Having read your experience with tinnitus I can relate to what you say as I started getting Tinnitus December last year but didnt think anything of it at first , then went for a new job and had a hearing test in one of those booths and nearly failed it due to this constant high pitch sound, fom then I started thinking about it and listening for it and it was there but not very loud and just noticable. I had a cold in july this year and it got worse and was constant 24hrs aday and sleeping was hell. then it started to go away in october but has come back and just like you if i walk near flourescent lighting or CRT televisions it kind of amplyfies it as if i can hear the electrical appliances. Sadly doctor said deal with it. well i have tried somany things to see if they help, If i put mild pressure using hands behing the ear lobs the T increases then let go and it tempoarily goes, gritting jaw does the same as does swallowing. I was so happy a few months ago when it started to go and couldnt believe my luck then it came back and until someone has experienced this they have no idea how awful this is.Originally Posted by BBridgefordBBD
Ahh, our good friend Tinnitus. I notice mine mostly in the silence that comes before bed. When I wake up I've forgotten about it and don't notice again for a few days or weeks. It's always there if I listen for it, but it is the sound of silence to me. I think trying to stay calm about it can help not feel trapped in a wet-wineglass-rim head.
Dear All,
If you have tinnitus or knows someone who has this terrible condition please go to the British Tinnitus Association web page.
http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/
There is a link on the page there to take you to an E-petition
petition the Prime Minister for action
The E-petition is asking the Prime Minister for money to fund tinnitus research.
Its easy to get your name on the petition and the more names the petition gets, the stronger the case for funding.
If you prefer you can go straight to the petition.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/tinnitus-funding/
Its easy to complete, all you do is fill in the form and then you will get an e-mail confirmation which you just need to click on to register your name.
Please do this if you have tinnitus or know someone who has it. You don't have to have tinnitus to add your name to the petition
Action for Tinnitus Research is holding a free event in London on Thursday 27th March 2008 from 2pm-5pm, which will provide a rare opportunity for you to meet the scientists who are working to find a cure for tinnitus, and find out about the cutting edge tinnitus research in progress.
To find out more, or to book a place, please visit http://www.tinnitus-research.org/informed/meet-scientists.php
If you would like any further information about the event, please call Sophie Cowles on 020 7679 8907. We hope you will be able to join us!
It sounds very interesting. Thanks for the post, and welcome to UKS by the way. I have filled in the booking form - just waiting for a reply.
Email confirmation arrived this afternoon, so I'll be there.
Re: Tinnitus
Hi guys,
There are MANY, MANY depressing posts on Tinnitus online, and if you're new to the condition, you must feel really despaired at this point after doing hours upon hours of research and hearing others just like you being driven mad by the constant noise.
Well, I'm here to provide you some honest comfort. I'm not trying to lie to you just to make you feel more at ease. I want to sincerely convince you that if your Tinnitus is slight to mild, it will not ruin your life at all.
Here is my story.
I got Tinnitus almost 3 months ago right around Christmas. I was blasting computer game sounds through my headphones, and the gunshots and explosions 10 hours a day really took a toll on my ears. A few days later I started noticing (at a wedding, actually, when the priest was delivering the vows) a ringing noise. I asked my relatives if they heard it, but they told me it's only there if I focused on it. But mine was pretty darn loud in the quiet church, and it wouldn't go away.
A week later I had self-diagnosed it as Tinnitus. I started believing it would never go away. I was scared as hell, because there was no cure. I came online and read hundreds of horror stories, of people wallowing in self pity because of a "constant noise that has ruined their life." My life, I had felt, was ruined as well. I kept thinking to myself, "this is something people get when they're 60, I'm only 21 and none of my friends have it, it's not fair, I'm ruined, I'm disabled and I've destroyed my life." Yes, I at times considered in passing suicide. I read how other people contemplated suicide. I was on the verge of tears all the time, I felt so alone, and every waking moment, I'd listen and focus in on the ringing to confirm to myself that my undoing was still there, always haunting me. I could not believe at ALL that I would get over this. At night, I'd wake up 5 times a night, toss and turn due to the noise, and feel like I was ruined. I thought I could NEVER get a good night's sleep again. This was a curse that would haunt me and debilitate me for the REST of my life, I thought. I couldn't focus in class, I did poorly on my final exams because the ringing was SO loud. The more I listened to it, the LOUDER it got, but I just couldn't stop listening to it! I wanted a CURE, I hated humanity for existing so long and not solving this PANDEMIC! I considered blowing thousands of dollars on all kinds of therapies, TRT, whatever those mumbo-jumbo are called (as a side, they are for SEVERE sufferers and people who simply are emotionally unable to get over Tinnitus. Yes, it's more about your EMOTIONAL ability than your physical condition). In short, I was probably where YOU, my dear reader, are right now at this moment. This is why you're looking at this forum, isn't it? You want to see others who suffer your fate share with you your pity. Well stop that, it's not healthy. After reading this post, stop doing research! Stop hoping for a cure! I'll tell you EXACTLY why...
The good news is, you DO get over it! You get ABSOLUTELY over it if you want! I didn't believe people who said "you get used to it" when I was in my moping stage. I thought the best I could do is hear it all the time and just consciously try to block it out. I thought I would have to acknowledge it and forcefully use my mental power to force myself to ignore it for the rest of my life. C'mon, I'm TWENTY-ONE years old! To me, this was like getting Arthritis at my age!
