What Positive Things Has Having Tinnitus Made You Realize?

[PhilB]

The idea of T as our personal barometer of stress is a really useful way of thinking about T. I don't share Mr Cowan Hill's certainty that there is any clear relationship between diet and T because my T seems unaffected by what I eat. However, the relationship between stress, anxiety and T is very clear. Getting enough sleep and learning to relax are the most important things.

 

[Lisa88]

It has helped me find yoga, meditation and new ways of destressing.
It has forced me to speak up for myself in stressful situations or with difficult people, whereas I couldn't before.
It has highlighted the simple enjoyments of life like a walk in the woods, a good meal, a bubble bath.
It has made very clear the true friendships I have in this world, and has made me able to seek out more wonderful and very caring souls.
It has made me realize just how strong I can be. I will never give up hope. All other obstacles seem to pale now. And with other areas in my life, I now know I can achieve a lot if I just put my mind to it.

 

[billie48]

It makes me treasure life's blessings a lot more. Can't take them for granted any more after T.
I learn to be much more positive, by learning to counter the distorted thoughts, learning from CBT, which actually has helped prevent my panic prone brain from acting up. No more panic attack since.
It makes me a more compassionate person towards others' sufferings.
It is great to reach out to help strangers all over the world via the support forums and know that our efforts can make a difference in some ones' life.
It draws me closer to my family. My wife's support has been everything to me.
It helps my wife to be not so stressed and scared as she recently develops T too. Through me, she knows T is survivable. It surely moderates her reaction to her T.

 

[Larry OT]

I became so much more sensitive to friends and relations with chronic conditions. It's a bond and understanding of the human condition that so many can't comprehend , and how much the giving of myself to aide those who suffer not only serves to help them but heals myself in the process.

 

[Grace]

I look at life as too precious and short and although i have T from my own stupidity by not protecting my ears for most of my life, i had some of the most fun, crazy, and happiest times of my life and how blessed i am for my life god gave me. Also, i feel like i know more about the ear then any damn body part there is. I care too much about my family and friends ears after getting T, although they laugh and dont listen but at least im trying to look out for them. So all in general i was always a good person before T, but it just gave me different perspective on life and im still a good person, but just with some meaning behind it like i actually put myself in others shoes whatever it may be illness, dissability. But most of all im way into medicine and cures for diseases ( symptoms such as T) and actually realize why people walk those walks for cures. Getting an incurable symptom, makes you want a cure and you understand others more.

 

[SoulStation]

My life was great before T but of course I didn't always appreciate it. I am determined to get it back on course because as of now only great pain has come out of having T. All the knowledge about frequencies, the ear, decibels, potassium channels etc is just incidental. F/&k you tinnitus. Honestly.

 

[valeri]

None apart from discovering the most unbelievable thing that ears can ruin ones life!

Never in a million years I would have believed it's possible, definitely not from stupid ears!

 

[Asian]

To be honest, nothing good has come from it. It has destroyed my life beyond imagination.

 

[RicoS]

Nothing....nothing at all.
All the things people write that are positive seems to me that I already did that before T

I always help other people.
I am polite .
I care the upmost for my family.
I always try to keep a healthy body
I know that mentaly I could get over a lot of things even when I had suicide thoughts I knew I would not give up without a fight. T did not teached me that I already was that way.
I know I can focus on something 100%....that did not help with T
You all seem nice people to me but I rather met all of you in other circumstances and not through this forum
I already treasured life 100% , but when T started I was almost happy I will someday die....lucky I do not think that way anymore.
I already cared for people with chronic condintions and try to listen to what they had to say and help
I help troubled youth at my gym to stay on the right path

T only complicated things for me it didn't teach me a damn thing. I'm not perfect what so ever, but I know before T I was a good person and try to change negative energie from people in to positive energy. When somebody was rude to me I tried to understand why. Now after T I do not care anymore and It's your own problem if you like me or not or be rude to me or not.
It taught me that god is the guy you pray to when you are totaly down and than just will not listen or help.

I hope there is more after this life.....and like I said I'm not perfect.....nobody is. But in my mind I never have bad thoughts or wish somebody somthing awfull. So why not give some rapist T or a murderer.

