ChrisEnfj

I am a married woman with one daughter and 3 year old granddaughter. I am semi-retired but still work part-time as a consultant. I have had tinnitus since 2004. I first had a few instances of a faint noise in my ears. Then one night it hit like a steamroller in both ears. There was no apparent precipitating event.

I couldn’t sleep and became extremely anxious. My husband googled and believed it to be tinnitus and found a number for the ATA Tinnitus hotline. I spoke with a woman in CA who helped me become calmer. However, the noise did not go away and I was not sleeping much. Taking showers helped a bit. I visited an ENT who said I needed to live with it. My PCP did nothing at which time I changed to another PCP who prescribed Xanax and lexapro which helped immensely.

I waited for 6 months for an appointment with a noted expert Dr. Robert Levine at MA Eye and Ear just to have him explain to me about tinnitus. Through him, I found a wonderful audiologist an hour from my home. She recommended tinnitus retraining therapy which aided in habituation. I still see her for hearing tests as I have hearing loss as well. I now wear hearing aids which actually help my tinnitus to some degree.

Fortunately, although my tinnitus gets worse as the day goes on, the next morning it starts from scratch and does not stay at that high level. I am living with it and it does not control my life. I take special care to sit with my back to walls or less noisy areas in restaurants and other modifications. I found this site as I was researching what might be done about the extremely loud hand dryers in restrooms. As tinnitus is a disability, it is a shame that WE must make the accommodation!

I subscribe to Tinnitus Today and have attended some webcasts as I want to keep updated on research and the search for a cure.