! I used to second guess everything, especially when I bought myself stuff. Now, I get massages, eat good food, I wear nice clothes, I get good haircuts, I bought bath bombs... basically everything and anything that I can do to make myself feel better about myself.
Tinnitus is just a tiny part of who I am. It's there, I can hear it most times. When I watch TV, when I am cooking, when I am working, in loud restaurants, during conversations, I can still pick up on my tinnitus. I am 5 months down the road and I can't say it's any less or louder than it was before. It's just there.
What caused it? Not sure, I don't think I'll ever know. But why do I need to know? It's been pretty much established that this is a condition that will not go away; so I should just accept it as part of my body and carry on as I was.
I only visit this site to access the tinnitus tracks (which I'm very thankful for, the birdsong and water gets me through work so beautifully).

Here's the other stuff I do (aka treatment).

So over the past 5 months, I've tried just about everything to 'cure' me.
I've done:
Acupuncture
Reiki
Holistic remedies
Meditation
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Chiropractic work
Diet

Here are my thoughts
Acupuncture - definitely worth a shot. When the guy touched the needle on my left hand I heard a "ting-ting-ting!" in my left ear. It definitely is a cool experience. I am actually due for another treatment soon.

Reiki - definitely worth a shot too; it definitely had some effect on my ears. I felt sensations throughout my body that were very cool/ weird. I haven't continued this because of the cost factor and it's just not my thing.

Holistic remedies - Not sure if they work or not. Can't say and won't say, but I don't do this anymore.

Meditation - do this. It will make you feel better by coming to terms that you have this condition. Back to Silence technique is great. I tell myself (out loud), "I hear it, it makes me feel _____". Don't question how it works, just do it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine - I feel like it has some sort of effect on me. I take Er Ming Zuo Ci Wan, 16 pills dissolved in water 3-4 times a day (twice the dosage, but then again I'm a very tall and burly guy). However, this is a very very very slow acting medicine; you have to take it for at least a few weeks for you to start to feel the difference. I'm only on week 2 and have some hope but not relying on this to "change my life".

Chiropractic work - so I was hit by a car last year at the end of August. My tinnitus started at the end of December. Not sure if they're related, but I have somatic tinnitus, meaning that if I turn my head, look down/ up it gets louder and sharper. I had an MRI done and I have degenerative joint disease in my neck (I'm only 25). The chiropractor definitely helps my back a ton. I have been sleeping great and feel less heavy. When I get work done, my tinnitus spikes that same night; then the next day it goes back down. My chiropractor is convinced he can resolve my tinnitus, but I'm not holding anything against anybody.

I have mentioned before that my family has tinnitus. Most recently, my sister joined the club. It doesn't bother them so my point of view is that it shouldn't bother me.
I used to think, "I want to die, I can't live like this!" I say, fuck that. I have so much to do on this Earth. I will live and do everything to make me happy and the people around me happy. Yea, sure it sucks that we have tinnitus but once you start to do stuff that makes you happy, you just become happy!
My point is that if you dedicate your life to becoming a better person, you will become a better person, regardless of our condition.
Sure, you can spend your life and years trying to cure yourself; but for me, I did not want tinnitus to define me. I did not want my life to be full of "Oh my God, will this work? Let's try this! Let's do that, I can't do this, I should do that!"
Nope, that is not the life I want to live.
I guess in all of this, I want to say that it all gets better with time. Let go and just be happy!
I hope it helps someone out there peeking looking for a sign.
I might not post much on here, but what's the point of bringing each other down?

 

[Lorac]

Ricardo,
You should not be attacked on a "support" forum. Thanks for posting about your experiences.

 

[Dominic1955]

Ricardo when did you start feeling like doing things again? I have tinnitus and hearing loss for 5 weeks and going nuts, could not sleep last night could not go to work. Was the first few months hard?

 

[Ricardo1991]

@Lorac Thank you!

 

[Aussie Lea]

I have tinnitus and hearing loss for 5 weeks and going nuts, could not sleep last night could not go to work. Was the first few months hard?

Have you considered hearing aids with a masker function? Can help.

 

[Ricardo1991]

@Dominic1955
Hey there,
Actually, at the end of March when I hit the 3 month mark. The only reason why it took me so long is because I kept reading horror stories, kept trying miracle cures, etc. My advice is to just let go and accept that we have tinnitus. I make jokes about it, I talk to it (not in a creepy way, more like, "Hey tinnitus, do you want to go swimming? Well, too fucking bad because we're going swimming and you aren't gonna say shit about it"). Basically, I told myself, I will most likely have this for the rest of my life, might as well live with it.

Sometimes it bothers me because I can feel it run through my head like static or little electrical shocks, sometimes it gets loud, etc.

I tell myself, it's just noise. I know that when I take a shower it will disappear, I know that when I go to bed, I put on birdsong and I fall straight to sleep without meds, etc.
I just want to live my life and be happy, I hope you can too!

Ricardo

 

[Ricardo1991]

Have you considered hearing aids with a masker function? Can help.

@Dominic1955, if you have a smart phone, you should download a tinnitus masker, it works great. But don't rely on it, just like a broken leg; if you rely on a crutch your whole life, it won't heal. At least that's my opinion.
Ricardo

 

[Dominic1955]

Thank you, I hope I can get there soon!

 

[Ricardo1991]

Thank you, I hope I can get there soon!

