I've had a mild case of it for years. Most of the time I don't really notice it. Now that I read this thread, I'm aware of it. LOL. Doesn't affect my sleep or normal activities. Usually.
Tinnitus
- Thread starter jmsa540
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For those you taking aspirin as a preventative measure (or otherwise), it is known to cause or worsen tinnitus. In fact, may medications can cause/worsen it. Then again, the risk/reward is usually such that dealing with the tinnitus is almost necessary, depending on the medication.
How loud does yalls get? Can yall sleep on your side at night?
I have been in the AF for 16 years as a Aircraft Maintainer, outside around jets whole career. A few years ago I promoted myself away from the line and into an office job and thats when I noticed I had it. I recently went to the doctor about it as we get annual hearing tests and my hearing is actually great but I still have that ringing all the time. I always used hearing protection when at work but there are times when you are caught without it and it only takes a few times and it causes damage.
Every now and then out of no where it will get insanely loud, shocks me for a second but it only lasts maybe 30 seconds then dies back down. As others have stated it really only bothers me when its dead quiet. When sleeping I try to have a fan running which helps. Theres really nothing they can do for us, this is something we will have for the rest of our lives.
Every now and then out of no where it will get insanely loud, shocks me for a second but it only lasts maybe 30 seconds then dies back down. As others have stated it really only bothers me when its dead quiet. When sleeping I try to have a fan running which helps. Theres really nothing they can do for us, this is something we will have for the rest of our lives.
I've had it for over a year now. The first six months were depressing because I still had THE HOPE thing going on. THE HOPE it would dissipate and go away. Kind of like the psycho exes I've had in the past. You remember what they said in Shawshank Redemption, right? : "Hope is a very dangerous thing." From what I've researched if you have it over 6 months it ain't never going away, yo.
So you deal with it. The causes of it are many. There is no cure. But it is not the worst thing in the world. Not be racist but it is mostly a white man's affliction from what I've read.
What has worked for me is staying busy and focused, and making sure that by the end of the day I am so tired that that f'ing ringing will not prevent me from sleeping. Mine goes loud on certain days, not sure why. Low on certain days. too. Not sure why.
So you deal with it. The causes of it are many. There is no cure. But it is not the worst thing in the world. Not be racist but it is mostly a white man's affliction from what I've read.
What has worked for me is staying busy and focused, and making sure that by the end of the day I am so tired that that f'ing ringing will not prevent me from sleeping. Mine goes loud on certain days, not sure why. Low on certain days. too. Not sure why.
Good thread, guys.
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I have been wearing hearing aids for about 8 years now. The tinnitus started up about 4 years ago. I was at home in my office working on the computer and thought someone was cutting a tree down - running the chain saw non-stop.
After a while I was able to ignore it and not hear it until I thought about it. Some nights and days it is worse than others.
But I also have Meniere's Disease and hearing loss and tinnitus are part of life along with dizzy spells. In January though I had surgery for the Meniere's (the doctor goes in behind the ear and removes some bone so that the endolymphatic sac has more room for fluid). Since then my hearing has stabilized - still not good but it isn't fluctuating so much that my aids are out of sync. And the tinnitus has eased up. The sound is different now most of the time with the chain saw only happening sometimes. But it also hasn't been a 24/7 noise like before.
After a while I was able to ignore it and not hear it until I thought about it. Some nights and days it is worse than others.
But I also have Meniere's Disease and hearing loss and tinnitus are part of life along with dizzy spells. In January though I had surgery for the Meniere's (the doctor goes in behind the ear and removes some bone so that the endolymphatic sac has more room for fluid). Since then my hearing has stabilized - still not good but it isn't fluctuating so much that my aids are out of sync. And the tinnitus has eased up. The sound is different now most of the time with the chain saw only happening sometimes. But it also hasn't been a 24/7 noise like before.
What exactly is meneieres disease?
There is this new invention called the internet, and an even cooler one called Google. You should try them sometime
Was wanting someone who might actually have this condition to chime in; I'm aware that it involves the ears and dizziness, etc. But, I'd like to hear it from the horses mouth and how that "individual" deals with it on a day-to-day basis.
It is a pain in the a$$ - most days it hasn't been too bad, but a major attack will take me down for a day or two.
Dizziness is part of it - brought on by fluid in the inner ear. For some reason someone with meniere's develops more fluid than can be handled. My first major attack came with no warning. I was sitting at my desk and suddenly the room started to spin, couldn't focus my eyes, couldn't walk down the hallway without holding the wall. It was as if I had been drinking heavily. There is no way to stop the spinning so with a major attack eventually I throw up.
Initial treatment is with steroids. They do help - but the side effects were so bad that I couldn't do them My wife noticed that within hours of the first dose I became irritable. So while the meniere's and hearing improved, the side effects were not good.
