Tinnitus, how do you deal with this?

[pluto_manibo]

      Well, this is all new to me. It started last week, with some light crunching noises in my right ear. I attributed it to the Air con but after blowing my nose and popping my ears, a consistent high frequency hiss/whine appeared. This happened seven days ago and since then it hasn't stopped. I have been to the hospital to speak with two ENT doctors and an hearing specialist to perform audiometry tests. All looks normal. So, it is Tinnitus!! Constant ringing in the ear. According to the doctor the cause for me could be attributed to wearing headphones listening to podcasts or audiobooks while cycling, at low levels to be aware of my surroundings, stress or degenerative damage, use of Norgesic for sports injuries, Aspirin? Don't know? I was prescribed Rivotril(Clonazepam)to "subdue the noise and give the brain time to adapt to it!"(Doctors words). Also for the severe anxiety, depressive mood due to the lack of sleep( 2-3 hrs a night for the last week). Some vitamin supplements, Gingko Biloba and Neuro-bion(vit. supplements) were added to the mix as well. Anyhow, I refuse to take Rivotril. I have heard the horror stories of Benzodiazepine dependency and do not need to add another list of problems to the situation. Anyone agree or disagree? 

     I have been trying to keep busy, taking supplements, healthy food, cold showers seems to relieve the noise, sauna helps as well. I also try to swim or walk everyday for a couple kms, have not been back cycling due to lack of sleep. During the day, it would be manageable keeping busy but the nights are a nightmare, no chance of sleep....maybe light sleep for 1 hr in 2/3 sessions...constant hissing? Does it subside? I am trying to embrace it and train my brain into accepting it(as seen on some youtube vids), staying relaxed s much as possible, limiting stressful situations. How do people handle this at first? Has a short period of Rivotril helped anyone for this in the short term? Cheers, avoid headphones even at lower volumes!

Edited April 29, 2020 by pluto_manibo
typo

[lust]

Earphones at low volumes shouldn’t affect your hearing. If you watch the movie ‘Baby Driver’, that’s actually how he deals with his. By constantly listening to music to cover up the ringing.

 

I have tinnitus from when I was a soldier. Sometimes I’ll lose all hearing in my ear and I just hear ringing. This normally lasts only a few minutes, but it’s unpleasant...
 

*edit movie title 

Edited April 29, 2020 by lust

[pluto_manibo]

I agree with you, I don't think it was my headphone use....

[worgeordie]

I have had it for years, not much you can do about it, 

just turn the tv up a bit,i believe it's caused by the little

hairs in your ear that are supposed to vibrate with sound,

curl or go flat,and that's why you get the constant ringing,

unless someone knows the real reason ?,

regards worgeordie

 

[Oldie]

I have Tinnitus at both ears - high frequency sounds. On some days it disappears but comes again. I don't care much about the noise since I am always busy with something. Often I realize it by accident that it is gone sometimes.

 

In the beginning I have tried a lot to get rid of it but gave up in the meantime. Doctors can't explain to me why I don't have it sometimes. How can they then explain to me how to get completely rid of it... 

 

At the beginning the Tinnitus was a big shock for me and I studied for months everything that I could find about it on the internet. Years later I miss the sound if it is sometimes completely quiet. If it is there it is like a constant fan noise in the background that I ignore completely even if it is there all the time. 

 

But Tinnitus is not the same for everyone. You did not have it for a long time yet. And so there is still a chance that it might disappear. 

 

[rodknock]

get used to it.

mine comes and goes.

had it for years.

[Oldie]

3 minutes ago, rodknock said:

get used to it.

mine comes and goes.

had it for years.

This is interesting to hear. When I told the doctors that I don't have it on some days they told me that this cannot be. I thought I must be very unique and something must be wrong with me... 

[3NUMBAS]

no cure for this as it could be many things ,certain frequencies vanish in my ears .ear wax ok ??

[Puchaiyank]

As I read this post, have a high-pitch ringing in both ears...have had for years...

 

I use headphones to hear music and conversations more clearly...otherwise I just turn up the volume when alone...

 

 

[faraday]

I've had it for 10 years. A high-pitched whine in both ears, that I have managed to ignore.

 

It's always there, but don't really notice it until I think about it.

 

I do feel that somehow it's connected to the position of my neck. For example, it gets more noticeable if I don't support my neck with a small pillow when sitting down.

