Life with tinnitus

[Sailor101]

Hello,

I just wanted to ask, does it get better with time, not like the noise of T, but can you live with it atleast just one day without thinking of T. Now that I think of it, how good was life before of all this, I sure miss it.

 

[Karen]

Yes, for most of us, it does get better with time. Most people find that if they can distract themselves or tune it out, they don't notice it as much any more. It does take time to get to that point. The first step is to begin sleeping again, and then to not let the tinnitus worry you or bother you. If you can do that, you'll find that things will begin to improve!

How long have you had your tinnitus? Do you know what caused it?

 

[stantheman]

I have had tinnitus for 21 months. Yes, I have gotten better but my life has definitely been altered. Things I use to do easily are now hard.

You are right. Life was much better before getting tinnitus. I am not as I was before. I am told I never will be.

 

[Karen]

Stan,

Yes, tinnitus can be a life-changing experience. We have to look at everything differently now; like, remembering to wear ear plugs before going to noisy events, etc. I am still having problems with sleep, but that has gotten better, too.

I feel lucky to have found this forum; I feel that, when a cure comes, we'll be among the first to hear about it! There is much promise in stem cell research, and other types of research going on right now. I believe there will be some sort of breakthrough soon. In the meantime, we must find ways to cope with it as best we can. And there are many ways to cope; you just have to find what is the best way for you.

Stay strong!

 

[Per]

I wish there was something that lowered the volume with let's say 25%. I would be really happy if there was a treatment that could guarantee a lower T volume - I measure my life quality in decibel now. Next to a total cure lower T is what I strive for. It's somewhat frustrating to read peoples experiences when it comes to volume cause I can't really say I share too many of them. For instance is sleep generating very loud T for me, the instance I wake up from a long sleep after taking medication it's really loud! That doesn't correspond with other people that almost always write the opposite. Stress is another strange factor cause I feel I get lower volume when I'm occupied and stressed, it doesn't generate high volumes at all, but almost everyone else tells me that they get high T during stress. I guess I just manage to suppress my T a little during periods of high activity. If I'm feeling relaxed my T is super loud!

 

[heartbroken]

I always complained when my neighbors were too noisy(they are up all hours of night)...now I can't sleep without some noise to distract me from the awful noise in my own head! I long to feel normal again...but more than anything I long to be able to sleep well...I wish I knew what makes the noise worse, the pulsing more turbulent then atleast I would refrain from those things...but its like being in the dark and not knowing which switch to turn on and off.

 

[inadmin]

I have had tinnitus for 21 months. Yes, I have gotten better but my life has definitely been altered. Things I use to do easily are now hard.

You are right. Life was much better before getting tinnitus. I am not as I was before. I am told I never will be.

Hi, what do you find difficult to do with this punishment?

 

[Cher69]

Hi @Sailor101 It does and can get better Im new to this but have found help is out there - try the ideas people post on here to help you - Im gathering info on help for sleep that causes me the most distress. People on this forum have loads of experience to guide you - but personally I feel we need to find time to relax and make sure you have time to look after yourself then you will find the strength to deal with the T - and take ideas from others to help you.

By the way I think we could share the same name - my married name is 'Klavins' my Father-in-Law was from Latvia - I have visited your country many years ago to meet his family and had time in Riga drinking very strong Vodka ! Hope you have some good positive results with your T - Cher x

 

[Sailor101]

Hi @Sailor101 It does and can get better Im new to this but have found help is out there - try the ideas people post on here to help you - Im gathering info on help for sleep that causes me the most distress. People on this forum have loads of experience to guide you - but personally I feel we need to find time to relax and make sure you have time to look after yourself then you will find the strength to deal with the T - and take ideas from others to help you.

By the way I think we could share the same name - my married name is 'Klavins' my Father-in-Law was from Latvia - I have visited your country many years ago to meet his family and had time in Riga drinking very strong Vodka ! Hope you have some good positive results with your T - Cher x

Hi @Cher69 , thanks for the motivation, lately I'm trying so hard to relax, but it feels like my head is somewhere else, like empty, and I am so afraid that it will last forever, I'll be going back to academy and all that I can think of is that it will distract me from learning, but I really, really want to learn.

