topic Tinnitus in Community Chat

Tinnitus

Pouty Lips — Sun, 11 May 2014 00:42:32 GMT

Is anybody dealing with this? If so how do you cope? It is about to drive me crazy!

Re: Tinnitus

SydneyH — Sun, 11 May 2014 01:07:55 GMT

That's ringing of the ears, right? I only get swimmer's ear every once in awhile........

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Pouty Lips — Sun, 11 May 2014 01:13:42 GMT

Yes it is and I have it all of my waking hours. It never stops and I am ready to pull my hair out.

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SydneyH — Sun, 11 May 2014 01:16:12 GMT

You should see a specialist immediately. This should not be happening all the time.

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Emma bunting — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:03:06 GMT

My husband has it, Pouty. I don't know how he lives with it. I would go crazy. I don't think there is anything you can do for it as it really has nothing to do with your ears, from what I understand....but maybe some kind of nerve damage or signal gone wrong in the brain maybe? something like that.

I did see a natural remedy advertised, so you might want to try that. If it works, let us know!

Re: Tinnitus

Emma bunting — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:03:41 GMT

On 5/10/2014 SydneyH said:
You should see a specialist immediately. This should not be happening all the time.

Sydney....the nature of tinnitus is that it is constant.

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tansy — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:05:33 GMT

Look up William Shatner and tinnitus.

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Caffeina — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:10:50 GMT

I've had it for five years so far. Not a day has gone by that I haven't heard it and wished it was gone. I don't know how I cope, I just do. Within the first week I accepted that I would always have it. Fortunately, I don't have to work. I think it would be more difficult to deal with if I did, since I rarely get a good night's sleep. Other than sleep it doesn't stop me from doing anything.

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Caffeina — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:14:21 GMT

On 5/10/2014 tansy said: Look up William Shatner and tinnitus.

Glad you mentioned him. Reminded me of this clip of him with David Letterman, who also has it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCdx8aueK9I

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Burnsite — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:21:38 GMT

Pouty, I have two friends with this. If it makes you dizzy also (which it does them), it makes travel and work deadlines hard to meet. They are both taking medicines from their drs. But one thing I have learned from them: they have to avoid salt. They have to be vigilant about salt. JJ Rousseau and Jonathan Swift both had severe tinnitus, so you at least are in distinguished company.

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BeckiWV — Sun, 11 May 2014 02:36:25 GMT

I have it, have had it for years. I just ignore it as best I can and try not to think about it.

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foundinlv — Sun, 11 May 2014 03:02:05 GMT

My husband has it had for about 5 years....some days it goes down in pitch and it's easier for him to live with. He seldom talks about it regardless of the pitch but used to all the time and of course especially when was first afflicted with it. His type of ear ringing does not include dizziness. He's been to a few specialists and there's no cure. Have to say, he was always one of those that stuck qtips in his ear. He just couldn't refrain from doing that every morning. Aaack!!

Now, my occasional bouts of vertigo (none so far this year) have had no ear ringing.

All the so called remedies for ear ringing do not work at all he says and he's probably tried them all.

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colliemom4 — Sun, 11 May 2014 03:18:10 GMT

I've had it off and on. Have you seen an ENT? Perhaps they could help.

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Gooday — Sun, 11 May 2014 04:39:31 GMT

DH has had it for years. It is worse at night while trying to sleep. He usually has a transistor radio with ear phones and that helps drown out the ringing. He saw an ENT that was of no help.

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foundinlv — Sun, 11 May 2014 04:55:32 GMT

On 5/10/2014 Gooday said:
DH has had it for years. It is worse at night while trying to sleep. He usually has a transistor radio with ear phones and that helps drown out the ringing. He saw an ENT that was of no help.

My dh too has problems sleeping and why he takes ambien. Wish he didn't but at least he found something to help him fall asleep.

