My Own Fault

[SeokPrince]

hi everyone. i'm not quite sure of when exactly my T started, but i do know why it started. it's a bit of a long story if i add the details, so i'll keep it brief for now at least. i most likely suffer from mental illness already but have never been officially diagnosed so there's no real proof of it and i won't bother concerning it. one disorder i'm certain of, however, is maladaptive daydreaming disorder - to summarise, i daydream excessively, to the point at which it interferes with daily life (hours at a time, every day, basically). had it for years if i look back at myself. the connection with my T is that whenever i would daydream, i would listen to music with headphones VERY loudly. it was habitual after a while, sadly. i've realised the harm it caused/can cause so i've put a volume limit on my phone and tried to limit my use of headphones, but it's hard to stop and i fear the damage is already done.

my T is mild and i'm usually able to block it out during the day, but today seemed worse than usual as i could still hear a ringing during a lecture this morning, which caused me to start looking for help. i'd been aware of the condition but hadn't really considered reaching out before, but here we are i suppose. wish it hadn't come to this. not even sure why i'm posting this, but i might as well.

sorry if i seem overly formal or awkward. i'm not really used to posting online like this.
-Reia, 16, Wales

 

[Alex Senkowski]

Don't get too depressed about it. That starts the cycle of getting anxious and making the T worse. I've recently gotten over a bad bout of T that lasted weeks, then it receded back to the comfortable baseline a few days ago and I've been feeling great. T is becoming pretty damn common nowadays, so don't beat yourself up.

 

[Bill Bauer]

You are young. If you protect your ears from noises and give yourself time to recover, you might hear silence again.

 

[SeokPrince]

Can it really go away? i'd already given up hope, to be honest... i can't quite pinpoint the exact time i started hearing the ringing, but it's been a good few months. some point at summer was when i first noticed it, i think, though it may have begun sooner than that.
what sort of precautions should i take to try and protect my ears from further damage?

 

[threefirefour]

Can it really go away? i'd already given up hope, to be honest... i can't quite pinpoint the exact time i started hearing the ringing, but it's been a good few months. some point at summer was when i first noticed it, i think, though it may have begun sooner than that.
what sort of precautions should i take to try and protect my ears from further damage?

It can but it's not likely. Avoid any and all loud noises (especially headphones/earbuds), and give it time.

 

[SeokPrince]

It can but it's not likely. Avoid any and all loud noises (especially headphones/earbuds), and give it time.

ah, that's going to be difficult. looks like i'll have to ask someone to hide my headphones again. the temptation to daydream is much too strong. i've never been the most patient of people

 

[Bill Bauer]

Can it really go away?

Check out the multiple studies on most of the pages of the thread below. Many members of this forum wrote that in the past they used to have T. It went away. Years later they ended up not being careful, exposing themselves to noise and ending up with T again.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

 

[Bill Bauer]

hide my headphones again. the temptation to daydream is much too strong.

Can't you play the music through the speakers in your room at very low volume?

 

[Mortzcent]

I ve also damaged my hearing thanks to my stupidity when i was a lil younger... Loud music is a drug.

I think i have ADHD and music helped me cope with - i often have urge to run (literally) or move uncontrolably. Its embarassing and complicated to talk about it but it took shot on my hearing and your story reminds me about it.

If you cant keep yourself from lowering volume on your phone i may recommend Volume Lock app on Play Store which blocks volume at certain level. I personally dont listen to music at all thru earphones , only using my hifi speakers with sub at safe level. It probably will be difficult to drop that habit for you, it was for me.

edit: i misread and now i see you limited your volume already thats good step.

 

[SeokPrince]

Can't you play the music through the speakers in your room at very low volume?

yes, i have a speaker, i just haven't used it much as it doesn't seem to bring the same effect. i've already given my headphones to my mother, so i won't be seeing those again for a while. it's a step in the right direction at least.

 

[SeokPrince]

I think i have ADHD and music helped me cope with - i often have urge to run (literally) or move uncontrolably.

that's very similar to my urges when daydreaming! its a huge pain and incredibly difficult to explain without sounding off your rocker, i understand you.

 

[Mortzcent]

that's very similar to my urges when daydreaming! its a huge pain and incredibly difficult to explain without sounding off your rocker, i understand you.

Yeah its really weird but part of me. I will be visiting psychologist soon to see if this is ADHD. Who knows maybe we even have same disorder;your description fits mine, i ll read more on that, thanks.

