As I suspected, today so far hasn’t been quite as relaxed as the weekend was! The tubes were delayed and jam-packed this morning, which always adds to the Monday morning stress. When I was on the train my tinnitus wasn’t particularly prominent, but I think that is probably because it is so loud on the trains, which is not a good thing in the long run!
By the time I got to King’s Cross though, my tinnitus was really quite loud, possibly because of the stress of my journey and the noise I experienced along the way – not a great start to a day in the office.
As the morning went on my tinnitus was making it difficult to concentrate and everything I did seemed to be taking all the more effort. Sometimes having things to focus on helps to distract me from the tinnitus – playing sport, reading, watching a film etc – but in this case trying to focus made it all the more prominent. Somewhat of a vicious circle!
I went for a walk at lunchtime which I often find helps, and it really did. Exercise is something I can usually rely on to ease my tinnitus, so as well as all the other benefits of staying fit, having tinnitus is another incentive to stay active. It doesn’t even have to be as strenuous as going for a run or to the gym, a fairly brisk 10-15 minute walk can do me the world of good.
So far, it has been much easier to concentrate this afternoon, which is great – I just hope the journey home is better than it was this morning!
Monday 9 February 2009
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Hi Gemma,
ReplyDeleteSport/Exercise is definitely a BIG T reliever for me, hours spent playing football/golf etc or walking the dog certainly helps take my mind off it for a while.
I put a comment on Kates BLOG to say I always find my T to be less intrusive in the summer (and I've had it for over 20 years now!) - maybe due to the warmer climate ? Do u notice it being worse in the winter period ?.
Do u find that any particular foods/drinks make your T worse ?
Take it easy!
Nick
I wonder what most people do at night to ignore their T. I've had Tinnitus and deafness since a skiing trip to Italy. I'm severely deaf in my right ear and about %20 loss in my left. I have server Tinnitus in both ears. The usual concoction of sounds ranging from humming, high pitch, birds twittering etc.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the sounds from the Bridge of the old star trek enterprise?...
Anyway...at night it's obviously worse. I use my noise generators (hearing aids that emit white noise), but this can stress me out even more as it's just another noise dimension.
I don’t want to continue using sleeping pills as my performance the day after is always sluggish.
What do you use to get to sleep?
Graham, Greenwich, SE London
Hi Nick and KiteMe, and many thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteNick, to answer your question I haven't identified any food or drink that makes my tinnitus worse. Sometimes I think I have worked out that a certain food makes it worse, but then the next time I eat that particular food, my tinnitus remains the same! So far, I think any links have just been coincidental.
I haven't noticed a difference in the summer/winter, but I did find it was much better when I last went on holiday - possibly more because I was so relaxed rather than the warm weather.
And KiteMe, my tinnitus ranges from a lower buzzing to the most annoying high pitched sound, which reminds me most of a bus or lorry braking with really squeeky brakes, so I can definitely empathise with what you're saying.
As I've mentioned in my most recent post, if my tinnitus is stopping me from getting to sleep I tend to listen to the radio - although I appreciate this tactic might not work for everyone.
Kiteme, I have had tinnitu all my life, I'm 66 and just last year I bought a noise maker from the RNID. It has a chip in it whith six natural sounds such as waves breaking, babbling brook, rain, etc. I find this the best ever machine for me as I can chose a sound and then imagine myself in a scenario to match. Such as breaking waves I'm on holiday on a tropical beach, babbling brook I'm walking through a woodland beside the brook. It works for me.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the facility whereby you can set the machine to switch off in 30 or 60 minutes therefore there is no stress regarding the worry of it running all night after you've drpopped off, hopefully.
There are other chips that can be bought with different sounds but so far I've not needed them, I'm quite happy lazing on my tropical beach. Hope this is of use to you.
Manc