My surname isn't the same, my name is Klāvs , but yours is really common here, but here it sound a bit different because we add those little thingies on letters, so it would be like this - Kļaviņš.

 

[Per]

@Sailor101

I know what your talking about. You wonder if u will ever cope with the challenges of life, like studies or work. I'm just about now ready to start working again after a year of full time studies and at the job interview today all I could think was "Am I really ready to do this now?" When I got home I felt so down and tired, totally exhausted. I got T after my studies so I haven't been able to figure out what I'm capable of quite yet. It's like a carpet of fear comes over me.

Will my life ever be the same? Not without a cure. When the cure comes my life will exceed whatever was, I think my life will become like an extremely grateful thing after T is gone. Cause somehow the cure or an effective treatment must come. A friend of mine said he was so surprised no one have managed to stop the noises, when I told him about my severe T he just was so surprised that there is no medication for it. I guess all the well people out there think our condition is curable now.

 

[Silvercycler]

I've had T for over 40 years. When I first contracted it at age 25 I thought I'd go crazy. It was a constant high pitched ringing in my left ear. But I somehow learned that a friend had it and when I talked to him he said, you get used to it, don't worry. And sure enough I did, and found that for moths at a time I wouldn't even be aware of it. When I was it seemed to be because I was extra tired or under stress. But I figured, okay, don't worry, you'll soon forget about it again, and the ringing will seem a little less intense, and sure enough I'd soon be unaware of it again for many more months.

The reason I'm on this forum now, however, is that recently it has seemed more high pitched for an extended period of time -- a couple of weeks. I thought it might have to do with the fact I'm on several meds for back pain. So I called my pain management doctor who had prescribed these meds and she said, meloxicam can heighten T and so can Nortryptiline, two meds she had prescribed. She said stop the meloxicam for few days and if that doesn't help restart it and stop the other med for few days. I stopped the meloxicam four days ago and it hasn't noticeably helped, so I'm about to stop the Nortryptiline for few days. If that doesn't help I'll probably go se an ear specialist who'll probably tell me the same thing the specialist did when I was 25: yep, you've got a ringing in your ear, its not that uncommon, deal with it!

Sleeping lately has been a slight problem so I'm going to try the night time noise making machine my wife bought several years ago. I'm curious which sound or sounds work best for a high pitched constant ringing. Any tips?

 

[Per]

@Silvercycler,

I have uploaded some masking sounds that works for my hight pitched T in this thread:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/shower-can-give-me-prolonged-suppression.1818/#post-15872

If you scroll down to my posts you will for instance find a 27,4mb mp3 file with the sound of shower against bathroom tiles, normally showers depress my type of T and that is discussed in the same thread. Seems to me that many ppl. with high pitched T share the same experiences when it comes to shower sounds. Also, I shared two files at the same place with the sound of pan fry but that is smaller in size thus shorter in length. I use a small mp3 player and a headset when I'm listening to these masking sounds at night, it helps me get some relief. Don't know if your noise making machine supports usb plugs or mp3 formats, if not there are heaps of small cheap mp3 players on the market in electronic stores or even places like Staplers.

Thanks for sharing your story by the way, I've never heard from anyone that's been dealing with T as long as you have. It's interesting to read your story and I really hope I'm heading for some long term relief myself. I hope to be habituating as well. By the way, after 40 years of having T, do you sometimes read up on new scientific material and/or new treatment methods? Have you tried any new or old treatment methods yourself? The ENT docs. obviously talk on autopilot cause they respond in the same stupid way today as they did back then. "Deal with it" is hardly a professional respons, they should read up on T and educate themselves. This forum is way more knowledgeable than any ENT source - and so much more helpful as well!

 

[Golly]

I've had T for over 40 years. When I first contracted it at age 25 I thought I'd go crazy. It was a constant high pitched ringing in my left ear. But I somehow learned that a friend had it and when I talked to him he said, you get used to it, don't worry. And sure enough I did, and found that for moths at a time I wouldn't even be aware of it. When I was it seemed to be because I was extra tired or under stress. But I figured, okay, don't worry, you'll soon forget about it again, and the ringing will seem a little less intense, and sure enough I'd soon be unaware of it again for many more months.

