Member- Jul 31, 2017
- 148
- Tinnitus Since
- 07/2017
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Gunshot Exposure
It's been a long time coming. I mean to write a story here for some time but like most tinnitus sufferers who get better I didn't come back to the site for a while. And this brings us to lesson #1
PEOPLE WITH TINNITUS WHO GOT BETTER OR MOVED ON ARE NOT HERE!
This is important to understand. When you are suffering you seek help and come to site like this full of other people who are suffering. You ask if anyone was cured or got better and get very little feedback. This creates more anxiety and stress, and you feel like you will have this forever, AND that it may get worse. Here's lesson #2
STRESS AND ANXIETY MAKES TINNITUS WORSE!
And I know how you will respond. "Easy for you to say if you don't have ringing in your ears that is slowly ruining your life" But I have been where you are, I really was. Ringing, clogged ears, vertigo, nausea, static, pulsatile tinnitus. I also felt that my life is over. And the worst part - I did this to myself by shooting guns and not protecting my ears properly. Here you are with your life ahead of you and then BANG - everything changed in an instant. I felt so pissed at myself.
By the way, do you realize that you may be going through very standard 7 stages of grief (https://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-stages-of-grief.html). What stage are you on?
In addition to stress and anxiety my biggest trigger was lack or bad quality of sleep. Sleep is important. I completely changed my schedule back then and stuck to it. You must get those 8 hours of sleep, and sleep in when you can. This will also help with stress and anxiety.
So let's talk about lesson #3, and it's a big one
TINNITUS IS NOT CURABLE, BUT IT'S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE!
You cannot regrow your hearing cells. At least for now the modern medicine cannot help you. But you mind does "rewire" to the difference in your hearing and to other changes that are causing your tinnitus. This is what happened to me. VERY SLOWLY but surely my ears were clogging less and less, until they were clogging only once a week, and then maybe few times a month, and then stopped clogging altogether. My vertigo got better and went away. I don't even know why I had it because I didn't rupture my drums. Nausea went away. Finally, the ringing was getting weaker and weaker. Now I don't have ringing at all. Pulsatile tinnitus (that was a scary one) stopped occurring but can still happen once in a while when I am under stress.
So am I back to my perfect self? No. Still have static, especially in quite rooms. But I can live with it. For sure. And that brings us to our final lesson
LIFE GOES ON SO GET GOING WITH IT!
Once I accepted what happened to me I continued with my life. Exercise helps mind and body, although you will find plenty of posts here says that stress you put on your body can make tinnitus worse. In my case it only has positive effect. I continue to work and learn new things. I spend more time with my family. I play video games. I play poker with friends. I actually started to socialize more although I am an introvert.
Since I got tinnitus I hiked and camped at Smoky Mountains and Glacier National Park. I sang karaoke in Nashville bars (ear protection a must for everyone). I climbed to see Machu Picchu. I skied the Alps in France and Switzerland. I visited castles at Newport and swam in Lake George. Life really goes on and you have to accept that tinnitus is not the end of the world. Give tinnitus time and give yourself your life back.
PEOPLE WITH TINNITUS WHO GOT BETTER OR MOVED ON ARE NOT HERE!
This is important to understand. When you are suffering you seek help and come to site like this full of other people who are suffering. You ask if anyone was cured or got better and get very little feedback. This creates more anxiety and stress, and you feel like you will have this forever, AND that it may get worse. Here's lesson #2
STRESS AND ANXIETY MAKES TINNITUS WORSE!
And I know how you will respond. "Easy for you to say if you don't have ringing in your ears that is slowly ruining your life" But I have been where you are, I really was. Ringing, clogged ears, vertigo, nausea, static, pulsatile tinnitus. I also felt that my life is over. And the worst part - I did this to myself by shooting guns and not protecting my ears properly. Here you are with your life ahead of you and then BANG - everything changed in an instant. I felt so pissed at myself.
By the way, do you realize that you may be going through very standard 7 stages of grief (https://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-stages-of-grief.html). What stage are you on?
In addition to stress and anxiety my biggest trigger was lack or bad quality of sleep. Sleep is important. I completely changed my schedule back then and stuck to it. You must get those 8 hours of sleep, and sleep in when you can. This will also help with stress and anxiety.
So let's talk about lesson #3, and it's a big one
TINNITUS IS NOT CURABLE, BUT IT'S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE!
You cannot regrow your hearing cells. At least for now the modern medicine cannot help you. But you mind does "rewire" to the difference in your hearing and to other changes that are causing your tinnitus. This is what happened to me. VERY SLOWLY but surely my ears were clogging less and less, until they were clogging only once a week, and then maybe few times a month, and then stopped clogging altogether. My vertigo got better and went away. I don't even know why I had it because I didn't rupture my drums. Nausea went away. Finally, the ringing was getting weaker and weaker. Now I don't have ringing at all. Pulsatile tinnitus (that was a scary one) stopped occurring but can still happen once in a while when I am under stress.
So am I back to my perfect self? No. Still have static, especially in quite rooms. But I can live with it. For sure. And that brings us to our final lesson
LIFE GOES ON SO GET GOING WITH IT!
Once I accepted what happened to me I continued with my life. Exercise helps mind and body, although you will find plenty of posts here says that stress you put on your body can make tinnitus worse. In my case it only has positive effect. I continue to work and learn new things. I spend more time with my family. I play video games. I play poker with friends. I actually started to socialize more although I am an introvert.
Since I got tinnitus I hiked and camped at Smoky Mountains and Glacier National Park. I sang karaoke in Nashville bars (ear protection a must for everyone). I climbed to see Machu Picchu. I skied the Alps in France and Switzerland. I visited castles at Newport and swam in Lake George. Life really goes on and you have to accept that tinnitus is not the end of the world. Give tinnitus time and give yourself your life back.
