Tinnitus

Tinnitus is an absolutely hideous condition, I had it for over two years after getting boat diesel in my right ear, what a nightmare that is. My right ear is still a bit dull in hearing, working at about 80% I would say but don't have that distressing ringing anymore. Twizzle, I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live and that remains one of the best gigs I've ever been to. It was The Full Moon Fever tour and they were beyond brilliant.

Had it for 3 years, (the someone tuning a short wave radio type) thankfully not had a recurrence. Know what misery it causes, esp when trying to sleep, good to hear it's manageable now.

Signing in. It's a right pain in the you know what.

now had it for 7 years following a brain haemmorage

Kinell, bigH, sorry to hear that.

Those with deafness in one ear with tinnitus ( especially with sensation of dizziness or balance issues), should see their Dr, Could be symptoms of an Acoustic Neuroma ( benign tumour, growing on the balance/hearing nerve, connecting the inner ear to the brain,MRI scan will confirm this.

What did you say?

Facts is a happy chappie...

Btw; anyone who got that orrible condition has my deepest sympathy.

I am fat from being a Petty Tom fan believe me, but he does a good job on this. Enjoy my tinny friends....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=735dXdC7i9A

I am thank you.

Sorry to read that big H, it's a very debilitating condition. Sleeping is the worst thing, you can't get a good nights rest and feel exhausted all the time.

Keep smiling H, yer a good lad..

Don't Come Around Here No More on full blast right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JvF9vpqx8

Tom Petty's made G2D fat?

The bugger!

Glad it was you who spotted that Tommy.

I meant to put jaffa cakes..

Tom Petty and the dietbreakers.

hahaha!

He will always be Tom Fatty for me from now on.

The only way of dealing with tinnitus is not to attempt to "deal with it". The noises aren't real, and attempts at analysing or masking them or investigating the condition and its causes just turn them into an issue nagging away at you. If you think about something else - anything, whether reading, talking, going through the form book or whatever - then that displaces the sounds from your consciousness. Focussing on them, and getting annoyed by them, just brings them back into your consciousness again.

I mean, if I think about my tinnitus for a moment, it's stupid. For decades, as what hearing I had gradually ebbed away, it's been replaced by the non-stop sound of a fridge ticking over, waves crashing and an ill-defined, swirling squealing. And these are all sounds that I haven't heard in reality since childhood. Yet there they all are in my brain, if I actually stop to think about it.

Strangest of all is that while my hearing loss has left me unable to hear anything musical beyond drums and a bit of bass, it's been replaced by a constant, musical soundtrack on top of the tinnitus. It's quite impossible to stop, though I can readily change the track being played, if I want to. But there has to be something. At the moment it's Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. The strange thing, though, is that while I can ignore the syndrome, doing so causes it to revert eventually to a default setting of Silver by Echo & The Bunnymen.

The only mildly annoying thing about it is that the versions I "hear" are not the originals unfortunately - they've gone for ever - but instead high-pitched, sort of "choral" versions. My guess is that because the part of my brain which once dealt with those frequencies no longer gets stimulated by real sounds in that range, it generates its own ones to keep itself occupied.

Very odd.

I've got the high pitched swirling squeal which sounds similar to a frequency modulator

I usually try and mask it by listening to music or having some background noise. Quietness just amplifies the sound in your head

Getting to sleep is OK but if I get disturbed and wake up then that's it for the night, hence why I am posting this at 5am in the morning.

SFBTW - Bunnymen fan here as well and seeing McCulloch solo in a couple of weeks in Colchester!

Is he still going? I saw him in Erics a millenium ago..

Good god i was gonna tellyer a tale about Andy McCluskey,H. And guess what just won in Australia? Atomic Kitten...... Have to have a sly ton onnit..

Had to, ffs.. Tis late mind..

have you tried garlic oil in ears?

Its back with a vengeance.I had my ears syringed last Thursday.Cleared my right ear so its not muffled any longer but it has now been replaced by this god awful very loud hissing 24 hours a day.Quite simply its making me extremely depressed.Only want to sleep at present and i am now suffering from anxiety attacks.If it doesn't calm down soon i fear for my sanity.Also lost interest in all the stuff i used to like to do Golf,eating,watching films etc.Anyone got any suggestions?.I know your not supposed to listen to the noise but that's nigh on impossible due to its intensity.

