Someone Gave Me Tinnitus... Bitter and Afraid!

[M. K. Treu]

Hello, all.

When I was around 13, a crazy ADHD-kid in our neighbourhood decided to fire a capgun about 50 cm from my right ear while I had my back turned...

This was truly a traumatic experience, and I remember getting T instantly.

Now I'm 35, and my T has gradually gotten worse the last year. I recently spent three weeks in hospital beacuse of suicidal thoughts.

My high-frequency sound, anxiety and depression is becoming too much to handle - again.

I blame that f****** bastard for making my life hell. Everyone is telling me that "he was an 11-year-old kid who was just playing around, and didn't mean to hurt you", but that's irelevant to me. Bottom line: He afflicted me with a serious chronic disease, period!

So, I have decided to sue him, and try to move on with this amputated life of mine...

What do you guys think I should do? Give it to me straight; I can take it - no worries.

 

[Michael Leigh]

What do you guys think I should do? Give it to me straight; I can take it - no worries.

Tinnitus caused by loud noise doesn't usually get worse on its own. Usually something is causing it. Do you listen to music or other audio through headphones? Do you attend clubs or other venues where loud music is played? Do you go to the cinema regularly without using ear protection? Do you work in a noisy environment?
If yes to any of the above this could be the reason for the increase in your tinnitus.
Michael

 

[glynis]

You could have been the child firing the gun and I'm sure he would not have done it knowing what happened .
I know you have been in hospital and know just how bad tinnitus can get but I would not blame a child and put him through the courts.
Are you on antidepressants?
Nortryptaline or Amitryptaline can help sever tinnitus and anxiety and sleep.
Have you got hospital phone support or support worker still ?...lots of love glynis

 

[Tyler Montgomery]

You almost certainly won't win.

 

[Markku]

So, I have decided to sue him, and try to move on with this amputated life of mine...

You can sue him two decades after the incident?

Aren't there statute of limitations of some kind?

Plus if the other person was a kid too, that changes things too depending on your country.

I doubt suing him will do any good, it will be monumentally difficult if not impossible to prove to the court that he was the cause of your tinnitus beyond reasonable doubt.

Do you have medical records from that time stating that you started experiencing tinnitus? Audiograms (if hearing was affected)? Do you have eye witnesses stating that he fired the capgun, or is it your word against his?

I understand you are very angry, but a lot of time has passed, and both of you were kids.

In my opinion, it isn't the right thing to sue him - but that's my opinion.

 

[volsung37]

The only way to deal with this condition is acceptance. Sueing someone 20 years after the event is not going to help you. It will cause more stress and that is fatal wrt perception of tinnitus. You have virtually nil chance of winning a case against someone who was a child at the time, who would have had no knowledge of the possible consequences of his action and someone who you state yourself was suffering from ADHD.

 

[Zora]

I understand your anger. All you feel is hate towards the kid back then and regret and hate and fear and hate, hate, and the feeling of helplessness.
This is what I read between the lines.
I am sorry you are suffering so much. Sewing him wont help you and I think you know that deep down. but you want to make someone suffer too. Thats okay. I understand.

Accept those feelings, feel them, and when you have felt it, let it go. Dont let it consume you. It is hard when you are in such a difficult situation, i wish you all the best.

 

[Foncky]

You don't need a judge, but maybe you need a therapist to overcome all this. I know this a lot to handle, you don't have to do it alone. It's no shame to see a therapist, I see one (I'm the bastard who gave myself T).

 

[SilverSpiral]

My T was caused by the actions of others, but they were adults and "professionals".
You suing someone with ADHD over a capgun shot, 30 year ago, you'll have to find yourself one hell of a lawyer, and you should start filming the process as soon as possible, even the phone calls you have with lawyers explaining your situation as it would make some great avante garde art film, or perhaps a mockumentary,
Such a film could help tinnitus awareness.

 

[SilverSpiral]

Hello, all.

When I was around 13, a crazy ADHD-kid in our neighbourhood decided to fire a capgun about 50 cm from my right ear while I had my back turned...

This was truly a traumatic experience, and I remember getting T instantly.

Now I'm 35, and my T has gradually gotten worse the last year. I recently spent three weeks in hospital beacuse of suicidal thoughts.

My high-frequency sound, anxiety and depression is becoming too much to handle - again.

I blame that f****** bastard for making my life hell. Everyone is telling me that "he was an 11-year-old kid who was just playing around, and didn't mean to hurt you", but that's irelevant to me. Bottom line: He afflicted me with a serious chronic disease, period!

So, I have decided to sue him, and try to move on with this amputated life of mine...

What do you guys think I should do? Give it to me straight; I can take it - no worries.

Do you still see/are in contact with this person?

 

[M. K. Treu]

Tinnitus caused by loud noise doesn't usually get worse on its own. Usually something is causing it. Do you listen to music or other audio through headphones? Do you attend clubs or other venues where loud music is played? Do you go to the cinema regularly without using ear protection? Do you work in a noisy environment?
If yes to any of the above this could be the reason for the increase in your tinnitus.
Michael

Hey, Michael.

I've been around loud music as a DJ and an artist, and I've never used earplugs when attending a concert or going to a club.

Then there's the earphones...

But, we only live once, right. I've always been living a very calm, quiet and healthy life.

 

[M. K. Treu]

Do you still see/are in contact with this person?

No, but he is a family acquaintance.

 

[Foncky]

Hey, Michael.

I've been around loud music as a DJ and an artist, and I've never used earplugs when attending a concert or going to a club.

