Really Struggling with Life

[Chad Lawton]

Have had tinnitus 2.5 months now. The tones have changed a bit but the disappointing part is that I can still hear it over almost everything, even in the car.

I can't believe how easily this noise in my ears has brought me to my knees. What I struggle with the most is how stupid the situation was that I gave myself tinnitus and I see myself re-living over and over again in my head all of the things I could have done differently. I'm one that has actually been really good to my ears the last 5 years, I keep ear plugs in all of my vehicles, wear hearing protection while mowing, pop in earplugs when going into loud bars venues etc and I had excellent hearing with no tinnitus. I knew about the risks of permanent hearing loss and then I managed to muck it all up.

I started after I had jaw surgery, came home and started using my blender which I normally wear ear muffs with but couldn't find them, pair that with ibuprofen and tylenol in my system, and boom. Started to get ear fullness and hyperacusis, & tinnitus. I figured it had to do with the surgery so didn't think much of it so I kept blending away over multiple days. Turns out my blender gets up to 100db which is the equivalent of common power tools.

I'm doing a little better since it started but I still have more lots of really down days than ups. I feel like these noises have robbed me of my zest for life. I'm a 28 year old man who has randomly just broken down and started crying multiple times over this. I was often a person who had an appreciation for life and all the good things about it, now I can't get over the fact that I may hear this crap until the day I die...

 

[Bill Bauer]

I also hadn't been protecting my ears during the first month after onset...


Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (27 tips) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past year.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

[billie48]

I'm doing a little better since it started but I still have more lots of really down days than ups. I feel like these noises have robbed me of my zest for life. I'm a 28 year old man who has randomly just broken down and started crying multiple times over this. I was often a person who had an appreciation for life and all the good things about it, now I can't get over the fact that I may hear this crap until the day I die...

Welcome to the forum. I have deep empathy for your suffering. You are just being normal feeling the need to cry. I was often teary in those dark, dark days. I know of a forum moderator in another forum who said he cried for 2 years. We are just human. When the going gets tough and life seems so hopeless, crying is just a way to release that stress and tension buildup in the nerve system.

Saying that, your T is still relatively new and you are probably functioning with the fight or flight response now under the limbic nervous system which tend to make the 'threat' of T look and sound much worse as it zooms on T on every irritation. This won't last forever though. At some point, your normal parasympathetic nervous system will return when the sensation of T wears off a bit. The prefrontal cortex will take over the processing of the T stimulus from the Amygdala (the fight or flight center), and you will manage your emotion and fear a lot better. The prefrontal cortex has the function to suppress fearful reaction.

That is why people tend to get better in the 6 to 18 months time frame as they will slowly change their perception of T from a threat to irritation or annoyance. Anxiety and depression will lift and things will get better. If my success story can help, check it out as I share some helpful strategies after my journey with ultra high pitch loud T and severe hyperacusis. Take care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

[GregCA]

Turns out my blender gets up to 100db which is the equivalent of common power tools.

How did you measure this?

 

[Chad Lawton]

How did you measure this?

Both with an app on my phone and a decibel meter I ordered off Amazon. Low setting is around 93 decibels, high settings kicks it up to about 100db.

 

[Chad Lawton]

and you will manage your emotion and fear a lot better. The prefrontal cortex has the function to suppress fearful reaction.

Yea, I've noticed that my anxiety has gone down about it but my depression has not. I use to get this knot like feeling in my stomach 24/7 when I could hear it, now I'm at the annoying/really pissed off stage and want this out of my head.

I just feel like I'm stuck in a bad dream and wish that I could wake up someday with my great hearing back and no tinnitus. I'm grieving the loss of silence, little did I know that those would be my last days of peace and it tears me up inside. I know I shouldn't be thinking like this but I just can't help it.

 

[GregCA]

Both with an app on my phone and a decibel meter I ordered off Amazon. Low setting is around 93 decibels, high settings kicks it up to about 100db.

At what distance? (a decibel measurement without distance is not indicative of loudness, unfortunately)

 

[Chad Lawton]

At what distance? (a decibel measurement without distance is not indicative of loudness, unfortunately)

At arms reach, the distance I was standing from the blender when I used it. I put my earmuffs on and held the meter up next to my ear by the muff when I measured it.

 

[CRGC]

Hi @Chad Lawton, I just read up on your story after following your activity on the Frequency Therapeutics thread. How are you doing these days? Have your tinnitus and hyperacusis improved?

 

[Jdwg]

Hi Chad.

Sorry to hear you got this from a food blender. I had the same circumstance after dental surgery making a blender necessary which in turn caused this devastating problem.

Could I ask what make of blender it was that you used?

Hope you are much improved now.

 

[CW Dragon]

My NutriBullet is so loud. I have to wear double protection and turn my bad ear away from it. Has to be over 100 dB. It figures I would end up owning one of the loudest blenders on the market. Even before my ear issues, I'd still wear earmuffs when using it.

If you all know of a quieter, but powerful blender, please let me know. I need a new one since mine is leaking oil.

Also Chad, you are not alone, I had near-perfect hearing and threw it all away in a foolish moment.

 

[Jdwg]

My NutriBullet is so loud. I have to wear double protection and turn my bad ear away from it. Has to be over 100 dB. It figures I would end up owning one of the loudest blenders on the market. Even before my ear issues, I'd still wear earmuffs when using it.

If you all know of a quieter, but powerful blender, please let me know. I need a new one since mine is leaking oil.

Also Chad, you are not alone, I had near-perfect hearing and threw it all away in a foolish moment.

It was a NutriBullet Pro 900 that caused my tinnitus, I would never be tempted to ever use one again.

 

[tpj]

It was a NutriBullet Pro 900 that caused my tinnitus, I would never be tempted to ever use one again.

It's crazy that blenders are so loud and can cause this sort of damage.