You have my sympathy - I can only suggest you go back to your GP and let them know what changes have occurred after your ears were syringed

twizzle ....join the club , i've had the thing 24 hours a day since i was about 17 . like you , was listening to a lot of live bands at the time . agree , blocked ear has exactly same horror story and i luckily  got mine back to ' normal' level after blocking wax removed .
sometimes it is hard but you must , must get out and think of things to do when it is at its worst . get around some noise , in the pub or talking to people . i'll admit a bottle of wine at night is taken to mask it at times .
incidentally , there are better methods than syringing now . cost me about £75 . like an electric device with no water involved . check with the private hospitals . ..good luck.

Thanks for the advice w/k...I will try the private hospital route.Playing loud music is the only respite  which is a tad ironic as that's what caused it in the first place.

I've had it for more years than I remember but don't "notice" it unless reminded of it, like reading this thread. Twizzle, I know it's maddening at first but you do learn to live with it to the point of not realising that you have it most of the time. The brain is wonderfully adaptable and will eventually give you some respite. In the meantime, try and ignore it by concentrating on other things you love.
They say that hearing aids work by "filling in" missing frequencies. I find it harder to get used to the aids.

I agree with everything Foinavon writes. As I commented above,

The only way of dealing with tinnitus is not to attempt to "deal with it". The noises aren't real, and attempts at analysing or masking them or investigating the condition and its causes just turn them into an issue nagging away at you. If you think about something else - anything, whether reading, talking, going through the form book or whatever - then that displaces the sounds from your consciousness. Focussing on them, and getting annoyed by them, just brings them back into your consciousness again.

If you start looking for private doctors, or miracle cures, or medicines, or support groups, then it genuinely does become a problem, but only because you're making it one.

The whole idea of hearing aids helping to fill in frequencies which you can't hear is illogical. If you can't hear sounds at a particular frequency, and your brain is generating an aural illusion to compensate, then digitally processing real, exterior sounds at that frequency to one you can hear won't make any difference. The frequency band you previously couldn't hear will still be missing.

Plus you have the annoyance of tinny and incomprehensible noises blasting into your ears from the tiny amplifiers.

Some good advice from you fellow sufferers..many thanks for your input chaps

My tinnitus arrived about 2 years ago now. It's bearable now, but the odd thing is that it comes and goes. I've always had late nights generally and I'm wondering if this caused it in the first place. When I go to bed early (say 9 or 10 pm) then after a few nights the problem seems to go away and I thought I'd cured the thing, but the late nights kept creeping back again and so did the tinnitus, but only mildly, but since I started suffering from it I've lost about 50% of my hearing volume in that ear.

But the hearing came back almost to 100% after a couple of early nights. So, I'm wondering if I've messed up my body clock over the years and damaged that part of the brain that's causing this tinnitus.

Just a theory, but it's a possibility I guess.

I try to get early nights now when I can, but it's not always possible as my band work means I sometimes arrive home late at night.

Full on self inflicted mine.  Worked nights and always had headphones ridiculously blasting all sorts to keep me going. Loved it though like that pretty much gave The Who live at Leeds an airing each night despite ringing in the ears each morning! learn't to live with it so doesn't cause an issue, quite rooms can notice and even with noise can pick it out easily.  Still listen to loud music now and then and go to gigs but avoid direct in-ear headphones. I only really notice say if in a quiet room but can pick it out easily even in a noisy room when thinking about it.

Since I was diagnosed with ms I have noticed mine a lot more had it 15 years,recently really high pitched squealing all the time I have to sleep with a fan heater on for a distraction..

Had it for 12 years or so after being in a band, at first I was really worried, but you do get used to it. Its worse when its quiet, so low level noise is always welcome.

It's hardly a ringing endorsement for Bryan Adams

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/never-forget-to-plugem.21422/

sorry to hear that thegiggilo. pales the tinitus (which i also suffer from) into insignificance.

Very useful site..thanks Greg