Should I Stay or Should I Go? :)

[maltese]

Hi guys,

I have a dilemma. A long time ago, before I got tinnitus, my family planned a trip to Canada (and Alaska).

I have (noise-induced) mild/moderate tinnitus and moderate hyperacusis (traffic noises, cutlery, larger groups of people talking (like a room before a lecture) are problematic).

My visit to Canada will involve intercontinental flight, 10 days of travelling around the country in a bus (flight to Alaska, and few days later - back to Europe), sleeping in a different hotel pretty much every day - absolutely no break for my ears, if I feel like shit I still have to get on the bus and keep going - no option to end the trip early.

If it was me, I wouldn't hesitate and just cancel the whole thing, but if I stay home, so will my mother. And she wanted to go so much :/


Any input will be appreciated


(there are cancellation fees too, but I'll take good health over any amount of money, so I don't really take them into consideration)

 

[Kelvin]

Hi guys,

I have a dilemma. A long time ago, before I got tinnitus, my family planned a trip to Canada (and Alaska).

I have (noise-induced) mild/moderate tinnitus and moderate hyperacusis (traffic noises, cutlery, larger groups of people talking (like a room before a lecture) are problematic).

My visit to Canada will involve intercontinental flight, 10 days of travelling around the country in a bus (flight to Alaska, and few days later - back to Europe), sleeping in a different hotel pretty much every day - absolutely no break for my ears, if I feel like shit I still have to get on the bus and keep going - no option to end the trip early.

If it was me, I wouldn't hesitate and just cancel the whole thing, but if I stay home, so will my mother. And she wanted to go so much :/


Any input will be appreciated


(there are cancellation fees too, but I'll take good health over any amount of money, so I don't really take them into consideration)

I say GO Maestro...
Dont let T and H rule your life.
I know its uncomfortable, but go and take what precautions you can.
I am sure by overcoming the fear you will take a great leap forward in kicking T's attention grabbing antics.
And...its your Ma !

 

[Bobby B]

Make good use of earplugs and ear muffs and you can go anywhere you want

 

[Rubenslash]

You should go for sure.

Bus noise with ear muffs shouldn't be that loud.

 

[Jacob83]

Don't do it, man. Think about it... you have tinnitus... tinnitus. Your ears are ringing. The beauty of the world is dead to you now and you must accept life as a subhuman. Everything you've held sacred is gone. Dreams? Gone. Aspirations? Gone. All that you've loved and enjoyed? Gone. All that exists in life now is tinnitus. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. Your new life now is just laying in bed all day with earmuffs on and praying to God the garbage truck outside your house doesn't cause a spike.

Of course I'm kidding. Enjoy your trip, man!

 

[Ed209]

100% go. No doubt about it. You have to think about what this question truly entails, and where the line is drawn? I say screw the line and go live your life.

 

[Sam Bridge]

Of course go!

 

[Pleasure_Paulie]

Go mate. The more power you give T the more it controls your life and takes over. Wear ear plugs if required, but go and have fun!

 

[Julien87]

sleeping in a different hotel pretty much every day - absolutely no break for my ears

Come on, it's not like you're going to a music festival with concerts everyday...

 

[Jacob83]

I know I don't have one of the worst cases of tinnitus on this board, but I definitely don't have one of the mildest cases, either. If I had the time or resources to travel Canada and Alaska, I'd absolutely love to and would take it without hesitatation for the life experience. You can protect yourself. You really have to think about this in a greater scheme of things... When you're old and death is creeping on you, do you want to look back and think about a fond memory of the time you witnessed the northern lights covering the sky of Alaska with your family, or would you rather one of your fondest memories be of a day you thought maybe your tinnitus wasn't as loud as it was the day prior? Either way, you still have tinnitus, so why pass up on these opportunities?

 

[stophiss]

GO!....your tinnitus will likely fade away by being so distracted by such fantastic landscape.

 

[Sam Bridge]

Come on, it's not like you're going to a music festival with concerts everyday...

Yeah exactly, i was a bit puzzled by this thread. Having said that i don't have H.

