Tinnitus tires me out

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping to hear about other people’s experiences of managing their jobs or careers with this condition.

What I’m noticing right now is that it’s becoming harder to get through the week. By Friday, I am beat. I try to sleep off during Saturday, Sunday and recuperate. So far, I am a strong performer. However, it is much harder to achieve than when I didn’t have this condition. It’s been six months. Compared to the onset, when I had to take the whole week off, I feel much better. The noise level is less, but it is still there.
on the scale from 0 to 10 the noise is probably 3 to 6 depending on how stressed I am. It wakes me up multiple times at night and keeps me up for sometime before going back to sleep and other challenges during the day. I am yet to complete my follow-ups with ENT, but hearing loss isn’t yet affirmative - I need to do some more follow up.

I am by myself to figure this out. My spouse is just different kind of person - he’s not interested in my health news and when I try to share, he gets frustrated so I don’t discuss these things with him anymore.

So it’s pretty difficult because I don’t know how to go about it essentially, I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep pushing through it and keep hoping it’ll go away but it’s been six months. I don’t know if other people have it as bad as me and they just brave through the days. I’m just trying to figure out how to handle it and at what point sharing with HR or others and scale back. I don’t know if it’s gonna get better. At least I started beginners’ meditation and in the past I couldn’t do anything like that only cardio type active.

I also feel I’m withdrawing from people because of this condition. I am upset because I can no longer volunteer to cool projects because I have to keep in mind my energy level.

Yes, I would love to hear how you handled your career when you got tinnitus?

[Anonymous]

Try Ashwanganda and/or Magnesium. Stay away from carbs and alcohol. Do you work out? All that stuff helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you had your hearing checked and tried hearing aids (some have tinnitus maskers). It might take a lot of trial and error, but you might be able to find something that really helps.

I want to recheck it when ringing goes down a bit. ENT told me I definitely have some hearing loss, but hearing aid is optional at this stage. I asked how accurate this tests are; He trusted it even as I said that Tinnitus was preventing me from testing well.

I am going to retest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try Ashwanganda and/or Magnesium. Stay away from carbs and alcohol. Do you work out? All that stuff helps.

Thanks for the tip.
A couple of times I tried to numb it with wine… It helps really short term so it’s not worth it so I don’t try it any more.

I am trying to get back into working out more seriously. Lately it’s been long walks so I get some kind of exercise because I’m too tired to do my usual jog for example. My goal is to go to the gym at least three times a week ultimately. Right now it’s equivalent of one time and long walks on other days.

[Anonymous]

I’m feeling guilty to scale back because my thinking process is what if I am supposed to push this through; what if I’m being like a weak person.

Second, scaling back comes with a pay cut and then, if I do eventually get better and want to scale up, I may not have that chance anymore.

By scaling back I still mean full-time job. It’s just not going to be more than 40 hour week and it’s not going to be full of public presentation.

[Anonymous]

Do you have jaw pain or pain in the side of your face? Clicking jaw? I have TMJ and once I got that under control wiyth night guard and not clenching, my tinnitus lessened in volume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to keep in mind is that doing things often helps to distract you from the tinnitus. So working less, without filling your time in other ways, may lead you to have more time to think about the tinnitus and how much it bothers you.

This! I have bad tinnitus and it mostly bothers me when I’m laying in bed on my phone, like now.

[Anonymous]

Some people say a gingko supplement helps if you take it for a long time (6 months or more).

Also, get your earwax professionally cleaned by an ENT.

And as a PP suggested, definitely get checked for TMJ or other jaw issues.

Finally, some people say flonase helps on the theory that it's some sort of nasal infection causing the issue.

None of the above worked for me, but they're all pretty harmless things to try in my experience.

[Anonymous]

Getting hearing aids almost completely resolved the agony of tinnitus for me. I think anyone with hearing loss should look into it ASAP.

[Anonymous]

I have tinnitus and single sided deafness. I wear hearing aids. I have learned to live with the tinnitus mostly. But if I let myself think about it, I get really irritated and feel like I will lose my mind. I have to use distraction. I’m sorry it is so bad for you. My triggers are loud environments. For example after a party or loud restaurant it is bad. Also, oddly, white noise triggers it. My husband insists on sleeping with a fan or sound machine. I say this because white noise is apparently helpful for many. It’s a case of knowing your triggers. As far as being tired, I feel this but I think it’s more from my hearing loss. I am absolutely mentally drained after social situations or a day of work from the mental effort it takes to focus on speech. I assume this is similar to what you feel from trying to block the tinnitus. I hope you can find a solution.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Can I suggest that you also have an evaluation for depression. The tinnitus, understandably, may be affecting your mental health and a provider may be able to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Can I suggest that you also have an evaluation for depression. The tinnitus, understandably, may be affecting your mental health and a provider may be able to help.

Thanks. I will just go to the gym more.

So it sounds like not too many posters who have had to make career changes.

But I do appreciate your sharing and some tips.

The universe gives us something to deal with. This is not as bad as some terminal disease so I will continue figuring out what to do. It weighs on me and I keep hoping it will go away or lessen. Will try the tips and other things from other sources little by little. Not going to change my job situation just yet.

[Anonymous]

PP here from 20:53 who asked about hearing aids. One thing I'd like to add is I subscribe to these newsletters about ongoing research in tinnitus and hearing loss and it gives me hope.
https://www.tinnitustreatmentreport.com/


https://www.hearinglosstreatmentreport.com/

[Anonymous]

I have tinnitus and hearing loss and wear hearing aids. I think you are exhausted by the end of the week due to the amount of effort it takes to concentrate during conversations. I have to really LISTEN and focus to hear and comprehend conversations, which is draining. I do not recommend scaling back your job until you have explored all options as recommended in this post, to include hearing aids (or just one, if needed) - I never considered a job change to deal with the tinnitus, I had to adapt. Hearing aids were a tough pill for me to swallow in my 30's, but I had to get over it. Unfortunately, you will have to learn strategies for dealing with it as it's unlikely to go away. I'm sorry, OP. It sucks, I know.

[Anonymous]

I have it, too. My trigger is Zoom so, yes, it affects me professionally. I am not in a financial position to pull back at work, though. Just know that I understand your fatigue and worry. I am more than two years in and it is slightly more tolerable now. Good luck.