The Positivity Thread

[Jason37]

I have been a lot more positive this weekend...but I am having a hard time accepting this could be for life and get worse. How do you let it go after I caused the accident.

 

[Gman]

First bit of optimism:
The one upside for me of having T is that I no longer get motion sickness of any kind. I can read or write - whatever, in situations that in the past would have me feeling utterly nauseated and eventually vomiting. I'm writing this whilst in a car on a horrible stretch of road.
It's proof something has happened to my ears.
Second bit of optimism:
I have noticed usually when I wear ear plugs after a while I can't hear the ringing, no matter how hard I try. Only thing I hear is a gentle hiss like very quiet pink noise. Could it be my brain filtering it out?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I have noticed usually when I wear ear plugs after a while I can't hear the ringing, no matter how hard I try. Only thing I hear is a gentle hiss like very quiet pink noise. Could it be my brain filtering it out?

As time passes and one heals, T often changes from a high pitch tone to a hiss. It is possible that when you don't wear any hearing protection, whatever cells in your body result in T are "disturbed and inflamed" as a result of the noises your ears are subjected to. When you wear ear plugs for some time, your system gets a break. Those cells calm down, resulting in T that is not as intense and that is easier to ignore. This is my uneducated guess as to what is going on.

In any case, let's hope that eventually you will be hearing that gentle hiss all of the time (and that this is a stage on the way to hearing silence).

 

[Shera]

It's been a while since I've logged on, maybe November. My goals been to try and not let T take up so much time in my life. My T has been making progress. Sometimes it's still pretty intense but I focus on the positive. The T sound hasn't totally drowned out all sounds for over 2.5 months, I no longer hear it in the shower (yeah!), and can't quite hear it so loud in the car. Also the ear piercers rarely hit as much. Not to mention that my symphony of noise is down to more of a quartet. The worst noises backing off.

I've quit doing all my TMJ exercises as I think it was just keeping my muscles inflamed and aggravated. Which led to it popping out endlessly. Also, switched to sleeping on my back at all times. It was hard as a side sleeper, but now I shift back to my back. I've just been going to my massage therapist. She does my TMJ, neck, and back. With my TMJ calming down my ear pressure/equalizing issues have gotten better. With it some of the ear pain.

Overall I'm having less anxiety and able to do other things. Sure sometimes the T gets intense and when I feel like I can't think I step back and bask in the progress I've made. (Even if at times it doesn't feel fast enough.) Then turn some sound on. I may not be totally up to my old self, but I am enjoying things more.

I'm doing things to keep healing mentally and physically. It's great reading everyone's progress here as well!

 

[Bill Bauer]

Also, switched to sleeping on my back at all times. It was hard as a side sleeper

How did you do that?! I wish I could sleep on my back. When I try that, I lie awake for hours, until I have to give up and turn on my side. Is there more to it than just persistence?

 

[Shera]

How did you do that?! I wish I could sleep on my back. When I try that, I lie awake for hours, until I have to give up and turn on my side. Is there more to it than just persistence?

Persistence is a huge part. Because I am a huge side sleeper!!!! I love it so much and back sleeping use to keep me awake. I tried using pillows on both sides of my body to keep me from rolling. Then like a head "cone" to keep my head in position, that didn't work well. Finally the biggest thing that helped me was actually using a pillow under my knees. Sounds odd, but it worked for me.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I have no idea why I don't get sleepy when I lie on my back.

Finally the biggest thing that helped me was actually using a pillow under my knees. Sounds odd, but it worked for me.

I will try it. Thank you.

 

[Shera]

@Bill Bauer I couldn't figure out why back sleeping didn't work for me. Studies show that back sleepers don't fall asleep as fast and wake up more. Which I do believe, but the more I've been doing it the better my sleep has become.

Yeah! I hope it works for you. Give me an update. My mom had to switch to back sleeping as well and the pillow trick seems to be working for her.

 

[Suzerman]

As long as it keeps fluctuating like it does, I have hope that it can go away at some point. Im also trying to tell myself it is due to my eustachian tube and that it will hopefully clear up once my ears pop

 

[billie48]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!!

