New to Forums

[usaknowles#1]

Hello,
My name is Dirk and I am new to any type of forum so I hope I learn to navigate and can get some advice and give support if able.
I am profoundly deaf and have worn hearing aids for over thirty five years.
I had my first hearing evaluation at the house clinic in Los Angeles and was made aware that I had hearing loss from birth but did not realize until it got worse as I grew older.
My current problem is that I am having severe tinnitus in my right ear. I have had bouts of it over the years in one ear or the other that usually lasted no longer than from a few hours to a day. This time I have had it for over a week. I suffer from depression and anxiety and I have taken mess in the past as needed. I stopped taking Prozac over a year ago but I went to the doctor to start again. After two days I started getting ringing in my left ear and buzzing in my right. I immediately stopped taking the Prozac and strangely the ringing in my left ear is gone for the most part. The buzzing in the right ear is constant and I am taking Alprazolam (Xanax) to help the anxiety. It lessens the tinnitus but does not stop it. As I mentioned previously I suffer from anxiety and have taken the Xanax but try to use as little as possible due to the risk of addiction. I know that tinnitus is hard enough to cope with by itself but my anxiety is making it so much worse. I have researched and am taking ginkgo biloba and zinc. I know that caffeine is not good so I was going to have some chamomile tea. Again from researching I read mainly good things but some of the reviews say it is not good with anxiety meds. Sorry for the rambling but I was hoping for some advice and thought my background would help. Thanks for any help from anyone.
Dirk

 

[Jae]

Hey there, I just got tinnitus recently as well. Frankly, I honestly don't know how to help you as I don't have much experience with it, but I can tell you that talking with other people with about my troubles helps a lot. It might be good distraction for you to vent your frustrations, and ease your anxieties.

- Jae

 

[usaknowles#1]

Thanks Jae

 

[Phil-O]

Hello,
My name is Dirk and I am new to any type of forum so I hope I learn to navigate and can get some advice and give support if able.
I am profoundly deaf and have worn hearing aids for over thirty five years.
I had my first hearing evaluation at the house clinic in Los Angeles and was made aware that I had hearing loss from birth but did not realize until it got worse as I grew older.
My current problem is that I am having severe tinnitus in my right ear. I have had bouts of it over the years in one ear or the other that usually lasted no longer than from a few hours to a day. This time I have had it for over a week. I suffer from depression and anxiety and I have taken mess in the past as needed. I stopped taking Prozac over a year ago but I went to the doctor to start again. After two days I started getting ringing in my left ear and buzzing in my right. I immediately stopped taking the Prozac and strangely the ringing in my left ear is gone for the most part. The buzzing in the right ear is constant and I am taking Alprazolam (Xanax) to help the anxiety. It lessens the tinnitus but does not stop it. As I mentioned previously I suffer from anxiety and have taken the Xanax but try to use as little as possible due to the risk of addiction. I know that tinnitus is hard enough to cope with by itself but my anxiety is making it so much worse. I have researched and am taking ginkgo biloba and zinc. I know that caffeine is not good so I was going to have some chamomile tea. Again from researching I read mainly good things but some of the reviews say it is not good with anxiety meds. Sorry for the rambling but I was hoping for some advice and thought my background would help. Thanks for any help from anyone.
Dirk

Hi @usaknowles#1
I am relatively new to T also, so can't advise you too much, but know exactly how you feel. There are many wise experienced people on here who definitely will be a help. In the meantime check out the success stories, they certainly helped me, also https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172
Regards Phil

 

[billie48]

Welcome. Sorry to hear your suffering with T. I hope you will do better too, if not the T itself, but the ability to handle T while you are having an issue with deafness. I don't have this problem of deafness but have read about stories of people who are either partially or completely deaf and having T too. The story of Zoe Cartwright perhaps can help inspire you to take on the T challenge better, with a better mental approach. She turned completely deaf at young 15, and then soon after that she had loud T which according to her was not maskable, because she is totally deaf and no outside sounds could mask the T. Poor girl. But somehow with her positive approach she manages to accept her condition and moves on with life to pursue her dreams. She even made it to university and made a short tinnitus film of herself. I talked about her in my success story and the Positivity Thread. Perhaps you can check this out to see if her story can uplift you a bit in your battle with T. I find her story a guiding light for me in my T journey. We need good positive story like hers to light up the darkness of T. Take care & God bless.

(I mention her in the Guiding Lights section of my success story)

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

[usaknowles#1]

Thank you billie,
I will try to find the story. I try to stay positive but my anxiety makes it very difficult. When it was a short term problem it was bad enough. Now it is nearly unbearable. Bless all who suffer with these types of incurable conditions.