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Original poster

Tinnitus

20 replies

YummyChipCurryDip · 12/02/2020 00:29

I have tinnitus. It drove me up the wall to start with. I feel fairly on top of it now but would be interested to know of others who have recently got it or had it for years and are managing it well.

I've had little to no help from GP or anywhere else.

I'd be interested to hear from others,of their long-term experience.

I know it never goes away. But can you ever just ignore it?

OP posts:
catzrulz · 12/02/2020 01:17

No, I can't ignore mine, especially when I'm trying to go to sleep.
I've never been to the G.P. about it, but I think it's starting to interfere with my hearing. I'm not even sure if it's both ears or just the one.
Lying in bed just now, just put Alexa off and there it is, I'm never without music playing in the house during the day, which I find helps.
I think it started when I was expecting DS... He is 33 this year.

SageYourResoluteOracle · 12/02/2020 01:29

I've had it for around 16 months. I don't have any hearing loss associated with it fortunately but I do have misophonia and that's horrific at times. The advice I've been given and have read is to be accepting of the tinnitus (3, sometimes 4) pitches in each ear simultaneously. So I listen to a lot of music and have bought myself Bose noise-cancelling headphones which help tremendously both at home and on my commute. You have my sympathy though- tinnitus ain't fun!

Original poster
YummyChipCurryDip · 12/02/2020 01:47

The advice I've been given and have read is to be accepting of the tinnitus

Yup. I've had it for 6 years, fought it with white noise etc for 2 years or so - then took some advice from an article to embrace it and accept it.
That's worked much better. It was the fighting to stop it that made me more anxious. Now I accept it as my normal head noise. It's made it easier and tolerable.

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General health
OldHarrysGameboy · 12/02/2020 01:52

Gah I can hear mine now I've seen the word.

I know that's not your fault OP. I've had it for 40 years. Mumps it was. I didn't even have a name for it until around 20 years ago. It sucks when I notice it but most of the time I don't. It's just part of my life/environment.

Be nice if there was a cure but there doesn't seem to be.

WindyRose · 12/02/2020 02:24

I've had it for 18 years as the result of an illness. Initially went to GP who said there was no cure and I'd have to learn to live with it, which is what I've done.

However, I've noticed if/when I get tired (also have CFS/ME) that the Tinnitus volume increases and then it becomes unbearable, but as long as I stick to a good diet and get a good sleep, the volume remains at, what has become for me, a bearable level. In saying that though, I would love it to disappear totally, but know I'm not alone with that thought.

White noise is a godsend, but neighbours 2 x barking dogs at 2 or 3am are not!! I have hearing tests on a fairly regular basis and they always show good results, so it's not as though my hearing is affected.

Maybe some day, there might be a treatment or cure, but I'm not holding my breath just yet. Last time I mentioned it to the current GP, I got a blank stare, so I've given up and decided if there was any great discovery then the media would soon publish it.

Feel for everyone with it, specially if you have little kids. Screaming/crying kids in stores etc, force me out of there so having little kids at home must be horrendous. ;-)

AdoreTheBeach · 12/02/2020 02:39

So very glad you wrote this OP. I have recently developed this and see an ENT Thursday. Mine rises up in volume at night when I have hot flashes, during the day a constant buzz. Very hard to hear people talk if there’s background noise.

I have recently started playing music in the day time (low volume) and that helps.

I haven’t been ill though. Can menopause trigger this?

notangelinajolie · 12/02/2020 02:50

I've had tinnitus since the flu in 1999.

I also now have vertigo which is quite severe when I get out of bed in the morning.

Both are annoying. The vertigo was very scary at first. But I have now chosen to get angry and ignore them both and somehow it helps.

My hearing is a little sensitive but I wouldn't say I've lost it.

caranx · 12/02/2020 04:32

Had tinnitus for 10 years now.

Its always louder when your blood pressure is higher. i.e. stress/hot flushes.

Its not an actual noise but just a misfiring in the pathways between your ear and your brain.

If you pay attention to the noise your brain will consider it important and it will be louder.

So if you catch yourself thinking about it/listening to it, listen to another noise in th vicinity like traffic. If its 4am! and quiet use music or white noise.

For example I hadn't thought about my tinnitus this morning even though I've been up in the quiet for a while until I saw your post. Now its all I can hear :D

DameSylvieKrin · 12/02/2020 04:46

I’ve had it for 35 years and rarely notice it.

WindyRose · 12/02/2020 05:21

Omitted to say I leave a radio and/or music on throughout the house 24/7, sometimes different things in different rooms just as long as there is something else to listen to. I find night worse when everything is (naturally) much quieter. Most days/nights it doesn't bother me and I often forget about it totally, until I get over-tired then that changes everything until I play catch-up.

