Pushing Two Years with Tinnitus and Not Doing Good

[Agrajag364]

I'm coming up for two years with this thing and not doing well. I think if you're somebody who is sensitive to noise it takes quite a lot of mental strength to adjust to this thing and persuade yourself you don't care that much and you still enjoy life.

And the above can be done! But at the moment I got tinnitus I was already extremely traumatised and ground down by years of health problems caused by a surgery, one after the other. I'm still in my 30s and I just do not have the mental strength to come to terms with this thing. Apart from anything else this disease was just the nail in the coffin for me regarding having children, it just wasn't feasible when I was struggling so much. At a certain point in life you just absolutely run out of steam. I am just beyond bloody knackered and I have had enough ill health. I have to have some cancer tests and I find I am just not even a tiny bit worried about getting cancer, it would be a relief, only it's not an easy death!

Dunno why I am moaning to the group really, only I wondered whether there was anyone else who got this thing at a point in their life when they were already very traumatised and on the edge.

 

[Gman]

I'm coming up for two years with this thing and not doing well. I think if you're somebody who is sensitive to noise it takes quite a lot of mental strength to adjust to this thing and persuade yourself you don't care that much and you still enjoy life.

And the above can be done! But at the moment I got tinnitus I was already extremely traumatised and ground down by years of health problems caused by a surgery, one after the other. I'm still in my 30s and I just do not have the mental strength to come to terms with this thing. Apart from anything else this disease was just the nail in the coffin for me regarding having children, it just wasn't feasible when I was struggling so much. At a certain point in life you just absolutely run out of steam. I am just beyond bloody knackered and I have had enough ill health. I have to have some cancer tests and I find I am just not even a tiny bit worried about getting cancer, it would be a relief, only it's not an easy death!

Dunno why I am moaning to the group really, only I wondered whether there was anyone else who got this thing at a point in their life when they were already very traumatised and on the edge.

I'm nearly 3 years in and still often struggle but sometimes feel almost normal (as long as I don't try to live a normal life). I'm tired. I can relate to what you're saying.

My T started during a very stressful year with some bad things that happened. It switched on instantaneously as a result of using earwax drops that I've since discovered are ototoxic (still sold without prescription) and was traumatic.

 

[Lane]

At a certain point in life you just absolutely run out of steam. I am just beyond bloody knackered and I have had enough ill health. ...... I wondered whether there was anyone else who got this thing at a point in their life when they were already very traumatised and on the edge.

Hi @Agrajag364 -- Unfortunately, I (too) often feel similarly. I've struggled for many years with health issues (primarily ME/CFS and Lyme) that left me disabled and unable to work. Many of my issues led to a number of sensory processing difficulties, including extreme sensitivity to sound--and then tinnitus set in a year ago, in a major way.

I feel I'm living on the edge every single day, from the moment I wake up in the morning. I've discovered a number of coping mechansisms that help me "endure", and experience a certain amount of enjoyment of life for periods of the day. But like you, I often feel beyond "bloody knackered" (and I'm not even British!).

I belong to a spiritual path that puts out regular newsletters, which at times emphasizes how important it is to be happy and enjoy life. But some of the advice also has a certain amount of pragmatism. One person wrote in to ask how best to deal with some of the extreme difficulties she was going through. The answer was polite and somewhat circumspect, but finished with the supportive intimation that sometimes as we go through some of life's difficulties, the only thing to do is to "endure".

It seems going through difficult and/or low periods is just the nature of life, and happens to all of us sooner or later. For me, the advice to endure was kind of a reminder that life goes in cycles. Things go up, and things go down. And perhaps the trick to life is to not get too high, and not get too low. But to strive for a certain equanimity. That's my strategy anyway. And it does seem to work--at least to a degree. -- Take care... All the Best...

 

[Lane]

It switched on instantaneously as a result of using earwax drops that I've since discovered are ototoxic (still sold without prescription)

Hey @Gman -- I would be interested in the brand name of those eardrops if you recall what it is. -- Thanks!

 

[Gman]

Hey @Gman -- I would be interested in the brand name of those eardrops if you recall what it is. -- Thanks!

It goes under different brand names but it's made of sodium docusate.

 

[Agrajag364]

It goes under different brand names but it's made of sodium docusate.

Thanks for the warning Gman.

Lane, yes endure is about it. I think the life going in cycles thing, up-and-down is key though. I once read that if a series of different bad events happened to an individual within a relatively short space of time they were far more likely to develop psychological problems like depression. I think our brains are wired such that we like to find reasons for things, and often when a bad thing happens to us we will say, but at least it taught me this. When a lot of things happen it's hard to find that reason, because really there is no reason. And I think the comparison with peers is what I find hard, everyone has hardship at some point in life but when you look at people around you or other members of your family with better luck it can be difficult.

However it's true to say there are always plenty of people worse off.

 

[emmalee]

Dunno why I am moaning to the group really, only I wondered whether there was anyone else who got this thing at a point in their life when they were already very traumatised and on the edge.

I think you came here with this post because you know that we all understand what you are coping with on a day to day basis, @Agrajag364. When I got my tinnitus I was going through a very tough time, emotionally. It wasn't health related at all. This has always made me question if the stress may have been an instrumental factor in my getting tinnitus to begin with.

I sincerely hope that your tests come out okay.

 

[Agrajag364]

I think you came here with this post because you know that we all understand what you are coping with on a day to day basis, @Agrajag364. When I got my tinnitus I was going through a very tough time, emotionally. It wasn't health related at all. This has always made me question if the stress may have been an instrumental factor in my getting tinnitus to begin with.

I sincerely hope that your tests come out okay.

Yeah you're right I think and I hope things are better for you now emotionally

Hey @Lane Can you tell me more on this Lyme thing, did you get diagnosed with it and have chronic symptoms afterwards? There is more talk about acute Lyme disease on the island where my father lives due to ticks but you don't really hear about chronic Lyme in the UK