Tenacious Tinnitus Club – Ear Pressure, Noise and Hyperacusis

[[Bi...]]

 

 

Thanks Greece,    this sounds like it could work.

 

May i ask you?

when yours tinnitus started was from the begining so loud? or at the begining was very quiet and gradually get louder?

what other symptoms do you have(or you had)? a feeling lika a water inside the ear? ear pain? tight muscles around the ear? cold or hot ear?

have you ever listen someones T from benzowithdrawal go away after 2 or 3 or 4 years?

 

Hi Greece,  I had so much ear pain I had to go to hospital. They found nothing of coarse and when I said it was "BENZO W/D" they said they had never heard if it doing this and told me to take my benzo's in this case. 

I had it all  Ear pain, pressure, clicking, flutter, vertigo, hyperacusis and now finally tinnitus, very loud tinnitus!  It does get better but It's really slow.  Too slow.

From what I hear from other people who are taking years to heal they get to a point of not caring but do not really heal until a very long time after in the tinnitus s/x.

I think healing is so slow it's hard to measure since it's hard to really know how I felt a month ago or 6 months ago.  Many signs tell me I am healing every month but these signs also point to many more years of time needed :'(

 

In the mean time I will stay buried in my world of artificial mp3 sounds and learn sign language.  I find learning is fun so I do not mind learning a new skill.

[[Mu...]]

I've been completely off benzos for almost a year (since 12/30/14).  T , H, and other ear problems have been my worst symptoms all along, although as Bird suggested in an earlier post, I believe they were magnified by anxiety.  The T appeared first, soft in the background around February 2014.  Then over a few days in late March 2014, it suddenly got much worse -- and has been with me ever since--sometimes worse than others.  I had a very rough time, lost weight I wasn't trying to lose, and was joyless for months and months.

 

The ear problems have been up and down since I jumped, but I've felt like I've accepted them and have been able to sleep and concentrate and generally function OK.  I even thought it might all be slowly getting better -- until recently.  For reasons that are a mystery to me, I've recently had a long run of days where my left ear (the more problematic one) returned to having this blocked sensation which paradoxically comes along with heightened sound sensitivity.  And now the tinnitus is suddenly harsher, more urgent, and uglier than I think it ever has been.  This has shaken me back to where the anxiety is working its way back in and making it all that much worse again.  I'm even doubting again whether it really is benzo w/d, even though nothing else makes sense.  I've been able to hold on to my job through all of this, but now I'm not so sure if I can do that much longer either.

 

Last night as I was trying to get to sleep, I found myself thinking I'd be better off if had something else, something terminal.  That would put an end to the T and would be something others could at least understand.  My wife is awesome.  She supports me even though she can't see this invisible demon.  You guys are awesome too.  It really helps to know there are others out there who understand how f---ing horrible, frustrating, and draining T and all the shit that comes with it can be.  So Thank you.

Wishing you all sudden success.

 

[[Bi...]]

I've been completely off benzos for almost a year (since 12/30/14).  T , H, and other ear problems have been my worst symptoms all along, although as Bird suggested in an earlier post, I believe they were magnified by anxiety.  The T appeared first, soft in the background around February 2014.  Then over a few days in late March 2014, it suddenly got much worse -- and has been with me ever since--sometimes worse than others.  I had a very rough time, lost weight I wasn't trying to lose, and was joyless for months and months.

 

The ear problems have been up and down since I jumped, but I've felt like I've accepted them and have been able to sleep and concentrate and generally function OK.  I even thought it might all be slowly getting better -- until recently.  For reasons that are a mystery to me, I've recently had a long run of days where my left ear (the more problematic one) returned to having this blocked sensation which paradoxically comes along with heightened sound sensitivity.  And now the tinnitus is suddenly harsher, more urgent, and uglier than I think it ever has been.  This has shaken me back to where the anxiety is working its way back in and making it all that much worse again.  I'm even doubting again whether it really is benzo w/d, even though nothing else makes sense.  I've been able to hold on to my job through all of this, but now I'm not so sure if I can do that much longer either.

 

Last night as I was trying to get to sleep, I found myself thinking I'd be better off if had something else, something terminal.  That would put an end to the T and would be something others could at least understand.  My wife is awesome.  She supports me even though she can't see this invisible demon.  You guys are awesome too.  It really helps to know there are others out there who understand how f---ing horrible, frustrating, and draining T and all the shit that comes with it can be.  So Thank you.

Wishing you all sudden success.

 

Hi MF.  I meet lots of people here that have delayed tinnitus.  Some people get it a year after jumping and for others it gets worse and worse years later for what ever reason.  I really do not think its as easy as gabaA down-regulation in the cerebellum when it comes to the tinnitus and the other ear symptoms.

