I'm Damien — I've Had Severe Inner Ear Tinnitus and Sensorineural Hearing Loss Since 2008

[Damien McGowan]

Hi my name is Damien and since 2008 I've had Severe Inner Ear Tinnitus and Sensorineural Hearing Loss. The noise I hear (for the first year and a half to two years) is similar to a car alarm going full tilt and kinda changed and sounds very similar to a dentist drill perhaps 3 going at the same time and louder on level 8, 9 and 10 with 1 being the lowest.

The first 18 months were beyond the pale and in the early days I went 7 days and 7 nights without sleep. I had to give up work and go through the appeal processes of the benefit system. I drank red wine to sleep as sleeping medication wasn't available or in insufficient quantity.

I went through several GP's until I found one that took the severity seriously. The first consultant was hopeless as was their E.N.T department.

One bottle of red wine went to 2 and then 3 and 4 so I ended up at AA. Fortunately I met someone who had the same severity of tinnitus as me and was several years in. He was a great help to me and we became tinnitus buddies. I would recommend to anyone who's new in to find someone similar. It's probably the reason I'm alive today. If it hadn't been for my elderly Mother being alive at the time I would have taken my life. 10 years on I live with it. It varies between level 3 and level 7 most of the time.

I've learnt a lot about the condition and am happy to help anyone with advice, suggestions and am open to giving out my phone number if someone wants it.

 

[UKBloke]

Welcome Damien, great post!
Having a "Tinnitus buddy" is a very good idea.

 

[Tweedleman]

Welcome dude, I love the comradeship. I am planning on attending a local tinnitus support group soon. All of the normal, non T sufferers in my life are sick of hearing about my hearing issues. It's very comforting finding people in the same boat that are driven to help the cause. Much love.

 

[LongWait]

Hi my name is Damien and since 2008 I've had Severe Inner Ear Tinnitus and Sensorineural Hearing Loss. The noise I hear (for the first year and a half to two years) is similar to a car alarm going full tilt and kinda changed and sounds very similar to a dentist drill perhaps 3 going at the same time and louder on level 8, 9 and 10 with 1 being the lowest.

The first 18 months were beyond the pale and in the early days I went 7 days and 7 nights without sleep. I had to give up work and go through the appeal processes of the benefit system. I drank red wine to sleep as sleeping medication wasn't available or in insufficient quantity.

I went through several GP's until I found one that took the severity seriously. The first consultant was hopeless as was their E.N.T department.

One bottle of red wine went to 2 and then 3 and 4 so I ended up at AA. Fortunately I met someone who had the same severity of tinnitus as me and was several years in. He was a great help to me and we became tinnitus buddies. I would recommend to anyone who's new in to find someone similar. It's probably the reason I'm alive today. If it hadn't been for my elderly Mother being alive at the time I would have taken my life. 10 years on I live with it. It varies between level 3 and level 7 most of the time.

I've learnt a lot about the condition and am happy to help anyone with advice, suggestions and am open to giving out my phone number if someone wants it.

You are a hero Damien, I'm 2 years into this hell, what a journey.

 

[Damien McGowan]

Welcome Damien, great post!
Having a "Tinnitus buddy" is a very good idea.

Thank you.

 

[Damien McGowan]

You are a hero Damien, I'm 2 years into this hell, what a journey.

 

[Damien McGowan]

You're not wrong. People who don't have it severely have no idea. Good luck with yours.

 

[Damien McGowan]

Welcome dude, I love the comradeship. I am planning on attending a local tinnitus support group soon. All of the normal, non T sufferers in my life are sick of hearing about my hearing issues. It's very comforting finding people in the same boat that are driven to help the cause. Much love.

 

[Candy]

@Damien McGowan a 3 is mild, how often do you get mild days?

 

[JohnFox]

non T sufferers in my life are sick of hearing about my hearing issues.

It does get so frustrating with those who don't know Tinnitus. I have some very dear friends who do care a lot about me and I have many times explained in detail the severity of my Tinnitus and that my life just isn't the same as it was prior to Tinnitus, yet it seems like they just completely forget after awhile. I always get this.."Oh, do you still have ear problems?" ...or "Hey, we're having some people over for dinner, can you guys join us?". They all mean well. But sometimes I feel like moving away where I know nobody to live a relatively quiet life with just my wife and maybe a dog ..that doesn't bark. (BTW, I have severe hyperacusis with Tinnitus and deafness in R ear.)

 

[nobhillian]

Hi Damien...and everyone. Thanks for sharing. I too have sudden unilateral SNHL with new onset tinnitus. My tinnitus ranged from a 1 to 10 depending on environment, loud restaurants, sirens, etc. Soon after I lost my hearing in left ear, the tinnitus consumed my day. However, it never disrupted my sleep. I learned to avoid environments that incited it my tinnitus: restaurants, concerts, etc. I became accustomed and it generally faded into background...an average 3, tolerable hiss.

Then, I was sold by a surgeon to put in cochlear implant. 1 day after surgery, tinnitus appeared for first time in the right ear and relentless 8-10 in deaf ear. High pitched ringing that wakes me up at night. I now require ambien to sleep, sometimes xanax. CT scan revealed opacification of epitympanum and sinus. Am now trying to convince doctors to remove the device. It's a tinnitus torture device- Advanced Bionics- and the cochlear implant industry is a cartel of surgeons, audiologists and manufacturers who are selling false hopes.

I'm sharing this as cautionary tale: Do not ever agree to cochlear implant surgery. The generated sound is like R2D2 and Donald Duck's love child translating Earth sounds and human Speech into the ear. Gibberish.

I feel for everyone on board here. And yes, it helps to know we don't suffer alone.

 

[Jazzer]

Hi Damien...and everyone. Thanks for sharing. I too have sudden unilateral SNHL with new onset tinnitus. My tinnitus ranged from a 1 to 10 depending on environment, loud restaurants, sirens, etc. Soon after I lost my hearing in left ear, the tinnitus consumed my day. However, it never disrupted my sleep. I learned to avoid environments that incited it my tinnitus: restaurants, concerts, etc. I became accustomed and it generally faded into background...an average 3, tolerable hiss.

Then, I was sold by a surgeon to put in cochlear implant. 1 day after surgery, tinnitus appeared for first time in the right ear and relentless 8-10 in deaf ear. High pitched ringing that wakes me up at night. I now require ambien to sleep, sometimes xanax. CT scan revealed opacification of epitympanum and sinus. Am now trying to convince doctors to remove the device. It's a tinnitus torture device- Advanced Bionics- and the cochlear implant industry is a cartel of surgeons, audiologists and manufacturers who are selling false hopes.

I'm sharing this as cautionary tale: Do not ever agree to cochlear implant surgery. The generated sound is like R2D2 and Donald Duck's love child translating Earth sounds and human Speech into the ear. Gibberish.

I feel for everyone on board here. And yes, it helps to know we don't suffer alone.

Oh my god - what an appalling story.
I am so so sorry buddy,
Thank you for having the courage to share such a warning.
Dave x
Jazzer

 

[Candy]

@nobhillian it's supposed to help with tinnitus, not create more on the other side.

The brain is a mystery when it comes to tinnitus.

Sorry to hear this. Hope you can get it removed x