to think you can live a happy life with tinnitus

[Guesswhosbacktellyourfriends]

The posts on here re: tinnitus have really got me through the last two months, so I'm just back to ask (pleadingly) - if you were really down about it in the beginning, and really fixated, did it change for you? I know it sounds so melodramatic but I just think it means I can't live the same life I did before. I guess I'm worried too that it could all get so much worse (quite mild in the day, no hearing loss, annoying at night)

Can you really learn to block it out? Do most people manage that? I read posts that say people can go for weeks or months forgetting they have it but it's on my mind all the time (and I know, I'm doing what I can to not have a stress response to it but it's so alien).

I've got ETD and fluid in my ears which also make it hard not to overthink it. And I'm a writer by trade, so I miss my silence. Sorry for the whingy post.

Like several PPs , I've had tinnitus all my life. I thought the noise was what 'silence' was until I was 17 and started working in audiology. My hearing at that time was really good.
I notice it if I've been in a loud place bit it's never bothered me as it's always been there. My hearing is not so good now (too many loud gigs and pubs other the years) .

You will be OK OP there's been some excellent advice on this thread. Your brain will adapt.

Brilliant! I hope it's useful to him 🙂

I have had tinnitus for about 5 years. Hearing test/MRI showed no concern. It was hard at first but tbf it doesn’t really bother me anymore. My life isn’t any different from pre-tinnitus but I do sometimes miss hearing the silence

Thank you so much everyone.

Okay last weird question: If the brain blocks it out eventually, how come you can’t hear silence? I miss silence too. It’s mild enough that I can generally do a woods walk and birdsong though so that’s a blessing.

How are you doing now a year on OP? I'm 3 months in to tinnitus and it is driving me absolutely mad.

I’ve had tinnitus for years and mostly I can ignore it or mask it with keeping busy or background noise of tv or radio. The noise is like white noise, rarely I get high pitched ringing but that doesn’t last long.
It does seem to be getting worse - think this is linked to Covid jabs too but of course no proof.

Hope are you now OP? I’ve had tinnitus now from noise exposure in a club and I’m in the trenches with it!

YANBU. When I first got high pitched continuous tinnitus, I genuinely thought my world was ending and was nearly suicidal.

But in the intervening years I quickly got used to it and barely hear it. I can go weeks, months even, without thinking about it or noticing it. Mine was caused by TMJD and does seem to be louder when I'm stressed, very tense, sleep deprived or pre-menstrual and quieter otherwise.

I also have on and off again pulsatile tinnitus but that didn't both me so much when I first developed it for some reason.

Thank you for bumping this thread @ValueofNothing , and with such a positive post. I really needed to read that.

When I was last on this thread, it was about my late husband's mental health destroying tinnitus. Now I'm back with my own issues.

Unlike him I have the classic high-pitched housing/whistling type. I'd had a much milder version before, which had gradually faded. But after going to a physio a few months ago it's back and much worse. I went with a shoulder/neck muscle issue. She pummeled the area aggressively, and that clearly aggravated the nerve in the neck that can cause tinnitus.

The Facebook groups I read are all so depressing. But posts like yours, and others on this thread, give me hope. There are times when I can forget mine (in company and in busy environments) and I'm hoping that those periods will expand.

I hope that this thread will continue to be active, and that it can be a source of hope and advice for a while yet.

I don’t really notice mine now. I sometimes notice it at night but I’ve usually got an audiobook on to help me sleep anyway.