Hockeybik

I've had tinnitus for almost as long as I can remember. Most of my adult life for sure. I'm 66. It's just there, something in the background. To be honest, for many years I thought it was totally normal and everyone had a ringing in their ears.

In November 2016 I had a tooth pulled and my tinnitus got immediately worse, especially on one side. Of course, I blamed the tooth extraction. But...I really don't think it was. The increased symptoms were so strong and loud I went to the doctor. In one ear speech sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher, "wa-wa-wah-wha-wah". What I found from the doctor visits was that my weight was up significantly and my blood pressure was sky high.

Over the course of the next month or so I dropped more than 10lbs. and took additional meds to lower my BP. My tinnitus symptoms decreased quite a bit. I kept going on the weight loss and upped my exercise (I ride a bicycle). Lastly, I stopped all NSAID's, ibuprofen and paracetamol. I had been taking them almost daily. That ended the "wa-wa" almost immediately.

The ringing is still there, more in the one ear than the other but it is significantly better than before the tooth extraction. My weight is down and I'm down to one BP med from four. I'm not sure how my story relates to others but I'm putting it down in case someone can benefit from it.

I'm living with 24/7/365 tinnitus the same as before. It's there in the background. It doesn't interfere with my life but it would be wonderful to experience some total silence for a change.