So we tried diet - low salt diet to reduce the amount of fluid retained. In today's world an extremely low salt diet is almost impossible though. My specialist told me the first time to take no more than 1500 mg of sodium a day. At my follow up I told him that I couldn't do it - you'd be surprised how much sodium is in every day foods. His response was "good, now you know and so can control it better".
We tried a different steroid treatment. He said that obviously I can't do oral steroids, but since I had a positive reaction to them for the meniere's we "need to get them where they are needed". That meant an injection, through the ear drum, into the inner ear. As bad as that was, IF it had helped I would have gone through it again.
The past year I was getting daily minor attacks. Walking down the hall and things would start to move, or I would get off balance suddenly and bump the wall, or the room would start a small spin. Most of the time I could focus my eyes on a spot and within 20 minutes it would stop.
After 3 major attacks between August and November 2016 though I opted for surgery. (endolymphatic sac decompression - google it). Since the surgery I haven't had any attacks to speak of. A couple of minor ones that passed quickly is all.
The last attack before deciding to go for the surgery happened at the office. I was talking to a couple of people in the hallway, nothing out of the ordinary. That's one of the problems, the attacks come usually with no warning. The only indicator we ever determined for a major attack is that usually my hearing would be all screwed up the day before and it would be like I wasn't even wearing my hearing aids - but even that wasn't a good predictor.
Turned the corner to walk to my office and everything started to spin. I had to grab the counter to get down the rest of the way to my office before I fell over. After a half hour I could not get control of it - tried going to the drinking fountain to hydrate and dilute the sodium level. Almost fell again going back and was walking holding a hand against the wall so I could move down the spinning hallway.
Got to my desk and sat down - still spinning. Another 15 minutes and there went the breakfast banana in the waste basket (luckily I was able to grab it in time). Then I started sweating profusely. My next thought was get outside and get some fresh air - tried to get up and realized that I was not going to be able to stand up and passed out on the floor.
I came to with all the staff standing in my office and EMT on the way. Even in the ambulance on the way to the ER I was spinning. The spins didn't stop until about 5 hours later when they released me to go home.
That next day I called my specialist and said "tell me about that surgery you mentioned last year"
Turned the corner to walk to my office and everything started to spin. I had to grab the counter to get down the rest of the way to my office before I fell over. After a half hour I could not get control of it - tried going to the drinking fountain to hydrate and dilute the sodium level. Almost fell again going back and was walking holding a hand against the wall so I could move down the spinning hallway.
Got to my desk and sat down - still spinning. Another 15 minutes and there went the breakfast banana in the waste basket (luckily I was able to grab it in time). Then I started sweating profusely. My next thought was get outside and get some fresh air - tried to get up and realized that I was not going to be able to stand up and passed out on the floor.
I came to with all the staff standing in my office and EMT on the way. Even in the ambulance on the way to the ER I was spinning. The spins didn't stop until about 5 hours later when they released me to go home.
That next day I called my specialist and said "tell me about that surgery you mentioned last year"
If you want an idea of what a minor attack is like - have you ever been sitting or crouched down and stood up quickly and felt a quick dizzy spell and light head? That is a minor attack for meniere's - only they last about 20 minutes usually, not the quick blood pressure spin from that fast move.
For a major attack it goes on for hours with no relief.
My ears are ringing after reading this thread...
I just had the worst experience of it yet last night, but Im not sure if it was exactly from the Tinnitus. I had a sleep paralysis-like moment in the middle of the night where my heart started racing at a rate I have never felt before, but then my ears started ringing incredibly loud, like 20x louder than normal ringing. I couldn't move and I couldn't hear anything so I thought I had gone deaf. Awful experience that came and went two different times last night.
Tinnitus can also be caused by restricted blood flow in your neck, which is what I have. Tight neck=louder ringing. With mine I have found if I can manage my neck - keeping it tension free as possible - the less the ringing in the ears.
I never knew that. I have a neck and back injury from the military. My spine in my neck is straight now instead of curved like it is supposed to be.
Mine comes and goes. but I get the high pitch noise. At times it can be bad enough that it'll close my eyes, driving or not and I have to pull over asap. Mine is from being on the flight line around F15's, F16's, flying on C130's and HH60's, loud cars and such.
funny when I went to the VA for my IDES, the ear Dr seemed pissed. I know people can claim it and the VA can't say yes you do or no you don't. So they have to give it to you. but I was around loud azz aircraft for 18.5 years....how could I not get it.
funny when I went to the VA for my IDES, the ear Dr seemed pissed. I know people can claim it and the VA can't say yes you do or no you don't. So they have to give it to you. but I was around loud azz aircraft for 18.5 years....how could I not get it.
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