After wIting weeks finally had consultation and was told theres no drugs apart from amitriptyline, which I've tried but it made T worse.
The only thing they can suggest is hearing aids according to the audiologist they cure Tinnitus .
Not sure I believe that one
Yay JenMeerkat, if this was an NHS audiologist that told you this, I find it very remiss of him/her! What they should have said is that hearing aids have helped and do help many people with their T. Unfortunately I am not one of them but you have nothing to lose in trying NHS hearing aids? I have screaming T in my totally deaf ear for over 30 years and personally I wholehearted believe that some meds can for some make their T much worse! However we are all different due to our genetic makeup and the only advice I can give you is acceptance and distraction. This may be of no use to you but it has served me well at times over the last three decades.
Best Wishes
Xene
Seems an odd thing to say, they certainly won't cure it, but in a lot of cases wearing hearing aids can lessen the T to a certain extent due to the increase in background noise.
Some even have a white noise setting.
It's worth trying them, you could be one of the ones they do help, they've certainly helped mine.
Mark.
To be fair for a lot of people hearing aids provide some relief. I can’t sleep without amitriptyline although it makes me sleepy next day too. 3 years in for me now, also got chronic neck pain. I’m told there is no cure for either. Hope you find some relief.
If hearing aids are going to help how quickly will I notice ?
It's just I'm wearing them now but everything sounds louder a d my tinnitus is just screaming away so very loud not sure its helpful for my hypercusis at all
I was told they would help straight away as they would increase the background noise and kind of mask it. Mine have white noise generators in, they do help mask it out. I don’t use them any more I just kind of got used to the tinnitus. Like me and other people I’ve spoken to, the sound doesn’t change much but over time you notice it less. Hope that helps you, it does get much easier.
That's great that they helped you and you can cope now.
With me the sound is so unbearably loud irs horrific . I dont see how I could get used to it ever . I've had tinnitus for over 20 years and have coped with it till the volume shot up so very very loud. I'm wearing my hearing aids but it just makes external sounds loud but I have hypercusis so they sound really loud a way to the point that my ears hurt and I cant cope . I'm trying betahistine 8mg 3 times a day to see if that helps plus the a acupuncture I pray something works. Oh and plenty vitamins
Regards
Jen
That sounds terrible I’m sorry for you. Mine too is very loud and I have been very depressed with it and I don’t cope every day, although I do have good days where I ignore the sound. I hope you find some relief for yours, from this forum I notice each person has a different experience and different conditions but the main thing is live your life despite them and enjoy whatever you can, don’t let it beat you!
Also my hearing aids gave me headache and earache for a while, they took a few weeks getting used to and had to be adjusted a bit.
I have incurable cancer too I was diagnosed in 2013 so life has now become very hard . I have days when it goes quieter, bareable and then I can live more normally but then it goes very bad again and I struggle to shower so going out becomes near impossible
I'm keeping going with the a acupuncture and start 8mg of betahistine 3 times a day and lots of vitamins, need some zinc . I just hope I find something soon .
I tried amitriptyline but it didnt help me sleep or help the tinnitus .
I definitely think the acupuncture is helping with the sleep
I truly believe there is something out there that will help each of us but it's an individual thing so what helps one might not help another
Hope today is a better day
Regards
Jen
Jen - it can take a while for hearing aids to become effective and to do the job they've been designed to do. They won't cure tinnitus but they can be helpful in giving you access to external sounds which are more stimulating than the tinnitus you've been experiencing.
There's a bit more context for them here - tinnitus.org.uk/hearing-aid...
Your hearing has to adjust to what is a lot of stimulus, which can be a bit of a process - as Heavy-Glow says.
Hi heavy glow, I’ve just read your post with interest as I’ve just joined the British Tinnitus association group on here (also a member of the Endometriosis and Adenomyosis support groups). Following having a Brain and IAM MRI in January, I’ve just been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation Type 1 (have a 7mm cerebellar tonsillar herniation). It’s a birth defect that affects 1 in a 1000 children, but in type 1, the symptoms it causes may not develop until adulthood. It explains a lot of my symptoms over the years, which I had always put down to clumsiness (balance and movement issues), getting older and more tired! The reason I share this condition with you is because you mention you have chronic neck pain and tinnitus (which I suffer with to) and both those conditions are listed symptoms that a Chiari Malformation causes and so you might want to ask your GP if you can be referred to a neurosurgeon and to have a Brain and IAM MRI scan to see if you indeed have this defect. If you decide to do this, let me know how you get on.
My hearing aids/maskers are my life savers, I sleep in them also ( given permission by senior audiologist), it’s simple, if you don’t buy a ticket etc etc,I cannot say hand on cute, however in my case they “dampen” any relief greatly accepted , I feel doctors rather than say “ I don’t know” “ no evidence” etc they feel they have to try something rather than say,if it was me I would explore every angle,, good luck , but think about even a trial run, of the “masker” side of the aids.
I slept wearing mine for months they really did save me from a complete depressed sleep deprived state. Now I have a white noise generator the audiologist gave me, I wouldn’t be without it but I use it less now. I still can’t sleep without amitriptyline though.
The effect of amitriptyline wore off after several weeks for me. I do believe stress and anxiety make tinnitus worse. The more you focus on it the worse it sounds. It almost felt like a physical sensation for me in the beginning raining down on me 24/7. The problem is the ent appointments are hopeless and nobody can really understand tinnitus if they have never experienced it first hand. It made me feel so alone in the beginning. But time does make things feel better or at least it did for me with the help of antidepressants. I just pray my tinnitus does not get worse. Sleep is so important as well, I certainly cope better when I’ve had 6+ hours each night, I was existing on no sleep in the beginning and drs do not prescribe sleeping tablets despite me pleading with them. They hand out anti depressants like sweets though. Problem is tinnitus is still a mystery. They don’t take the time to explore the real cause of the problem. They just tell you to get on with it. Which just makes you feel worse.
What helped with your sleep?
What helped with your sleep?
ENT visit
First referral to ENT
ENT appointment, hearing aids.
What to expect at an ENT appoinment
Still waiting for ENT
