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  1. Nikopol

    Photo Album of Tinnitus Talk Members

    Although this year sucks (I was supposed to be in Japan, hopefully next year), at least I got invitation to participate in city coronation ceremony. Me, with the small group of people who were re-enacting, at far left of the image.
  2. Nikopol

    Photo Album of Tinnitus Talk Members

    Oh, well, since my profile pic is half a decade old, this is me last year at mount Bromo
  3. Nikopol

    Is There Such Thing as *Too Much* Masking / Sound Enrichment?

    Im not using it anymore, but did for months after onset. On my first try I put a "sounds of nature" in my headphones, louder than T and went to sleep. Boy, was that a bad idea. Next day my T was killing me, at least thrice louder than normal. Fortunatelly no long-term lasting effects, but...
  4. Nikopol

    Until Yesterday, Tinnitus Free/100% Habituated for Three Years — I Dehabituated While in Bed

    Hi folks, I was posting here some 3 years ago. In the end I made a goodbye thread as I was fine. In short, my tinnitus was caused by my back because a nerve got inflamed and screwed up my system. After months of massage therapies the tinnitus decreased and eventually I habituated. For the...
  5. Nikopol

    Syringing Ears — Should I Go Through with the Procedure?

    Its unlikely to make it worse if professional ENT doctor does it. Earwax is there for a reason, its additional layer of ear protection. Too much of it can cause blockade of the ear canal, resulting in decreased hearing, resulting in tinnitus. If done professionally, there is nothing to worry...
  6. Nikopol

    Tinnitus Spike After Cold

    Hi, this probably happened to all of you, but I recently went through cold. The cold itself even blocked my ears somehow and although my tinnitus is normally in left ear, where I got used to it, this time I got pitch noise in right ear. The cold left couple days back, but full ears are still...
  7. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    I think I will be leaving this forum for good now. The aforementioned cold has finally left and T went again down to levels where I can only hear white sound in silent room. My mind has learned how to fully ignore it. Its been 9 months since onset now and although it never went fully away, as I...
  8. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    Been for 6 weeks away on a prolonged vacation and T got seriously, seriously down. I found myself not even noticing it, thinking about it, or nothing for nearly a week at some point. With regular sleep, lots of fun and travelling it nearly all disappeared. On last day I got cold and now its...
  9. Nikopol

    Why Does Tinnitus Spike?

    This really depends on the cause of T. If your T was triggered by long-term anxiety, additiobal stress will naturally cause it to spike. If problems with back that affect nerve system, physical stretch or anything tjat affect your muscle system can cause a spike. Like alcohol. Problem with inner...
  10. Nikopol

    Tell Me the Truth... Is a Cure Realistic?

    Pain in life is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
  11. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    I just don't want to get my hopes too high. I found out that unrealistic expectations can plunge you into bad mental state once what you hoped will come won't. Its better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. Case example, 2 days back I experienced minor spike that last until today. The...
  12. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    Okay, so month and half back I was on this forum recommended to try a massage therapist. I didnt give it much of a hope, after all I saw every doctor but doctor Doolittle and their diagnosis was "nah, nothing wrong here either, sorry bud you gotta get used to it". At best, they gave me good tips...
  13. Nikopol

    For Those Who Have Habituated... How Do You Control It?

    You dont. That is the point. You let go. If you are trying to control it, you are trying to fight it and therefore you focus on it more, negating any effect of habituation. As for me, I am partially habituated. I can go for majority of time without it bothering me one bit. Actually got to point...
  14. Nikopol

    Poll: Approximately How Often Do You Get Fleeting Tinnitus?

    Random as hell. I had days when I got half a dozen of them and I had times when I didnt get any for over a month. From where I stand it seems that there are higher chances getting it if my anxiety and stress peaks and also its related to how much I sleep.
  15. Nikopol

    Help Me Solve This.