While we are busy with the festivities of the joyous season, tell T to take a ticket and wait in line. Let's focus on the positives and ignore T for as long as you can while the holiday is upon us. Let the celebration to mark the birth of the Prince of Peace, the Savior Jesus, bring you peace in this joyous season. Amen.

 

[Shera]

Thanks @billie48

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[jimH]

And a Merry Chrtismas to you and @Shera as well, @billie48!

It's been a great Christmas for the most part. Except for a little problem I had yesterday while putting up the outdoor lights....

 

[Seawater7]

We can be grateful for even the challenges in our lives, without challenges there would be no evolution of consciousness.
-eckhart tolle

 

[Taylorslay]

I had an H induced T spikes this Christmas with my family. I was watching TV and my T became louder than everything around me because of a vacuum cleaner a few minutes before. But it phase me . I just acknowledged and moved on. I'd rather not allow T to control my life. I want to live a full and happy life. Later that night my really big spike went down.

 

[Seawater7]

Good job! Happiness over rules T

 

[billie48]

I had an H induced T spikes this Christmas with my family. I was watching TV and my T became louder than everything around me because of a vacuum cleaner a few minutes before. But it phase me . I just acknowledged and moved on. I'd rather not allow T to control my life. I want to live a full and happy life. Later that night my really big spike went down.

Way to go! That is the kind of attitude which will suffocate T and put off its fire, simply by not supplying the fuel (negative reaction) to let T continue its control of our life. We may have setbacks but if we remain calm and move on, accepting and acknowledging the new normal but willing to co-exist peacefully with T, then T will gradually lose its power to control us. The heck with T. Without our fear for it, and willing to live our live normally and abundantly, it will just bury T along the way. Great job. Well done. Gob bless.

 

[billie48]

Then new year of 2018 is upon us. The heck with tinnitus. There is so much in life besides T. Just take T as a slice of life and move on to enjoy other aspects of life. Let's celebrate our annual festivity of the new year. Tell T to ticket as we are enjoying the joyous celebration of the holiday.

Happy New Year to all. Wishing you all happiness, health, safety, prosperity and hopefully a better T year.

 

[Chris Holland]

Tinnitus got you down?

That's completely understandable, sometimes life just throws crap at you and it's more than logical you are feeling down now. Just remember that nothing is permanent, feelings do change, as will our feelings toward tinnitus. It's just a long and tough process but in due time we will get there. Because of tinnitus I pretty much lost my job (luckily not my income as in the Netherlands we have great social security), there is immense pressure on my wife and surroundings, my friends are nowhere to be seen and I can't even be the father I want to be for my 14 month old son, I have always been a very strong guy who kick boxed and lifted for over 12 years but now I fear going out the door sometimes.

On top of that my dad passed away only a year or so ago and I'm apparently suffering from a burnout according to my GP. Thing is I refuse to believe things won't get better, with or without tinnitus. What tinnitus has taught me thus far is that I was living life far too stressful, that I took things for granted and I was stuck in a cycle of fighting to survive. Sometimes life gives us things that our current coping mechanisms can't deal with and it makes us crash and burn, fighting does not work with tinnitus because you can fight all you want in the end it's still there.

Many people have tinnitus but do not suffer, in fact 75% of people with tinnitus do not have a strong emotional response to it, most of us on this forum however do not belong to that group, heck I can't even get through the day without Xanax right now ...

That does not mean that we will always stay like this, because this, unlike tinnitus, is a choice.

We can work on changing our emotional response to tinnitus by countering it with positive action instead of fighting it and part of the process is also being fearful and having doubts and facing these fears. Only last week I had bouts of extreme fear and literally felt like I was going to die. Strange enough by going through this we also learn a valuable lessen, fear does not kill.

By accepting it and letting it be, (accepting does not mean you like it, it means you no longer fight it) we train our subconscious mind that tinnitus is not a threat. By countering with positive (low stress) actions we teach our subconscious mind to relax when we hear tinnitus.

