It's Baaaaaack!

[Della]

Hello all,

Funny ... a couple of months ago I was thinking about posting a success story. I never got around to it, and it's just as well, because out of the blue a few days ago my worst symptoms popped up again. Long story short, I suffered most of last year with numerous and varying loud sounds in my head (low-, mid-, and high pitch) plus sensations of my head vibrating, daily headaches, hyperacusis, etc. Many fruitless visits to various doctors, many tests. In the fall, encouraged by several people here in the forum, I got hearing aids. I was amazed at how many sounds I'd been missing, esp in the high range, so they were great for that AND gradually the T sounds that were driving me insane (the low- and midrange noises) faded away. I was left with the high ringing, which actually got louder, but since it's above the range of talking, music, etc. I'm more able to ignore it. I went back to playing music regularly, dancing, and generally living my life (always being careful to protect my ears of course). Everything was groovy until last month ... oddly enough, exactly a year after the first problems showed up last year. For several weeks I would notice that in the evenings the low sounds were reappearing, some nights soft, some nights loud ... but the next morning they would be gone and I'd just have the high ringing. Then one evening I got this transformer sound in my head ... it was there when I went to sleep, and still there when I woke up the next morning. It was there for two solid days & nights. If you feel safe doing so, you can get a close approximation of the sound from this video, about 40 seconds in:



When I felt about ready to slash my wrists, I decided to turn my hearing aids up to max volume. I wore them that way one whole day, which was very weird but it did make the volume of the T sounds go down more to background level. That's where they still are, for the most part, but every day is different (like last year). I've made an appointment to see my audiologist, just to see if the hearing aids need adjusting, but I don't expect to find much.

Warm wishes to all, especially those in the Low-T Club, who helped me so much last year!
Della

 

[billie48]

Sorry you are struggling with T. It is interesting that you seem to say you are ok with the high pitch ringing but suffer when the lower tone appeared. I often thought it is the other way around with people's T. Or are you saying you suffer when it has both a high and a low, kind of like 2-toned T? If it makes you feel not alone, many members here have multi-toned T too. Even David Letterman said his T is 7/24 and half a high and a low one at the same time. He said his T is like the Emergency Broadcast system on test mode 7/24 every minute of the day, kind of his humorous way of saying it.

 

[Della]

Hi @billie48 ... yes, you read that right: I suffer more from the lower pitches. I had high pitch ringing for years but at a low volume, and I never paid much attention to it. It was when the midrange and low pitch noises started that I really began to suffer. For one thing, they tend to be loud; and they are in the same frequency range as speech, music, etc. so they interfere more with my hearing, playing music, etc. Thanks for the Letterman quote -- I hadn't heard that one. Right now as I sit here I have at least 3 tones going at the same time. Take care ...

 

[billie48]

Oh, it you like to watch it, here is where he and Shatner talked about their T and his Emergency Broadcast system on test mode 7/24, LOL. I had a great laugh when I first watched it. But make no mistake that Shatner suffered quite bad initially. This show was when he had habituated to his T and he was acting as the spokesperson for ATA lobbying the US Congress for funding of tinnitus research. But knowing these gentlemen could carry on life as normal gave me hope that with the proper attitude, perhaps I could reach there, and I did after a while.

 

[Della]

Wow, thank you so much!! This is great in so many ways! (I just posted it on my Facebook page.) It's a real blast from the past, for one thing ... but it's also fascinating to hear them compare notes and describe their sounds. The jokes are funny, but you can tell the suffering is very real. It IS encouraging to see people who have T and manage to lead full successful lives ... I'm glad it helped you.
Hugs, Della