I have been suffering from Tinnitus for at least 5 years that I am
aware. Being in the NY-NJ-CT area masks it because it's so noisy that
you don't even know that you have the start of something awful. I
haven't posted in over 2 years because I left this group looking at
many angry, accusatory suffers, those with fake names and those with
MD/PhD afterwards sounding like schoolchildren. I only hope that you
people may even take a step back and refrain from bashing others
because like many I'm sure, I left this group because of the negative
energy. I'll explain my latest attempt to get help and you'll see why
this group could be so helpful if that negativity was removed.

I've had this high pitch that is louder in my left ear than right,
coupled recently with pain or constant pressure the past few weeks --
you know what I mean by being difficult to describe sometimes. It
hurts now. I'm also unable to listen to a telephone easily in my left
because the sound seems to be so loud to be hurting my ear. When I use
headphones for my walkman (low volume) I can turn them around and
realize that I have significant loss in frequency hearing in my left
ear because the cymbals and high hats are missing much of their sheen
and are sometimes somewhat lost altogether. The bass has lost its
punch. It's very depressing and even now as I type there is this weird
sound imbalance between my left and right ear even in relative quiet.
It's tough to find a ringing cell phone left in a cluttered room
because I'm having a tough time locating sources of sound.

After my condition worsened these past 2 years I just went to an
Otolaryngologist here who was recommended to me by a relative who is a
doctor and well respected. This quack gave me a very short time to
explain the barest of my affliction while he proceeded to check the
physicals, e.g. look in my ears, down my throat, check for congestion.
3-4 in total at best before he sent me for an audio exam. Didn't seem
to care what kind of sound, just a tad about pain and that's all. Very
impersonal and somewhat smarmy.

I went for the audio exam. Amusing is that the headset I had placed on
my head indicated that the guys equipment wasn't grounded properly --
there was that audible buzz that you hear. Pretty loud too in the
headphones! Well, I had a hearing test and I realized I was cheating
in a number of ways. I couldn't hear a lot of the sounds but you (1)
can sense when those tones are sent and (2) while you can't 'hear' the
sound you can sort of sense a change in air pressure or some change
that enables you to identify a sound is being played but can't tell at
all what it is. Much to my shock, I got back a report that my hearing
is pretty good and that I'm well within normal range, and my left ear
isn't so far off from my right at all. I'm really doing pretty well.
Are you joking?

I went back to the quack after the test and told him that i've been
having real problems with my left ear. You don't sleep with an FM
radio tuned to static because I shouldn't have problem. He said to me
that I went to see the "audiologist to the stars" and my report showed
what it did. I have decided that for the most part these guys have the
greatest racket/scam around because my $50 radio is grounded better
than this guys $500K equipment and I can tell easily that my hearing
is really going downhill in one of my ears with a simple frequency
test. They do that with eyes in comparing one to the other why not
ears? I told him that I was suffering from what I think could be
"hyperacuisis" and he told me that "Hmm... you suffer from having too
perfect hearing?" I told him I thought it meant I perceive sounds
louder than the ordinary and he went on for a sentence about perfect
hearing and nothing to do with loudness levels at all.

I'll say this much -- unless you are dealing with a doctor who has
some idea of what is going on with tinnitus, probably a sufferer him
or herself, brace yourself to be treated like an imbecile. Not all
doctors have such poor bedside manner but many may not be sensitive to
your needs as they should be. I'm not sure what to do but I'm getting
ready to tell my cousin that any shmendrick with access to a patient's
unlimited insurance funds (which we don't have for this problem) and
high priced machines will eventually be able to tell most something
(albeit little) about their problems but I'm sure this guy doesn't
have a clue regarding Tinnitus. If he does, he's too damn smarmy to
appreciate that we may have serious problems he cannot detect.

3 years ago I happened to be on a business trip and met Dr. Stephen
Nagler. I found him to be rather gracious. Many of you are accusing
not just him but other professionals here as being disingenuous and
caring only about money. I couldn't disagree more and would say that
for many here, trying to help people cure themselves of their problem
is their labor of love and, at the same time, they do have a business
to run. I can understand sometimes the dificulty of perception but
when looking at what these people share here for free it amazes me
that those efforts are lost because you can only focus on the fact
that these people have a practice to run. I know from meeting him that
Dr. Nagler suffers unfortunately just like me and you and I am very
sympathetic to those who understand my plight and who are more likely
NOT to profiteer than those quacks like the above who don't have the
problem and dismiss us easily provided our insurance pays off.  I for
one was very happy with the professionals who actively post here. Like
anybody else, I don't have to pay a dime to go to their clinic but
they helped. I bought Dr. Vernon's Q&A Book on Tinnitus that was so
meaningful to me and thank you all of you for your help in the past.

I hope that you guys chill out and just try a cease fire for a while
and let everyone live here peacefully with their signatures. No need
to defend your positions... start anew as though the past is over and
clear. The anger pushes people away, like me, who would have
benefitted by staying. I'm guessing it won't last but hoping at least
for a short time we'll not need kill filters and help the new people
that have come here looking for help, being scared, depressed, and
nervous about Tinnitus. They know nothing of the past and can use all
the help they can get from experienced sufferers like you and me.