I read a lot of articles where they inject, Lidocain or Procaine and magnesium-sulfate and even a trace amount of benzo's in the ear fluids and the tinnitus goes away for a short while so what does this have to do with the DCN or the cerebellum?  The problem seems to be localized in the ear fluids.  Magnesium-sulfate is a simple glutamate antagonist so this means there is too much glutamate in our ear fluids after years of benzo use maybe?  I don't know but I wish more research was being done.

 

I suspect the is more going on with benzo use than just effecting one area in the head.

 

 

Neural Therapy

    An injection technique pioneered in Germany about 30 years ago, mostly for pain control. A very safe analgesic, usually 1 or 2% Procaine, is placed in specific “trigger points”. In the case of tinnitus, the trigger points will be similar to the acupuncture points, mostly around the ears. The idea is to “reset” and correct the nerve impulses which convey information from the outside world to the brain. Most doctors in the U.S. skilled in this technique were trained by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, MD. - See more at: http://dremilykane.com/2002/05/10/top-five-remedies-for-tinnitus/#sthash.DRWYrNv0.dpuf

 

 

Lots of data on Google if you have the time to search

 

[[Mu...]]

Thanks, Bird.  I didn't realize the onset and worsening of T could be so delayed.  Pretty scary.  It also might answer something I've been wondering about: why the T really didn't get rockin' in my case until weeks after stopping clonazepam.  I only took it for about 4 months, so it has been hard to believe that benzo withdrawal could cause such troubling and long-lasting effects.  But I have seen a few similar stories here. 

 

I've seen enough of your posts to know you've done a LOT of research on this.  Thanks for sharing all that info and for starting this thread (I believe it was you, right?).  It seems to take an unbelievably long time for some of us to see positive change in this journey.  Hopefully, we are all a day closer to at least relative quiet.

[[Bi...]]

Thanks, Bird.  I didn't realize the onset and worsening of T could be so delayed.  Pretty scary.  It also might answer something I've been wondering about: why the T really didn't get rockin' in my case until weeks after stopping clonazepam.  I only took it for about 4 months, so it has been hard to believe that benzo withdrawal could cause such troubling and long-lasting effects.  But I have seen a few similar stories here. 

 

I've seen enough of your posts to know you've done a LOT of research on this.  Thanks for sharing all that info and for starting this thread (I believe it was you, right?).  It seems to take an unbelievably long time for some of us to see positive change in this journey.  Hopefully, we are all a day closer to at least relative quiet.

 

It does get better over time but boy is it ever slow.  In the beginning I used weeks as a measuring stick, then months and now I use years.  I think that says it all.

 

I hate laying in bed at nights with insomnia and the house is so silent it really makes it that much worse.  I can't help but feeling like a lab animal being tortured sometimes.

 

Sounds like this

 

 

 

Great way to live  :'( :'( :'( :'(

[[fr...]]

  I think they are doing more and more research into T.  At least I hope so.  It was my first symptom of tolerance.  I thought the cable box was buzzing, it was me lol.  I still have it and I am holding right now because of numerous issues at 15 mg. of V after crossing from 2,5 of Ativan.  I notice my left ear is more affected also, wonder if this is true for most people.  I also get the bulging pain in both ears sometimes and then the muffled sound in left ear.  I hate it all also.  I pray they come up with a cure for benzo w/d s/x someday, won't that be a wonderful day.  So much pain and horror avoided but until then they need to stop prescribing these drugs long term because Drs. are so ill informed.  Hope you all have a better day with the T and all other s/x's. 

[[sn...]]

Thanks, Bird.  I didn't realize the onset and worsening of T could be so delayed.  Pretty scary.  It also might answer something I've been wondering about: why the T really didn't get rockin' in my case until weeks after stopping clonazepam.  I only took it for about 4 months, so it has been hard to believe that benzo withdrawal could cause such troubling and long-lasting effects.  But I have seen a few similar stories here. 

 

I've seen enough of your posts to know you've done a LOT of research on this.  Thanks for sharing all that info and for starting this thread (I believe it was you, right?).  It seems to take an unbelievably long time for some of us to see positive change in this journey.  Hopefully, we are all a day closer to at least relative quiet.

 

It does get better over time but boy is it ever slow.  In the beginning I used weeks as a measuring stick, then months and now I use years.  I think that says it all.

 

I hate laying in bed at nights with insomnia and the house is so silent it really makes it that much worse.  I can't help but feeling like a lab animal being tortured sometimes.

 

Sounds like this

 

 

 

Great way to live  :'( :'( :'( :'(

 

Sorry Birdie.  You poor dear lady. 