Yet my "salvation" came during a ski retreat over a week-long break from school. I stayed up late with friends, we played so many fun games, and by the time I went to bed, I simply dropped dead asleep. I laughed, I had fun, I enjoyed life every day, and I had my friends there (plus I was exhausted from all the fun before I slept). Now, the ringing never went away (and it probably never will), but what the experience DID teach me was that I COULD get a good night's sleep, and I COULD live without acknowledging it. When I got back to school, a week of not putting Tinnitus at the top of my "to-pay-attention-to" list had worked wonders! I still heard it now and then and wished it would stop, but I simply started ignoring it. Now, less than three months later, it's for all intents and purposes not even an issue in my life... No, I'm not one of those "super lucky" people whose Tinnitus noise simply disappeared. I can still hear it if I want. But I will say this. 99.99% of my day, I don't even think or notice it. And when I do, it doesn't even bother me. For the past week I've slept every night without any problem. I don't even "hear" it when I lie down in my dead silent room. The point, folks, is the noise is there, I simply don't even register it as a sensory input anymore.
I want to DRILL into your head that you WILL get over Tinnitus. The MAJOR obstacle to you NOT getting over it is your own mentality. You want a cure, you want it to disappear, you want to turn back time and not go to that concert, not play those video games, not have done whatever it is that you can never undo. Get your LIFE back again man! The more you worship Tinnitus, the longer it will take you to reach where I am now. And let me tell you, it is sweet being where I am. Don't worry about the noise never going away. You won't notice it. Your life is GRAND and full of things worth living. All you need to do is give it time, do things you love, hang out with people important to you who will support you, but DON'T complain to them incessantly about your poor self and your "demonic" Tinnitus.
Just stay faithful and know that this can be overcome. This is NOT a stupid sermon I'm saying to instill false hope in you, or to simply make you feel better. I'm not telling a dead man walking the green mile "the governor will prolly call right now and cancel your execution..." nor am I telling somebody with a terminal disease that they're going to be just fine. That would just be a LIE (albeit done in good faith). You're NOT walking a green mile, you're NOT doomed, my friend. I'm telling you the truth of the matter is you're NOT condemned to a lifelong suffering. C'mon, we ALL know that people who come online to post horror stories about their Tinnitus have either just gotten it or just never were able to get over it themselves. YOU don't have to be like that. I just wish that when I had come online, I had read more posts like mine instead of all the negative nancies. You know why you don't read more posts like mine? Cause people who get over Tinnitus (MOST of people who have it get over it) simply have no reason to come on this forum, create an account, open their email to confirm their registration, then post these messages. They don't even CARE about Tinnitus anymore, man. THAT'S why you don't hear the positives. I simply was thankful just now, as a random thought, that I had passed that terrible stage in my life, and wanted to help people who have just gotten it out.
NOW, I've gone on for long enough, and you're tired of reading this. GET OUT THERE AND START LIVING AGAIN, MAN!
One last note:
Make sure that if you see your friends or loved ones or even strangers abusing their ears, teach them about Tinnitus! It can be absolutely gotten over, but hey, not having it is pretty sweet tooBut make sure you don't make it sound like a pity seminar about your misfortunes. Oh, and PROTECT YOUR EARS! But I'm sure after this experience, you won't need me to tell you that 8)
Thanks for posting this. I went to the meeting - very interesting. I have been cutting down on the caffeine - no need, apparently. 2 -3 cups of coffee a day are unlikely to make it worse.
The brain's "gain" function in dealing with sound sounds a possible cause of tinnitus.
Sorry, not a detailed summary.
This is from a document produced by deafness research uk, for those interested.
What direction is tinnitus research currently taking?
A key focus of research is to study both the brain and the hearing system to clarify how and from where tinnitus can originate:
- Imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET are being used to demonstrate tinnitus-related activity in the brains of individuals who are able to alter or modify their tinnitus (known as somatic modulation). This is giving valuable information about how the brain processes information from the ears.
- Researchers are investigating evidence to suggest that when the brain lacks signals from the ears (when hair cells in the cochlea aren’t working any more), it creates its own sounds which are heard as tinnitus.
- As well as achieving a better understanding of how the tiny hair cells in the inner ear work, scientists are learning more about the supporting cells that surround them. A chemical called ATP which is released by these cells while they are developing in the womb could explain why people experience tinnitus in later life.
Hi Guys,
I thought you might be interested in watching my film about tinnitus. I have recently taken part in a show called The Shooting Party which is about 9 disabled people making a short film on channel 4. My film may interest some of you guys who experience the maddening sounds!
Here's the link -
http://www.channel4.com/4talent/shoo...rty/films.html - I recommend watching this with headphones, that's if you are not deaf like me!
If you want to watch the whole documentary then you need to go to 4Od.
All the best,
Zoe.
Hello guys
Well everyone is writing only about the annoying voice the tinnitus is causing, but in my case I experience strong "sensitivity" to louder voices. When I hear some loud voice my head and ears are going to explode, I just cant stand it. Sometimes I cant even listen the quiet music nor watch TV, is this normal symptom of tinnitus ?
According to the BTA site - no.
As always - this is an internet forum so you should always have any health issues checked by a qualified medical professional.
I found this at that site "People with tinnitus can usually tolerate moderately noisy surroundings, but others (with hyperacusis) may be disturbed by everyday noises."
But its quite strange, because I didnt have this problem for 6 months (I had "no problem" tinnitus) and it came from nowhere
thanks I guess that I have hyperacusis too
Bad FF! Self diagnosis from the internet. Shame on you
If it appeared suddenly see a Doctor. Like tinnitus there's sometimes a physical problem that can be fixed, if it can't then counselling or training is available form an Audiologist.
9/2/08
Dear Bindeweede,
This is my first post here on your forum! I've had tinnitus for 12 years. I find that the herb St. John's Wort quiets the ringing. Two capsules before bedtime are enough to give me a decent night's sleep. Have you tried this already?
- TexJingle
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks