New Intro

Introduction.
Hi my name is Jill and i am really interested to join this forum as many of the contributors seem to be well informed and like myself, are interested in evidence based measures to help us live with this condition.
Like everyone here, I am aware exactly when my tinnitus started. After recovering from bacterial meningitis three and a half years ago, among other things, I developed unilateral hearing loss, (to around 50 dB from 250 to 4 KHz, then down to 90 db at 8 kHz) and very loud tinnitus, (measured at 74 dB) in my left ear. Hearing loss and tinnitus and not uncommon effects after bacterial meningitis, especially where there is a delay in treatment.
Again, like most people here, the sudden onset of the tinnitus left me in a very bad way. There seems to be minimal support and understanding from specialists in the community. The hearing therapist I saw suggested the tinnitus noise is the same as the noise of rubbing ones arms on clothes, harmless and quiet. This seemed like a total mis-understanding of what it is like to have tinnitus. I habituated to my tinnitus within 6 months using a self help type approach; by reading and working through the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy Manual and numerous other books and papers.
Three years after my first meningitis I had meningitis again and there was a shift in my tinnitus. Before I had the loudness measured this time, I felt it was slightly louder, and the same frequency, and the results confirmed this, still 4kHz and up 2 dB to 76 dB this time. At the same time my hearing was re tested. To the surprise of the audiologist and my ENT in the three years since my previous hearing test, (which was three months after my first illness) I had recovered nearly all my hearing in the 250 to 3000 kHz range, (with a 0 at 2kHz, an improvement of 50 dB). A MRI had shown no damage to any of hearing organs, so this suggests that the hearing loss was in the auditory centre of my brain.
It seems that the hearing centre of the brain responds to the hearing loss by developing tinnitus, and once the brain has responded by producing tinnitus and this is not repaired by an improvement in the hearing.
Whilst I have habituated and can go for long periods of time, (hours) not hearing my tinnitus, I can sleep very well with my sound generator and I have CBT’ed my tinnitus and I’m not ‘afraid’ of it; I still wonder if having this noise 24/7 does overall increase the total stress. Is it a bit like one moves from the quiet country to under a freeway, and although you get used to the freeway noise and no longer hear it, if stress levels could be measured would we find that you were much less stressed and lived a longer and happier life living in the quiet country side?

Thanks for reading!

 

What a brilliant introduction and welcome to the forum.

Regards,

Darren