It is this "you have tinnitus forever" what makes me absolutely desperate. That it will beep until I die is so horrible for me. And I can't overhear my T. My focus is everytime on it. It makes me crazy and so depressive.
I am so deperate : It is this "you have tinnitus... - Tinnitus UK
I am so deperate
Written by
Petra1988
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41 Replies
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you may well not have tinnitus forever. I only have tinnitus
- if I’m ill
- after a noisy car, airplane or coach journey
- when I’m writing about it here.
Otherwise it just isn’t there, because I don’t think about it.
Have a look at the replies to the post made by MAC0811 about one day ago.
Yes, that is my problem, mine is there every second and I can't stop thinking about it. I would be glad if it was like yours, that I just don't have to think about it. But I am absolutely obsessive to think about it and that is so exhausting
TinnitusUKPatPartner
Just as Rosie says, Petra - you may not have intrusive tinnitus all your life. Nobody is a mind reader and so the idea that we will have tinnitus forever is more to do with catastrophic thinking and depressive mood than with the condition itself.
What is your focus on T giving you other than constant knowledge that it is there? What would you rather be doing, thinking about or experiencing that tinnitus currently isn't allowing you to have in your life?
If that depression and anxiety is something which you can get support with, it may have a positive impact on how you see tinnitus and how much of your life it occupies.
For example: I play with my kids, and my mood is bad because I hear my t., the next thing I think is that this will be like that forever. And that makes me absolutely sad. Never be happy and without sorrows again, because the ringing in the ears disturbs me in every second and doesn't allow me to be fully focused on the things I am doing...
I would be so happy if I could be free from those obsessive listening to it and thinking about it - even if I don't hear it when the surrounding noise is louder than my t
Good news from tinnitus cbt book
46
Living Well with Tinnitus
of the night, and achieving restorative sleep. About 70 per cent of patients seeking help for tinnitus report some form of sleep difficulty. But it is not clear whether the degree of sleep difficulty is related to the loudness or quality of the tinnitus of whether it is related to the psychological impact of the tinnitus
In a study conducted in our clinic in collaboration with the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, we assessed whether the loudness of tinnitus was related to sleep dis turbances (insomnia), based on data for 417 patients. The analysis showed that the loudness of tinnitus is only indirectly related to the severity of insomnia. In other words, louder tinnitus does not necessarily lead to more sleep disturbances The severity of insomnia depends on the amount of depression and annoyance caused by the tinnitus. The more depressed and annoyed a person becomes due to their tinnitus, the more sleep disturbances they tend to experience. According to the theory behind CBT, emotional disturbances such as feeling irritated or depressed are not directly due to hearing tinnitus but rather are the result of our thoughts about tinnitus and its impact on our behaviours. Therefore, in order to reduce tinnitus-related sleep disturbances, we need to manage our thoughts and behaviours. This is the aim of CBT for tinnitus as described in this book. Listening to music or background noise at night-time is an avoidance behaviour, and it does not address the key cause of the sleep disturbances, namely the tinnitus-related negative thoughts. In the chapters on treat ment, we discuss how to use CBT to sleep difficulties. manage tinnitus-induced
From cbt tinnitus book
Just think B instead of A
244
Living Well with Tinnitus
1
A.
Tinnitus makes me feel tired, as I cannot sleep well at night. Tinnitus is a terrible disease with no cure!
B
I am lying down and con despite hearing tinnitus. This is the second best compared to a deep sleep. Resting helps to energise me. Even if there is no cure, I can still live well with tinnitus
2
A Tinnitus affects my sleep and concentration. Hence it reduces my efficiency. I can no longer be in control at my workplace.
B
I can concentrate on my tasles most of the time. I can do whatever I need to do despite the difficulties caused by tinnitus. This makes me feel strong.
3
A.Tinnitus invades every aspect of my life and makes me feel useless.
B.
Tinnitus is present most of the time and is a nuisance Regardless of tinnitus, I can do whatever I need to do. This makes me feel useful.
4. A I make lots of mistake coz of my t
B.
I can do most things as well and accurately as I used to before I had tinnitus. It may take me slightly longer to complete my tasks. It is OK to double check my work for accuracy. My performance is intact despite tinnitus.
5
A.
Tinnitus is like a fog that affects my performance.
B.
I can see, hear and think even when I hear tinnitus Loud and clearly.
Cbt is the only proved to be effective
Thank you for your answer.