 

Love, Snowy

[[ca...]]

Mine rang even before I started my taper but has gotten a lot worse. I found that if i get a mid day nap in it`s sometimes really screaming when i wake up must be a reason ! Not sure if anyone has noticed the same thing ? ~CD

[[Bi...]]

  I think they are doing more and more research into T.  At least I hope so.  It was my first symptom of tolerance.  I thought the cable box was buzzing, it was me lol.  I still have it and I am holding right now because of numerous issues at 15 mg. of V after crossing from 2,5 of Ativan.  I notice my left ear is more affected also, wonder if this is true for most people.  I also get the bulging pain in both ears sometimes and then the muffled sound in left ear.  I hate it all also.  I pray they come up with a cure for benzo w/d s/x someday, won't that be a wonderful day.  So much pain and horror avoided but until then they need to stop prescribing these drugs long term because Drs. are so ill informed.  Hope you all have a better day with the T and all other s/x's.

 

Hi FM,  I also had most of my ear s/x in the left ear.  Just go slow as you may heal faster in the end.  Tinnitus is a symptom with its own set of rules when it comes to healing.  It's not a good idea to push tinnitus too hard as new sound pathways can get established in the brain and then there is the whole excitotoxic/ototoxic glutamotergic  problems to worry about.  Best to listen to the warning tinnitus is giving you.  For me it said "taper slower"      I lost 45% of my hearing from 3K to 4K range during C/T so I had some kind of glutamotergic damage from doing this too fast  :'(    Mostly in my left ear too. The year before I had perfect hearing so I know it was the C/T the screwed me up now.  I don't think the benzo's are as dangerous as the glutamate imbalance's that faster tapering causes.

 

[[ca...]]

  I think they are doing more and more research into T.  At least I hope so.  It was my first symptom of tolerance.  I thought the cable box was buzzing, it was me lol.  I still have it and I am holding right now because of numerous issues at 15 mg. of V after crossing from 2,5 of Ativan.  I notice my left ear is more affected also, wonder if this is true for most people.  I also get the bulging pain in both ears sometimes and then the muffled sound in left ear.  I hate it all also.  I pray they come up with a cure for benzo w/d s/x someday, won't that be a wonderful day.  So much pain and horror avoided but until then they need to stop prescribing these drugs long term because Drs. are so ill informed.  Hope you all have a better day with the T and all other s/x's.

Bird, do really think the slower the taper the less TT ? Just curious on your opinion !Thanks !

 

Hi FM,  I also had most of my ear s/x in the left ear.  Just go slow as you may heal faster in the end.  Tinnitus is a symptom with its on set of rules when it come to healing.  It's not a good idea to push tinnitus too hard as new sound pathways can get established in the brain and then there is the whole excitotoxic/ototoxic glutamotergic  problems to worry about.  Best to listen to the warning tinnitus is giving you.  For me it said "taper slower"      I lost 45% off my hearing from 3K to 4K range during C/T so I had some kind of glutamotergic damage from doing this too fast  :'(    Mostly in my left ear too. The year before I had perfect hearing so I know it was the C/T the screwed me up now.  I don't think the benzo's are as dangerous as the glutamate imbalance's that faster tapering causes.

 

[[Bi...]]

  I think they are doing more and more research into T.  At least I hope so.  It was my first symptom of tolerance.  I thought the cable box was buzzing, it was me lol.  I still have it and I am holding right now because of numerous issues at 15 mg. of V after crossing from 2,5 of Ativan.  I notice my left ear is more affected also, wonder if this is true for most people.  I also get the bulging pain in both ears sometimes and then the muffled sound in left ear.  I hate it all also.  I pray they come up with a cure for benzo w/d s/x someday, won't that be a wonderful day.  So much pain and horror avoided but until then they need to stop prescribing these drugs long term because Drs. are so ill informed.  Hope you all have a better day with the T and all other s/x's.

Bird, do really think the slower the taper the less TT ? Just curious on your opinion !Thanks !

 

Hi FM,  I also had most of my ear s/x in the left ear.  Just go slow as you may heal faster in the end.  Tinnitus is a symptom with its on set of rules when it come to healing.  It's not a good idea to push tinnitus too hard as new sound pathways can get established in the brain and then there is the whole excitotoxic/ototoxic glutamotergic  problems to worry about.  Best to listen to the warning tinnitus is giving you.  For me it said "taper slower"      I lost 45% off my hearing from 3K to 4K range during C/T so I had some kind of glutamotergic damage from doing this too fast  :'(    Mostly in my left ear too. The year before I had perfect hearing so I know it was the C/T the screwed me up now.  I don't think the benzo's are as dangerous as the glutamate imbalance's that faster tapering causes.

