New to Here But could use your help

Hi I'm Peg
I'm new to Tinnitus Talk. But boy do I have Tinnitus and could I use your help. I have had Tinnitus for over 7 months now which doesn't sound like a long time. But to the people that have it, they know what I am talking about. I have the 24/7 very loud hissing sound which is in both ears. It is diffferent sounds I hear. I have gone to my regular doctor who had me try Allergy meds which didn't help. Then have had three visits with an ENT. To no avail really. Had an MRI which he said showed nothing abnormal. Were his words. Had a hearing test but he didn't have the results and he didn't tell me what they said. But I know I have trouble hearing people because of the loudness of the Tinnutus. I have trouble sleeping and take sleeping pills. Have trouble concentating at work and just feel like I am at a loss now. The ENT doctor told me about the Universal Sound Therapy Website . So I have purchased the CD but do not have it yet. I do listen to Tinnitus music at night with headphones and have a fan on also. The sound in my ears is louder than the fan. If anyone knows anything that can help or where i can go I would appreciate anything you can tell me. I am in the Utica NY area. My sister also has this and I find it very weird that two people in the same family have it. Is it heriditary. Help..... Thanks..

 

Hang in there Peg. I certainly feel there's a hereditary aspect to anxiety traits, which is where I feel my suffering originated. I still have T, but I don't notice it much (though I have to admit it's bothering me a little this last week), and it's not impacting a single part of my life now. For me, addressing anxiety was the key to getting a normal life back. That's my plan; live a normal life, and wait for the news to reach me that it's been cured (and I believe it will be announced with great fanfare, so I don't waste any time looking for a cure).

Try to make sure that you don't have your music on too loud at night, you don't want it to be too intrusive. Masking is a great coping technique to start with, but you also don't want too much performance around getting to bed and being in bed. I hated being worried about my earbuds falling out, etc.

There are lots of great people here, and it's a great place to just let it spill out.

DD

 

Hi Peg, I've only had it 5 months and it seems like a lifetime. I don't feel at all qualified to give advice but if your T is louder than your fan you could try using an MP3 player for work and just hang the ear buds over your ears so that they hang down behind them. Then put on an MP3 that is louder than your T. There has to be something that will mask it.

I keep mine really low because I'm trying not to mask (the TRT that I have read says don't mask).
But you need to work - my biggest fear throughout all this was that I wouldn't be able to run my business and now I know that I can it's a huge relief.

If you use the MP3 player in this way others at work shouldn't be able to hear it, you're not sticking anything directly into your ears (which apparently we shouldn't because we are then masking 'normal' sounds) and it may help you to concentrate on your work.

I do it when I go out - I don't always turn it on but it's there in case I need to. I play water sounds - rain. I have this playing at home too. It's been raining for months in my house!

 

Peg -
Utica, NY? That really brings me back about 40 years ago. Finger lakes, beautiful area. New York is a very beautiful state.

I've had "T" since December. We all want to give you some useful suggestions. The ultimate aim is to habituate, which is something that usually takes between 6 months and 2 years. I am not yet habituated.

Some more suggestions:

Suggestion 1: I keep going back and forth with the idea of getting the Dichonics headphones, which will cancel or dramatically reduce tinnitus. I checked their website the other day (http://www.dichonics.com), but it says that they won't be taking patients until late fall. If you have the money (about $3000), and you beg them to tak you, it's probably worth it to go to Amarillo, Texas and see these people. I understand that this is a headphone that you wear which cancels/reduces tinnitus. It's not permanent, lasting upto 13 hours of silence. That's about the best suggestion that I can offer. Let's call this "The Mercedes Benz" tinnitus fix.

Dichonics also has plans to sell a cheaper Internet version of their headphones. A whole bunch of us are crossing our fingers, waiting for this to happen. They say this will be quite a bit less than $3000, but they're not really clear about the cost. Let's call that "The Ford" fix. (Hey, I like Fords. No problem with me.)

Suggestion 2: For about a week and a half, I have been taking a drug called clonazepam that has been demonstrated to reduce tinnitus. It seems to help. I take only 1/2 of a 0.5 mg pill when I go to bed. I call this "Experiment No. 361". Several people on this site take this stuff. If you want to give it a try, ask your doctor for clonazepam "for anxiety", because it can't be prescribed for tinnitus. Let's call this "The Vespa" fix. Not really a "fix", but makes getting through the day tolerable.

Suggestion 3: Some people take anti-depressants, such as Zoloft, Prozac. Again, not really a "fix"; but it makes tinnitus something that doesn't matter so much. I've also considered trying Zoloft, which would put me at "Experiment No. 362" . (Probably better than a Vespa fix?)

Suggestion 3: There are various other sound therapies you can try. If you have hearing loss, your insurance may cover the cost of a hearing aid. One hearing aid that is a combination hearing aid and tinnitus therapy device is called "Zen Widex". This may get you on the road to habituation faster, allowing you cope better.

Suggestion 4: I almost failed to mention maskers! These are little devices you wear in your ear that send white noise into your ears, so that you can ignore your "T". I have General Hearing Tranquil OTC maskers ($900 each). Maskers are, technically, the tool of choice for Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). I haven't ever found a "TRT" therapist myself, so perhaps I wasn't using my maskers the correctly. I got sick and tired of wearing those things - but, perhaps, that's just me!

There are other things I have tried: Vitamins, Tinnitus Tamer, Ear Drops, acupuncture. These things didn't work for me. They don't even rate as "Skateboard" fixes. A lot of things are downright scams.

The thing that really sucks is tinnitus is not considered a serious illness, so insurance will not cover these things that may actually help which are expensive.

They say that "the road to habituation" takes a long time, but most of us get there, eventually. That's the point where you can accept this damn sound, and put it in a corner of your brain like a hamster on wheel, not bothering you.

