Anyone else share my pain? If so, how do you cope? Have you found any solutions? How do you describe it to friends/ coworkers? It really adds to my stress levels / makes it harder to be patient at work... I've tried to describe it over the years, no one gets it. My hearing is fine - I frequently have to ask people to repeat themselves because I have trouble hearing over the noise in my head, but when the "whoosh" sound (#5) subsides for a spilt second, I can hear lower frequency tones pretty well and the higher pitch sound (#8) doesn't really block out that much - it's just incredibly annoying (sometimes I wonder if it contributes to my higher blood pressure... I've asked doctors about it over the years, that just reinforces their "argument" for prescribing more Prozac or Xanax).
I sure would like to find some relief from all the noise and haven't had much luck from the medical community - any and all suggestions are welcome!!
Well, I don't think I ever thought of it as cosmic, and while I can understand the concept you're describing, I don't have nearly the patience/ tolerance you must have to embrace the noise!!! :)
I am curious why you've never tried to describe it to others? Do you journal? Have you ever tried to describe it in writing? Or visually? In a drawing or sculpture? Surely this noise has manifested itself in some way in your life...? I think one of the ways it's made it's way into my life is through my "stare". People tell me that I have a cold stare and that I don't appear friendly (don't smile while listening during a conversation). For many years I assumed it was because I was raised on the north east coast of the US and we just didn't express our emotions as much as people do where I live now, but I wonder if it's because I'm busy listening to what people are saying that my facial reactions are delayed. I don't want to smile too long and then find out that someone is talking about something sad (and vice versa) -- sort of like talking to someone in a crowded bar/ restaurant, you lose some of the nuance of the communication.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I look forward to hearing (pun intended!) from others! :)
I do take some Rx NSAIDs (I take the least amount possible) but it seems like the more we try to kill off the lyme bugs, the worse the noise in my gets. After a relapse I started zithro a few weeks ago and yesterday added cedfinir (sp?). Dr says we'll be adding flagyl in 2-3 more weeks and then plaquenil after that (we're going slow because I have nasty side effects on the lyme meds, and ramping up slowly helps minimize those problems). I can say that the zithro is helping and I'm sure that getting back on the other antibiotics, et al will help me get back on track.... OK, I've gotten off track (quelle surprise!), bottom line... I can't get back to the quiet, so I have to figure out to cancel out or counter-act the noise with something that's more relaxing than the sound of a jackhammer-chainsaw combo.... :)
I have had Tinnitus for over 10 years without relief.....over time I just came to accept it somehow. My wife is a Speech/Language Pathologist and am able to stay informed on the latest information on Tinnitus. So to the best of what I can describe is that I have a specific frequency hearing loss and my brain keeps turning up the volume to hear that frequency with no response. The result is that high pitch ringing I hear constantly.....so it is as much in my brain as it is in my ears. I am not sure at this point if Lyme is related but the timing of the start of my Tinnitus and the time frame of when I contracted Lyme seem to coincide.......Ironically it has been a personal Blood Pressure monitor because as my BP rises my ringing gets louder and vice versa.
Interesting.... I think blood pressure is involved in the process somewhere/ somehow because the noises get louder when I'm angry/ stressed out (also when I'm hot/ overheated in the summer).
hhhmmmmm...... definitely worth more contemplation, thank you for sharing! like so many things in life, the hearing process isn't as simple as we'd like to think it is.
I too have had tinnitus for years. Sometimes a high pitched squealing sound and sometimes like a freight train is travelling between my ears. I like the three concepts everyone discussed, and the only thing I have been able to do is meditate through it. Sometimes I try to sit very still and "listen" to the ringing or whooshing in my ears...not for voices but just to listen to it, to try and sense where it is coming from and why I suppose.