New (Overdue) Forum Member — History with Cancer and Lyme Disease

Hey everyone, I just joined this Forum, after receiving a tinnitus diagnosis from my ENT specialist. I went through a bad Summer, starting with a cancer recurrence and ending with a bout of Lyme disease. I'm not sure exactly when the tinnitus kicked in, but probably it gradually showed up, starting this past Spring.

I made the mistake of initially researching tinnitus through Facebook, which resulted in a bevy of advertising for various types of snake oil. Checking out reviews of some of these so-called cures has led me here, which I think will be helpful, as opposed to buying gummy bears!

My name's Al and I live North of Seattle. I'm about to turn 67 and am considering retiring from my college teaching gig (Oceanography/Meteorology). Certainly this new &!*^$# tinnitus issue is helping to push me in that direction. Of course, my wife might kill me in the next few days if I shout, "What did you say?" one more time, which would at least absolve me from having to make a decision.

I got hearing aids a few months ago, but I haven't been very good at actually putting them in my ears (denial ain't just a a river in Africa!). My ENT felt that might help reduce the level of sizzling sounds I'm experiencing.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning something and possibly reducing the noise.

 

Just wanted to say hi and sorry to hear you have tinnitus and other health issues to deal with.

I have Lyme too. Tinnitus since 2013... so reach out if I can help you X

 

Welcome to the forum. Your tinnitus is relatively new and may take months and perhaps a year or 2 to stabilize so you won't be as bothered by the ringing as initially.

Habituation will happen at some point especially if you can accept the reality and move on with living as normally as you can. Try not to get too anxious or stressful about it as it will trigger the limbic nerves causing us to function in fight or flight mode which in turn make the tinnitus sound worse as it is perceive as a threat.

I have bad tinnitus in both ears and now my left ear can't hear well. So I have empathy on your hearing loss. When we can't hear our wife, perhaps tell her "honey I like to hear your sweet voice again so can you speak closer and repeat what you said?". It works every time. Lol.

Anyway, I wish you well. Take care. God bless.

 

I'm sorry to hear about you acquiring tinnitus on top of your already severe health issues. It's a good thing you've made the switch from Facebook to Tinnitus Talk You've probably already noticed that the people here are a friendly bunch who'll offer you their support and advise if that is what you want.

I'm curious about your hearing aids. Did you get them before you got tinnitus because of hearing loss or did your ENT suggest them as a masking device to help masking your tinnitus sound(s)? I'm asking because if the first is the case, your hearing aid might be able to offer you some relief with your tinnitus, because many hearing aids come with a build in "tinnitus function" and can double as a white noise generator. You should check with your audiologist to find out if that is the case with your hearing aids and if so experiment a little to see whether the WNG option will work for you. It made a huge difference to me, but that doesn't mean the same must hold true for you.

Wishing you all the best,
Leila

 

Leila,

I got the hearing aids because of hearing loss, as opposed to tinnitus. They have Bluetooth capability, which my audiologist pointed out I can use to simply send masking tones playing on my phone. I have to get more comfortable ear inserts though, because I am currently not finding them comfortable to wear. I have an appointment next week to do that. Thank you for the ideas!