With practice and patience this mindset will lead to habituation. In this way and in due time our subconscious will consider it less and less of a threat but this typically takes substantial time and will take anywhere from 6 months to some years. This is 100% real because I have met many people who have gone through this process. In the end it is not the tinnitus that is the problem, it is our emotional response to tinnitus.

Once we learn the skills to cope with tinnitus we will pretty much have the skills to cope with any emotional issues.

The faster we try and have a positive mindset though and realise how intertwined tinnitus is with the central nervous system and is not purely a auditory issue the better and the sooner we learn to accept it and focus on wellbeing of the mind which in the end is the only way. Perhaps in due time the tinnitus will even fade into the background but once we are fully habituated I doubt this will even be important to us anymore. In any case it will no longer bother us and we will be able to live normally again. I also believe once we no longer suffer from tinnitus it will not pre-occupy our mind and perhaps in due time will even fade from perception. Which to me is as good as being cured.

Don't know if you already seen his videos but I swear by Julian Hill's views on tinnitus, I was not one for all the zen like rhetoric but then again my current mindset up til now landed me in this position to begin with ...



Perhaps these can ease your mind a little bit during this tough time.

I also found this thread on TT which I find very inspiring:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/my-positive-story-and-insights-to-habituation.21794/

Let me say I am in no way all knowing or that I even have remotely habituated yet however I firmly believe that a positive mindset is the main instrument that will get us through!

 

[Airmousam]

I can say that it certainly gets better over time. I've had it for 14 years, and its so much more manageable now than in the beginning. Lost 15lbs and let it consume me for 6 months...I finally let it go, and although it still bugs me from time to time, you can easily learn to live with it. Stay strong and stay positive!!

Edit: should not have said easily, as I vividly remember what many of you are going thru.... but wanted to leave it here...as it will get easier in time...

 

[Raphael7713]

I've slept the 3 last nights without masking sound. My "new" T, or new tone, is more irritating than my first one, but still I'm sleeping quite well (thanks God) and without a masker! Strange that I needed sound enrichment for my previous T, but this new one that is more annoying, I have slept fine without any background noise whatsoever. So thats def a positive!

 

[MistyByrd]

Good morning. After the disappointing ENT visit yesterday, I had a change of attitude. I know now I have no hearing loss, no infection, CT is good. So all this is good news. I am convinced mine was brought on almost 3 weeks ago by ototoxic antibiotic and gunfire x2 in succession. We have coyotes , so we have to shoot warning shots to scare them back. Anyhoo, my T seems to have lowered in volume from yesterday. I still have it But it is slowly abating. I learned a very valuable lesson about drugs and ear protection. I'm sure there could still be some bad days but I refuse to let fear and anxiety rule my life.

 

[Jcb]

What a great post, positivey goes a long way even though at the moment I'm finding it hard.

I'm only about 5 weeks in with my T and still not sure what it is as awaiting dentist/hearing . Have been feeling really anxious and loss of appetite, lack of sleep which from what I've been reading seems the norm.

Reading these replies hopefully has a positive effect on me
Has anybody's T completely disappeared?

 

[dfw]

.

What a great post, positivey goes a long way even though at the moment I'm finding it hard.

I'm only about 5 weeks in with my T and still not sure what it is as awaiting dentist/hearing . Have been feeling really anxious and loss of appetite, lack of sleep which from what I've been reading seems the norm.

Reading these replies hopefully has a positive effect on me
Has anybody's T completely disappeared?

Disappeared is a relative term. To myself, I can speak.

I have it disappear for times & reappear as quickly. I am 15 month into this journey with a lot of ups & downs. The saying of the trees in a Forrest, if no one is there, do they really make a sound. In other words, if you habituate and don't notice it, is it gone. A lot of times I have to start talking about it or think about, then it returns. If I have an event or just tired/anxious it's definately there. A lot of times "it's not there". Perception or reality??
Jillian Cowan Hill Utube videos are great. I strongly encourage you seek them out and watch.

