Hi there, I have had T for the past 23 years. It started when I got an ear infection when I was about 12 or 13, this left me with some hearing loss in my left ear which doesn't really bother me but the T sure does. The next 15 years or so the T was manageable, I wore earmuffs at work constantly and ear plugs in night clubs etc which seemed to keep it under control, but for the last couple of years it has been worse. I have been to many doctors and specialests over the years but none have offered anything. I live in New Zealand and we seem to be 50 years behind the rest of the world in this field, they just sit you down and explain what tinnitus is, that there is nothing you can do and you should learn to live with it. My T is constant in my left ear and consists of ringing in a few of different tones, the main thing that has changed is now it gets louder with sound I am listening too, so now I hear it over everything, and if I listen to a loud noise the ringing will stay louder. When I say a loud noise I have to wear ear muffs while driveing in a car on the open road because that is too loud. Does this sound familar to anybody? If so any suggestions? What do you think I should say to my doctor to try and get some sort of responce? Thank you.
Hey Jamie, You aren't the first one to experience that. I've read many times how people have noticed their tinnitus gets louder when they are listening to something, like tv, radio, music, etc etc. I mean that the tinnitus competes with sounds, so to speak. You said "if I listen to a loud noise the ringing will stay louder.", how long will it stay? Do you mean it's a permanent change or for a few hours? It's a sucky situation we all are in, how you described the doctors handle tinnitus applies to many countries, I think almost globally. I wish there was something I could offer, but besides compassion and empathy I don't have anything. Of course it's always good to have an ENT check out your ears, especially now if the tinnitus seems to have worsened; maybe there's some underlying thing (that made the tinnitus worse?) that could be treated? I don't know, but a checkup wouldn't hurt. It's possible they can't do anything, but I sure hope they find something that could be treated! Markku
Actually it seems you wrote about your ENT experience on another thread here, and it wasn't a good experience for you. That is unfortunate, but there are ENTs out there that are interested in tinnitus and try their everything. I hope you find one.
Some people are releived by clonazepam. There are many therapies to try but they all have small success rates each. All the ENTs i have seen were useless. The first physician i met who knew about tinnitus was a neurologist. I am happy with my actual tinnitus clinic but it is in Belgium.
