Tinnitus Sufferer — Please I Need Help & Advice

[Angelo Ballantine]

Hello my name is Angelo, I've been suffering from tinittus for at least 10 months. I have run the gammet on all types of diagnosis, I have tried almost every medication offered for "Tinittus Relief" and none of them have worked. In my case, in my left ear i have three very high pitched tones and in my right ear I have one solid high pitched tone. I'm pretty much at my wits end, and I thank Sal Gentile for introducing me to this website. Tried all of the different noise machines or "Maskers" and nothing seems to soothe the ringing. At this time I'm dealing with a one year grandchild that constantly screams so avoiding stress is very difficult. I am in the process of finding a doctor I went to a ENT that said I need to go to a psychiatrist. I've come to this site for any help you guys can provide or maybe just someone to talk to that understands my problem.I cant sleep, eat or stand still in one spot for too long. I feel for all of you suffering this horrible illness, any advice will help.

 

[Paul D]

Hi Angelo. I've had tinnitus for two, maybe three years. I think it got bad after a bad sinus cold/flu spell, but am not positive. Sometimes the noise isn't too bad, and once in a while I'll be having a really good day and realize why it seemed so good...my tinnitus was down significantly. Those days have gotten few and far between; makes me crazy. Like all day today, which is why I found this site again for the first time in months.

I've tried sound masking of different types. None work. Whenever I try another it's more about needing to do SOMETHING. I think the professional maskers are all hype, people just trying to get into our pockets. Vitamins, suppliments, etc. also offer only empty promises. I'm going to get a support group started, even though one I attended in Phoneix a few times only made me feel worse; that nobody really has any answers and that the professionals and sponsors are just in it for the buck. I'm still looking for a group where we can commiserate. Again, better than suffering alone. The only thing that works for me is to try not to think about it, don't panic, and not worry about whether it'll be bad tomorrow. Sometimes focusing on it as hard as I can while craning my neck to make it worse offers some temporary relief, but not much. Or being so distracted or concentrating on a complex project will make me forget for a while. Then it's right back. Good days, bad days, acceptance...

Good Luck!

 

[Paul D]

I was just looking over some of the electro-stimulation treatment solutions. Makes sense that it would work for some. I'd probably be willing to try something like that, but it's cost prohibitive at this point. No insurance, no job, no money.

 

[Angelo Ballantine]

I know what u mean... I have to climb telephone poles for a living and when the ringing kicks in when i am up there it is pretty scary. I been told i need to buck up ? i am afraid my pole climbing days are over for now. thank u for your responce i am working hard to find something that works i will let u know.

 

[Paul D]

Buck up?! Nothing like adding insult to injury. I was telling my wife last night about being online looking at tinnitus stuff again, as it had been a bad day; that nobody, absolutely nobody, can get a true picture on what it's like and how it affects you on a day to day basis. I've had a chronic back condition for many years; while only a person who's been through it can really understand, most people have some idea what it's like. Definitely not the case with tinnitus. No clue. I read a blog yesterday by some cocky guy saying to quit whining, just ignore it, get over it. Like diverting your attention away from a paper cut on your finger; pretty soon you don't even notice. That's what he did, so now he's an expert. What a jerk.

At any rate, better today. Trying to figure out what I did differently yesterday or last night, just like I do when it gets real bad out of the blue. i.e. too much caffine + stress + big spicy mexican food dinner last night may equal worse than usual day today. With me, stress is always in the mix when it gets real bad.

 

[Angelo Ballantine]

Sorry the ringing has been hell today. u are right people that dont have this dont UNDERSTAND this. I am trying to deal with it the best i can......o yea with u on the STRESS

 

[Paul D]

Angelo, I just sent this to Louise on a different forem on Tinnitus Talk. Thought you might have some input.
Paul D

Hi Louise,
Have you monitored intake of different foodstuffs and how it affects the severity of your condition? I've been trying to isolate aggrevating factors of mine for a long time. I was poking around the net and found this, somewhat confirming what I'd been experiencing:
http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fi27.htm
I believe salisylic acid is the base ingredient of aspirin, which is supposedly a possible trigger for tinnitus. I've tried to eliminate aspirin, naproxin, omiprisole, and others from my diet and have had no success. However, I'd noticed extreme volume shifts after dining on Mexican food, so I thought I'd experiment the other day after a day and a half of relatively low volumes (the good days). I'd read that tomatoes, cooked or raw, and peppers, can aggrevate the condition. However, eating a half-bean half-salsa dinner did not change my brief respite from the condition. I also had several meals over two days with sliced tomatoes, pepperocinis, habenero sauce, and the like. No change. Then, cooked up a taco meal, and within a few hours, away we go! Also went out for Mexican food the other day. Got off of that for a few days, the condition got somewhat better, but then had nachos with the leftover taco meat for dinner. Within two hours my tinnitus got as bad as it ever gets. Still going strong over a day later. Yesterday was horrible. So thinking my suspicions are confirmed, I believe I've developed an intolerance for cumin, and possibly paprika. There may be another spice in there that when combined with cumen and/or paprika tends to set off the freight train in my head. Looking back, cumin's always in the mix when things get bad.

I'm going to try avoiding any source of cumin and paprika for a month, then go to other spices that are normally combined with them and see if I can get this condition more livable. Of course, Mexican food is my favorite! I think stress is the most dominant factor in setting my tinnitus off, and I'm in a particularly stressful time now. But I believe the condition of high stress and uncertainty combined with a particlar food combination may be the catalyst in setting off the worst of the worst episodes.

Let me know what you think.
Paul D (can't figure out how to get my name on my icon)

 

[BCLover]

Trying to figure out what I did differently yesterday or last night, just like I do when it gets real bad out of the blue.

Yea me too. I always try and say oh this is why it is worse today than yesterday because I did that. But I think I am just kidding myself. The other day I got stupid and ate 3 very sweet doughnuts and for the next few days it was bad. When it quieted down I thought yea that was it. But its back again

 

[Cookie]

I believe it was the MSG in the Mexican food that increased your T. In addition spicy food increases T. If you stay away from MSG, which means you have to make all your foods yourself at home, you will find your T much lower. And speaking of aspirin, would you believe that aspirin is making my T lower? It is an anti-inflamatory and is helping me though advil makes it worse.

 

[Paul D]

So two weeks later and absolutely nothing conclusive on possible reagents contributing to spikes in the severity of the condition. Different foods, different ingredients, then back to the normal diet, even eating the same things via leftovers I suspected were contributing to the problem...nothing. I'm starting to think that it doesn't really matter what I'm eating, that it's more in the stress level of the day and my overall physical condition at the moment. Yes, sometimes those particular foods obviously set off episodes worse than normal (cumin, paprika, MSG, etc.), but at other times eating those exact same foods makes no difference at all. We're all reaching here, polite commiseration. Like a citation from a controlled study I saw in another thread that appears to offer reasonable conclusions, yet was published in 2002. Eleven years later and still very little progress to date.