You think you have time?

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
Look up 6800hz on Youtube. That's what I hear, and it's the loudest sound I hear even when driving down the highway at 75mph into a headwind on coarse pavement. Imagine trying to sleep with that. In short, it's torture.


Mine actually sounds a little higher than that... like 7200hz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRWP37yGLYE


Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Have had Tinnitus all my life. It's not severe, I suppose, as I can stand it but it's always there. I find that quiet rooms or still air outside to be the worst, I basically never will not have music or the radio on at any time, it doesn't have to be loud but that gives me something else to concentrate on. Especially helpful falling asleep with the radio or similar on.


Same here.

Background noise makes it tolerable

 

[Nyogtha]

Ha! I've never tested for the frequency of my tinnitus before. Mine's much lower, like 4000 hz. Interesting! I've slways likened it to a constant male cicada song. Mine affects me most when trying to fall asleep as well. Since teenage years I've used a box fan or stand fan as a white noise generator to help with sleep year round.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: Nyogtha

Does the benzodiazepine actually help reduce the tinnitus? My tinnitus took a permanent quantum leap jump with the course of chemotherapy I had last year.


No, all it does is calm my anxiety. It does not reduce the volume of intensity of my tinnitus. Twice I have thought about driving myself to ER. But to have them do what?

Here's how I described severe tinnitus to my wife one time:

Imagine you are being held prisoner and are being"tortured" in a lab with some kind of device that wireless-ly transmits a radio frequency to your brain. They can control the volume and intensity of this screeching sound while sitting at a computer keyboard. Sometimes the screeching loud enough to overwhelm your senses. This is what tinnitus feels like. And if you were that prisoner being tortured in the imaginary sense, you would be absolutely certain the sound was a sign of your brain being fried.

Sorry for the graphic reply,

Scott

 

[Nyogtha]

No need for apology. I'm a migraneur, my best description of my headaches is having a little evil gnome in my head trying to push my eye out of its socket from the inside with a jagged rusty railroad spike. But my headaches arent 24/7/365 like tinnitus, I hope you find something at some point that helps. My tinnitus isn't at the point yours is at, at least yet. I take magnesium maleate and indomethacin as they're said to help prevent migraine but my case is limited if any effectiveness. Like you I've tried lipo-flavonoid for tinnitus with no effect, and haven't found anything to reduce my tinnitus so far.

Be careful with the benzodiazepines over time, I'll never take them again personally. I hope they keep being beneficial for you.

 

[andyd]

SLO I dunno about anti-anxiety meds. I was medium depressed that worsened when I didn't have a steady job. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I finally asked for an anti-depressant. I've been taking a 40mg generic Celexa since. The main side effect is being cheerful when the world is going to heck in a hand basket. Combined with chemo , radiation and age. I'm a different person now. The soles of my feet feel like I'm walking in wet beach sand. Not bad, except, it affected my used to be pretty good sense of balance. That was 9 yrs ago. Cancer was a wake up call to get my ducks in a row. There is whole bunches of stuff I have stopped doing because they are a waste of time or even worse are negative or dark. I'm slowed to a crawl, But I pause to smell the roses and enjoy the view. As for living with tinnitus, it is a fact in your life. If you fixate on it it will drive you nuts. I console myself with a feeling that things could be worse

 

[Shannow]

8300Hz here.

People at work can't fathom how I can block out electronic noise and buzzing...easy, it's not 24/7 in your head, and when you go home the electronic noise isn't there, making it very tolerable.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
Originally Posted By: Toy4x4
There was something on a local news station just this morning about how magnesium helps with tinnitus. And it was usually those in the categories of medium to severe tinnitus.


I've tried that too. No help. But thanks for the suggestion.

Scott


Do the hard, fast, hilly (bicycle) rides you do help to distract from the constant tone at all, or is it just as intense while out on the roads?

I have it as well, probably up in the 8000HZ range, but mine is minor and tolerable (only notice it in very quiet scenarios, and usually only if I concentrate on it), unlike yours which is literally the torture you've described.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Do the hard, fast, hilly (bicycle) rides you do help to distract from the constant tone at all, or is it just as intense while out on the roads?

