9 days ago, my ears started ringing and it hasn't let up. I already knew what tinnitus was, so I acted quickly. 2 days after it began, I got a CT scan and it came back clear. 2 days later, I saw a specialist and learned a lot. I learned that unless there's an underlying cause, I may or may not have this for the rest of my life. That scared me more than anything I've ever been told, since the noise makes me imagine the worst.
I have an MRI scheduled to look at my brain, and as crazy as it might sound, I'm honestly praying for a tumor or something they can fix to stop this constant ringing. And it's only been a week for me. I'm 74 years old, mostly healthy, but overweight and dealing with a lot of arthritis problems. I'd gladly trade tinnitus for a quadruple bypass and toss in an arm too, seriously.
The night before Thanksgiving, about 29 hours ago, I was driving and noticed the ringing had stopped. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I could turn my head and make a tiny bit appear, or hear a faint ring when I bent over, so I took it very easy. I was ring-free for over 24 hours. Then, about an hour ago, I fell asleep in my recliner for about 30 minutes and woke up to the ringing back at full volume. What in the world. And by the way, my hearing is fine, with very little hearing loss in 1 ear.
I've been told that getting expert attention right away like I did was a very smart move. I have white noise, which I hate, and I even bought a noise therapy pillow, which I like much better. I've read up on all the things that can aggravate tinnitus, and it seems like almost everything does. Salt, sugar, fat, caffeine, artificial sweetener, spicy food, and on and on. I've removed much of that from my diet and hope to see some results within a month or so.
Now about medications. I mentioned I fell asleep in my recliner and woke up to ringing again after 24 hours of relief. An hour earlier, I'd taken 8 mg of the muscle relaxer Tizanidine. My specialist has me on a very high dose of Prednisone, which I've now taken for 4 mornings straight. I attributed my silence to the Prednisone. I wonder if the Tizanidine set it back off. I'm definitely not taking it again. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Any advice or anything you want to say to a new sufferer will be read and considered.
I have an MRI scheduled to look at my brain, and as crazy as it might sound, I'm honestly praying for a tumor or something they can fix to stop this constant ringing. And it's only been a week for me. I'm 74 years old, mostly healthy, but overweight and dealing with a lot of arthritis problems. I'd gladly trade tinnitus for a quadruple bypass and toss in an arm too, seriously.
The night before Thanksgiving, about 29 hours ago, I was driving and noticed the ringing had stopped. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I could turn my head and make a tiny bit appear, or hear a faint ring when I bent over, so I took it very easy. I was ring-free for over 24 hours. Then, about an hour ago, I fell asleep in my recliner for about 30 minutes and woke up to the ringing back at full volume. What in the world. And by the way, my hearing is fine, with very little hearing loss in 1 ear.
I've been told that getting expert attention right away like I did was a very smart move. I have white noise, which I hate, and I even bought a noise therapy pillow, which I like much better. I've read up on all the things that can aggravate tinnitus, and it seems like almost everything does. Salt, sugar, fat, caffeine, artificial sweetener, spicy food, and on and on. I've removed much of that from my diet and hope to see some results within a month or so.
Now about medications. I mentioned I fell asleep in my recliner and woke up to ringing again after 24 hours of relief. An hour earlier, I'd taken 8 mg of the muscle relaxer Tizanidine. My specialist has me on a very high dose of Prednisone, which I've now taken for 4 mornings straight. I attributed my silence to the Prednisone. I wonder if the Tizanidine set it back off. I'm definitely not taking it again. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Any advice or anything you want to say to a new sufferer will be read and considered.
