Another New Member of the "Tinnitus Club"

[DOTK]

Hi everyone! I have have gained much comfort from reading the discussions here on TT the past few months. My T started due to some loud noise exposure over 10 years ago but was only noticed in quiet rooms. Didn't bother me at all until last July when I had a serious health scare. My T ballooned while I was waiting for surgery due to what I believe to be the multiple 600mg Ibuprofen tabs I was eating and the increased stress due to the pain and trauma of the upcoming surgery. Fortunately surgery was successful and T subsided about 60% as I got back to work and everyday life in Sept but it returned with a vengeance late Jan and has been invasive ever since. First to go was my sleep patterns and with that I started the downward spiral that most have experienced in those first few months. My T is the single tone "old TV set tube" high freq and is a bit difficult to mask. ENT confirmed all was well with ears and hearing. "sleep machine" iphone app connected to my Acoustic Sheep "SleepPhones" is my masker of choice.

Forward we go!

dotk

 

[Karl]

Hi T-Club Member.

Yeah, mine was also somewhat faint at first. Got it from a drug that was given to me in hospital. Then it got loud when I had a sinus infection. The sinus infection energized my tinnitus, giving it sufficient energy to form a life of it's own, becoming a "tinnitus puppy". There seems to be a razor's edge of volume where people can ignore it, but once the volume goes past that edge, it becomes an annoyance.

I also have that "old TV set tube" buzz. I take Remeron for sleep (I'm not a Remeron salesmen).

I suggest you read "Tinnitus Retraining Therapy" by Jastreboff and Hazell, if you haven't already. The book breaks down what tinnitus is, what we have no control over and what things we do have control over. Very logical book, written for TRT therapist, but quite readable.

The usual problem that people have with tinnitus is, they are desperate to find ways to control it. We all want to take a pill, go the doctors and get a pill. Unfortunately, there is presently no pill for tinnitus. That may be just around the corner - who knows?

Tinnitus usually initiates because of defect/hearing loss in the cochlea, causing a phenomena that we experience at a lower brain level. This lower level brain system is something our conscious/higher level/thinking can't control. It's similar to how we can't control our heartbeat. In this case it's auditory pathways which are very primitive. We can only indirectly control tinnitus, by controlling our reactions to it. That is what is frustrating to us.

There are things that we can do. Some of these things are indirect. "Don't think about it", is Numero Uno. Somehow we need to get our conscious thoughts away from lamenting this situation. Some of us are more prone toward obsessing than others. We're all different. I think that, ultimately, the brain finds ways to readapt to make the best of things.

 

[DOTK]

Thanks Karl

I look forward to being part of this great group!

In my case I really believe that mental and physical stress are major factors as I have dealt with both in the past year