My Story

Hello all

Im Deb, 47 years old, live in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

I work casually as a midwife at a local hospital, and live with a gold mining supervisor. We have a four legged furry child (tabby cat) Milly.

I am musical and artistic, and enjoy nature and health/fitness.

I am no stranger to life altering illnesses..

but was very fortunate to overcome a bothersome digestive illness 3 months ago.

only to cop a nasty external ear infection, which necessitated a 24 hr admission to hospital for iv abs/dex.

I noticed the noise about two days after discharge from hospital, that has been with me 24/7.

Didn't see this one coming I admit. Was so focused on hearing loss (as i was concerned that it was mastoiditis initially) that it never entered my head that this symptom would become a problem.

I showed a hearing test I had done a year ago (just because) which indicated mild to mod neurosen. loss in upper frequencies to the ENT drs at a local hospital, at which point, I was given the usual speel about T being untreatable...and I may need to learn to live with it.

I was shattered........

I ended up at the eye and ear hospital at a nearby city speciality hospital for another opinion.......

An urgent audiogram showed my hearing had slightly improved, and in spite of normal tympanometry and normal appearance of the Eustachian tube, the dr questioned if i had Eustachian tube dysfunction. I was sent home with nasal decongestants and steroids, none of which have helped whatsoever.

I have seen an audiologist who has a PhD in managing tinnitus; and himself has successfully lived with T for forty years. His opinion was that my T was probably always there in the background, and the infection/stress has cranked up the volume of the T so now it is a bothersome symptom. He suggested habituation, and sent me home with a temporary hearing aide which I don't feel helps the symptom.

Sleep quality fluctuates. Im exhausted a lot of the time, but I am getting in a few hours of sleep now that I am sleeping separately from my partner (he snores), with the fan on.

I am trying so hard to not let this affect me, but i have now developed a mood disorder. I am told these reactions are normal, and that it is only early days etc. I accept that but I would like very much to build meaningful friendships with people, and hopefully find one day that T just slips back into the background where it belongs!!!!!!!

I feel paranoid about noise, I am nervous about returning to work on Friday. I read a lot of you still attend noisy venues with ear plugs, but i feel im struggling enough with the T as it is without taking risks.

Anyway, I will look forward to getting to know many of you. thanks for this supportive space. i don't know about other countries, but physical support groups aren't encouraged here, again, because it might lead to problems with habituation.

deb

 

Hi Deb
Nice (and sad) to see another Aussie round these parts. My story is similar to yours in that my T is not noise induced. I've been battling constant sinus infections for about a year now and T is an unfortunate and seemingly permanent side effect my nasal spray is also doing nothing. I assume I've been left with permeant damage.

I've also been told that my T was always lurking in the background and my situation just ramped it up.

I'm about 6 months in and to be honest I'm still struggling. It seems to be getting louder. I hear it over the TV so I constantly try to mask the sound. I'm working on thinking of it less but it's hard for someone like me who tends to obsess over everything!

How long as it been since you had the ear infection? Perhaps if it's a side effect of the meds the T will disappear

 

Hi..

Infection was end of nov

 

Hi Deb - How are you doing ? How is the sleeping - this was my biggest issue - so understand how hard and difficult this can make things when you can't sleep - give me a shout if I can throw in any ideas to help you xx

 

Hi girls

ty for your kind mssgs
I will reply on my laptop after work later tonight
just wanted u to know how much I appreciate your kindness towards me

mwahx

 

@DebInAustralia

I'm a little older than you when you made this post. I have 3 small furry companions, one big furry companion and two fish.

I'm not musical, I don't consider myself artistic though I work as a landscape designer, and I love the outdoors too. If you find my first thread there are some lovely nature pictures of walks I took over the summer to relax.

I love working outdoors, walking outdoors and one of my favorite parts of the day is eating lunch outdoors and watching nature.

I haven't gotten back to old routines after 9 months though I'm making progress. My mind is getting used to the noise. My ears are much less sensitive to sound than they were a few months ago too.

I'm acknowledging this was a big deal and trying to figure out how to move forward. It's been a struggle.

You have a very positive attitude and you look so happy in your profile picture. I hope I can emulate you.