 

I started a thread on UST here.https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/universal-sound-therapy-ust.166/

Some of us have tried it. I think it helped me to get the T down to a minimal level. I have tried many many things to rid the T from my life. The UST was one of the therapies that I think contributed to the reduction.

I am really surprised that the ENT suggested UST. Can you say who that ENT is?

Let us know how it goes for you!

 

Hey. Why would you be surprised that an ENT would recommend the UST website. Is that s good tjing or a bad thing?. Ive ordered the cd but it hasnt come in the mail yet. Will drfinitely let you know.

 

Hi Karl. Thanks for all your suggestions you gave me. When you have the sound in your ears like I do you would almost. ... Almost pay anything to get rid of it. Problem is it probably woulnt work. Im already taking Clonazepam and Zoloft and you would think that that would help. But it doesnt. Have been on these meds for a long time. The ENT also started me taking a B Complex vitamin. But that didnt touch it. I think its worse now than it wad before.

What is habitite spelling????. I keep seeing people reference that but dont know what it is. Do you need a doctor to help do tjis. Or is it done on your own.

 

Regular allopathic doctors usually don't go for things like cymatics. I see they are coming around!

 

Hi Peg,

Sorry to hear about your Tinnitus. I think it is definitely hereditary, my father was quite deaf from driving heavy machinary and had bad tinnitus, I can remember as a young boy he used to complain about it. I took this on board and as a kid away wore earmuffs in noisy situations. Then at about 14 years old I got an ear infection in my left ear causing some hearing damage and left me with tinnitus, which has got progressively worse over the years. Now like you it is impacting on my life, I will be making dam sure my daughters always protect their ears.

 

Calin. He said this was helpful for alot of people. I have to admit i dont have alot of faith in this doctor. But no one teally knows do they. I cant find a cause for mine. Wish I could sleep better. Concentration is hard. Have a somewhat technical job. The incessant hissing is overwhelming at times.

 

Peg -
The fact that your sister also has "T" seems to suggest it's hereditary hearing loss. Or, perhaps both you and your sister were exposed to the same loud noise...? William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both have tinnitus because of an explosion on the Star Trek set.

Talk to Shiloh at Dichonics. I really think that Dr. Dalton can fix you - and your sister.

Another idea: One member on this forum, "SymphonSilencio" (how did his parents come up with that one?), said that he is representing a man who claims he can help people with really bad tinnitus. Look up SS's past posts. Says his "fix" is for really bad, down-in-the-dumps tinnitus. I recall that SymphonSilencio writes quite well. You could send him a message, asking him if you can try this thing he is promoting. (There's a "start private conversation" button on your profile page, I think. That's a feature that will allow you to have a one-on-one conversation. Everytime a message is entered, the person on the receiving end gets an email notifying him/her there is a new message)

I also tried UST. In fact, that's how I found this site, after buying UST. That was "Experiment No. 1". Now I'm up to "Experiment No. 361".

 

Peg, when you get the CD, try to listen to it with headphones while you work. It my give you enough distraction away from our T. I played it from m android. I put all my UST protocols on my android and can play them whenever I want at work or anywhere really. When I get stressed I just play the protocol for that!

It sure would be great if the researchers would come up with a pill that can alleviate our condition completely.

I have been finding out that friends I have have had T for years and years. Just never knew it.

If it gets too annoying you may want to consider having your doc give you some Ativan or something to help you sleep.

 

Calin. I will do that when it gets here. Im so thankful for finding this site to be able to talk about it. To hear ideas from other people who have had T is so supportive. Even if it doesnt change things.

 

OK! Great!

We are here for each other.

There are many things here that you may want to consider trying out. Many things are a fail type category, but there is no harm in trying!

 

Oh having a cold with T is horrible. I tried so hard not to get it. Jyst got the UST disc. For the people that have used it how often did you use it. It doesnt sound like my T
. But its all different sounds. Trying hard to.understand this thinh. Being sick is awful.

 

I was just talking to my parents and my dad just revealed to me he has tinnitus since I was a kid his are cricket sounds...now he says that he doesn't even hear it anymore....gives me hope....definitely will warn my son about it!!!

 

Karl - can you tell me where you purchased the General Hearing Tranquil OTC devices? I just completed 18 months of TRT with good success. I no longer wear the devices but would like to have a replacement for one that I lost - kind of like a security blanket. My devices were quite expensive.........thanks

 

Tinn Man -
Congratulations on completing 18 months of TRT!

I bought my maskers from my audiologist in Highland Park, Illinois. I'm sure that any audiologist can buy these maskers.

Lately, I've only been wearing them in the morning when I watch TV in our family room. For some reason, the TV or the lights in that room make my tinnitus worse.
- Karl

 

Karen -
I don't get it either. I think that I am a "listener", which is, perhaps, the major component in my own tinnitus puzzle. It seems to be a feedback circuit. When I watch TV, the process of listening starts up my tinnitus, building and building, like cicadas in the trees.

It sort of maxes out when I watch TV. Fortunately, TV is so bad these days, I read books. But just being in that room with the TV while I read a book brings it on!

Ironically, it goes away if I play guitar. I can't think about the tinnitus sound and playing the guitar at the same time: Mutually exclusive. But, alas, one cannot play the guitar all the time. (John Lennon tried it once, and you know what he said? "I've got blisters on my fingers!" )

When I sleep, I am very fortunate that it goes away. I believe that's because I'm not listening when I sleep. (Dah)

 

Today I went to a seminar, required for "continuing education hours" in my work. Having tinnitus, attempting to actively listen to others blather on about boring topics, which they are actually interested in, has put me in a really bad mood. Only two more days of hearing this crap... My tinnitus is fairly loud now....I'm going backward.

 

Thinking of you Karl.