Edit: after reading symptoms this feels way too familliar i seriously might have this

 

[SeokPrince]

Edit: after reading symptoms this feels way too familliar i seriously might have this

i think that quite a lot of people who didn't really consider it a problem until they discovered/read up on it. even my mother had it when she was younger, but they hadn't coined the term back then. the most information i've found about it has been on a few info blogs on tumblr, which is useful since you can also ask anon questions there.

 

[Tiyaiman97]

hi everyone. i'm not quite sure of when exactly my T started, but i do know why it started. it's a bit of a long story if i add the details, so i'll keep it brief for now at least. i most likely suffer from mental illness already but have never been officially diagnosed so there's no real proof of it and i won't bother concerning it. one disorder i'm certain of, however, is maladaptive daydreaming disorder - to summarise, i daydream excessively, to the point at which it interferes with daily life (hours at a time, every day, basically). had it for years if i look back at myself. the connection with my T is that whenever i would daydream, i would listen to music with headphones VERY loudly. it was habitual after a while, sadly. i've realised the harm it caused/can cause so i've put a volume limit on my phone and tried to limit my use of headphones, but it's hard to stop and i fear the damage is already done.

my T is mild and i'm usually able to block it out during the day, but today seemed worse than usual as i could still hear a ringing during a lecture this morning, which caused me to start looking for help. i'd been aware of the condition but hadn't really considered reaching out before, but here we are i suppose. wish it hadn't come to this. not even sure why i'm posting this, but i might as well.

sorry if i seem overly formal or awkward. i'm not really used to posting online like this.
-Reia, 16, Wales

WOW! I've never knew anyone who daydreams while listening to music as well. I'm in the exact same boat as you except while listening to music I daydream and rock at the same time it helps everything seem so much more real. I've blasted music in my ears since age 13 - 20 years old and my ears are finally giving out. I couldn't help daydreaming either it's my drug! Music was the only way to enter my dream-like state

 

[SeokPrince]

while listening to music I daydream and rock at the same time

me too! you should definitely look up some more on maladaptive daydreaming. it'll really help - it did for me, at least

 

[jer]

@SeokPrince

I am so sorry that happened to you. The main advice that I can give you now is that most probably you will be fine. The main thing is that now you need to realize that you have had some MAJOR damage to your ears. So going forward you need to protect your ears VERY WELL, Because your ear has a certain threshold up to where it will deal with damage to your ears and then it can't adjust anymore and you will have permanent tinnitus. Every time you get ringing, it means your ear has been a little damaged and the threshold has shifted a bit more to you getting there. I will recommend you do a few things:

1: unfortunately from now on you will have to stay away from any and all inner-ear headphones for the rest of your life (such as apple earbuds). Over ears are slightly better, but only at VERY LOW volume (if you can tolerate it).

2: beware of clubs and concerts. They are a big cause of tinnitus, so be careful. Never go without proper ear protection and stand as far away from the speakers as possible. Loud bars and airplanes can also reach up to 110db. So use some ear protection in those places too. Be careful with dentist ultrasonic cleanings (very high pitched).

3: be carful of ototoxic medicines. These is a certain range of medicines that cause inner-ear damage and could increase your tinnitus. Ask the doctor, but also do your own research. If you feel your tinnitus is getting worse over a few days of using a medication, it probably is causing a reaction and you should contact your doctor.

4: rest, rest and more rest. Your auditory system needs all the rest if can get. I would advice you to take it very easy for the next month or two and see if the tinnitus goes away. If it does, do not get complacent, because it has a nasty tendency to come back if you make the same mistakes again. Only the second time it's usually much worse.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[SeokPrince]

@jer
thank you so much for the advice! i've never used in-ear headphones as i knew they were terrible, and i've ditched my over-ears already. i'm 1) underage and 2) asocial so i don't think the clubs/bars/concerts will be too much of a problem even in the future, haha.
i've been snowed in today, so i'll be sure to make a start on that rest

 

[Rohit Saluja]

How is yoir T now

 

[Rohit Saluja]

@SeokPrince kprince How is your T now Seokprince, i reaaly want to know i recently got from the headphone please reply

 

[Bill Bauer]

@SeokPrince kprince How is your T now Seokprince, i reaaly want to know i recently got from the headphone please reply

If this person is no longer visiting this forum, he will not see your message. You might want to try to write a private message to him. He might then receive an e-mail notification.

 

[Rohit Saluja]

@Bill thanks