Does anybody else have Tinnitus?

chrisaj

I've just come across this thread, it's very interesting. I suffer with tinitus. I've got otosclerosis, and have had both ears operated on 15years ago. Just recently though I'm having to ask people to repeat everything they're saying, it's driving my oh mad........what.......:rotfl:I've got a constant rining in my left ear, just like the sound of the tv when transmission ended at night years ago. I get twittering as well. It's getting now where sometimes I'm having to hear through the tinitus to hear what's going on. I think I must go back and get my hearing checked again.
I can symathise with people on hear who have to have noise just to blot out the ear noises. Hopefully some day there will be a cure for it.

alja

hello...i know this is an old thread, however, i also suffer with tinitus, ringing in my right ear, low humming (when I can hear it) in my left ear...i'm 21 and have suffered with it since I was 19 due to raving on the weekends...just wish i knew more about it and knew to wear earplugs from the start of my clubbing days!
but oh well, what's done is done...it's got louder these last few days however it may be due to stress at the moment?! (if that's a possible cause of making it worse?)..
I'm thinking of getting a white noise machine....anyone tried it?
had a ear test late january 2009 and got told i had the best hearing all that month...so at least i have good hearing!....i also have prescribed sleeping tablets...x

Hotspur

My experience. I've had my tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss in one ear for the last 20 years and it has gone from being devastating to a minor irritation over the years.

As there's nothing to see others don't realise that you have a problem and in many day to day situations conversations can be followed with ease however, when there is lots of background noise following conversations can be difficult. Strangely I can sometimes hear someone some distance away but not a friend in front of me - to do with the frequency range of their voice I believe not their boring conversation

The brain has a wonderful ability of being able to screen out the hiss/ring and often now I don't even hear it. With friends and colleagues I make sure that they know about my hearing problem so they don't think I am ignoring them if I miss something directed at me. You also find your own ways of adjusting as well,

In social situations it can be a great and genuine excuse to get up close to someone

Hope the tube can be unblocked, if not then you will get used to it and forget the tinnitus is there most of the time.

Savvy_Sue

Fiver29 wrote: »

I've been suffering tinnitus for a while now, but just had it confirmed by the doctor. She never mentioned anything about tinnitus clinics in the area, are they pretty common?

I know this is old, but I get the impression they are not that common. Don't let that stop you asking!

Petal wrote: »

This is interesting. In the last 6 months I've noticed that when in a group at a dinner table I have trouble following conversations whilst others do not. In the last 2 months I have had tinnitus. TV and general background sounds distract me although I can hear it. I haven't done anything about it, thinking that will probably just disappear but I'm wondering if I should make an appointment with the GP.....

Again, old but worth responding to: yes you should make an appointment with the GP, there are other things which should be checked out.

ALJA wrote: »

but oh well, what's done is done...it's got louder these last few days however it may be due to stress at the moment?! (if that's a possible cause of making it worse?)..

Yes, stress can make it worse. If you look at the links on the first page, you'll see that 'remedies' include relaxation techniques (at least I think they do, long time since I looked).

ALJA wrote: »

I'm thinking of getting a white noise machine....anyone tried it?

No, but the moneysaving approach would be to de-tune a radio and see if it helps at all. I dare say the white noise machine can do more than a de-tuned radio, but if it doesn't help at all then it would definitely be worth checking whether the white noise would.

FWIW, we have Radio 4 / The World Service on when we go to bed. Not all night, and fairly quiet, but if either of us wakes in the night we'll put it on for getting back to sleep purposes. I'd find white noise would drive me demented! However the solution for couples with different needs for auditory distraction is a Pillow Speaker. I have plugged it into a personal CD player playing a relaxation tape in extreme circumstances, THAT would drive DH demented! :rotfl:

ALJA wrote: »

had a ear test late january 2009 and got told i had the best hearing all that month...so at least i have good hearing!....

You should ask for regular checks: a loss can creep up on you. If your GP won't refer you, you can often get a free check on the high street (Boots, SpecSavers etc), just don't buy your first hearing aid, go back to GP with results and ask for NHS referral.

ALJA wrote: »

i also have prescribed sleeping tablets...x

Again, it could be - possibly - related to that, or any changes in your tinnitus could be related to the reasons why you need the sleeping tablets.

jenniewb

I have this at the moment. I just wanted to add though that it can be as a result of a virus in the inner ear.

Spoke to 3 separate doctors (walk in center, who told me then to go to a&e, who then told me to go to another walk in center, who then told me to see my GP....all inside 1 day- exept for the GP, of those I was able to see 3 Doctors who each said the same thing then advised me what to do).

I am now waiting to see an Ear-Nose-Throat specialist as suggested by the walk-in-center (no.2) as its been going on for a considerable amount of time.

But wanted to add my experience as if anyone does find they have tinnitus (ringing in the ears and or ear blockage or dizziness etc) please do get it checked out with your doctor to rule anything out.

Tinnitus is annoying at the best of times, let alone the additional symptoms it brings (headaches, dizzy sensation/room moving, motion sickness, lack of balance, fear of small screaming children...!) if it can be ended it really should be!

mary-op

Interesting thread..........I had ear problems earlier this year and after several sorts of ear drops for a supposed infection (they didn't work) my GP referred me to our local ENT dept. After endless hearing tests and such like the doctor said I didn't have any infection but may have had previously. He didn't say that was the cause of it (in fact he was really quite vague) My hearing isn't 100% he said though I hadn't noticed and he just said it was tinnitus and suggested I had the radio on during the day for background noise -which I so anyway- there was nothing they could do and it really was a case of learning to live with it. It does seem worse, or at least more noticeable if the house is quiet or I'm laying in bed and I do get a bit of dizziness sometimes but have vertigo occassionally so never sure which it is.
Anyway, at least I feel I can cope with it but never go out on my own to the shops in case the dizziness starts.
If I'm busy focusing on something else or talking to someone I hardly notice it.

Best wishes to anyone with this but it can seem to be more of an irritation and incovenience than anything else.

alja

thank you for your reply savvy sue! i will try to get one done in boots at some point, i find i tune in and out of conversations as well...sometimes my other half can be talking to someone in a loud club and i don't understand how he can hear them! most of the time i don't notice my tinitus as there's so much background noise and other things to concentrate on...it's just when i go home to my quiet house or when i try to sleep...
i will try to tune into the radio or listen to that channel you suggested! thank you! x

jenniewb

Wow- mary-op, yours seems to be the polar opposite to mine! I have *pain* when I hear any noises- they have become ear peircing and have a sort of 'halo' around them which reverberates- its as if my ears are filled with water and one side is very muffled. I sat in the waiting room with both hands pressed as hard as I could to my ears and head to try to limit noise from dozens of very loud and screaming children, nightmare! I got a splitting headache as a result and felt dizzy.

Back ground noise makes things worse for me as does any noise but for some reason my ear-phones really help (they block outside noise) so I guess mine is to do with sound and air pressure...odd! Have to be the silicon covered type though as they block noise where as the plastic versions don't.

I hope you all get something sorted.

mary-op

jennie - oh dear that sounds awful..........must admit to mine feeling like a trains going through my head sometimes but at least there's no pain......just the occassional dizziness and for some reason it seems worse if I've been on the phone to someone.,........it's a weird thing
Best wishes to you

Southern_Sadie

I used to have it but it went away of its own accord after a couple of years - either that or I'm so used to it that I don't notice.