But it is not easy to change thoughts if you don't feel and believe it
Good news from tinnitus cbt book
46
Living Well with Tinnitus
of the night, and achieving restorative sleep. About 70 per cent of patients seeking help for tinnitus report some form of sleep difficulty. But it is not clear whether the degree of sleep difficulty is related to the loudness or quality of the tinnitus of whether it is related to the psychological impact of the tinnitus
In a study conducted in our clinic in collaboration with the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, we assessed whether the loudness of tinnitus was related to sleep dis turbances (insomnia), based on data for 417 patients. The analysis showed that the loudness of tinnitus is only indirectly related to the severity of insomnia. In other words, louder tinnitus does not necessarily lead to more sleep disturbances The severity of insomnia depends on the amount of depression and annoyance caused by the tinnitus. The more depressed and annoyed a person becomes due to their tinnitus, the more sleep disturbances they tend to experience. According to the theory behind CBT, emotional disturbances such as feeling irritated or depressed are not directly due to hearing tinnitus but rather are the result of our thoughts about tinnitus and its impact on our behaviours. Therefore, in order to reduce tinnitus-related sleep disturbances, we need to manage our thoughts and behaviours. This is the aim of CBT for tinnitus as described in this book. Listening to music or background noise at night-time is an avoidance behaviour, and it does not address the key cause of the sleep disturbances, namely the tinnitus-related negative thoughts. In the chapters on treat ment, we discuss how to use CBT to sleep difficulties. manage tinnitus-induced
Who told you that? You will (probably) have tinnitus (to some degree) until such time as a pharmaceutical cure is available. Your tinnitus may also lessen over time, mine did. As for health burdens, tinnitus, although not a walk in the park is far preferable to stuff like Type 1 Diabetes or physical infirmity. Further, I have now forgotten what it is NOT to have tinnitus. Now part of the scenery. A bit like an unpleasant neighbour you put two fingers to when you see them. That will happen for you too. Hope this cheers you up...
The doctor said this to Mr, that it will sray forever and my psychologist says that when I focus on T. all the time and think aboutbit all the time, it just cannot disappear and that makes sense to me. I don't want to focus all the time but it is totally obsessive and I cannot stop this. I feel so helpless because I am not able to stop this nightmare
Petra. You would be better off following this site for support rather than your General Practitioner. The clue there being 'general'. I would say tinnitus is a tiny part of what they cover and they have no interest in the subject as there is currently nothing they can do for it.
How long have you had tinnitus? I consider it a journey, from my experience with basic grade tinnitus. Your most important companion in that is your brain, which has been working on your side to deal with it. I might be able to let you know how its going to help you.
Thanks a lot for your answer! I just feel I have no control over my brain and this bad thoughts which come up every minute. Since over 1 year now I think about T. all the time. And that is making me crazy, because my old life is completely gone. I had a good life since my T. started and now it have to think about it and listen to it all the time. I want to have it in the background but I can't make it. And that makes me so sad, because I have to great little children, who now have a mother who is totally occupied by her T. and sad about it all the time.
Your brain is on the case. There will come a time when tinnitus becomes like traffic noise. It's there but you don't register it. The brain already ignores your nose, which is in your line of sight. It does take time, but it would be the strangest thing if it came any quicker. I'm 16 months in, and that is how it is for me.
That's not to say I don't need a break from tinnitus, as from traffic noise. We all need that. Wireless headphones do it for me.
You don't have to do anything to reach that point. You will just arrive there. As I said, your brain will do it for you. Gratis.
But does this also work if I am always concentrating on the t. and being upset about it all the time?
Hi Petra I was like you did not understand it its so loud I know and it won't stop. I did not think it would improve - but Petra it will I promise - No maybe it won't go away all together but your brain will ignore it in time - Try headphones at night i use Borrow Box it helped lots and I still use it now when I need to - And on You Tube Look for -Tinnitus Scrubber - in my bad days I found that really good try and find things that are good for you and works for you - I hope this helps you a little.
Thank you for sharing your story with me! It really has touched my heart, I have tears in my eyes now.
That was how I felt but about a year down the line I kind of accept it and am glad it is not \Cancer. Ive just been out on my litter picking and didn’t notice it but now in the quiet of the house I can hear it. I just play classic FM through my hearing aids to distract.
Hi Petra
Notice the quick moments when you
a. are aware of something else
b. notice the tinnitus again and go back to your state of alarm.
c. how does that state of alarm work? Are reminding yourself that it may be lifelong?
As the other posts suggests, think of all the many more disrupting things it could be.
In the end, its just a sound in your head that nobody else can hear. I find it comforting, that I can manage this relatively insignificant problem on my own, cheerfully, unlike war or pollution or Trump or cancer or other scary things. Its an internal challenge. I'd be a different, weaker person without it, tinnitus can make you stronger too.
And yes it always reminds me that it will stay forever and that is so bad for me
Not to seem like a broken record, Petra, but you currently believe that your tinnitus will stay forever. Whether that turns out to be the case is up in the air - if we have the same level of concern and difficulty in imagining that your tinnitus will get better, that suggests more of an issue with anxiety and how it affects our thoughts about a situation.
If that changes - our thoughts go from being exclusively negative and despairing and shift into more neutral territory, where we can realise that the impact tinnitus has on us is closely connected with our emotions - then I feel as though the difficulty that you are having right at this moment may be temporary?
But how can I reach this state of "neutral"? It seems not possible to get there. I am speaking to myself that everything is ok, but it doesn't work, because I don't really believe and feel it
Pls go to cpt therpist
the tinnitus isn’t bad for you. What is bad for you - as you know - is your obsession about it.
