Hi everyone. I'm writing here because I need to get things of my chest. I don't feel comfortable speaking about this to the people in my life, because they don't understand.
My girlfriend suffers from tinntius and hyperacusis, and I don't think it's possible to be more inhibited than she is now. She got tinnitus for about 6 years ago, and it's very sad to see what her life has become. From being a social and active girl, to becoming an almost totally isolated and depressed person.
When she first got tinnitus she was stressed about it, but she kept living as usual. Met friends and familiy often, went to school, did things she enjoyed, had dreams and visions of the future. But for each year that has gone by, the tinnitus and hyperacusis has gotten worse and worse.
She now has level 3/3 tinnitus, 8 different sounds in her ears, and hyperacusis. She is constantly afraid of being exposed for loud sounds that will lead to new sounds in her ears. So she's very isolated. She also has developed Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome (TTTS), so any sudden loud sounds are very painful.
Now things are bad, she is totally isolated and can't (almost) stand any sounds. If she drives car she needs to relax for at least a week before she can do anything else again. She only tolerates a few of her friends and familiy that aren't to noisy. Most people speaks to loud and are to careless in general for her ears.
She can't attend any family get-togethers (only christmas), and hasn't been with friends for over a year.
Another aspect that is very bothersome is that people around us don't understand. When I say that she cant come to dinners with family and friends, people tends to get annoyed. No matter how much we try to explain, people don't get it. And it's often me, when I try to explain things to my family, people get annoyed at. It's just so much frustration.
The last 3 years we have moved 4 times, because there's always some noisy neighbours or industry nearby. We are now going to move once again, for the fifth time in 3 years. Needless to say, it's very exhausting.
I could keep on writing about the negative stuff in hers (/our) life, but I guess you see the picture.
I just don't want her to continue with having a life like this, she has gone to a psychologist for years, but no improvement, things are just getting worse. I don't see any bright future, were she can do things she enjoy and we can do stuff together like we did before tinnitus and hyperacusis came in to our lives. We haven't gone out to eat at a restaurant or to the movies for at least 3 years.
I often feel that my family thinks I should leave her, which make me very sad. I love her and I'm never going to leave her. We've been together since we were 14 years old, we're now in our mid-twenties. Things are good when it's just me and her, but at this point there's no life for her outside the four walls of our home.
I just hope a cure will come someday.
My girlfriend suffers from tinntius and hyperacusis, and I don't think it's possible to be more inhibited than she is now. She got tinnitus for about 6 years ago, and it's very sad to see what her life has become. From being a social and active girl, to becoming an almost totally isolated and depressed person.
When she first got tinnitus she was stressed about it, but she kept living as usual. Met friends and familiy often, went to school, did things she enjoyed, had dreams and visions of the future. But for each year that has gone by, the tinnitus and hyperacusis has gotten worse and worse.
She now has level 3/3 tinnitus, 8 different sounds in her ears, and hyperacusis. She is constantly afraid of being exposed for loud sounds that will lead to new sounds in her ears. So she's very isolated. She also has developed Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome (TTTS), so any sudden loud sounds are very painful.
Now things are bad, she is totally isolated and can't (almost) stand any sounds. If she drives car she needs to relax for at least a week before she can do anything else again. She only tolerates a few of her friends and familiy that aren't to noisy. Most people speaks to loud and are to careless in general for her ears.
She can't attend any family get-togethers (only christmas), and hasn't been with friends for over a year.
Another aspect that is very bothersome is that people around us don't understand. When I say that she cant come to dinners with family and friends, people tends to get annoyed. No matter how much we try to explain, people don't get it. And it's often me, when I try to explain things to my family, people get annoyed at. It's just so much frustration.
The last 3 years we have moved 4 times, because there's always some noisy neighbours or industry nearby. We are now going to move once again, for the fifth time in 3 years. Needless to say, it's very exhausting.
I could keep on writing about the negative stuff in hers (/our) life, but I guess you see the picture.
I just don't want her to continue with having a life like this, she has gone to a psychologist for years, but no improvement, things are just getting worse. I don't see any bright future, were she can do things she enjoy and we can do stuff together like we did before tinnitus and hyperacusis came in to our lives. We haven't gone out to eat at a restaurant or to the movies for at least 3 years.
I often feel that my family thinks I should leave her, which make me very sad. I love her and I'm never going to leave her. We've been together since we were 14 years old, we're now in our mid-twenties. Things are good when it's just me and her, but at this point there's no life for her outside the four walls of our home.
I just hope a cure will come someday.
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