TINNITUS!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Denise]

I don't know how but i have learned to ignore it.  Mine is like Obita's just a  eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee sound. I wish I had a great and wise answer to give you. When it starts to bother me I just tune it out somehow.  I probably have been dealing with it for years and didn't even know I had it until after my AN was removed.   

Yes, I used to be, and sometimes still am,  oblivious to my health needs.

Denise

[Static]

Yes, the quiet does seem to lessen the tinnitus.  When I am given a hearing test in that sound proof booth, it isn't the same as trying to hear in the loud places which is why it annoys me that they go by the information they get from that test.  My hearing really isn't that good, I'm hardly ever in a place that quiet unless I'm alone.  I guess we live in a noisy world.  The "T" is also worse with the weather, just like the headaches.

[roub1]

 I have tinnitus in the good ear also. It showed up just before my surgery. I thought it was bad enough on the AN side. I now deal with the noise at two different levels and sometimes different tones. I asked about it and got a shrug. Any help would be great.

Charlie

[Quailruner]

Sorry to hear that you have that nasty "T".
I too have the "T", even after surgery but a lot less.
I have learned to deal with it. I did the wait and watch for a couple of years and decided to go have the surgery done.
Mine is a steady high ring 24 - 7, which was causing high freq loss on the AN side. I had lost 15db on AN side in a year.
It's no fun having the "T", but the brain does what it wants to do.
Good luck on your decision, and may the "T" go away.

Kenn A.

[john twoffer]

Bell's palsy can be caused by Lyme Disease. You might want to get checked out for that. Good luck.

I've had tinnitus for about 10 years?? (left ear) but always attributed it to loud music (big AC/DC, Stones fan...). Starting out a small buzzing noise. It got to a point where hearing in left ear diminished where I could not hear a phone conversation using that side (recent testing showed I had appr 60% hearing loss in left ear). Wasn't until July '06 that I had a string of bad headaches which also made the tinnitus worse. Suffered paralysis on RIGHT side of my face while coming home from work. Thinking I was having a stroke, I went straight to the emergency room. A CT scan showed no signs of a stroke but was diagnosed as having Bell's Palsey, which paralysed the right side of my face. It also revealed a mass on the left side that was totally unrelated. An MRI confirmed an AN. That explained the tinnitus.. The Bell's Palsey eventually healed up for the most par... Dec 5 '06 went to the Mayo Clinic, had surgery, doing OK... They cut the hearing nerve but the tinnitus has actually gotten worse... It will eventually go away I was told in a couple of years... and to be honest I've gotten so used to it that it doesn't bother me, but i do avoid very loud noises (no more blasting the radio in the car). That actually flares it up and makes it very uncomfortable...

It took tinnitus, a rash of severe headaches, and Bell's Palsey to get me to have an MRI to find out I've had a 2.8 cm AN for they say I've had as long as when the tinnitus began... I was very lucky...I see tinnitus as a sign from the body to warn you that something is amiss... I'm dealing with it in a positive way so I don't let it bother me...

[Patti UT]

Tinnitus is probably the WORST post op symptom I have to deal with. Even worse than the brainwreck headaches. I had it for years before my diagnosis, but it got much wors post op.  I try not to think about it but it's always there, LOUD AND CLEAR!
It really stinks, but what are ya gonna do but deal with it.
Good Luck getting used to it. SOrry you have to.
Patti UT

[nancyann]

Hey Patti:  I'm just the opposite - Give me tinnitus over headaches any day of the week !!!
(Not a friend of pain)

[redgrl]

Amen to that nancyann! 

[stein78]

I just read an article last night that taking melatonin daily can help with the tinnitus.  Melatonin is a sleep aid drug that pilots can take while flying.  I'm assuming it helps because it helps you sleep?  Anyone tried it?

I tried it, it did nothing for me except help me fall asleep faster.    It's supposed to tell your brain to go to sleep which should lessen the tinnitus.  I guess it works for some, but not everyone.

[dpericoni]

I have ringing starting just after I noticed a slight hearing loss. Since middle fossa surgery the ringing is terrible. I hate noisy places. Right now, as I sit quietly the noise is unbearable. I can't just get use to it and it's been a year since surgery. In the early evening it seems worse especially after a long day at work. I am not a wimp and hope for the day I can say I don't notice it.

Darlene
5 mm by 8 mm
House Ear Clinic

[Boppie]

Two of my neighbors have bad tinnitus!  They are both in their early sixties.  Neither has an AN.  Its inevitable that stuff happens.   

[Cavalier]

Thank you to all of you, this is my first post however you have all helped me out alot since my Middle Fossa surgery by Dr. Daniels on December 8, 2006 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I've been sitting quietly on the side-lines learning from all your experiences. 

What I'm wondering is...before I went back to work on January 23rd my hearing and Tinnitus was gradually improving, actually my Tinnitus was almost gone.   As I have been getting back into the stressful work environment my Tinnitus seams to be getting worse.  I'm wondering if I'm over tired or too stressed which may be bringing on these symptoms?  Has anyone else experienced this?

Once again, thank you for all your helpful comments that got me through my recovery. 

Beth 

[Joef]

I was the same way .. my "T" when down after surgery. The day I started work .. right back to were it was before surgery .

My thoery is the "T" is closely tied to blood presure .. any thing that shoots it up .. and up goes the "T"

now all I have to do is hit lotto so I care quit work .. and make a big ANA donation 

[nancyann]

Hi Beth:  My tinnitus doesn't seem related to anything - it gets louder at times regardless of what/where I am,
             if blood pressure is low or normal
             Geuss it has a mind of it's own.

[WHWT]

Beth,
Is your workplace noisey?  My tinnitus worsens whenever there is any kind of noise--fans, refrigeration units at the grocery store, humming office equipment, thumping music, ringing telephones, fluorescent light buzzing, running water, appliances, passing cars and trucks, motors of any kind, loud or many voices, echoes in empty rooms or rooms with high ceilings.  Anything.  I just always want to go home where I can minimize the noises.  I even carry an ear plug with me which I use when needed.
"Normal" people do not notice the noise level, and are not bothered by it at all.