 

[Jcb]

.

I will check that videos out indeed, thank you.
I keep myself busy of a day which helps me, but come night time and I get so anxious about going to bed even with sounds on to try and mask it.
Just hoping this goes away after I've seen a dentist and chiropractor as I suspect it may be TMJ related, either with my jaw or neck.

Thanks for your reply

 

[Ohiomix]

My positive note is that after nearly 2 years of T that fluctuated from irritating to maddening 24/7, I finally found the root cause of my T, Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Clenching during REM sleep trying to open an airway causes muscle tightness and spasms in the head, neck and face that eventually irritates auditory nerves causing perceived ringing. So, if you notice your T being worse upon waking in the morning or if like me, you wake up periodically in the night, especially during the last half of your sleep cycle, and your T is really bad then, chances are pretty good yours is also caused from clenching to open your airway.

 

[WaqasVic]

My positive note is that after nearly 2 years of T that fluctuated from irritating to maddening 24/7, I finally found the root cause of my T, Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Clenching during REM sleep trying to open an airway causes muscle tightness and spasms in the head, neck and face that eventually irritates auditory nerves causing perceived ringing. So, if you notice your T being worse upon waking in the morning or if like me, you wake up periodically in the night, especially during the last half of your sleep cycle, and your T is really bad then, chances are pretty good yours is also caused from clenching to open your airway.

How do you fix that? I have a habit of clenching my teeth tight whenever I get loud tinnitus. I don't know if I do that during my sleep or not, my T is one day good next day bad

 

[Ohiomix]

In my case, the way to stop the night time clenching is by correcting the severe obstructive sleep apnea. Unfortunately, there aren't many options for correcting OSA. A CPAP is one choice but I've tried them and they don't work for me. To get past the obstruction of my tongue, the pressure gets so high that it fills my stomach with air. A surgery called UPPP, which I've read and been told is very painful, is sometimes recommended but that only addresses problems with the airway above the tongue. My tongue is blocking my airway off during REM sleep so the UPPP would do me no good. The least invasive "fix" I've come across is called Inspire Therapy. I'm waiting on insurance to accept this option. If you have OSA that's not severe, you may find relief with night time mouth guards. Wearing a device called a Rematee keeps me off of my back while I sleep and helps me to not have to clench as long and hard to open my airway. This has helped to lessen the tightness and sore jaw, neck and temple muscle pain and the volume of my T.

 

[yborleevoor]

Hey everyone,

Just checking in bimonthly to give you a heads up. Had Tinnitus for about 4 months now. Looks like it's going to be a thing I just have now. Whatever, it fluctuates all day long from super loud to super quiet, I pay it no real mind for most of the day. I still go out, I even went to a club a couple weeks ago, just make sure you wear good ear protection. You'll know if it's too loud for you, you'll feel it.

Next week I'm going to give my in helmet ear phones a go at low volume while I snowboard to see if it's ok.

My life is pretty much the same as it ever was, I'm just smarter about loud environments, I think y'all can get here too. Good luck and stay positive!

 

[Tinker Bell]

Hey everyone,

Just checking in bimonthly to give you a heads up. Had Tinnitus for about 4 months now. Looks like it's going to be a thing I just have now. Whatever, it fluctuates all day long from super loud to super quiet, I pay it no real mind for most of the day. I still go out, I even went to a club a couple weeks ago, just make sure you wear good ear protection. You'll know if it's too loud for you, you'll feel it.

Next week I'm going to give my in helmet ear phones a go at low volume while I snowboard to see if it's ok.

My life is pretty much the same as it ever was, I'm just smarter about loud environments, I think y'all can get here too. Good luck and stay positive!

Thanks for posting an update!

I like what you wrote about being smarter in loud environments. I feel like I try to do the same now, both for myself and my kids.

 

[Shera]

I like what you wrote about being smarter in loud environments. I feel like I try to do the same now, both for myself and my kids.

Love the idea of parents educating their kids about noise to avoid getting T that way, and side affects of drugs. At least that way they can avoid it.