Hello
I've finally decided to join this forum as I think there's only so much the people closest to us can take! It's like most things, unless you experience what life has decided to throw at you, how can you be expected to understand. Everyone's experience of Tinnitus is probably different anyway. How can we describe what's going on, because nobody can hear what we're hearing.
My Tinnitus started just over a year ago. Initially there was just an irritating clicking going on in my right ear. I started to think something had made its home in my ear, so I sought my GP's opinion. She was concerned that I might have a acoustic neuroma so sent me for tests and an MRI scan. Thankfully all was clear but in the meantime the noise was taking on a different sound and I was starting to feel slightly giddy on occasions. Meniere's was ruled out as I wasn't feeling nauseous and my hearing wasn't impaired.
I'm not sure what's caused the Tinnitus but I think stress is a major contributor. It links in with the distress caused by the loss of my faithful old Labrador last year. Plus I'm now in my sixties, so therefore I guess age could be another reason.
I can go for a couple of months with just a low clicking in the ear and although annoying, I've learned to live with it. However, when it flares up the noise is off the scale! It presents itself as a very high pitched screech consisting of a mixture of the sound of a million Crickets and somebody scraping a metal implement against a blackboard. It last for around 15 to 30 seconds every minute. This can go on all day and night. I somehow do manage to get some sleep with the help of the occasional sleeping pill.
Sometimes it's so shrill it jars my head and I have to hang onto something to steady me. When it first happened I was really frightened but now I'm used to it.
Over the last year my experience has been that it subsides back to an acceptable level of noise after about a week, but each time it rears its ugly head it seems to last longer and this episode has lasted for nearly a fortnight now.
My concern is that it will just get worse as time goes on. More and more different noises are now exacerbating it.
Like all of you, I just need to know I'm not alone. We know there's no cure but pray for some light at the end of the tunnel.
I've finally decided to join this forum as I think there's only so much the people closest to us can take! It's like most things, unless you experience what life has decided to throw at you, how can you be expected to understand. Everyone's experience of Tinnitus is probably different anyway. How can we describe what's going on, because nobody can hear what we're hearing.
My Tinnitus started just over a year ago. Initially there was just an irritating clicking going on in my right ear. I started to think something had made its home in my ear, so I sought my GP's opinion. She was concerned that I might have a acoustic neuroma so sent me for tests and an MRI scan. Thankfully all was clear but in the meantime the noise was taking on a different sound and I was starting to feel slightly giddy on occasions. Meniere's was ruled out as I wasn't feeling nauseous and my hearing wasn't impaired.
I'm not sure what's caused the Tinnitus but I think stress is a major contributor. It links in with the distress caused by the loss of my faithful old Labrador last year. Plus I'm now in my sixties, so therefore I guess age could be another reason.
I can go for a couple of months with just a low clicking in the ear and although annoying, I've learned to live with it. However, when it flares up the noise is off the scale! It presents itself as a very high pitched screech consisting of a mixture of the sound of a million Crickets and somebody scraping a metal implement against a blackboard. It last for around 15 to 30 seconds every minute. This can go on all day and night. I somehow do manage to get some sleep with the help of the occasional sleeping pill.
Sometimes it's so shrill it jars my head and I have to hang onto something to steady me. When it first happened I was really frightened but now I'm used to it.
Over the last year my experience has been that it subsides back to an acceptable level of noise after about a week, but each time it rears its ugly head it seems to last longer and this episode has lasted for nearly a fortnight now.
My concern is that it will just get worse as time goes on. More and more different noises are now exacerbating it.
Like all of you, I just need to know I'm not alone. We know there's no cure but pray for some light at the end of the tunnel.