Recent content by DRobi

Thank you for this thread, I couldn't agree more! I hate the term "distorted thoughts," and the assertion that the way I "think" about my tinnitus makes it worse. What is distorted about these thoughts: 1) I went 65 years of my life with nary a problem with my hearing or a hint of tinnitus...

John: I just stumbled onto this thread and have read all your posts. I found your thoughts and feelings about your condition to be both interesting and inspiring. Like you, tinnitus/hyperacusis came to me at a later stage in life - I am 66, and my sudden onset occurred 8 months ago out of the...

My taper is going very well. I am down to 0.25mg of Valium, which is a like a crumb. This is my last week of that then I jump on May 2. I have had no symptoms other than up and down tinnitus, which could be what I am stuck with for good. However, I have had more frequent days when my tinnitus is...

Since the onset of my tinnitus 7 months ago, the hearing in my right ear has felt vaguely muffled and sometimes kind of distorted with louder noise sounding like a broken speaker. Both of these sensations seem to get slightly better with I "clear" my right ear with a Valsalva maneuver (force...

Thanks for the reply. I have tried the "Cat Ears" and "Wind Blox" devices while cycling, and they provide minimal wind noise reduction. So, yes, I now cycle with EarPeace high fidelity ear plugs all the time. They really do block a lot of the extraneous wind noise but allow me to hear cars...

Ditto all of this... perfectly stated.

Hey All: Update on me, the OP. I quick tapered off Ambien in early January. I also converted from Ativan to Valium in early January and started a slow taper. I will be done and benzo free in about 3 weeks. So far the taper has gone well; no other symptoms to speak of other than loud, variable...

Tinnitus is a problem of both the ear and the brain. The conventional wisdom is that tinnitus starts with a lesion or disruption in the auditory system, anywhere from the outer ear through the auditory nerve, which then sets up a standing pattern of hyperactivity in the auditory cortex. Why the...

I have moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss, sloping from 4000 Hz to 8000 Hz. My tinnitus varies from soft crickets to a loud hissing. Both forms are very high frequency. I think it is generally accepted that we hear tinnitus in the frequencies where we have the most hearing loss.

Contrast nails it in this thread. The literature cited is the best there is on the subject. Tinnitus is virtually always caused by some disruption to auditory inputs to the brain, and then the brain maladapts to that disruption by becoming hypersensitive in the DCN and auditory cortex...

I had Pfizer #1 on March 5. No immediate change in tinnitus. I keep a log of my tinnitus symptoms, and three days after the vaccine I had 3 consecutive days of very quiet tinnitus (2-3/10). It ramped up again to normal baseline level (5-6/10) after that, and is now maybe a little worse. I get...

The sounds come from the auditory cortex part of the brain; that has been proven by brain imaging studies. The most prevalent theory is that some disruption in the communication between the ears and the auditory cortex (loud noise, ear infection, age related hearing loss, etc.) sets off a...

That's a tough call. After my tinnitus started last Labor Day, I got to into my GP within a week of onset. He also called it SSNHL, even though I didn't notice any change in my hearing, and suspected a viral infection. He put me on 50mg Prednisone for only 5 days, and an anti-viral for 10 days...

Alcohol has no effect on my tinnitus. If anything, it makes me relax and not care about it so much. Caffeine also does not affect my tinnitus. I am not a big believer in food and drink effecting tinnitus. It does what it wants to do, and I have never been able to correlate it to anything.

I have a had a few moments like that as well, usually upon waking in the morning. It's like magic, hearing silence again. But then as you notice the silence, the tinnitus begins to creep back in. I too have wondered if this is a physical thing with ear/brain connection, or if this is the...