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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Tinnitus / December 2006My Story... now suffering from both ears.
Hello everyone, I've been a tinnitus sufferer for about 2 years now. A series of loud nights, people yelling in my ear and possibly other things caused me to have some ringing in my right ear. After getting close to going crazy for 2-3 weeks, I found that using other noises to replace the sound I heard helped alot. I learned to live with keeping the fan on in my room to enoying the sound of my computer humming at night. That of course is my story up until 1 month ago... Late September, I attended an outside wedding. It was very cold, windy and rainy. The morning after I noticed how plugged up my left ear was and after a week of dealing with it I went to see a doctor. I was perscribed oral Keflex as well as Pentasone drops. My sinus issue seemed to go away but started re-occuring every so often. I didn't really think of anything about it, I just kept taking Sinus medication and hoping it will go away... Two weeks ago, I woke up on a late Thursday night, noticing the ringing in my right ear over the noise that I use to sleep with. Every since then I have had no sleep whatsoever. 8 to 10 20-30 minute naps is all I've been mustering for the past week. My work, family and friends have been very supportive and I have tried to keep very positive. I thought to myself that if I keep trying at it, sooner or later I can beat this problem... Only issue is yesterday, midway through my work day at my office, my left ear started making this high pitched noise... Much higher and more noticeable than my right ear where my tinnitus originally came from. I'm now being affected by two distinct sounds... I'm just wondering if this is common to experience tinnitus from one ear then all of a sudden experience it worse on another ear. I'm never really studied my problem but ever since my lack of sleep, I've been looking for things to help me. This is very disturbing to me and I am hoping that I can deal with this issue. Thank you for any information and advice you can give me. TN I've had ringing in both ears for 20 years now...makes conversations in groups very difficult. Most of my high pitch hearing is gone. Two years ago I got hearing aids, and that has made all the difference in the world. The hearing aids really help mask the ringing, make it 1000 percent easier to have conversations, and generally make life much easier. You will find that ear doctors have no clue how to help. There is no cure, nor is there any help. My ear ringing changes pitch frequently, it's something you learn to live with, although I admit it can be very frustrating at times. Whenever I start feeling sorry for myself I remind myself of all my friends who are going through chemo therapy....ringing in the ears doesn't sound so bad after that. jack >Hello everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] >Thank you for any information and advice you can give me. >TN that's interesting, how do you think the hearing aid helps mask the tinnitus? jack <jwood11@kc.rr.com> wrote in news:7tlpk2tmg342qkveep40dqcn6u3jh1t9gv@ 4ax.com: > I've had ringing in both ears for 20 years now...makes conversations > in groups very difficult. Most of my high pitch hearing is gone. Two [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > doesn't sound so bad after that. > jack Yes, that is interesting. What type of hearing aids are they? Do they emit a masking sound? Eric > that's interesting, how do you think the hearing aid helps mask the > tinnitus? [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >> doesn't sound so bad after that. >> jack Just digital hearing aids...which you can program to amplify sounds I can no longer hear without them. They really don't hide the tinnitus, only make it less noticeable since all other sounds are significantly louder. I suspect any hearing aid that emits a masking sound would kill the batteries every couple days. My batteries go about 10-14 days. > Yes, that is interesting. What type of hearing aids are they? Do they > emit a masking sound? [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >>> doesn't sound so bad after that. >>> jack -- > that's interesting, how do you think the hearing aid helps mask the > tinnitus? If you feed amplified sound from the outside world into your ears, this will tend to drown out the tinnitus. Now if the frequency range of the amplified sound is narrowed down to match the tinnitus frequency, this becomes even more effective. The brain will select out the information-bearing (amplified) content and suppress the tinnitus, which carries no information. Due to the 'residual inhibition' effect, this suppression can even continue for a while after the hearing amplifier is removed. This is what I have found to work in my case. "Your mileage may vary". In particular, sufferers from hyperacusis probably won't be helped by this method. S Did not mean to imply the hearing aids help the tinnitus, but they mask it because all the other sounds are significantly louder. Like when you are outside, the tinnitus is less noticeable (actually just easier to ignore, if you concentrate...it's just as loud). My ringing is so loud it actually wipes out high pitch sounds...I have a terrible time understanding females with high soft voices...even tough with hearing aids. But...it's possible with hearing aids..practically impossible without. jack >that's interesting, how do you think the hearing aid helps mask the >tinnitus? [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >> doesn't sound so bad after that. >> jack Jack. I can surely sympathise with you on the ringing in the ears. I too have it for 23 years and it just does not go away. My hearing is just about gone although I can manage a "one on one" conversation pretty good. At parties or family functions I am lost as all the sound seem to cram together and nothing is clear. Sometimes I feel like an outcast because some people, no matter how much you explain your bad hearing to them, just don't get it. For the past 3 years I have also been plagued with a "HUMMING" sound in my head. It's not in the ears but directly in my head. No explanations from Doctors and audiologists on that. They just don't know. I too stopped feeling sorry for myself long ago but I still get really p*ssed off every now and then. Wolf > I've had ringing in both ears for 20 years now...makes conversations > in groups very difficult. Most of my high pitch hearing is gone. Two [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > >Thank you for any information and advice you can give me. > >TN there must be a clinical word for this phenomenon, ie being confused with complex mixed sounds (conversations) but ok one to one. can this effect be objectively tested? any more info would be appreciated. IHearU > Jack. > I can surely sympathise with you on the ringing in the ears. I too have [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Wolf I just wonder about the hearing aid approach. Some say their T is due to artificial sweeteners, or the way they lie in bed, but mine is definitely due to prolonged auditory trauma, and it seems to worsen after exposure to more loud noise. As such, I wonder if using a hearing aid to feed in more stimulation to your ears will not increase the damage that exists, and hasten the ultimate demise of the organ? It has been my experience, that although the doctors certainly try to help and diagnose everyone, they have very little knowledge or treatment for all the various ear problems. There is no 'test' for Menier's. They basically say things like..."if you have this symptom, and this one...it might be Meniers. Unfortunately there are a bunch of different things it 'might' be. Ringing is obviously tinnitus. But fullness might be a bunch of things. Meniers usually means dizziness eventually, and I have experienced that big time. To the point of throwing up. Anti-Vert helps...but not much. Typically when I get dizzy, I have to go lay down...and usually afterwards I am much better. The real problem is there is no warning. Just sudden dizziness. Very frustrating not to have a definitive test to see what is going on. The frequency of my tinnitus changes...almost constantly, and other sounds get 'added' to the mix on occasion. Over the years you just learn to ignore it, since there is no other choice. Like I said before, hearing aids have really helped me. (not my ego, but my hearing). Since most of this is in our brains...and not our ears..the chances of a 'cure' are slim and none..and slim just left town. jack >there must be a clinical word for this phenomenon, ie being confused with >complex mixed sounds (conversations) but ok one to one. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >> >> Wolf slim might come back one day..... thanks for sharing your experiences IHearU > It has been my experience, that although the doctors certainly try to > help and diagnose everyone, they have very little knowledge or [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] >>> >>> Wolf > there must be a clinical word for this phenomenon, ie being confused with > complex mixed sounds (conversations) but ok one to one. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > IHearU When I say "One on One" what I mean is that I have to be able to look at the person while they are talking to me and I have to wear my hearing aid. If there are no other disturbing noises in the room I can manage pretty well. >> there must be a clinical word for this phenomenon, ie being confused >> with complex mixed sounds (conversations) but ok one to one. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > hearing aid. If there are no other disturbing noises in the room I can > manage pretty well. That is how I understood you, what I wrote wasn't as clear. |
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