Acoustic neuroma

[Jrnyfn]

I developed acoustic aroma about a year and a half ago. All of a sudden, my right ear felt clogged and I started to develop tinnitus. I am really upset because I don’t know what I’m in for. The worst part of this is the tinnitus. I wish that it would just go away and it would be cure for it. It’s loud and it’s annoying. Sometimes I can’t even concentrate, and I need to sleep with the TV on. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thank you I would really appreciate it

[Blakeyboy86]

Hi Jrnyfn

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling with tinnitus. It is one of the main symptoms of acoustic neuroma's and like you I struggle with it and that fullness in my right ear. I am not sure if you have been clinically diagnosed as these pesky blisters grow over a number of years so guessing it's been confirmed.

There are no cures for tinnitus, some find meditation helpful and mindfulness. My consultant claimed that the brain gets used to the frequency's and it becomes duller over time. There is lots of support around tinnitus out there and you just need to try different approaches and see if any work for you.

I was diagnosed last Feb and being honest there are times when its noisy and some where I think its gone and I cant hear it.

Take care, give yourself time to process what's happening and good luck

[Karbob]

Hi, I also have tinnitus. It is very loud and never goes away. I find wearing hearing aid helps a bit. Think, to be honest you just get used to it with time. It makes hearing more difficult, which is difficult to try to get help with. It is all trial and error, which can be expensive. Because you have hearing in other ear, the only help is Nhs hearing aid, which depends where you live. I do have Nhs hearing aid, but no bluetooth, which is available in Nhs but not at specsavers. It would be interest ing to see if it helped with my mobile phone, but expensive to buy as an experiment. BANA is great to join. It's very helpful. Karen

[JDN57]

Hi

I was diagnosed in October 2021 and the worse part for me is the tinnitus. To start with I only had it in the ear with AN but over the last few months, I now have it in my left ear as well - not quite as loud but there. I have really struggled with the tinnitus more so than the balance problems as I loved silence. I never use to put the radio on or TV when I was by myself and I think knowing I will never hear silence again is really hard to accept.

Hearing aids do help during the day but at night the tinnitus just seems louder. I have tried sleeping headsets which does help me fall a sleep but once I wake up its very hard to go back to sleep again. My hearing aids are NHS and they do blue tooth to my phone and my sleep headset so they are available.

I think its just a case of learning to live with it - sorry that isn't much help.

[flappers]

Hi, I’m sorry you’ve joined our little club, and I remember well the absolute horror I felt when I realised with it without treatment, the tinnitus was here to stay. Mine is slightly helped with a hearing aid ( takes a while to adapt) but most bizarrely I’ve somehow managed to adapt and live with it. I pretend it’s cicadas at night! Focusing on really looking after yourself, practising relaxation techniques, hypnotherapy helped me, via Brainstrust ( a charity in the UK) and also I took 10mg of amitriptyline for a year which helped me sleep.. ( and helped with neuropathic pain I also had) As awful as it all is, you will adapt, hopefully you’ll find some support through tinnitus groups where you are or acoustic neuroma association. Breathe, you’ll adapt x