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Steeldrifter

Really hard time lately

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Been having a really hard time lately with tinnitus. Have had it on & off very mildly for a number of years, never really bad, but due to a wax build up about a week ago my head started ringing really bad. Went on Thursday to the urgent care to get them flushed and they just made it worse. So had to go to an ENT center and they cleaned them with a high powered suction. Yesterday it seemed like the ringing was gone, had a great day, felt like a million bucks. Woke up early this morning and hearing the ringing again. It's been a real hell. Spent a couple nights with zero sleep at all and that just makes it worse. I know my tinnitus is not from a loud sound or damage, mine is mainly because I have bad OCD and I can't seem to not focus on it so it will go away. So the OCD and anxiety just make it louder and more bothersome. I've been tryin to keep busy and work on rods when I can and do things, have tried fans and noise machines to mask it, but almost seems like nothing works. Never have felt so drained and at the end of my rope in my life as I have lately. Not looking for pity or anything like that, honestly don't know what I'm looking for. Just talking out loud I guess to tryin find a bit of relief. 

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I feel for you, mine is hearing loss related and the hearing aids do help but I don't sleep with the hearing aids. Some nights it is hard to fall asleep you have tried the fan, have you tried a radio on low? I have found music sometimes helps to distract me, hate to give someone a plug but I use calm radio, a online music station they have different platforms. I try to  think about the song I hear focusing on the notes or words and usually drift off to sleep. In another month or so the peepers singing always help I'm probably one of the only people that enjoys them or the crickets for background noise.

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Yeah have tried a few different tv shows, music, even cricket sounds and other sounds.

I found this last night and while it doesn't help a ton, it does seem to help just a tad.

 

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Mine is loud enough that I hear it even over the sounds of my noisy car.  It was just in my right ear for years, but now it's in both.

I attribute mine to years around jets during my 12 years in the military.  I would say it's as loud as a person's voice who is talking loudly over the phone.  Everyone knows what that sounds like.  It's mostly a high pitched tone, with a lower note cycling in and out.

Fortunately, for me, it doesn't seem to affect me that way it does others.  I hear it all the time, so I guess that's why it is just ... there.  I also have hearing loss in several frequencies in both ears, so the tinnitus is mostly what I hear, even during conversations.  I am constantly needing people to repeat themselves.  That inconvenience to Wife bothers me more than the tinnitus does.

I empathize with your situation, Steve.  I hope one of the tinnitus "miracle cures" works for you.  None of them have for me.

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So sorry to hear that Mike I never knew you had it. My one hope is that I really think mine is manifested mostly because of my ocd/anxiety, so I'm hoping if I can get that under control then it hopefully will go away or at least ease up. It was almost all gone all day Friday, then back today, so I think that kind'a leads to my mental state causing it. If I could just find a way to put it out of my mind for a day it might help stop it, but because of my ocd it's always on my mind all day long no matter what I do.

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I could see where this noise, if it came and went, would be much worse to bear.  Since mine is always there, I guess it just becomes background.

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I hear cicadas 24/7.  Occasionally it changes to something else, but usually those d**n cicadas.  Ear infections, rock and roll and gunfire lead to hearing loss and tinnitus in my case.  Tried the hearing aids and it didn't work (twice).  Only thing I hear in my right ear now is the cicadas.  I empathize with you greatly.  Take care.

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My hearing loss is due to genetics which follows to my mother's hearing loss. Had tinninitus for years and have no clue what caused it. Getting new hearing aids in June! Present ones only multiply background noise. Audiologist today said mine are outdated.

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45 minutes ago, skeet3t said:

hearing aids in June

I just got a new pair and they are much better, not only for hearing my commander in chief, house, (wife) and others but to help control my tinnitus. they help a lot & no more battery's. I am like Mike the noise is constant but seems it varies in intensity and/or my ability to tolerate it. To date nothing seems to help in a crowd, but not being a social critter I have that covered. Steve I understand, some days it it is very consuming and the more you try to forget it the more you hear it ocd or not.

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2 hours ago, cphubert said:

I just got a new pair and they are much better, not only for hearing my commander in chief, house, (wife) and others but to help control my tinnitus. they help a lot & no more battery's. I am like Mike the noise is constant but seems it varies in intensity and/or my ability to tolerate it. To date nothing seems to help in a crowd, but not being a social critter I have that covered. Steve I understand, some days it it is very consuming and the more you try to forget it the more you hear it ocd or not.

No more Batteries?? how are they powered? 

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20 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

how are they powered

rechargeable, drop into the charger at night tech said they should last years we'll see..

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My wife is all but deaf and has been most of her life. Her hearing aids cost between 5 and 6K, worth every penny when you otherwise can't hear. She prefers batteries because she is not disciplined enough to charge them. 

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Absolutely worth every penny, my last ones had batteries I was not disciplined enough to always have fresh ones around, and I have large fat fingers and changing them was a PITA I used my bodkin to change them.

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I appreciate you guys sharing some of you have this issue as well. Kind'a helps to know others have it and it's not the end of the world. I posted this to family on FB last night that were asking how I was doing, so figured I'd post it here as well just to let you guys know where I'm at with this-

 Was a pretty rough week last week and over the weekend. Having dealt with tinnitus for years where it only bothered me at night, I was able to not really have it play a big role in my life because sleeping with a fan would always drown it out. But with this being 24/7 as of last week and seemingly much louder, I started really having issues. Will not lie, I was in a very dark place for a couple days when I just could not escape it. That's the real killer about tinnitus, you simply can not get away from it to get relief. As of today though I've been doing a bit better and trying to work on habituating to it. Thankfully I think it seems a bit less intrusive today than it has been where I do have a few mins here & there where it's not in the forefront of my mind, it's till there, but at times for very short periods I somewhat let it slip out of my main focus, so hopefully I'm already starting to get use to it a little bit. Just got to take it day by day and see how it goes.

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Boy I tell ya, I sure hope I can habituate to it the way Mike and others have been able to do sooner rather than later. Just really bothered me a lot today. It's weird because yesterday (Saturday) I really did great. Wasn't on my mind much and I was able to not think about it and had a great day, was able to work on rods and really get into some Tv shows. Then for some reason I woke up this morning and my mind was just fixated on it all day long. Honestly was driving me nuts and just could not get my mind off it. Thing is I am pretty sure the level of the sound isn't changing, it's just my mind making it feel like it is. The more I think about it the more it bothers me. And the more I TRY NOT to think about it...you guessed it, the more I think about it :blink:

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