Tinnitus from Antibiotics — I've Devised the Usual Coping Strategies

Hi, I'm momus (Steve), and hope I'm doing this right. Just signed up today. I'm a Southerner from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and now in Little Rock.

So... tinnitus. What can you say? It has changed my life, as it probably has w/ everyone here. It's better sometimes, worse sometimes, doesn't seem to be any reason for that. I got it in Portland, Oregon years ago, where the American Tinnitus Association is located.

It was terrible in the beginning. You know, right? I got it from antibiotics, and one day while was walking around in a nature preserve, just trying to figure out what my next step was, I sat down on a bench. This may sound crazy, but a little bird flew to the bench back and started singing away. Not knowing bird speak, I had no idea what he/she was telling me, but it certainly seemed to be trying to communicate something. This went on for a long time, maybe 10 minutes, then it flew away.

I sat there for a spell, and got up to walk towards a small Asian type curved walking bridge that crossed a stream. When I got to the middle of it an amazing thing happened... I didn't hear the ringing! It was the stream, the rush of the water was enough of a background sound to mask my tinnitus. For the first time since I got it, I didn't hear it. Since then I've devised the usual coping strategies. Some work better than others, but they all mostly help, which is good. Loud, unexpected noises will flare it up and I never know when it will settle down. Being busy, especially outdoors on my bike, is a reprieve from it. Going to support groups only made me more aware of it and made it louder, so I stopped doing that very quickly.

Hope everyone is working w/ theirs. There are some things that might help others. I'm here to exchange notes.