You will
I would try alternative therapies. If you look up chiropractor on this forum, you'll find nothing but "oh it made it worse! Don't trust them!" When I saw the chiropractor, it seemed to help out some. I can't say for sure because of the inability to measure tinnitus but who knows? If something doesn't work for them, doesn't mean it won't work for you. Like, just because some people don't like curry, doesn't mean I won't like it either!
Ricardo

 

[Dominic1955]

Thank you Ricardo, I have been reading that it will take 6 to 12 months to habituate, meanwhile I am will try anything to get better, acupuncture, hypnosis, psychiatrist, ent etc
Thank you
Dominic

 

[John Meyers]

Thank you Ricardo, I have been reading that it will take 6 to 12 months to habituate, meanwhile I am will try anything to get better, acupuncture, hypnosis, psychiatrist, ent etc
Thank you
Dominic

I tried all that stuff + supplements in the first 6 months and that only seemed to allow me to dwell on it more. -- Save your money. -- Simply working out, meditation, running every other day, and eating better has done wonders.

Good luck Dominic.

 

[Dominic1955]

Thank you John, did you have hearing loss with the tinnitus ?

 

[Ricardo1991]

Thank you Ricardo, I have been reading that it will take 6 to 12 months to habituate, meanwhile I am will try anything to get better, acupuncture, hypnosis, psychiatrist, ent etc
Thank you
Dominic

Yes, you can do it a lot quicker if you just allow yourself to accept that you have this condition. But hey, I have it too and so do many other people out there. My boss has tinnitus too (she habituated years ago) and sometimes I joke about it like, "Oh hey do you hear that noise? Oh wait. It's just tinnitus." Then we both laugh and talk about something else. It's definitely some getting used to but you know, we're going to be just fine. Just keep your chin up and carry on! Life's way too big to let this get the best of us.
Ricardo

 

[Ricardo1991]

I tried all that stuff + supplements in the first 6 months and that only seemed to allow me to dwell on it more. -- Save your money. -- Simply working out, meditation, running every other day, and eating better has done wonders.

Good luck Dominic.

Hey John,
Did you ever try the Er Ming? I stopped but recently went back on it because I wasn't doing it very long, I decided to stick with it.
but yes, working out and just being healthy overall has done wonders for me too! I feel better about myself! No amount of valium, anxiety meds, etc will do that for me. They only make me sleepy and not worth any of the side effects.
Ricardo

 

[John Meyers]

Hey John,
Did you ever try the Er Ming? I stopped but recently went back on it because I wasn't doing it very long, I decided to stick with it.
but yes, working out and just being healthy overall has done wonders for me too! I feel better about myself! No amount of valium, anxiety meds, etc will do that for me. They only make me sleepy and not worth any of the side effects.
Ricardo

Hello Ricardo. Yes, I still have the bottle in my medicine cabinet and I think you are the one that suggested it.

I didn't really notice any difference and the directions said to take 8 three times a day so that bottle only lasted about 2.5 weeks. -- I will give it another try if you really think that it is helping you.

Thanks,
John

 

[valeri]

If only I could accept
Maybe we are all wired differently or something else plays part... don't know!

 

[Ricardo1991]

Hello Ricardo. Yes, I still have the bottle in my medicine cabinet and I think you are the one that suggested it.

I didn't really notice any difference and the directions said to take 8 three times a day so that bottle only lasted about 2.5 weeks. -- I will give it another try if you really think that it is helping you.

Thanks,
John

For sure, I only tried it for about 2 weeks when I first tried it. Apparently TCM takes like 2 months before you start feeling some benefit. I was like, eh what the hell. Why not? At least I can say I tried.
Ricardo

 

[Ricardo1991]

If only I could accept
Maybe we are all wired differently or something else plays part... don't know!

I think you definitely can.
Mine is all over the place, like some days (like today), I can't hear it very much. Other days it will be in both ears. Some days it's only in my right ear. It sounds like static, "tingtingting" so I thought it would be impossible to habituate, but honestly; I tell myself "YOU HAVE TO KEEP GOING! If nobody cares about your tinnitus, then you shouldn't either!"
Even sometimes white noise in itself bothers me too! Last night I slept completely without white noise. I didn't even mind my tinnitus very much. I haven't used sleep aid in weeks.
Ricardo

 

[Ricardo1991]

Thank you John, did you have hearing loss with the tinnitus ?

One more thing,
Stay off of this forum for a while. If you come back, only read the success stories and try not to read the comments much. Also, listen to the audiotracks if you can. They really do help.
Ricardo

 

[John Meyers]

Thank you John, did you have hearing loss with the tinnitus ?

No. I had my hearing tested about 2 weeks after getting T and my hearing is normal.

I'm shocked because I remember several burning sensations in my right ear as it was getting damaged at the concert.

 

[Dominic1955]

Thank you

 

[Krianna]

You will
I would try alternative therapies. If you look up chiropractor on this forum, you'll find nothing but "oh it made it worse! Don't trust them!" When I saw the chiropractor, it seemed to help out some. I can't say for sure because of the inability to measure tinnitus but who knows? If something doesn't work for them, doesn't mean it won't work for you. Like, just because some people don't like curry, doesn't mean I won't like it either!
Ricardo

I get Tinnitus intermittently, starting with a car accident. Each time I do, I go to a CHIROPRACTOR who adjusts my upper neck and skull and IT GOES AWAY!! (it sometimes doesn't dissipate until 1 day later, sometimes gradually, other times immediately. I have ringing in my right ear now because I've been sick with a fever and sleeping a lot. My neck hurts and doesn't move the right way. As soon as I am better I will make an appointment with him and get CURED! Thanks, Riccardo for your positive attitude in your previous posts. My mom has had tinnitus for 75 years following a surgery at 12 years old that left her deaf in 1 ear.She too has taken on life with a positive outlook and has a long and rewarding life. (She goes to my chiropractor as well and although he did help her with her hip and back, it did not help her type of tinnitus.)

 

[Ricardo1991]

@Krianna that's awesome! I'm glad you find some success in alternative therapies. Hope all is well! We need to be more supportive on this forum!