As has been said, there are many many things that are worse. At your age I used to fear getting multiple sclerosis - no idea why I did!! I didn’t get it! But I did get cancer - and I got over that too!
Your brain (not yours everyone’s) is in many ways very primitive in that it tries to protect you from harm. The primitive part of your brain immediately makes you take your finger away from a candle flame, if you put your finger in it. In the same way, it thinks that the noise you hear could be a danger, so it puts you on alert. As has been said before by other posters, your brain should get used to it in time and ignore it.
Imagine you are walking down your high street on a Saturday, There are hundreds of people but you do not look at each one and evaluate them, because you know you do not need to. If you were walking down the same high street at midnight, you would evaluate each person you see in case of danger.
At the moment your brain is thinking “danger” unnecessarily when it hears T. Let yourself start ignoring it. Slow gentle breathing exercises- I’m sure you can find some helpful ones.
I try ignore it since over 1 year now, but I am not able to, I am so hyperfocused, it is crazy
Its not your fault , but sciene prove how intrusive has nth to do with the loudness but your attention
I've had it since 1993 and it is there all the time but if I distract myself then it mutes to where I hardly notice it. Tends to seem much louder if I'm stressed, in pain or late at night. It was hard but I've learned how to distract myself so it seems barely noticeable most of the time. What works for one person might not work for you. For me very soft instrumental music or nature sounds work the best but others it hasn't done a thing for. I have an 8 hour track of a forest stream, not the repeat short term things you get on sound machines that I play at very low volume when the T is at its worse. Another of ocean waves. Certain classical music works for me too.
Hi Petra, you've had lots of replies saying this but here's another. Yes, it feels horrendous right now, I remember feeling scared and angry and hopeless and exhausted all the time.
For me, the first step was knowing it did not mean danger (because my brain was thinking all kinds of things) and I began to repeat "try not to worry, all is well, it's very annoying but not scary" whenever it got too much (which was a lot).
After a time, my brain must have started to believe it. I started to notice moments when I did not hear it. The first time was the underground train. Crying on the tube because for a minute I forgot, was strange but hey ho.
Eventually I started to notice odd seconds when I focused on something else, and although it was just seconds, it allowed me to believe I could. And believing was key for me.
With time, I am learning what makes it worse (writing this for instance, but also being tired, being stressed etc etc) and I'm trying adapt, adjust, trying to move away from being scared ALL the time.
I'm not there yet. I still have some difficult days, some awful nights. I'm not like before.
But I am not in the state of panic I started with, I'm calmer and I can and do find joy in my life again. I don't know what the future will bring but I'm optimistic.
With time, the chances are you will too. Good luck!
I totally concur with what you say. It's a slow, slow process - bit by bit - but it does get better. My T ramped up massively the second week of January 2020 - the six months that followed were terrible. For the first time in my life ever - I started having thoughts that I couldn't imagine I would have ever had - very black.
But - having discovered this forum back then - I realised others were suffering as I was - it was a massive relief to know I was not alone - I also found that 1 or 2 of my friends had tinnitus (not the odd bit of noise - proper chronic T - you soon get to know who has proper T) so at least I could speak to someone who could understand how I felt.
Slowly - I started to get used to the noise - one day I I realised I had ignored it for a few minutes - this turned into hours - but it took a good year - 18 months before I think I was starting to get in control. 4 years on, I'm pretty much in control most of the time - stress definitely makes mine worse - but I know I'm stuck with this, and to give in will put me back in a bad place - so I keep positive!
All the best!
Me too.
Many youtube like ben thompson or psychologisut Hubbard has severe tinntiis but they can overcome itAccording to cbt for tinnitus book good news is that its just distress
Can tinnitus cause headaches or other problems?
Based on clinical observations, there seem to be several sensa- Dons that can be related to or caused by tinnitus distress. They range from various forms of muscle tension to oversensitivity to sound, referred to as hyperacusis.
Tension in the head and face muscles can lead to headaches. A study conducted in Sweden by Dr Lugo and colleagues showed that the prevalence of headaches among people with tinnitus was 26 per cent, and up to 40 per cent for people with severe tinnitus. This is higher than the prevalence in the general population. The headaches may be related to the stress and anxiety caused by tinnitus, or they may be related to a pre-existing problem like migraines. If the former is the case, the CBT methods described here may reduce the incidence and/or severity of headaches. If the latter, a doctor may be able to diagnose the root cause of the headaches or prescribe medi- cation for the migraines.
APD There are tiny muscles attached to the ossicles, the tiny bones yow in the middle ear that connect the eardrum to the cochlea (part mes por of the inner ear), as illustrated in Figure 3. If the muscles con- tract, they stiffen the ossicular chain, leading to a reduction in he pes the transmission of sound from the eardrum to the cochlea This occurs as a natural reflex when we are exposed to an intense sound; it helps to protect the delicate structures inside the cochlea. The muscles relax when the intense sounds stop. However, sometimes the muscles can contract for a long time without any intense sound being present. This can lead to
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