Then there's the earphones...

But, we only live once, right. I've always been living a very calm, quiet and healthy life.

So you used to be a DJ, to attend gigs and clubs and to use earphones. Not such a quiet life...

You know what is to blame for your worsening at least, and you should reconsider those activities.

 

[Sebastians]

So you used to be a DJ, to attend gigs and clubs and to use earphones. Not such a quiet life...

You know what is to blame for your worsening at least, and you should reconsider those activities.

Think it might have been ironic

 

[Foncky]

Oh ok, not a good day

 

[Julien87]

Sewing him wont help you and I think you know that deep down.

Plus I'm not sure it's legal

 

[Elinor]

Ugh, things like this is my biggest fear. But I've experienced people being well aware of their actions and basically being complete a**holes on purpose. I've had T since I was 11. High school was a nightmare. Teenages 16-18 year olds were throwing metal chairs across the classrom, yes throwing them! I could for instance never rest my head on the desk, because someone would always walk by and slam a book or some other hard object against my desk on purpose. I even know a woman who went deaf in one ear from this.

I find that my friends are very disrespectful of my condition too. I recently celebrated my birthday and I had music playing in the background. They turned the volume up to pretty loud, we had to yell just to hear each other so I turned it down, not even that much. They really disliked this action, despite knowing very well why I did it (They known about my ears for years). I had to turn the volume down throughout my entire party because they were always turning it up. They were testing me, and occasionally they say things like like "Get over yourself". This pisses me so badly off that I wish them a lifetime with tormenting T.

Are people really that uneducated about hearing damage? Some of the high school incidents spiked my T, but I don't know... I wouldn't sue the kids who did that. Especially not now.

 

[Gosia]

I guess that even if you sued him the same day and with plenty of witnesses you wouldn't get anything, cause he didn't hurt you on purpose and since T is invisible harm..well, don't you see that yourself ? More importantly, have you done all the tests possible to eliminate causes of your recent worsening ? what was your lifestyle like between the age of 13 and 35 ? You're full of anger, so am I , but nobody can do us justice . After all, the fact that you got t from this capshot was a bad luck. Many other people wouldn't, it's not a sure cause-effect issue like when sb stabs you , for example. You want to sue a kid for bad luck - that can't work.

 

[LadyDi]

@M. K. Treu: I understand that you are suffering and I feel for you. Emotions are washing over you, you can only think about how this one incident and one person changed your life so many years ago...

But I echo what others have said here: I think you would find a good therapist more helpful than an attorney. I say this in kindness and support, no judgment. Many of us have been caught in a whirlpool of negativity and anger. Time to fight your way out and have a better life, beginning in 2017.

 

[SilverSpiral]

Tinnitus caused by loud noise doesn't usually get worse on its own. Usually something is causing it. Do you listen to music or other audio through headphones? Do you attend clubs or other venues where loud music is played? Do you go to the cinema regularly without using ear protection? Do you work in a noisy environment?
If yes to any of the above this could be the reason for the increase in your tinnitus.
Michael

You seem knowing of T, so I am very surprised to hear you say this. We have several people join this forum monthly, who had mild T for years, and it suddenly gets worse for no apparent reason. And if You are following the regeneration thread, you would see medical evidence for why this could happen, once parts of the hearing are damage sufficiently, they can further degrade through age, and yes, EVERYDAY sounds under 80db. This is why the window of opportunity may be upwards of years for stem cell treatment. Because even after neurons are detatched from haircells, further degredation happens over years until the gangloneruowhateverthing dies completely. at least thats my understanding.

I believe that scarring on myelin sheaths also is a factor, and we can imagine how scarring on nerves will age...all injuries/scars get worse with age. This can all be clarified in the Regrowth/Regeneration thread that discusses stemcells and nt-3 treatments.

 

[MikeL1972]

Hey M.K.

You have had tinnitus for over 20 years and have handled it well. Big props to you!

Unfortunately, regarding your idea for a lawsuit, it is frivolous. It would be like Steve Martin suing the actor who shot the gun during his scene in the "Three Amigos" 30 years ago which initiated his tinnitus. Or Brian Johnson suing all the members of AC/DC for causing his tinnitus. Pretty laughable.

 

[ToniDennington]

money won't help. I have a lot of anger towards drug companies but money won't make me feel better

 

[glynis]

Please keep to the topic of the thread.
These threads are read by young teenagers to adults and personal remarks need removing and stay supportive to the forum....lots of love glynis

 

[M. K. Treu]

You can sue him two decades after the incident?

Aren't there statute of limitations of some kind?

Plus if the other person was a kid too, that changes things too depending on your country.

I doubt suing him will do any good, it will be monumentally difficult if not impossible to prove to the court that he was the cause of your tinnitus beyond reasonable doubt.

Do you have medical records from that time stating that you started experiencing tinnitus? Audiograms (if hearing was affected)? Do you have eye witnesses stating that he fired the capgun, or is it your word against his?

I understand you are very angry, but a lot of time has passed, and both of you were kids.

In my opinion, it isn't the right thing to sue him - but that's my opinion.

I understand your point of view, Markku.

Yes, I have a witness.

All of my hearing tests have been flawless; I have actually had the best result of all the patients every time (I hear like a kid between 13 and 15 years).

My Audiologist says that if the noise had caused significant damage to my hearing, my audiogram would've shown a dip around 8 kHz, so it's very difficult to determine what excactly has caused my condition... That being said, I - like the majority of the members here - haven't had the opportunity to take the extended high frequency audiometric test...

What to say, what to do...