An Old Guy's Introduction — Tinnitus Started Around 20 Years Ago with Meniere's Disease

I'm 73. I've had tinnitus for somewhere around 20 or so years. (Memory fails me... a lot these days.) I was also diagnosed, at the same time years ago, with Meniere's Disease. I experience what I would describe as a high-pitched hissing sound 24/7 along with some other occasional things that would be difficult to describe. My tinnitus typically remains pretty constant day-in and day-out and I'm mostly habituated to it. I do have occasional spikes. But most of them have been, thankfully, short term... at least so far. I had a couple of these just over the past week or so which, I guess, is part of what caused me to be looking up tinnitus-related information on the internet.

That's how I found Tinnitus Talk.

It's been a long time since I've sought any tinnitus-related ENT or Audiology treatment. Recently I've been toying with the idea of seeing an Audiologist about the possibility of getting a pair of these hearing aids I understand can be of help with tinnitus. (I don't know that much about them.) But I have to admit I'm reluctant. I've been harmed by ENT's previously. I know an Audiologist is not an ENT. But still... "guilt by association" I guess...

Although I've had tinnitus for 20 or so years, I don't really know that much about it. As a result, I may not be a particularly active member in terms of posting new threads or replying to other members' threads. I may end up being more of a behind-the-scenes-reader, so to speak. I'll just have to see how it goes. But, hopefully, it will simply be nice to be around others who share similar concerns. By the way in case you're curious I wrote a fairly detailed description, in the Information section of my Profile, on how my tinnitus came to be in the first place. So I won't re-visit all of that here. Thanks for reading my introduction. Best wishes to all...

P.S. My username: "Overalls Bear" comes from the fact that I almost always wear... overalls! (LOL)

 

Lovely to meet you. Love that you wear overalls. Where does the bear fit into the equation?

Have you ever read about the notion that Meniere'd Disease is linked to autoimmunity? Have you ever heard of the John from Ohio protocol? If not, maybe take a look at that. A friend of mine has successfully resolved her tinnitus from taking low dose Naltrexone for her probable cochlea hydrops...

Do you perceive your tinnitus in the head and ears? When you say you are mostly habituated, I presume you mean in reaction, not perception? I am sorry to hear about your more frequent spikes. A trip to the audiologist may not be a bad idea just to do an audiogram and ascertain if hearing aids could help you.

Let us know how you get on X

 

Hello to you, @Overalls Bear, I think it is great you've found your way here because just talking to people going through the same thing can be an enormous help, especially when you're having a bad tinnitus day.

I got pretty frustrated with ENTs, too, because they were rather quick to blame my mental health for my tinnitus and suggest psychotropic drugs for lack of any real options. So I won't be a great source of information in this regard.

However, I can tell you a little bit about the hearing aids you've been thinking about because they are something I've been using for a while now. When I got my first tinnitus noise most of the professionals just laughed it off and basically told me to just suck it up. To cut a long story short, I did suck it up, because I had no idea where else to find help and I was also lacking the vocabulary to explain my symptoms. When I got a second noise on top of the one I already had, I tried again because it was driving me crazy and I needed to find a way to mask that wasn't listening to the radio 24/7. That's when I got my first white noise generator (WNG) / hearing aid. It was a great battle because the ENT didn't want me to have it because "nobody he knows who has tried it managed to get used to it". After lots of back and forth I got his permission to try one at least and it made a huge difference. Finding a noise you can live with and getting used to this noise on top of the noises you already have, took about 3/4 of a year. Also my first noise (think dentist drill) is quite unmaskable, but it still helped a lot. When I got a third noise in my so far good ear I got a second WNG and that, too, helped me a lot. Wearing them both and with the tinnitus itself, renders me rather deaf so I only wear one WNG when I know I'll be driving or have to interact with people.

I don't know what it's like in your country, but for that 3/4 of a year I was given a test device and was under no obligation to buy it at any point. If you have that option, too, give it a try. Also do a search around here because there are a couple of posts / threads around here where people reported using Bluetooth devices for a WNG. I've never tried it myself, so I can't offer advice on their pros and cons. Though, one pro is probably that they are cheaper and that your choices of masking sounds are limitless. A con I can think of is that they leave the finetuning up to you... But have a look around and check with the people who've tried and know what they are talking about.

Best of luck, Leila

 

Although I've had tinnitus for perhaps in the neighborhood of 20 years or so (which I mostly just dealt with on my own as best I could), I'm finding belonging to Tinnitus Talk to be anxiety-provoking. (Not that I don't have boatloads of generalized anxiety anyway.) So, I'm wondering if anyone else had this reaction upon joining the site and, if so, if (and perhaps how) you got over it.

I'm an older person (73). And reading various posts, I am not familiar with (or don't understand) most of the acronyms and jargon. (Plus I think my cognitive level is gradually declining with age.) And the experiences members recount scare me to death because I start to worry I could be just minutes, hours or days away from some terrible increase in what I currently experience (and manage to cope with) day-in and day-out!

On the one hand, it's great to have found Tinnitus Talk because everything I read is relevant to me; plus I've experienced a lot of it myself over the years. But on the other hand, I wonder if, by being here, I'm working my already formidable anxiety level up into a state for which I'll be sorry at some point in the not all that distant future. I could use some advice and perspective. Many thanks...

 

Welcome to the forum @Overalls Bear!

Yes the forum can give new members anxiety if you read some depressing posts from new members desperate for help. I used to like the sticky thread "Positivity" in the Support category but it has since been removed from its sticky status. Instead now the much more alarming and depressing thread "Suicidal" becomes front and center in that category. It may be truly reflecting the mental state of some members and that is why it stays on top of the category. But new members visiting the forum with unstable mental state about the unknown future will find it very disturbing. Perhaps the real content inside is not as bad in suggesting tinnitus will lead to suicide, but the title is quite scary and alarming to new visitors.

I suggest you focus on the Success Stories category where you can find hope and positive messages. Take care. God bless.