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dawg lover — Sun, 11 May 2014 05:22:31 GMT

I have just been through this with my mother, so I will share with you what I have learned. There is no cure for tinnitus, but it can be controlled and virtually eliminated, with certain hearing aids. Tinnitus is a sign of hearing loss or damage. It will not get better. It will stay the same or in my Mother's case, get worse over time. Step one is to see an ENT, who can refer you to an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus. They make special hearing aids now that emit white noise. Within a short time, the brain re-trains itself to only hear the white noise and ignore the ringing. For my mother, the cure was instantaneous. She went from constant ringing to silence and excellent hearing. She fought getting hearing aids for so many years, and now she loves them and would not be without them. These aids are expensive and they are not covered by Medicare, but they have added so much to the quality of my Mother's life, that they are worth every penny.

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sfnative — Sun, 11 May 2014 06:48:13 GMT

On 5/10/2014 Dawg lover said: I have just been through this with my mother, so I will share with you what I have learned. There is no cure for tinnitus, but it can be controlled and virtually eliminated, with certain hearing aids. Tinnitus is a sign of hearing loss or damage. It will not get better. It will stay the same or in my Mother's case, get worse over time. Step one is to see an ENT, who can refer you to an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus. They make special hearing aids now that emit white noise. Within a short time, the brain re-trains itself to only hear the white noise and ignore the ringing. For my mother, the cure was instantaneous. She went from constant ringing to silence and excellent hearing. She fought getting hearing aids for so many years, and now she loves them and would not be without them. These aids are expensive and they are not covered by Medicare, but they have added so much to the quality of my Mother's life, that they are worth every penny.

Wonderful to hear! Thank you for sharing this information. I haven't been to my ENT in well over 15 months, as we re-located to a different state. I've got atypical Meniere's, which means tinnitus and vertigo, but no hearing loss. Thank goodness.

I'm definitely going to make an appointment with the ENT my new internist referred me to and ask about these aids. Thanks again.

(Prior to retirement, I worked in surgical training and with our ENT researchers, but now miss that ENT connection.)

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JeanLouiseFinch — Sun, 11 May 2014 09:56:22 GMT

I've had tinnitus for several years and there is no permanent cure. To my family's dismay, I was turning the TV louder so another sound could mask it. I finally gave in and got hearing aids for a high frequency loss and they also help the tinnitus during the day. As a matter of fact, I just got a new pair Widex Dream hearing aids. They weren't cheap, but they're great and I've been wearing them for all my waking hours! The thing about hearing aids is that you do need replace them from time to time. And please, if you're even considering them, go to a licensed, professional audiologist for accurate diagnosis and prescription. Don't waste your money or compromise your hearing by going somewhere where a salesperson is going to try to convince you to buy something. Anyway, at night, I used to require having some room noise (the tv) in order to fall asleep (again, another sound to mask the ringing). If I didn't, laying in a dark room with that ringing in my ears would drive me nuts. Tossing and turning would ensue and I'd end frustrated and would get back up. Then I heard a commercial for a product called Lipo-Flavanoids. I checked it out and thought about buying it, but then I looked up the individual ingredients and found them as supplements on the Vitacost website. As long as I remain consistent in taking them, the ringing calms down some. Now, if/when I'm up during the night and return to bed before DH has to get up, I'll just think about a song (sing it in my head) or something else that's pleasant and I can drift off fairly easily without needing the tv to be on. That said, the supplements are not a substitute for the hearing aids.

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CookyJ — Sun, 11 May 2014 13:03:47 GMT

Hubs and I both have ringing in our ears. He has seen doctors and tried supplements to no avail. I haven't bothered....just learned to live with it. I have found that it doesn't bother me much unless I am in a totally quiet environment. In that case I listen to music or turn on the tv.

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cookie5 — Sun, 11 May 2014 13:32:10 GMT

I have a hissing sound in my ears which the ENT said is Tinnitus. I also have moderate hearing loss. The hissing doesn't seem to bother me unless I think about it (fortunately). I am saving for hearing aids as I am tired of asking people to repeat themselves, just as they are tired of repeating! Thanks for the tip on lipo flavanoids JeanLouiseFinch, I am going to investigate.