I have it as well, probably up in the 8000HZ range, but mine is minor and tolerable (only notice it in very quiet scenarios, and usually only if I concentrate on it), unlike yours which is literally the torture you've described.


The rides don't help other than provide a temporary distraction. A person needs to concentrate when riding a bicycle at 40+ mph on a twisty mountain descent! One of the most sinister behaviors of my tinnitus is that it automatically adjusts its volume so it is the loudest sound I hear. When I drive a car, even just 3 minutes after starting out, the volume of my tinnitus increases like its being controlled by a giant volume control knob on a stereo. Doctors say this behavior happens to some people.

Scott

PS But anyway, the main reason for my original post was that people check out the video link. I think the comments/advice given in that video are useful to every single one of us, irrespective of tinnitus.

 

[sleddriver]

I remember your situation. Wasn't it some drug that brought this on? You said it was BLARING then. Unfortunately, it still sounds LOUD. Good to hear you've found a way through it if you're unable to find a way out of it. Hopefully in time you may be able to push it farther & farther away OR move yourself further & further away from it. Which ever works for you.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I remember your situation. Wasn't it some drug that brought this on? You said it was BLARING then. Unfortunately, it still sounds LOUD. Good to hear you've found a way through it if you're unable to find a way out of it. Hopefully in time you may be able to push it farther & farther away OR move yourself further & further away from it. Which ever works for you.


Sled, you are indeed correct. The onset of my tinnitus was caused by Levitra, one of the ED drugs. Levitra comes in two doses, 5mg and 20mg. I was prescribed the 5mg dose and I took a total of 9 of them over two month period. This was by no means heavy use. The onset of my tinnitus was very rapid after my 8th and 9th dose, so rapid I did not have time to associate the Levitra to my tinnitus.

I have seen over a half dozen medical specialists since then, including neurologists. Two of them told me they have seen others experience a rapid onset of tinnitus when taking an ED drug. For most of the others, they have said the tinnitus has become permanent. One of them told me she has seen people who have become blind from this [censored].

All I can say is, pretty wicked side effects from what I consider a "recreational" drug. It's not worth it at all. In contrast, chemo is known to cause tinnitus, but at least that drug has a life saving purpose.

I'm a very stable person; successful career, physically fit, greatest wife ever (41 years!), happy with all aspects of my life, my family and friends love me, even animals love me! My mind has always been in a good spot. I have - HAD - a great life! But those early days when my tinnitus was BLARING I actually considered suicide. A pretty horrible consideration considering my great life. Now it is only LOUD, but there are times I wonder how I will live out the last third of my life with this incessant, screeching noise in my head.

Scott

 

[Schmoe]

Wow, I'm not alone. I've had this since my early 20's and from one thing....being a drummer playing in bands in the 80's and 90's. One night coming home from a gig, I had a 76 Datsun B210 hatchback that probably had 0 bushings left and it squeaked A LOT. I noticed that dang....my car is quiet. Thought it may have been from the late night moisture, but it turns out it was my ears. The next day, sure enough, back to the squeaking. A little while later, started getting super high pitched ringing in my ears, probably above 6K. I started wearing those foam earplugs I got from working at NAVCOM, from that point on when I was playing and don't think it got any worse. I'm grateful I caught that and that was about the time I was in college and we happen to be studying ears and the cilia inside those ears and learned how they don't regenerate.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
A person needs to concentrate when riding a bicycle at 40+ mph on a twisty mountain descent!


This I know first hand, with even some 60 MPH descents back when I was an active road racer, in another life.

 

[sleddriver]

Re: Your video post. A bit too type-A for me. As far as experiencing time, we all respond differently. For some, it's slow others fast. Age matters as well. I agree it is important to prioritize and spend our time on things, with people, who are important. Reminds me of The 7 Habits quadrant II: Important, Not Urgent.

Re: Your tinnitus. I was thinking listening to a looped recording of the ocean might offer you some relief. However that may not be loud nor constant enough. Perhaps a BIG waterfall will though. Through headphones...really GOOD headphones. It will mostly be white noise, but different. May offer you some relief, though temporarily.

Also, have you tried accupuncture?