I am a 62 year old man in the UK. I have always been careful of my hearing. I have always disliked headphones and I have scarcely ever used them. I love music but mostly classical and I don't listen to it excessively loudly. I often hear sounds that much younger people miss.
So, it was a terrible shock when I developed tinnitus about a year ago. There was no apparent cause: one day I was fine and the next day I had a very annoying whistle in my ear. It continued for days so I went to see my doctor. She saw that I had lots of earwax and prescribed some olive oil drops. She also thought that my nose was blocked and prescribed a nasal spray. Neither helped at all. As the wax was not clearing, I had an appointment with the nurse. She cleaned the totally blocked ear but did not want to clean the partially blocked ear. This did not help either. I was referred to an ENT specialist who asked many questions and performed some tests. The results were good for my age and the same for by ears. She also cleaned my other ear. The specialist and the doctor both thought that this was a good sign and there was unlikely to be a physical cause such as a tumour. However, I think that by good, they meant: not going to kill me but it might still drive me crazy. I was sent for an MRI which showed no cause confirming. The specialist seemed to give up at this point and I was sent to an audiologist. This was rather disappointing and consisted mostly of obvious advice.
During my first visit to the doctor, I also had a general health check. The results were mostly good but I was low in vitamin B12. I am not vegan but I am close to vegan. Since then I have been taking B12 and D supplements. I also have at least one fish and one egg meal a week. I have read some reports that B12 deficiency may be linked to tinnitus. The evidence seems weak but I am desperate enough to try almost anything. Another possible cause is stress; it is very high at work. I have worked on this by simply caring less.
For about 3 months, the problem was very bad and completely ruining my standard of life. It varied between moderately bad and very bad and never went away.
After a few months, it improved a bit though it is still with me after a year. Now, I get periods where it has nearly gone. The closest is a feeling rather like having some water in my ear after swimming. Sometimes, it is slight and I still get moderately bad periods. It could be the diet changes or the stress reduction that has helped or simply that I am learning to ignore it. My audiologist does not think that it is the diet and thinks that the stress reduction is more likely.
I also try to avoid triggers but the list of those is increasing. I have always disliked multiple loud voices in a small space and this is getting worse. Unfortunately, my wife and mother both have very poor hearing and often speak much too loudly, especially when they are together. Other triggers are very high frequency sounds e.g. some hand driers and clattering plates.
It has worsened while writing this. Talking about it often makes it worse.
So, it was a terrible shock when I developed tinnitus about a year ago. There was no apparent cause: one day I was fine and the next day I had a very annoying whistle in my ear. It continued for days so I went to see my doctor. She saw that I had lots of earwax and prescribed some olive oil drops. She also thought that my nose was blocked and prescribed a nasal spray. Neither helped at all. As the wax was not clearing, I had an appointment with the nurse. She cleaned the totally blocked ear but did not want to clean the partially blocked ear. This did not help either. I was referred to an ENT specialist who asked many questions and performed some tests. The results were good for my age and the same for by ears. She also cleaned my other ear. The specialist and the doctor both thought that this was a good sign and there was unlikely to be a physical cause such as a tumour. However, I think that by good, they meant: not going to kill me but it might still drive me crazy. I was sent for an MRI which showed no cause confirming. The specialist seemed to give up at this point and I was sent to an audiologist. This was rather disappointing and consisted mostly of obvious advice.
During my first visit to the doctor, I also had a general health check. The results were mostly good but I was low in vitamin B12. I am not vegan but I am close to vegan. Since then I have been taking B12 and D supplements. I also have at least one fish and one egg meal a week. I have read some reports that B12 deficiency may be linked to tinnitus. The evidence seems weak but I am desperate enough to try almost anything. Another possible cause is stress; it is very high at work. I have worked on this by simply caring less.
For about 3 months, the problem was very bad and completely ruining my standard of life. It varied between moderately bad and very bad and never went away.
After a few months, it improved a bit though it is still with me after a year. Now, I get periods where it has nearly gone. The closest is a feeling rather like having some water in my ear after swimming. Sometimes, it is slight and I still get moderately bad periods. It could be the diet changes or the stress reduction that has helped or simply that I am learning to ignore it. My audiologist does not think that it is the diet and thinks that the stress reduction is more likely.
I also try to avoid triggers but the list of those is increasing. I have always disliked multiple loud voices in a small space and this is getting worse. Unfortunately, my wife and mother both have very poor hearing and often speak much too loudly, especially when they are together. Other triggers are very high frequency sounds e.g. some hand driers and clattering plates.
It has worsened while writing this. Talking about it often makes it worse.