[Adiudon]

I have had tinnitus for about 20 years now, high pitched beep in right ear caused by me being a dick with oxy/ acetylene. I burst my ear drum and couldn't hear for a day.

I asked about treatment and cures years ago and was told all they could do was for me to wear a noise generator to drown out the noise.

I just live with it now, but always prefer some background noise as the beep annoying when it's quiet.

I do find myself having to listen for the beep sometimes but it is always there. 

[madmen]

Got mine from pub bands in Oz in my late teens  acdc and inxs playing to a crowd of 50 almost make it worth it. It's always there but I forget about it 

You will adapt 

[Issanman]

My tinnitus sounds like a million crickets chirping at the same time.

It's' not loud, but it is always there unless covered up by other sounds.

Over the years, I've learned to tune it out.

[tiocfaidh]

I have tinnitus and I was told that everybody has tinnitus but that your brain filters out the noise. Then all of a sudden your brain stops filtering out the noise and you have it for the rest of your life. yes mine comes and goes sometimes it is Louder but it is always there just I may not notice it.

[pluto_manibo]

From the information, I gathered it starts off real loud and the noise lessens over time. Since a week, no chance of sleep and it starts to wear you down. Hoping the brain learns to register it as background noise. For the moment nothing is helping.

 

[DaRoadrunner]

I have had T for years. Cause; -stress. Never found anything that works. Avoid Aspirin, -makes it worse. Paracetamol is a safe alternative. Gingko Biloba caused nose bleed, headache; -stopped due to presumed risk of internal hemorhage.

 

Odd thing is, if distracted you may not hear it.

[pluto_manibo]

Thank you everyone for your responses! I don't want to take any the drugs they want to give you, anti-depressants and benzodiazepene. So, everyone here dealt with the onset of Tinnitus without any medication? I plan to. Second question, I heard alcohol increases the ringing? Please, share your experiences and coping mechanisms.

[DaRoadrunner]

22 minutes ago, pluto_manibo said:

Thank you everyone for your responses! I don't want to take any the drugs they want to give you, anti-depressants and benzodiazepene. So, everyone here dealt with the onset of Tinnitus without any medication? I plan to. Second question, I heard alcohol increases the ringing? Please, share your experiences and coping mechanisms.

None of the drugs helped me, and they do have other side effects! There are many causes of T, so what works for one person does not work for another.

 

The screaming varies, today it is almost silent, yesterday it was driving me insane. I never found out what causes it to vary. Anyone got any ideas?

[LomSak27]

13 minutes ago, pluto_manibo said:

I heard alcohol increases the ringing? Please, share your experiences and coping mechanisms.

Probably varies with the individual. Alcohol increases my ringing, or wooshing in my case, but not a lot.

 

 However and this likely is an individual reaction. I am more careful about overindulgence because I will get a nasty head-ache hangover, far easier than before. It's a governor on my heavier drinking. I drink spirits and make strong drinks when I do indulge. I usually stop at three or four. if more I can get a painful head hangover that I believe is tinnitus related.  I never had ones like this before tinnitus. BTW don't make this out like i am heavy drinker, I am not. I drink infrequently at best, but always like to knock them back, if I am going to drink. Now with tinnitus, not so much. 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by LomSak27

[Laza 45]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:01 PM, Oldie said:

This is interesting to hear. When I told the doctors that I don't have it on some days they told me that this cannot be. I thought I must be very unique and something must be wrong with me... 

Same for me.. probably it is always there but I forget about it while I am doing things.. if it gets quiet I notice it again.. I think you can get used to it.. good luck..

[owl sees all]

I'm slightly different. Only have T in left ear, and I can pinpoint the origin of the high-pitch ringing/buzzing. If I'm stand or sitting upright the sound comes from about half metre up, and just to the left of my head, and just in front.

 

Think it started when I worked in Ford motor company, back in the 1970s' I was a production analyst and right next to my office was a stamping machine, going bang, bang, bang.

 

Just like most posters, I have learnt to manage it; even forget it, for a while. Takes a bit of getting used to at first.

 

If it is really bad, stand under a shower for a while. It should go, and stay gone for a period.

[whiteman]

I get it only in my right ear and it is a hissing like when one was a child and you put a seas shell to your ear and you could hear the sea. It come and goes seems to come back in the evening but it there all day but lesser. Dr told me old age but I think it was from my perforated ear drum that is just now packing up I am 73.

