Welcome D.   I myself am only an occcasional poster but I'm sure you'll find
plenty of support here.

Two things to focus on...

First, once you've seen your ENT you'll likely then _know_ the nature of the
problem and what treatments are possible.  At the moment you don't.  Once
you know, a lot of the fear and anxiety will go.

Second, if your experience is anything like mine, using the hearing aids
will give you effective and quick-acting relief.  You'll then know you have
an escape from the tinnitus and this will immediately make you feel better
and you'll relax.  Relaxing in itself will help still further.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Steve

Welcome SE,
On the ENT visit: Read, read and read on this board and others. The
stories are loud and clear.  Most ENTs brush off complaints of Tinnitus
patients with, "there's nothing I can do. You'll just have to live with
it".  You'll find that you will have to challenge your ENT to run tests
to get help. To get the ball rolling, ask for simple blood tests like a
Complete Blood Count screen and Comp Metabolic Panel. Excessive Low or
high levels of various components in your blood may point to a cause.
Get a copy of the report, you may have to do your own research to
interpret them. For instance, use this web site to interpret the Comp
metabolic (CMP) and Blood Count (CBC) panels:
http://www.labtestsonline.org
Your ENT will most likely do nothing without your gentle poking with a
cattle prod.
On the other hand, if you have no health insurance and are paying the
'public' rates for your medical care then you'll prolly find your ENT
is ready to order any and all tests necessary to help you get relief.
Another 2 pieces of advice.
- Keep a journal of your T; Date, time,  severity levels, how you feel
about it, what you are doing to fight it, etc..  The journal will be
your best friend over time.
- Be very wary of people in newsgroups who have their 'no-archive' flag
on like this: "x-no-archive: yes".  This means that they want their
posted messages to disappear in a few days.  In my book that means they
dont want to be held accountable for the (often incorrect and bazaar)
things that they write.  If you see this flag in a post and feel you
*must* reply to them, make sure to quote their text because your quote
of their text *will* be archived.
Good luck.
Jim

Try the simple formula given me by my Cambridge doctor.  You may get
lucky:
(1)Take one tablet of gingko biloba in the morning.
(2)Take one tablet of betahistine before bed time to help with your
sleep.
(3)use a low pillow or a chiro pillow that supports your neck at night.

(1) and (2) are non-addictive and can be very effective to improving
your head circulation.
You may even get lucky and get well..........

FP
==========================================

Getting hearing aids will definetly help...I did about 2 years ago and
it has made a huge difference.  Obviously the ringing will continue,
but you will be able to hear soooo much better and I think you can
ignore the ringing easier.

Will it get worse?  No one knows.  How did you get it?  No one knows
that answer either, but there are millions and millions of people with
ringing in their ears.

jack

wonderful and helpful advice!

re: ENT. I am hopeful with this one. She comes highly recommended.
Apparently very patient-friendly and both my PCP and audiologist really
like her. So, while I have read some of the experiences people have had, I
am hoping for a better one. But I will make sure and be a good advocate for
myself.

re: hearing aids. I am actually looking forward to these! Audiologist
recommended Delta 8000. Pretty cool little set up!

Thanks again, and I will let you know how the ENT turns out on the 15th. -
though I imagine there will be more waiting after that (tests, etc).

One last thought...I am beginning to wonder if waiting to order my hearing
aids until after the ENT was a good idea. I mean how much are things really
going to change with the ENT appt? I will still need the hearing aids...it
is not like she will magically reverse my hearing loss. And, if it is
going to get worse, well, I will need them all the more.

What do you all think?

D,

I've had loud tinnitus for at least 25 years.  No idea why, except I
spent a lot of time at drag strips when I was a teen, and spent 4
years in Naval Aviation flying F-4 Phantoms off of carriers.  
Regardless, two years ago I got hearing aids and it's made a huge
difference in my life.  Before the hearing aids, in a crowd of people
I was reading lips.  My tinnitus changes pitch practically all the
time, and I have buzzing, clicking and some other strange noises.
Doctors havent been any help....none, other then recommending hearing
aids. Ears are down to 24% of normal hearing.  

Try the hearing aids, it won't make the tinnitus go away, but it sure
helps with high pitch hearing loss. (get Digital ones).  

jack