    Jaw is a possible cause. Make an appointment with dentist and discuss TMJ possibility with him and try his recommended treatment. It is also possible that that physical object may have hurt your ear drum in some way, though I would figure that ENT would notice that. In that case it can take as...
  16. Nikopol

    Anyone with Tinnitus in One Ear (Due to Acoustic Trauma), Get Tinnitus in The Other Ear Months Later

    In my case the other way around. When it started it was both ears with left being predominant and louder. Eventually, and I dont know how long, T in right stopped and in left got down to what I now consider a baseline. Though month after onset I had some virosis and my right ear was full and it...
  17. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    2 weeks back I finally got to massage done by therapist who has been recommended to my by my friend. Anywho, funny thing, she found a nerve blocade at upper cervical area (C3-5 around IIRC) by the size of fricking smaller walnut that she removed via massages and instructed me to daily use...
  18. Nikopol

    Cold Shower Tinnitus Experiment

    If the problem is at your neck and muscles exhibiting pressure on your cervical system, environmental changes of hot/cold shower can also have effect.
  19. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    So, just a little update. I got recommended a really good massage therepist by my friend who has long-time problems with his back. Ill skip the moaning about how good and relaxing it was, because it always is, but I will get to the interesting part. First, she said I have a nerve blocade in my...
  20. Nikopol

    Ibuprofen Greatly Reduces My Tinnitus

    Funny, it made my worse when I had flu. T is strange thing, indeed. Thing that makes it for some people worse, does nothing to others and for some others it makes it better. Nearly everyone says they have spikes after exposure to loud noises. I dont. No idea why. Ibuprofen makes for many worse...
  21. Nikopol

    Really Bad Spike. Need Some Input.

    Couple months back I read one research that said that their control group of T patients whose T was not introduced thanks to hearing loss / damage of inner ear hair cells via loud sound reported cases of anxiety and / or depression in nearly 80 percent of cases. Doubt that can be a coincidence...
  22. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    @neo1 I actually have quite a large dossiers from docs. I have been to two public ENTs and one private. Two GPs, CT scan, vestibular tests (where they put you on the chair, spin you and are measuring movement of your eyes plus also connect those things to your body and measure the response)...
  23. Nikopol

    Sinus Surgery?

    Difficult decision, but personally I would go with it inoreer totak unblock my sinuses and at very least get them better. If docs said there are no real risks to operation, it can only make you better. Maybe not with T, but still better. Get a third opinion though with another ENT doc just in case.
  24. Nikopol

    Intermittent Thoughts of "This Isn't as Bad as I Have Made It"... Is This Part of Habituation?

    Yes. I got these things more and more and eventually just settled with this mindset. Its a mental battle, glad you're doing progress.
  25. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    *Insert a greeting in your local language here*! I thought about chiropractor, but my friend who is a neurologist advised against it, saying that he receives a lot of patients who have been injured by unprofessional chiro and rather advised for massages @linearb Thanks for the vid. I will...
  26. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    I actually was on what we call a rehab. Not alcoholic one. That one only awaits me in probably not that distant future. So I guess that is what you call a physiotherapy where they taught me sitting excercises for muscles in neck. I have been a wee bit doging it and forgetting on instances and...
  27. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    Also, my ENT said that there is possibility that those muscle relaxants released some muscle which put a pressure on nerve. That resulted in tension headaches. Which eventually resulted into T (although ever since onset tensions headaches has been rather rare, sometimes going for months without...
  28. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    When I move my jaw forward, T goes up. If I move my head to left or right and press beyond that "the end" point, it goes up. Immidiately goes down once I release the pressure. I thought about acupuncutre, but bloody hell that thing is expensive. 80 euro just for entrance exam? Another 80 for...
  29. Nikopol

    Exercise and Tinnitus — Experiences

    How active you are More than I used to be, which is not saying much because I wasnt active at all pre-T. I started doing at least something. What sort of exercise you do 2km swim every week for past 5 months. Walking as well, depending on weather and mood but if I got to it I generally like...
  30. Nikopol

    Does Tinnitus Volume Decrease of Just the Perception of It?

    Also, funny thing - like one month after I got T I talked to my Latvian colleague about it. He never even heard of the term so I had to explain. And here comes to fun part: When I finished he said "so, you get either that pitched sound or that white noise" "Yes" I said "Well, everyone has that...
  31. Nikopol

    Tinnitus and Spine

    Hi, interestingly when I got my T generally lot of docs automatically assumed it's from problems with spine / back / neck. Said they get that a lot of times, especially since large onset of office jobs in 90s and beyond (as someone from former eastern block) and wrong sitting habits associated...
  32. Nikopol

    Does Tinnitus Volume Decrease of Just the Perception of It?

    Actually this is the thing I was going through for a couple of months. The fact is that T, unless it leaves quickly, can take its sweet time to go away or to lower baseline to much, much lower level. Majority of T cases go away. Majority of those that stay baseline eventually decrease to mild...
  33. Nikopol

    Can't Let Go

    If you are similar to me you probably already spent ungodly amount of hours researching everything on net, trying to find some cure, trying to find any way to get rid of it. That way you focused on T even more. Ie were throwing your habituation progress out of the window. You need to stop...
  34. Nikopol

    The Positivity Thread

    Ironically, as I am writing it I am experiencing a spike after a night of heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy drinking on last Friday night that got worse yesterday night and this morning and is getting now better. But not what I wanted to write it. My T is present since end of last December. However...
  35. Nikopol

    Does Fleeting Tinnitus Scare You?

    My first fleeting tinnitus that happened 4 days after onset actually gave me a panic attack. I dont know exactly how, it was a new sound and my curiousity peaked and I started listening to it. Before I knew it I thought I am having a hearth attack. But not anymore. It still happens from time to...
  36. Nikopol

    My Hypothesis About What Could Be Causing Tinnitus

    The thing here is that generally audiology doesnt test higher frequencies. Current opinion is that lack of sound input from certain frequencies create backslash in brain who compensate for lack of them by creating tinnitus. Bigger the loss, bigger the tinnitus. All in all, everyone has tinnitus...
  37. Nikopol

    Vitamin B Complex and Ginkgo Good for Tinnitus?

    It can work as placebo, though. My boss gets every month or two 3-5 days episodes of tinnitus (fleeting tinnitus I believe its called) and she says that ginko helps her, but it can be coincidental just as well. As for B, I think there have been several researches that found that B12 deficiency...
  38. Nikopol

    Can't Take It Anymore

    Hi Frank, I cant say anything that others didnt, but please do check out success stories thread on this forum and read stories from people suffering from very loud tinnitus who went from point of life that you are in to good, productive, anxiety-free life. Mental fortitude of man is something...
  39. Nikopol

    How Does "Centralization" Work?

    Its considered permanent only because in most cases if immunity system / body can remove the source of T, it does so within year easily. Hell, ENT docs stil largue if permanent mark is at 1 year or 2 years. There is no real evidence to support that time-frame to be honest. There is no evidence...
  40. Nikopol

    Tinnitus from Ear Wax Drops and Foam Plugs

    Generally it does and for now avoid all loud noises, of course including gun range.
  41. Nikopol

    Need Advice Please — Is This Temporary, Permanent?

    Well. I dont know. Run all the tests doc orders and most likely you should get reason for it all. But to be honest, many people who have T have weird feelings in their ears that started with T so its not that uncommon as you might think.
  42. Nikopol

    Need Advice Please — Is This Temporary, Permanent?

    Fluid in cochlear would also result in vertigo. OP didnt mention that. ETD, perhaps? But ENT should notice that during check up so I dont know, sounds weird. OP, did you have last months or longer problem with anxiety, panic attacks or elevated stress levels?
  43. Nikopol

    Need Advice Please — Is This Temporary, Permanent?

    What about fluid in your ears? Earwax? Did doc check those out? Were you taking any medications prior to onset? Any injury or trauma? It sounds similar to mine and docs are not sure if its vertebral or anxiety-related after ruling out nearly all other triggers.
  44. Nikopol

    Curious Case of My Tinnitus

    Hi fellas, now that topic name got your attention, let me tell about my T and why I find it bit strange compared to general stories around this support forum (which actually helped me a lot, thank you all). Now, I got my T in very early hours of 30/12/2016, like at 2:00-2:30 am when I was...
  45. Nikopol

    Ear Infection & Ringing Tinnitus — Help

    Mate, my granddad always used to say "given enough time and man will get used even to hole in the head."
  46. Nikopol

    Ear Infection & Ringing Tinnitus — Help

    Let your ENT check fluid in your ear. It may take even up to three months for T related to fluid / infection to disappear. Fortunatelly for you, in vast majority of cases such as yours, it goes away in multiple weeks up to three months.
  47. Nikopol

    Should All Doctors Undertake Medical Research?

    It really depends on person. I had experience with great docs and with shit docs. Some care, some dont. Thing is that when it comes to T, there is simply not sufficient research or even awareness. When it comes to ENT, most of them are aware that given that there is no cure for T. Two, T is...
  48. Nikopol

    Tinnitus Caused By White Noise App on iPhone 6? (One Ear Only)

    Hi Aaron, just wondering because you wrote that you have been listening to white and brown noise for 3 years with headphones - is it possible that prolonged exposure to this, or any, kind of noise is what caused T as opposed to specific white and brown noise by damaging ear drums or even inner...
  49. Nikopol

    Day 2 and Scared to Death

    Good thing is that T due to fuild in your ear in vast majority of cases ceases once fluid has been drained. It takes multiple weeks, but if you see drop down just after 24 hours of taking , that is extremely good sign. For sleeping trouble try two things. One, something that everyone here...
  50. Nikopol

    Anyone Had a Nasal Endoscopy Before?

    No pain, its just weird feeling is all. Focus on breathing via your mouth and it will go easier for both you and doc.
  51. Nikopol

    Sleep and Tinnitus — How Does Everyone Cope?

    I keep music of water (either rainfall or ocean waves crashing) on when I go to sleep. I dont know why, but I always found that sound very relaxing. As long as I can remember. It does job in masking T due to sound and it relaxes me and makes me fall asleep well. Perhaps you may want to search...
  52. Nikopol

    Young People with Medium to Loud Tinnitus? How to Cope?

    Well, thankfully I had mild H in first month and something that was anxiety related and it generally just went away in time. As for T, ironically I surround myself in sound. All in healthy levels, not going beyond 70dB and fortunatelly T is not that loud so it drowns in that sound. T aint that...
  53. Nikopol

    Is It Going Away for Me?

    Common thing with T (though its bit of a chicken or egg question) is anxiety. It happens in most of cases, many times you dont even have to be aware of it. Being protective of your audatory system is cool, but overprotectivness and fear can lead up to anxiety increase and therefore much...
  54. Nikopol

    Is It Going Away for Me?

    IDK, but wearing plugs 24/7 seems like bit of an overkill. If you receive any medication, better check for side-effects. If you see tinnitus, you'd be surprised how many have it, better to consult with your physician if that particular medication is necessary and if there isn't different one...
  55. Nikopol

    Is It Going Away for Me?

    Vitamin B12 is not a bad option either. Very often in T patients there is found lack of B12 in bloodstream.
  56. Nikopol

    Is It Going Away for Me?

    You tell me. I found out about no headphone rule about 2 and half month into my T. Imagine my surprise.
  57. Nikopol

    Is It Going Away for Me?

    Its likely, though no one can give you a guarantee. Try silent treatment for month or two. No headphones. Listen to music from speakers, but make sure it doesn't go beyond 85dB. Let us know how it progresses.
  58. Nikopol

    Really Need a Bit of Help... I've Developed a Fullness in One of My Ears

    Better check with multiple ENTs too. Talked with one guy who had to go through 4 of them and last one prescribed him Flonase for 3 months and after 6 weeks his T was gone. Other three just said he will have to live with it.
  59. Nikopol

    Scared to Travel

    That is true, but this case would be short term and it would help with your anxiety which also stabds in way of habituation. Anyway, if you want, you can try my trick for falling asleep during high levels of anxiety / loudness. I concentrate on my nasal breathing only. On sound of wind going...