help and advice required

Hi I am speaking on behalf of my mom,who does not have access to a computer,she is 70 and had a stroke in February called an' infart' that effected her vision and balance. She experienced stress type headaches at first and then became anxious at end of April. She is on antivastatins and also was prescribed antidepressants and then started to experience a pulsating thumping/ticking sensation in her head at the beginning of May which she has no respite from and is now experiencing a sensation of 'blocked ears'.The pulsating moves around her head and if she tries to do anything the pulsating increases. She is still taking the statins but has changed anti depressants to metazzapane . She is finding that her anxiety is increasing and although the mettazapine has helped her sleeping slightly she still has disturbed sleep. She has had a ct scan and angogram and they have said that it is all clear. We have seen a ENT/audiologist who say that her brain is now hearing the blood flow etc. and the GP and psychiatrist nurse believe that it is all anxiety based. She feels exhausted and finding it difficult to find any distraction to help her as the pulsating is very loud at times and is trying relaxation tapes. The audiologist has advised hearing aids to mask the sound bit she is unsure if she will be able to tolerate this. Please can you advise us how to cope with the condition and if anyone can recommend relaxation exercises or hobbies that help them.

 

I don't have the words. I have pulsing Tinnitus.

All I can hope for is the love of your family and the LOVE of your mother to pull her through all the drama. At the end of the day, your Mother is probably a great person. Be there for her. Take her out and do something for her to remember the past, when you were young, that can be a distraction from the Tinnitus. That can make her feel young again and bring back memories of her life. Maybe it will help.

 

How long has she had the full feeling? Im very sorry to hear about your mother, it might be a good idea to ask about an anti anxiety med if she is overwhelmed by the anxiety. It might be a good idea to keep her in sound rich environments, the hearing aids could be helpful. Other then this I would suggest some sort of CBT or TRT type counseling if she does not start showing improvements. I would read this over,http://stringplayer.websitetoolbox.com/post/words-of-wisdom-2964711

there is a lot of info in this link, in particular i found letter to a tinnitus sufferer helpful.

 

Hi Glenis, Karen and Cul have given you great advice, can't add much to their posts. To keep her busy, is it possible to get her a used laptop running Windows-7 I see them used for around $200 or less, or even a desktop. Once she discovers the internet, especially google and email it will open a whole new world for her. Just a thought...

I do not know where you are located, here in the US www.craigslist.org can be a good resource for used computers and other items....

 

Thank you all for your responses and will take them on board.Are anti anxiety drugs different to anti depressants as this is all the gps have given to her at the moment? I think we will try the magnesium though and can I ask Karen what sort of exercises did you do?

 

Anxiety meds like xanax work very quickly 15 to 30 mins. They are for sudden panic attacks that you can't get under control.

 

Glenis here in UK there's a good free book called Brain and Spine ,don't know if it's the same as UK as the US it gives written details of all exercises ,and goes into detail about all .well worth having,put in Brain and Spine . Org UK.or try the same for US see what comes up.Explains all .Im close to your mums age ,so I know how difficult this is at our age. I'd be lost without my I pad,have had lots of help,I only got pad in December ,never used internet before,let alone a comp.Best wishes to your mum and family.