TINNITUS GETS LOUDER

[nancyann]

Has anyone else experience the tinnitus getting louder post op?  I'm a little over 13 months post op & lately it's really loud.  I usually have no problems ignoring it, since it's been around for years & years,  but with the increased volume,  geez louise !!!    I wonder if the rainy weather has anything to do with it ??  But the loudness isn't letting up & it's been about a week already.   Nancy   ps.  Should I have put this under POST OP ISSUES?

[Windsong]

Yes! i've had some crazy tin the last few months.... i got  a sleep help presc from the ent which might help me sleep better.. for me i can't imagine sleeping with white noise since the a/c bothers me lol.. the weirdest is being deaf in the an ear, lying on the good ear, and having all the noises in my head anyway....

[Richey]

Nancy, I have had tinnitus for a long time in both ears and have slept with a fan running for many years. When I lost my hearing on the left side after GK the tinnitus was just magnified because there's nothing to counteract it. I understand they do make some masking aids that you can tune in to some type of sound that the bad ear can hear but I don't know how well that would work. I have just had to live with it just like most of us AN folks. My ear doc says that Xanex is the only know drug that has been proven to reduce tinnitus so I take it and I think that it helps a little, of course it calms the nerves a little too. Also I heard that Melatonin may help. It is a supplement that is suppose to help you sleep.
  Good luck in the battle, I've also heard that caffeine is bad for it, but I'm not giving up coffee completely.

Rich

[tony]

Yes its a strange one for sure - the thing to remember is that
youre not hearing it (Yes - I know its there..)
and it has little to do with functional hearing
To some degree the noises are perceptions of
what is going on inside the body - more to do with blood supply
heart rate, mental activity, stress, fatigue etc
If you look at the list above, any herbal type calming
remedy should assist
though stress and fatigue are best cured by good sleep
and a more relaxed lifestyle ?
Maybe look a bit at the stressors in your life
- is there anyway you can reduce them a bit ?
(I actually find mine is like a little alarm bell telling me when I
have "over done it" - sort of natures heart rate moniter
as such maybe not such a bad thing?)
Best Regards
Tony

[TP]

I actually woke up during my sleep the other night with a loud knocking sound and kept me awake for most of the night. I don't understand it - at times it is not noticeable and other times bugs the stew out of me. Bottom line, very annoying. I see my neuro doc in September for my next MRI. Hopefully he will recommend something to take.

[nancyann]

Hey Tony - you may be right - I hadn't been sleeping well the past week, & last night I finally got a good night's sleep - the tinnitus has come down a couple of notches, almost back to it's normal hissing !!   thanks everyone,  Nancy

[Rc Moser]

Well, I'm hearing it. I too am plagued with tinnitus that's increases as noise around me get louder. To the point it starts drowning out the noise. Sharp noises are the worse for me. silverware clanking, dish or glass hitting the sink or table. Commercials on TV. Industrial noise even with ear plugs in cause the buzz to get louder. Riding in car over 40 MPH. Even setting here typing with the air conditioner on make my ear buzz.

IMO it's based on the size of the tumor and how long it has been pushing and smashing things around it. also Long removal times IMO probably makes it worse the more they have to pick and pull the sack off the nerves. IMO for us that had large tumors that been there for years it increases the changes for something to go wrong and some doctors that don't tag team it get worn down. Luckily my team stayed the long haul and tag team me till they got it all. Some of us are unluckily and will have tinnitus for the rest of or life's IMO.

I also believe this wears us down quicker and causes Vertigate and Cognitive Disturbances which most of us Suffer from IMO, but we don't know it. Do a Google search and take the CD questionnaire test. I can't remember the site right now. See how you score!?!

[sreda]

Hi, Nancy:
A definite YES - my tinnitus is louder, and more frequent, than b-4 my surgery in Aug. 2004. Not only that, mine has picked up more variety! - pre surgery, it was the standard mutied roaring/fuzzy/ocean noise; but since surgery I also have ringing, beeps, even screechy sounds. It comes and goes, but i almost always have it. Sharp sounds -  dropped cutlery, a breaking dish, unexpected door slam - will also cause the noise to start, or to peak.
Sis in SC 

[Mark]

I'm not sure how many folks get Dr. Paul Donohue's column in their local paper, but yesterday there was this write up on Tinnitus which I thought might be helpful to pass on. One interesting tidbit for me was how influential medicines can be in causing it to increase. Relative to the earlier question posted about exercise, note the association with OTC non inflammatory's such as Aleve , Motrin and advil. May not be the exertion as much as what we all take for the tired muscles afterwards  .

Here's the article

Mark


Everyone has a little tinnitus
Dr. Paul Donohue

08/23/2007

Dear Dr. Donohue: I suffer from tinnitus. I have a constant buzzing in both ears. I have received literature from the American Tinnitus Association, but I have a few other questions.

What medicines make tinnitus worse? What foods and beverages make it worse? Does tinnitus cause hearing loss? Does hearing loss cause tinnitus? Is there anything I can do to reduce tinnitus?

Tinnitus is annoying ear noise that people describe as buzzing, hissing, humming, roaring, whistling, cricketlike or pulsatile.

Medicines that can worsen it include aspirin and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Motrin, Aleve, Advil and Indocin. The antibiotics gentamicin and erythromycin also can increase the din. So can the water pill Lasix.
Foods often implicated in turning up the tinnitus volume include those with caffeine and salt. Tonic water, due to the quinine in it, can make it worse.

Tinnitus doesn’t cause hearing loss. Hearing loss intensifies tinnitus. If you put a person with excellent hearing in a soundproof room, the person will hear ear noises shortly.

The outside sounds of the world dampen mild tinnitus that occurs in all people’s ears. When those noises are cut off, the ear noises become quite noticeable. And that’s why a hearing aid, for those who are hard of hearing, can often lower the racket of tinnitus.

There are curable causes of tinnitus. Impacted ear wax is one such cause. Treatable tumors of the hearing nerve are another curable cause of tinnitus. Those are just two examples.

A tinnitus masker, a device that’s similar to a hearing aid, can often suppress tinnitus. It delivers a sound similar to the tinnitus sounds, and the sounds can cancel each other out.

The American Tinnitus Association is a source of timely information and comfort for those suffering from this annoyance. The toll-free number is 1-800-634-8978. Its Website is www.ata.org.

[TP]

Mark, thank you for sharing, interesting article. Now I know why my tinnitus gets worse, I drink coffee all morning and when I do take any pain medicine I take aspirin or Aleve. Isn't that just great. The few things in my life that I like cause me more problems. Isn't that typical!!

[debora]

My tinnitus gets very loud before or during my bout of serious vertigo.  Also my tinnitus sounds very metalic and if I press on my ear (to try to quiet a noisy room) it gets very loud with a high metalic pitch.  Does anyone else have this?

Deb

[linny]

.I usually sleep with the fan going. For me the tinnitus gets worse if theres been alot of loud noice around me.  I think there is something they can put in your ear to help mask it.