T teached me.... life isn't fair and I do not believe in fairytales.
T teached me there are a lot of people trying to make money out of me by saying they have a cure
T teached me that a lot of people do not care what I have and think it's just something minor
T teached me it can get you depressed and you can not do a damn thing about it when in panic mode

I know I mostly post positive things but I always try to be honest. And the more I think about it the more I believe in what I just said...... T teached me nothing positive!

 

[Ilija]

Absolutely nothing, like Rico said above me I don't know for anyone else here but I was always:
-Nice to everyone
-Compassionate
-Polite
-Loved my family
-Treasured life
and so on.

Tinnitus taught me several things:
-Life sucks
-People suck
-Doctors really suck
-Life ain't fair
-Our brain is retarded
-Our ears are retarded

This piece of shit condition hasn't made me appreciate life more it has made me want to lose it at times.
I don't appreciate the fact that I might have this for the rest of my life, I don't appreciate the fact that my sound sensitivity is worse than yesterday which might have been due to 2 things.
1. Random and will go
2. My friend came over and 2 times yelled loudly not 90 dB for sure and that actually if I have it made my ear recruitment worse by killing off a couple of hair cells more.
I don't appreciate that up until now there has been so little done, I mean we have the same fucking treatment for Tinnitus now as we did 100 years ago, ain't that some shit meanwhile we get complete and utter mastery over the eyes.
How is it that we can transplant eyes and yet we can't even fix our ears.
It has made me cynical and unhappy and everyday now is just another day, I have no reason to look forward to anything any more, all in all if I didn't have my family and friends I would have probably killed myself, and then if God is real and I stood in-front of him as he made his bullshit about how taking your life is the greatest sin I would ask him "WHY DID YOU TAKE MY LIFE?!" sure Satan sucks but at the very least Satan doesn't destroy you and then goes "If he still believes in me after all that he's a cool guy".
Right now my sound sensitivity is a lot worse than yesterday and that's another part of life sucking dick.
Yesterday and 2 days ago my sensitivity went down A LOT I thought great finally some improvement, then I don't know if its random or it was my friend yelling although it was only like 2 outbursts for 2 seconds but my sensitivity is now worse.
My fridge for instance never made my ears ring BUT NOW OH MY GOD DOES IT MAKE THEM RING.
Tinnitus sucks, it's good that people can habituate to it but you know what else could be good? if doctors and researchers would actually get off their asses and do shit about it.
It would be GREAT if when I went to the ENT he told me that's Tinnitus we have laser treatments for that, it would be orgasmic if I didn't get lifetime Tinnitus over 2 gigs, hell I would be over the moon if this fucking sound sensitivity went.
The air sounds are back-round noise to me I forget I even have Tinnitus, but you know what reminds me? my PC going beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep because then I think yeah up until august I didn't have that and I might never lose it.
So yeah in short the only positive thing Tinnitus can do for me is fuck off.

 

[Fa82]

Bump. I liked reading your responses on this, guys.

Hmm. A few things it's taught me...

How wonderful it is to have had good hearing without T;
I was ignorant. Poor hearing can mean not just loss of hearing range but a new spectrum of continuous, unimagined and frightening sounds. How novel;
What it is to lose...badly;
There's no-one who can help me except myself;
Doctors, Ents and whoever bothers to learn medicine oftentimes see T as a med footnote and not a quality of life condition;
To say the hell with people who want to fleece me for money promising all kinds of bs and delivering nothing. They are obstacles on the road to recovery so avoid these vultures;
Flinching when I suddenly hear a bunch of crazy-making sounds and musical illusions is healthy;
Real T WILL bring down the strong man as well as the weak;
That initally wasting my time attempting to chase the sound source was worthy of a comedy sketch;
Crying isn't just for women and children;
You cannot hide from T;
Acceptance is just a word until you start living it;
A day at the zoo or visiting a parrot enclosure is better than a miserable, silent day indoors somewhere with a bad T day. Its my new place to 'retrain' my brain;
That my silence is gone for good;
Talking to my close friends and family - when they simply do not get it - will cause me grief of my own making;
Humility. I already had some, but I got some more;
To love and appreciate even more those who are closest to me. And without any hesitation. I'm going to lose them too someday;
How to 'blame' inanimate objects for the bothersome sounds in my head. I'll 'project' all I want!;
Hope is the best tonic for T...

Positive or negative? I can't decide yet.