No silence all the way from Belgium

Hi there folks,

The name's Axel or MrSoKoLoV (gaming name) and I wanted some people to talk to who experience the same things as I do. I live in Belgium but there isen't any forum for Tinnitus sufferers there so I thought why not try this one.

I got my tinnitus about 2 years ago. I remember the date exactly, the night from 21 april till the 22nd. I was jut laying in my bed trying to fall asleep when I suddenly heard this sharp tone in my ear. At first I thought it was a noise from outside, later on I checked my television and radio but it still went on. Only after that I realised it was me..it was my ears, at least that was what I thought then, now I know it's actually my brains doing all this. I have to admit, I caused it myself. I used to listen to my MP3 at night at high volumes and once in a while I got this sharp tone after stopping with it, but it always went away. Had I know this was a warning I would have slapped and kicked my self but I didn't knew...I wish I had.

As you can imagine the first days were hell. Living with a sharp tone in both "ears" with no way to turn it off or lower the volume. I complained to my parents (live at home) but they told me it will go away. Since this is a thing we all experience once in a while, like when you dive deep under water and come up again.

It did not disappear...and I was becoming depressed. So I visited my doctor and she gave me Ginkgo Biloba and other medicine wich I took for two months. But nothing changed, either positive or negative. Then I went to a specialist who measured my ability to hear different noises at certain volumes. He didn't see anything abnormal and concluded that there was nothing wrong.

So I could only try to "solve it" on my own. Since then I always sleep with a clock in my room (2 to be exact at the moment). The tikking distracts me from the sharp tone. During the day I don't nottice it anymore, it's only when I want to sleep. I have to be honest I don't call it a loud volume but it does spike sometimes or even changes. I actually hear two tones, a sharp tone I would compare to a testscreen they used to show on older televions and a sort of rumble, like the noice you hear when driving on the highway.

Today when I got home late it suddenly went up and stayed like this untill this very moment. So again I will have to try to make it through this next period of adapting. I am afraid though since I have this feeling it will someday go beyond a livable volume. Lastly it's like nobody really believes it since they can't hear or see it. I sometimes think that they believe I am all making it up, imaging it. Anyway, that's my long story, thanks for your time!

PS: I hopy my English isen't to bad, I try the best I can.

 

Hey Sokolov - I'm like you, I can remember the scenario in which I first remember my tinnitus clearly. I was sitting in my room, just finished watching an episode of a TV show with my headphones on, and after it finished, I sat there, and immediately noticed a piercing ringing in my ears. I knew something was totally wrong immediately, and I checked the volume on my computer. The OS volume and movie player application volume were both maximum. As fucked up as it sounds, not even 2 weeks prior I was hearing horrible high pitched ringing and thought something was going on with my room or me, and then found out it was an appliance I owned that was making the sound, letting me sleep silently once I figured that out. I don't know why, but I almost knew right away it was something serious and not going to be easily dealt with, and here I am, 1.5 years after the incident and I still have it, but I'm able to do things in life better now with it than I did when I first "contracted" it.

This place is great, everyone here is an awesome person, and together we can crowdsource info and data and help push towards the cure collectively.

 

Audiophile headphone listening a probable cause here as well. Sucks.

 

Since you live not far from Antwerp, you could be interested in this clinic : http://www.brai2n.com/

They don't have the miracle cure but they are very up-to-date when it comes to tinnitus neuromodulation. It was founded by a world renowned tinnitus researcher. I have been there where they were at the UZA Antwerp and their rockstar physician had not yet emigrated to New Zealand. I have tried there many medicines and electrical stimulations without success.