New to Tinnitus Forum Happy to Be Here

Hi Everyone -

I've been saddled with Tinnitus since August 2014 and while it's mild, there are moments when I feel in despair wondering how to mitigate the noise and/or cope with the fact that this will be with me forever. My Primary Physician agrees getting involved in outside activities more often than I do should help to decrease the noise from my 'funtional' tinnitus and in fact when I am out and about I hardly notice the high pitched piercing sounds. My doctor from the House Ear Clinic in LA recommended taking Niacin and Lipo-Flavonoids which I believe are not helping and while reading some posts here I believe that the Niacin may in fact be increasing the volume of the noise so I may stop for a few days to see if there are any changes. The Lipo... I don't think is helping. I use a sound machine (rain) to help with sleep and that helps somewhat. The worse time is sitting at the computer with no noise around me except the clicking of the keys and in the morning when there silence and nothing to distract or mask the sound. I look forward to hearing from others and welcome support, feedback or just to share good as well as 'not-so-good' moments. Thank you!

 

Did you get your hearing tested?

 

Thank you Steven for your reply. Yes, I did get my hearing tested at least 2-3 times showing hearing loss at the highest frequency. In essence, I could say that my hearing is unaffected by the tinnitus and could easily accept any decrease in hearing even if it doesn't impact my everyday function. It is the symptom of tinnitus that affects quality of life. My doctor suggested that the basis for the tinnitus could have something to do with migraines and the autonomic system--not a bad theory which I may explore with him further. I wish there were a magic pill to take. At this stage I'd rather endure back pain than have tinnitus at least with the former there are things you could do to lessen the intensity and realize some relief albeit it may be temporary but manageable--with tinnitus, the silence is so noisy!

 

Welcome Maris to the board. For the computer, you may want to download 'aire freshener' which is a free sound generator. Google it and you can have it right away for free. I have ultra high pitch T and so the nature sounds in the generator help masking my T during my toughest days a few years back. I just told the colleagues at work I have high pitch T and sometimes I need to use ear buds for masking. They understand. If they don't, then play a youtube sound clip of tinnitus to them. LOL. Don't worry, life goes on after T. Take care and God bless.

 

Marls,

Stay positive buddy, it sounds like you are doing great with coping with the tinnitus. A lot of others have this in our society, it is just some are able to cope with it better than others. I myself have had unilateral tinnitus since 2007 and while I have had good days, I've had bad days too. It is without a doubt linked to the Central Nervous System (CNS), so times when you are stressed you will find it to be louder. Work on keeping your anxiety low and your stress levels minimal and you will do fine. Eventually you will 'habituate' to the sound and it won't bother you at all.


Some other supplements/things that could help are melatonen and Bcomplex vitamins. Stay positive. Lots of people have this and live long, productive, happy lives.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies and recommendations. One of my friends who is a great support system suggested that perhaps the sounds are greater when I'm involved in passive activities such as watching television but when engaged in settings where I am actively participating, the sounds are clearly masked and almost non-existent. For example, when watching television, it's only me and the tv in my little space - I'm not talking, just listening and at times I can hear the high pitched screeching over the tv noise. Or, when I'm cooking or doing things around the house, even with the radio on, it may mask the sounds only slightly but I try to manage. When I'm out and about the sound almost disappears. I agree Newfie that the CNS may be at the core of the issue as my husband suggests that if one is not 'in balance' the Tinnitus can be magnified. This may be a quest I will need to explore. I mentioned above too that a history of migraines might also be a contributory factor (per my PCP) and certainly migraines are triggered amongst other things by stress. I stopped the Niacin - I don't want to have to think about side effects that could occur from using this med even if I'm taking a lower dosage. I'm considering whether or not to stop the Lipo-Flavonoids and just go with B complex vitamins like B12, 6 and 3. Finally, I had read that TMJ could be a contributing factor to Tinnitus which my dentist confirmed but only when you exhibit the symptoms for TMJ which include in addition to clenching of the jaw, pain in the cheek/jawbone area as well as pain on the side(s) of your head usually presenting upon awakening from your night's sleep. While I do clench my jaw at times, I don't have the accompanying symptoms that would support TMJ therefore the link for causation does not apply in my case. There are so many theories out there but it can't hurt to ask but am glad I can share them. I also couldn't believe that I learned today that my dental hygenist also has Tinnitus - that actually someone I have known for a long time could actually relate to what I'm going through and vice versa. We could have talked the entire time I was in her office instead of having my teeth cleaned. Again, thanks friends for your advice and concern and I'm right there for you!

 

Billie48 - is the Aire Freshener safe to download - when I attempted it, my computer put up a message that suggested that because it didn't appear familiar that I should be be leery. Let me know what you think - thanks! I just went on YouTube and saw my options regarding 'sounds' I can listen to when on the computer - this may help - I'll just be picky with the one that works the best - some sounds tend to increase my inner sounds too much so I have to be careful!

 

I have been at the computer tonight for almost 2 hours with a YouTube Tinnitus video playing in the background (it's a shower faucet sound) - I can't believe how I can work at the computer and not be bothered by the high pitched sound that I would otherwise be hearing. It's wonderful!

 

I download aire freshener before a few times from this site and has no problem with virus. This is the author's own site.
http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html