 

Why is mine hissing and not a ringing sound???

[DaRoadrunner]

1 minute ago, whiteman said:

Why is mine hissing and not a ringing sound???

Your cause .... perforated ear drum, and mine .... stress, result in different types of T sound.

 

Mine is a high pitched electronic wheeeeee in both ears, like those old valve-tube radios. But they each have a different tone. On odd occasion it pulses. I hear it inside my ear and inside my head.

[Oldie]

4 hours ago, Laza 45 said:

Same for me.. probably it is always there but I forget about it while I am doing things.. if it gets quiet I notice it again.. I think you can get used to it.. good luck..

No - today for instance I have no tinnitus again - no noise at all. Yesterday it was the same. But before I had it for many days. It has been like this for years. Did I do something that it stopped or did I eat something that it stopped - I haven't been able to find a reason until now. But somehow I am so used to my tinnitus already that I don't care much anymore. If the noise is here or not doesn't make any difference to me anymore. 

[Oldie]

5 hours ago, pluto_manibo said:

Thank you everyone for your responses! I don't want to take any the drugs they want to give you, anti-depressants and benzodiazepene. So, everyone here dealt with the onset of Tinnitus without any medication? I plan to. Second question, I heard alcohol increases the ringing? Please, share your experiences and coping mechanisms.

Alcohol has no effect on my tinnitus at all. If I drink or not it is the same. My tinnitus started when I began to take Losartan against high blood pressure and at the same time Simvastatin against cholesterol. I stopped the pills after some weeks but the tinnitus did not disappear anymore. I never took anything against the tinnitus itself. I read to often that there is no cure. 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Oldie

[daveAustin]

Had it since kid AFAIK. Whooshing, buzzing, high pitched, both ears. Especially bad after a big night - alcohol, little sleep. Mine possibly down to loud music and/or operating machinery. Could also be genetics, and wouldn't be surprised to learn sugar and salt are 'aggravaters', together with pharmaceuticals and pollution and the other various crud we put in our bodies.  

 

Various videos on YT with 'instant cures'. Dunno. Think once you have it, there's not a lot you can do.

 

/Sudden onset could be different though... look more into it. I have accepted my fate. Also forgot stresses of modern life. Runaway cortisol is the great destroyer - forget that COVID19 thing.// 

Edited May 1, 2020 by daveAustin

[wpcoe]

To add to the chorus of experience above, I, too, have had tinnitus for decades.  You do get used to it.  The only time I'm aware of it is when I actually think about it, like when I started reading this thread.  I don't think I'd noticed/been aware of it for months prior to this thread.

[pluto_manibo]

 I underestimated the impact of this condition. After 10 days of loud ringing and 2-3 hrs of light sleep a night, it broke me. I had to take the Rivotril (Klonopin), as the Dr. ordered in the beginning and which I had refused to take. The feelings of anxiety, panic attack and depression due to constant ringing and lack of sleep, took its toll. I am better now, after first 6 hrs sleep but definitely will have to deal with this from another angle. Everyone, who responded, seems to echo the same feelings, you get used to it and the rings will decrease in volume and get on with it. Was it this bad for everyone in the beginning? I think the brain and body need time to adjust to it. Apparently the beginning stages are really hard. Anyhow respects to all for coping with it.

Edited May 2, 2020 by pluto_manibo
typo

[DaRoadrunner]

12 hours ago, pluto_manibo said:

 I underestimated the impact of this condition. After 10 days of loud ringing and 2-3 hrs of light sleep a night, it broke me. I had to take the Rivotril (Klonopin), as the Dr. ordered in the beginning and which I had refused to take. The feelings of anxiety, panic attack and depression due to constant ringing and lack of sleep, took its toll. I am better now, after first 6 hrs sleep but definitely will have to deal with this from another angle. Everyone, who responded, seems to echo the same feelings, you get used to it and the rings will decrease in volume and get on with it. Was it this bad for everyone in the beginning? I think the brain and body need time to adjust to it. Apparently the beginning stages are really hard. Anyhow respects to all for coping with it.

Do things that occupy your attention and much of the time you will not notice your T. It is still there but you no longer notice as you are distracted. If you think about it then it will be there. Farang tink too mut.