The reason I'm on this forum now, however, is that recently it has seemed more high pitched for an extended period of time -- a couple of weeks. I thought it might have to do with the fact I'm on several meds for back pain. So I called my pain management doctor who had prescribed these meds and she said, meloxicam can heighten T and so can Nortryptiline, two meds she had prescribed. She said stop the meloxicam for few days and if that doesn't help restart it and stop the other med for few days. I stopped the meloxicam four days ago and it hasn't noticeably helped, so I'm about to stop the Nortryptiline for few days. If that doesn't help I'll probably go se an ear specialist who'll probably tell me the same thing the specialist did when I was 25: yep, you've got a ringing in your ear, its not that uncommon, deal with it!

Sleeping lately has been a slight problem so I'm going to try the night time noise making machine my wife bought several years ago. I'm curious which sound or sounds work best for a high pitched constant ringing. Any tips?

Hi Silvercycler:

I have a relatively high-pitched hiss (above 10K). While I have not actively sought masking sounds, I discovered to my delight last night that the sound of real life crickets/grasshoppers chirping away seems to mask my tinnitus. It doesn't suppress the hiss, but it somehow distracts my attention away from the head noise. If there are no noisy insects where you are, I know you can download such sounds from a variety of sources. Let me know if that helps.

As for sleep, I take Mirtazapine---a tetracyclic antidepressant with no serious side-effects. Nortriptyline is an older generation, tricyclic that has a greater side-effect profile. I don't know why you are on Nortriptyline, but discuss with your doctor whether switching to Mirtazapine is an option. It is not known to aggravate tinnitus and is a miracle drug as far as sleep is concerned.

-Golly

 

[Sailor101]

Hi Silvercycler:

I have a relatively high-pitched hiss (above 10K). While I have not actively sought masking sounds, I discovered to my delight last night that the sound of real life crickets/grasshoppers chirping away seems to mask my tinnitus. It doesn't suppress the hiss, but it somehow distracts my attention away from the head noise. If there are no noisy insects where you are, I know you can download such sounds from a variety of sources. Let me know if that helps.

As for sleep, I take Mirtazapine---a tetracyclic antidepressant with few no serious side-effects. Nortriptyline is an older generation, tricyclic that has a greater side-effect profile. I don't know why you are on Nortriptyline, but discuss with your doctor whether switching to Mirtazapine is an option. It is not known to aggravate tinnitus and is a miracle drug as far as sleep is concerned.

-Golly

Hi @Golly , you are right, at night I open my window and hear crickets and I was suprised that it really helps, for me it masks noise completely, don't know why though.

 

[Miss lavender]

Hi Golly,
This is why I love summer so much here in Australia. There are lots and lots of crickets here and they almost totally mask my tinnitus.Cant wait until summer comes!

 

[Sailor101]

Hi Golly,
This is why I love summer so much here in Australia. There are lots and lots of crickets here and they almost totally mask my tinnitus.Cant wait until summer comes!

Lucky you, our summer ended yesterday.

 

[jes]

My has got worse,and i have los of hearing,after a virus 2 years ago. I had T from 95 that lovered after 9 month, and i nearly forgot about it.I also have a Little pres or pain in the ears some of the time.Perhabs i have got too much laser.I really try to cope, have a big famely, wich i love so much i am 61 and have 3 smal boys.This weak i get Widex 2 go hearing ads. Hope it helps. I have lived a fantastic life. Much work and money.I restored Apartments in Copenhagen. In the beginning i tryed to continue the old life,but it didnt work.I really try to rise,but the ears hits me. I am often in some kind of stand by possition, when lack of sleap it get worse.Most of the time i am in our house in hamburg cooking to the famely.Everyday i make some sport, but not enough. About the future and cures for t i really dont know,but i have to be positive, have so much to live for jes

 

[Karen]

Hi, Jes,

I hope the Widex hearing aids work for you. Will you give us an update on how they are working for you, after you have used them for awhile?

Please do try to keep your positive outlook. I know it's hard, but that's the best thing we can do for ourselves right now, until some sort of a cure is found.

Best wishes,
Karen