 

[slipware]

I'd always been tempted to cancel everything now out of my comfort zone, but on a short flight to France, my son gave me his Bose noise cancelling headphones, no, not for masking or music, which I never listen to now, but to simply cancel the noise of the plane etc, worked a treat!! GO, enjoy yourself, you won't regret it, and while there I'll bet you get relief from T&H, as you'll be too busy sightseeing and being amazed!!

 

[slipware]

I know I don't have one of the worst cases of tinnitus on this board, but I definitely don't have one of the mildest cases, either. If I had the time or resources to travel Canada and Alaska, I'd absolutely love to and would take it without hesitatation for the life experience. You can protect yourself. You really have to think about this in a greater scheme of things... When you're old and death is creeping on you, do you want to look back and think about a fond memory of the time you witnessed the northern lights covering the sky of Alaska with your family, or would you rather one of your fondest memories be of a day you thought maybe your tinnitus wasn't as loud as it was the day prior? Either way, you still have tinnitus, so why pass up on these opportunities?

Well said that man!!!

 

[Elinor]

Go for it. I had a similar dilemma some years ago. I road-tripped from Norway to Portugal but was hesitant too at first. I thought several days in a car through all kinds of altitudes would make my T worse. In the end I thought "F*** it. You gotta live once." so I went. I even listened to music with headphones for hours through the trip. Didn't seem to change anything and I have no regrets either.

 

[Foncky]

I even listened to music with headphones for hours through the trip

Man, how rebellious

 

[JohnnyMx]

Hi men, I would say you have a GREAT opportunity to force and anticipate your habituation. As you've said your Tinnitus is mild to moderate. The worst enemy overcoming this level of Tinnitus is anxiety and depression. Being isolated, with alot of time to think about the worst case scenarios is the easiest way to finish with deep anxiety and depression problems.

So , go! enjoy, forget about the T, and prove yourself that your life should be the same with your new sounds.

I didnt overcome my depression and anxiety until I started to live my life without worrying or being afraid of my Tinnitus or the future.

Regards!

 

[Sam Bridge]

This thread needs this.

 

[Ed209]

This thread needs this.

It's at the top Sam.

 

[Sam Bridge]

It's at the top Sam.

Oh now i feel stupid! Has been a long week at work though haha.

 

[Ed209]

Oh now i feel stupid! Has been a long week at work though haha.

Good call anyway

 

[Lex]

He has H, though. And that can be a much bigger concern than T, considering he said his T is only mild/moderate while his H is moderate. Seems like our cases are very similar. The T, I can ignore. But the H is making everything damn difficult. The pain can get really bad sometimes.

I don't know what advice to give, to be honest. I wouldn't know what to do in his situation myself. I'd say go with what your gut tells you, @maltese. If you're more excited than anxious about this trip, that would give you an idea on how you should move forward. I believe you should also be in the right mental and emotional state for this trip; otherwise you'll just stress yourself.

 

[maltese]

He has H, though. And that can be a much bigger concern than T, considering he said his T is only mild/moderate while his H is moderate. Seems like our cases are very similar. The T, I can ignore. But the H is making everything damn difficult. The pain can get really bad sometimes.

Yes. Yes. Exactly.


First of all, thank you so much for all your replies! Frankly, I was shocked to see overwhelmingly positive comments! I pretty much made up my mind and I came to the forum to get some "confirmation" from the community that cancelling is the only reasonable thing to do.

You made me think now!

With my H - I would be a bit nervous about 8 hours in a bus, and here we're talking about almost two weeks and up to 8h in a bus per day. That sounds like a suicide to me lol.

I'm not overly excited about this trip (this might be my depression) so yeah. I still don't know what to do. I have an appointment in tinnitus clinic on Tuesday, I might ask the therapist for his opinion.


Again, I really appreciate your input guys! Being able to talk to people who understand the condition is priceless.

 

[Rubenslash]

Try a bus trip in Edinburgh with ear plugs + ear muffs and check how loud it is if you are that concerned about the bus noise.

 

[Mojo]

Just the other day i bought some earmuffs that look like a headphone , they use it for industrial use , couldnt hear a thing anymore.
So even if it looks like you are going to go to work get a pair , better safe than sorry.