Tinnitus and Work

[Bells]

Some may not want to answer this which I understand. But I wondered if you told your employer about T.
It's been a long month. Between getting T and hyperacusis, insomnia, steroid side effects. I have not taken any time off besides my annual vacation which was already scheduled. My focus is not 100% (an understatement). I was hoping to get better but I sometimes feel like I'm deteriorating. I really don't want to get fired or sound like I'm crazy.

 

[Leah]

I know why you mean. Took some time off with this attack, hoping it would calm down. Back tomorrow, it is very hard.

 

[Karen]

I took a leave of absence from work when mine first started. It really did help, because there was no way I could concentrate right at first. It's very hard, with no sleep, and the fear, and the noises in your head!

 

[meeruf]

I am on sick leave right now. There is no shame in that. Do what you have to do. There is no point in going around at work feeling like shit.

 

[Markku]

I don't usually suggest taking time off work since I feel it can help take the mind off tinnitus and maintain the daily rhythm. When you are at home in despair with the noise, I'm not sure it would be better than working.

But I acknowledge it depends on the person and situation. If your work is really demanding and requires constant concentration or being in silence, then that complicates things - and maybe time off would do you good.

If you can't get a good night's sleep and are too tired to function - better to try and get that fixed before going to work.

And naturally, if you are in the survival mode figuratively speaking fighting for your life (like some are in the first stage), then maybe work is the last thing on your mind and can only make the situation worse.

If you feel like some time off work would help you, by no means go for it. It isn't that difficult to get a doctor sign off on a leave as tinnitus can result in anxiety, depression, insomnia...

Whatever you choose, here's hoping you'll start to feel better,
Markku

 

[Bells]

Thanks for your replies. I'm glad you are getting the time off you need. Do you get a note from a doctor saying you are mentally impacted and can not work? How much time do you take?

The thing is, I don't know if I will be better in a week or two. My thinking was, maybe it's just better to say something to a couple people in case my performance is being judged, they will go a little easier on me. But I want to be careful how I approach it. Saying this the wrong way would be worse than saying nothing. I don't know if people will be understanding or not.

 

[Per]

I don't know if people will be understanding or not.

No one understands T. Even medical doctors struggle to really understand and knowledge T, not to mention H. The only ones that could give you acknowledgment on an authentic level is other T&H sufferers. I don't know the work culture in your location, only you know how things like T could be perceived there. I know that people working in businesses that has to do with concentration and hearing would be less open about it. Like air traffic controllers, radio engineers, telemarketers, therapists or even medical staff. If your job is a typical "office job" no one could say your condition could ruin anything in context of results. But then again, only you know if your capable of putting in the work load right now. In many countries theres no obligation to reveal the cause of sick leaves, making the employer excluded from the medical record. Don't know if those rules apply to your country.

 

[Petloy]

I just continued to work full time even with my T, for me it actually took my mind off the monitoring or thinking about it, for me, working made it more faster for me to get use to my T, because I noticed that when I concentrate on something I don't hear my T, so at first I would have 5 mins of not noticing it then it became longer in between...

 

[LadyDi]

Markku pretty much said everything I would have. The doctors whom have trusted, when I asked about taking short-term disability, all advised against unless I was completely miserable. They all agreed it offered me a distraction from the tinnitus. What made it almost unbeatable in the beginning was not my ear nose but the panic and anxiety. Once I got that under control, I was ok.