I've Had Tinnitus for the Past 7 Months or So...

Ive had tinnitus for the past 7 months or so and it has changed my life....for the worse. I feel like Ive lost my drive and zest for life. Ive been to an ENT doctor and that turned out about as I expected, I got a big medical bill out of it. Ive recently tried acupuncture and it seemed to help a bit at first but then my tinnitus went back to baseline. Anyone have any success with acupuncture out there? Im thinking about stopping my treatment.

 

No advice on the accupuncture, but wanted to tell you that I am sorry you have T. How do you think you got it, because as you probably know that can help you determine treatment options.

 

I tried 2 sessions of accupuncture, but found no benefit. I'm not discrediting it; just saying those 2 sessions did nothing for me. I've used accupuncture for pain due to a herniated disk and found it tremondously helpful for that - immediate relief each time. So my expectations for it in treating T may have been too high (expecting immediate relief). I may give it another chance as time goes on.

 

I've had 6 sessions of acupuncture and it hasnt helped the T

 

I talked to women who does accupuncture recently and she said if T is from nerve damage in ear that it won't help. Her husband was a ENT doc who said I was a PITA. I tried long time ago with no results.

 

Sometimes they try to treat it as a 'condition of excess' so that would be treating excessive activity of the Cerntral Nervous System. You know get the neurons to calm down

What is a PITA Dale?

 

Ha, then my doctor definitely thinks Im a PITA

 

Right Answer Markku! But after that he said he loved me, to make up for his blunder. I hope he doesn't read this.

 

I thought it must be a medical term or a 'PITTA' body type as in Ayurveda. I'm obviously naive!

 

Okay, so a little bit about me and my history. Im a 40-year-old male. I had left ear trauma a month or two before I noticed T. I had a punctured left tympanic membrane, never really had pain, I had a sense of fullness initially, then I had drainage out of that ear. The TM perforation healed on its own. I did some really ignorant things after my injury, like I went to a rock concert that I had tickets to before the accident. For the most part I used an ear plug until it was confirmed that the perforation healed but there were times I took it out. I went to loud bars and places Im sure I should have avoided, wish I could relive that time of my life....oh well. So anyways, it is only on the left, its not overly loud, more like a buzz I hear when the house is quiet and at night. I have had it increase in intensity but that may be due to environment/diet changes.

 

For therapy I have taken ginkgo biloba daily, 120 mg, avoid salt and caffeine as much as possible, work out doing cardio almost daily. As stated above, I have had 3 sessions of acupuncture but Im not confident about the results.

 

Naive Indeed Louise. I am not that smart to use doctor language , unless I have to. WTH is a Ayurveda?

 

Another TLA! I know what that one means though Ayurveda is an ancient form of Indian medicine. All natural.

 

You got me stumped, but I got a feeling "it aint good"

 

Personally, I find many doctors to PITAs with the PIT redacted. (That leaves just an A, if you know what I mean).

 

I agree. Mine is so curt and its like Im annoying him and he's doing me a big favour whenever I see him. He wouldnt prescribe a non-Benzo anxiolytic for me even though it is licenced for that purpose (its Pregabalin). So Ive had to pay to see someone and pay for the med privately (doctors & meds are free in the UK). Its cost me a fortune.

I dearly wish i could give him tinnitus and just let him live with it for a week he might lose the PITAness then.

 

It was a "Q-tip accident." Thanks, Im going to try SimplyNoise out. Do you use it on your phone at night?

 

Do you mean that the Q-Tip actually caused the perforation in the tympanic membrane? Did you go to the emergency room when it happened?

 

I know Markku, I feel every single ounce of the frustration you've vented here. And what you have said above happens here in the same way ALL the time. Most doctors are so arrogant. I've turned up to see my doc in some bad states, clearly suffering, and still I get the cold shoulder. Arent they supposed to be trying to heal? Shouldnt they be working WITH us?

The guy I paid to see said there is NO REASON why my doctor could not prescribe Lyrica for anxiety. It IS licenced for that so its not even an off-label use of the drug. I asked my doctor for it as an alternative to Clonazepam as its supposed to not build a tolerance like the Benzo does. But, no, he wouldnt do it. I wanted it as well for the anti-convulsant action to see if it reduces the noise but I didnt tell the doctor that, I just asked for it as an alternative to the Benzo.

It cost me £108 to get the prescription filled (one months supply), plus it was £20 for the private prescription, all of which I should have got free.

The psychiatrist I saw privately does work for the NHS and then does a few hours after his day job, like you said. I think he still had a little of his NHS attitude as he wouldnt look at the two drugs that I really wanted even though I'd printed off studies and anecdotal evidence. Lyrica was about my 4th choice. So even after shelling out to see him I still didnt get what I really wanted.

My hat is off to you for complaining about that one doctor and getting a good result. Good for you. More of us should do it and then they'd maybe think and adjust their attitude.

 

Hi Jardojo.

I use the Simply Noise App on my ipod touch every night. Even though I could now get to sleep without it, I play it to give me background noise and its oscillation is superb... doesn't seem to annoy like some can. I also have an audio book playing and jim's rain tracks on a different cd player. All set pretty low - just to avoid silence as I still suspect that silence caused my T.

I can recommend the Simply Noise app - in fact I bought the ipod touch plus dock just so I could use the app!

Jane

 

We must lobby our GP surgeries and our local councillors. Let's hope that if they did understand tinnitus they would find out more and offer more assistance right at the beginning. So many of us have been told that we just have to live with it or given misleading information that it's pretty obvious we need to educate them. Nobody mentioned TRT to me at the start - not even the private, 'paid a fortune for' ENT consultant.

Louise - have you joined the BTA.. I did and they send an issue of their 'Quiet' publication every so often. It's way, way behind anything that we have found out on this forum. I can't complain to them because they keep asking me to meetings and I don't go (I still feel that sitting in a circle discussing my tinnitus with other tinnitus sufferers will only serve to make mine worse... but that's just me)...

 

It should be changed, undoubtedly. The first doctor I saw literally said 'Theres nothing you can do'. So no TRT then? They dont even know what it is. The only thing I was eventually offered after pushing was an app with a Hearing Therapist which was rubbish. They dont even offer wearable white noise generators.

No, not joined the BTA, I just come on here

 

I went through all the messages and it was really a depressing read you know... I have always imagined doctors in UK, Germany, Scandinavian countries as very professional, patient, understanding. Meanwhile it pretty much sounds similar as here... only even more expensive.

My story in short:

- I wait a month to see an ENT doctor (funded by NHS). He looks in my ears, in my nose, says "everything looks fine, what do you expect from me?". Prescribes me a nose spray. Wow.

- I save 40€ (this is a LOT here) to visit a professor in a private clinic. He looks in my ears, in my nose, then takes me to a (PUBLIC!!!!) hospital for 3 days where I have probably every possible medical test related to ears. I appreciate it, but still...

This is our health service for you

 

I tried the SimplyNoise app last night and it worked well for me. I like the white noise, low volume, oscilating.

 

If that's the app I'm thinking of, that got me through some rough nights.