MemberMy t Story
My name is grae, I'm 60, male, in otherwise good health as far as I know.
I've been vegetarian for forty years and I cycle everywhere, I do not drive as I'm claustrophobic.
Having served in HM armed forces and spent 20 years in the music biz, I've had a real good dose of loud noise.
My t. started nearly ten years ago, in my left ear initially only noticeable at night when I lay still, after about 10 mins I would get a low pitched intermittent rumbling noise, something like a washing machine, stopping & starting, if I moved my head it would stop, it didn't happen every night at first, but over the course of 3 months it became more regular
I knew instantly what this was, my dear Mother has had t. for years and often described the noises she was hearing, this was one of them.
Just before my t started I had been getting treatment for a spinal problem, my therapist who was totally alternative had moved to Spain to setup a clinic, he advised me to get over to see him as fast as I could, he explained that I had a fairly tight window to get treatment before the t. manifested into a permanent routine, he thought this happened after 60-90 days after which time t. was difficult to correct
Unfortunately, as I was making plans to visit his new clinic, I was unceremoniously dismounted from my bicycle in central London by some un-caring vandal driving a black BMW, I was unable to read his number plate upside down during my short flight to the unforgiving tarmac whereupon I lost consciousness, my attacker fled the scene leaving me no opportunity of redress.
Suffering a fractured skull, broken wrist, broken arm, broken collarbone & various scuffs & scrapes, I was unable to make the journey to Spain to see my therapist in time and my t became progressively worse and permanent plus all the attendant difficulties, loss of concentration, lack of sleep, anxiety, diminished appetite, over-sensitivity to noise, loss of patience, increased claustrophobia and lastly & importantly the loss of the ability to meditate which I had practiced the previous 30 years.
At first I sought help with my GP, after several visits to the local ENT clinic I was fitted with a 'white noise masking' ear device, similar to a hearing aid, it did not work in the slightest degree & I abandoned it after 4 months, next step was a tinnitus research program run by the local university, this confirmed I had something wrong with my left ear, it failed the pressure test and I was exited from the program.
Then about a year down the line the headaches started, again on the left of my head around the ear, my GP was concerned and sent me for MRI scans, this showed the skull area behind the left ear was considerably thicker than on the other side, He was convinced there was little that could be done.
Discussing the issue with my Mother I discovered that not only her Mother but 5 of my Aunts also suffered the problem, it was a well known 'heirloom' in my family…Ho Hum indeed, what a legacy.
The next 4 years saw me trying any & everything from Hopi candles to Cranial Sacral Therapy, Chinese herbal potions to Blue Laser treatment, nothing worked, CDs, Drugs, Pills, books & tapes by the boatload, nothing, Acupuncture to reflexology....nada
Trying a different tack, I studied the Neurophysiological studies by P J Jastreboff, this helped me greatly in understanding the mechanisms of t. but alas aided me not one jot in solving it.
Currently bio-feedback is my next project, I have just started with this avenue and would welcome any suggestions or advice others members may offer.
I constantly hear from all directions…'there is no cure', I simply do not believe this, t is such a personal/individual condition with so many variants and possible causes that a generic cure is probably not realistic, but some folk have mastered it and regained their silence, trouble is they then return to their 'normal' life and don't look back… leaving the rest of us chickens still in the coop, I was talking to a chap who had t. most of his life, then banged his head on a low hanging beam, knocked himself out, but when he came round his t. was gone & never returned.
Sorry this has been such a long story, I have omitted much of the detail for brevity, but for the longer term I shall persist, I do have hope and I shall find my cure or die trying, maybe the latter, but I'm still young..heh…heh, so onward & upward.
My blessings and commiserations to all of you 'seekers', may you all find your cure and when you do, please give us a nod.
Thanks for sparing the time for my story.
grae
My name is grae, I'm 60, male, in otherwise good health as far as I know.
I've been vegetarian for forty years and I cycle everywhere, I do not drive as I'm claustrophobic.
Having served in HM armed forces and spent 20 years in the music biz, I've had a real good dose of loud noise.
My t. started nearly ten years ago, in my left ear initially only noticeable at night when I lay still, after about 10 mins I would get a low pitched intermittent rumbling noise, something like a washing machine, stopping & starting, if I moved my head it would stop, it didn't happen every night at first, but over the course of 3 months it became more regular
I knew instantly what this was, my dear Mother has had t. for years and often described the noises she was hearing, this was one of them.
Just before my t started I had been getting treatment for a spinal problem, my therapist who was totally alternative had moved to Spain to setup a clinic, he advised me to get over to see him as fast as I could, he explained that I had a fairly tight window to get treatment before the t. manifested into a permanent routine, he thought this happened after 60-90 days after which time t. was difficult to correct
Unfortunately, as I was making plans to visit his new clinic, I was unceremoniously dismounted from my bicycle in central London by some un-caring vandal driving a black BMW, I was unable to read his number plate upside down during my short flight to the unforgiving tarmac whereupon I lost consciousness, my attacker fled the scene leaving me no opportunity of redress.
Suffering a fractured skull, broken wrist, broken arm, broken collarbone & various scuffs & scrapes, I was unable to make the journey to Spain to see my therapist in time and my t became progressively worse and permanent plus all the attendant difficulties, loss of concentration, lack of sleep, anxiety, diminished appetite, over-sensitivity to noise, loss of patience, increased claustrophobia and lastly & importantly the loss of the ability to meditate which I had practiced the previous 30 years.
At first I sought help with my GP, after several visits to the local ENT clinic I was fitted with a 'white noise masking' ear device, similar to a hearing aid, it did not work in the slightest degree & I abandoned it after 4 months, next step was a tinnitus research program run by the local university, this confirmed I had something wrong with my left ear, it failed the pressure test and I was exited from the program.
Then about a year down the line the headaches started, again on the left of my head around the ear, my GP was concerned and sent me for MRI scans, this showed the skull area behind the left ear was considerably thicker than on the other side, He was convinced there was little that could be done.
Discussing the issue with my Mother I discovered that not only her Mother but 5 of my Aunts also suffered the problem, it was a well known 'heirloom' in my family…Ho Hum indeed, what a legacy.
The next 4 years saw me trying any & everything from Hopi candles to Cranial Sacral Therapy, Chinese herbal potions to Blue Laser treatment, nothing worked, CDs, Drugs, Pills, books & tapes by the boatload, nothing, Acupuncture to reflexology....nada
Trying a different tack, I studied the Neurophysiological studies by P J Jastreboff, this helped me greatly in understanding the mechanisms of t. but alas aided me not one jot in solving it.
Currently bio-feedback is my next project, I have just started with this avenue and would welcome any suggestions or advice others members may offer.
I constantly hear from all directions…'there is no cure', I simply do not believe this, t is such a personal/individual condition with so many variants and possible causes that a generic cure is probably not realistic, but some folk have mastered it and regained their silence, trouble is they then return to their 'normal' life and don't look back… leaving the rest of us chickens still in the coop, I was talking to a chap who had t. most of his life, then banged his head on a low hanging beam, knocked himself out, but when he came round his t. was gone & never returned.
Sorry this has been such a long story, I have omitted much of the detail for brevity, but for the longer term I shall persist, I do have hope and I shall find my cure or die trying, maybe the latter, but I'm still young..heh…heh, so onward & upward.
My blessings and commiserations to all of you 'seekers', may you all find your cure and when you do, please give us a nod.
Thanks for sparing the time for my story.
grae
