The torment of tinnitus

[Raeahna1861]

Tinnitus and how I try to cope with it, my head always feels like a pressure cooker going off, I have to have something else to listen to to try drowned it out ie tv radio night time I constantly have a fan on

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Raehna

I don't know how long you've had tinnitus for, but it's good that you've identified a way of distracting yourself from tinnitus which works for you.

Perhaps it's early days, but one thing that I want to suggest is that trying to fight with tinnitus or to actively try to block it might be having the opposite effect to what you intend.

In tinnitus habituation, in an ideal world, using sound to mask it is one step towards a goal of no longer being bothered by or anxious about the condition. One day, you won't need to use a fan at all. It's a condition often driven by what we think or feel about it, more so than anything else.

[Raeahna1861 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Hi thanks for the reply, I’ve had tinnitus for years, I’ve just grown to live with it and your right trying to fight it does no good what’s so ever, I’ve just got in so I'm in silence at the moment so it’s there with vengeance, some days I feel like I’m going crazy but the fight will go on and I won’t give into it

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to Raeahna1861]

No worries - I shall let our lovely community respond to you and share their ideas.

[doglover1973]

Hi there. Sound therapy is so useful for tinnitus - along with relaxation techniques. I think the BTA advise setting the sound just below your T. That way you get used to your T more easily. This method has helped me a great deal. I no longer feel so anxious all the time 🙂

[Happyrosie]

Something you said, Raeahna, has made me respond to you with a point other than what Pat has said - with which, by the way, I fully agree.You said you will fight. This means that you’re giving the T the attention it needs to try and take over your life.

You might say ‘ I can’t help giving it attention, it’s so overwhelming’. I was reading your post while waiting for a bus home this afternoon and the traffic was really heavy (rush hour) on a main road. But because I was paying attention to my own T, as I was reading your post, I could hear the T even above the traffic noise (that’s how loud mine is). But in the normal way I don’t notice my T because I’m habituated- it just doesn’t bother me.

So what I’m saying is, “fighting” might not be the right approach. Relaxation, breathing exercises and so on - as shown in the BTA website - might be more useful to you.

[doglover1973 in reply to Happyrosie]

Hi Rosie .I'm so looking forward to reaching this stage. It's good to know it's possible.

[Raeahna1861 in reply to Happyrosie]

Hi happyrosie, I’m sorry I didn’t phrase it right, what I meant was that I wouldn’t let it win or take over my life, just by keeping it in the background is a bonus for me

[Happyrosie in reply to Raeahna1861]

Good for you!!! The right way to look at it!!!