AdoreTheBeach please report back after you've been to the ENT....curious as to what he/she might report.

Mine started after menopause and after a non-related illness, so doubt there was any connection, but really, who knows? Then again, I didn't ever get hot flushes so don't know if there is any connection.

notangelinajolie I have Meniere's (low level) and to get rid of the vertigo I take a fluid tablet...had this happen a few months ago and prior to the it would have been around 2 yrs??

;-)

MrsT1405 · 12/02/2020 07:31

I've had it for about a year and my doctor said really I've just to put up with it. He said to keep an eye on my blood pressure.....you tend to do it at home ,yourself here in Spain. I try hard to ignore it and manage most of the time. It's the middle of the night when I notice it most, but on calls jobs in the past, have taught me to go back to sleep easily.

CaptainMyCaptain · 12/02/2020 07:36

I only realised I had it a couple of years ago - before that I thought there really was a humming noise and put it down to electricity wires or something. I haven't been to the GP, though, I didn't think there was anything you could do about it and I'm used to it now.

Marv1nGay3 · 12/02/2020 07:53

I have had tinnitus for a while but then I am a musician and it’s very common in my profession. If any of you are in London I would recommend to ask your gp to refer you to the Royal National Ear Nose and Throat hospital- they have a tinnitus clinic and I saw a hearing therapist there who gave me lots of coping strategies. ( although she did say I needed to eliminate all stress from my life, which is easier said than done!). I have noticed mine get worse with tiredness, also dehydration. Some painkillers like Nurofen make it much worse, too.

vhs95 · 12/02/2020 08:13

Had it for a dozen years and have habituated. I learnt to accept it as part of me and think of it as an irritating lodger who won't sling his hook. I am actually able to sit in an otherwise silent room and listen and analyse the sounds without freaking out - in fact I think that is necessary to be able to accept the interloper. My GP just nodded and grinned awkwardly when we first discussed it and I've never mentioned it since. My advice to new sufferers is don't be angry or stress out over it as that makes the noises louder, there is NO CURE AS YET but plenty of help to cope. Look at online videos and join Tinnitus Support Group. Good luck.

LowbrowVictoriana · 13/02/2020 09:24

I realised I had tinnitus yesterday, after a few months of thinking that the sound that was keeping me awake at night was electricity/ plumbing related (as per a PP). I had wondered why earplugs weren’t effective, but presumed it was something to to with the frequency/ wavelength of the sound. Or something.
Then I heard it in the car yesterday when I’d parked somewhere quiet, so realised it was in my head. I was set to go to the GPS, but having read these comments I see now that that may be a waste of time. I could cry (actually, I have).
May go along anyway to see if they can offer any advice.

LowbrowVictoriana · 13/02/2020 09:24

*GP’s

ginghamstarfish · 13/02/2020 09:33

I've had it for some years, was very upset at first, but now I just accept it and don't notice it most of the time. It's normal for it to be more noticable at night when you go to bed. As far as I know the NHS does not really offer anything for this, and there is no real treatment. It's crap, but you can get used to it, and there are worse things you could have!

peridito · 13/02/2020 09:42

Another sufferer here .Started after chemo .Seems to be getting worse in that it now wakes me up ,I'll be dreaming that taps are left on and water is running .Then I'll wake and it's tinnitus .

Hearing is affected .

Can I ask - if I shake my head I get a clear ringing sound in the ear least affected .Anyone else similar ?

AdoreTheBeach · 14/02/2020 15:15

Well I had a very lengthy time at the ENT yesterday with comprehensive testing. I have severe hearing loss in my left ear and the tinnitus is a side effect of that. (Minor hearing loss in right ear.)

As the hearing loss is the same with the two hearing tests (one with headphones, the other with a thingy on the bone outside the ear with the other ear covered with one headphone playing white noise) he has an idea what it may be. I have an MRI scheduled to determine if vestibular schwannoma. Treatment for hearing loss depends upon the mri results and perhaps monitoring.

To cope with the tinnitus, he recommended any of CBT, low level background noise (radio/tv) for day time and white noise machine for nighttime.

MinnieMountain · 14/02/2020 16:39

I've had it for 18 months.

The ENT specialist referred me for a scan as sometimes the worry that there's something medically wrong in our heads can make it worse. There wasn't and the reassurance of the scan didn't help me. That was the only actual "treatment" he could offer.

It's mainly annoying when I'm reading. Otherwise it just pops up occasionally.

I use a white noise app for sleeping.

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