 

 

Bird, do really think the slower the taper the less TT ? Just curious on your opinion !Thanks !

 

YES true.  A TT taper can be double or triple the lenght of an Ashton type taper.

[[Bi...]]

Thanks, Bird.  I didn't realize the onset and worsening of T could be so delayed.  Pretty scary.  It also might answer something I've been wondering about: why the T really didn't get rockin' in my case until weeks after stopping clonazepam.  I only took it for about 4 months, so it has been hard to believe that benzo withdrawal could cause such troubling and long-lasting effects.  But I have seen a few similar stories here. 

 

I've seen enough of your posts to know you've done a LOT of research on this.  Thanks for sharing all that info and for starting this thread (I believe it was you, right?).  It seems to take an unbelievably long time for some of us to see positive change in this journey.  Hopefully, we are all a day closer to at least relative quiet.

 

It does get better over time but boy is it ever slow.  In the beginning I used weeks as a measuring stick, then months and now I use years.  I think that says it all.

 

I hate laying in bed at nights with insomnia and the house is so silent it really makes it that much worse.  I can't help but feeling like a lab animal being tortured sometimes.

 

Sounds like this

 

 

 

Great way to live  :'( :'( :'( :'(

 

Sorry Birdie.  You poor dear lady. 

 

Love, Snowy

 

Snowy!!   My ears are for s__t  today :'(

[[ca...]]

Thanks, Bird.  I didn't realize the onset and worsening of T could be so delayed.  Pretty scary.  It also might answer something I've been wondering about: why the T really didn't get rockin' in my case until weeks after stopping clonazepam.  I only took it for about 4 months, so it has been hard to believe that benzo withdrawal could cause such troubling and long-lasting effects.  But I have seen a few similar stories here. 

 

I've seen enough of your posts to know you've done a LOT of research on this.  Thanks for sharing all that info and for starting this thread (I believe it was you, right?).  It seems to take an unbelievably long time for some of us to see positive change in this journey.  Hopefully, we are all a day closer to at least relative quiet.

 

It does get better over time but boy is it ever slow.  In the beginning I used weeks as a measuring stick, then months and now I use years.  I think that says it all.

 

I hate laying in bed at nights with insomnia and the house is so silent it really makes it that much worse.  I can't help but feeling like a lab animal being tortured sometimes.

 

Sounds like this

 

 

 

Great way to live  :'( :'( :'( :'(

 

Sorry Birdie.  You poor dear lady. 

 

Love, Snowy

 

Snowy!!   My ears are for s__t  today :'(

Snowy & Birdman , i just have the Tea Kettle in the left ear not sure i care for the cricket bit but do sometimes get a bit of chirping ! Be Well !

[[sn...]]

Sorry guys. It does suck. I just ran. Now my ears are ringing. Wth? Exercise usually helps me. Huh

 

Snowy

[[so...]]

Hi T buddies,

 

My ears are completely plugged today.  I usually get this off and on throughout the day, but this is like cotton in my ears.  I still can hear my pulsatile tinnitus, cotton or no cotton.

 

I hope all your ears can hear the grocery store Christmas music.

 

Love, Sofa

[[Gr...]]

Here's a good article about Tensor Tympani Syndrome, an anxiety based condition that causes the muscles inside your ear to go nuts and produce all kinds of hearing and balance issues, including tinnitus, hyperacusis, ear pain/fullness and more.

http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/do-i-have-tonic-tensor-tympani-syndrome-ttts/

[[Bi...]]

Here's a good article about Tensor Tympani Syndrome, an anxiety based condition that causes the muscles inside your ear to go nuts and produce all kinds of hearing and balance issues, including tinnitus, hyperacusis, ear pain/fullness and more.

http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/do-i-have-tonic-tensor-tympani-syndrome-ttts/

 

Cool article GJ  :thumbsup:

[[Bl...]]

Please let me know if this is the symptom or not, I feel like there's pain in my head. I thought it was headache. I took something for it and the pain didn't seem to go away so I laid down with a heating pad under my head.

 

I get popping noises in my ears it seems like and in my neck when I seem to move it around. However I don't hear any ringing in my ears.

 

Am I in the right Forum?

 

And I hope this symptom lets us for me soon cause this really sucks but I'm bearing through it and acting like I'm fine around my family cause they already think I'm crazy enough!  Trying to be humorous about it cause I feel like if I don't laugh about what's going on, I'll just simply break. And I won't let this break me.

[[Do...]]

Hello Blue, I have had weird experiences with dif drugs so I wouldn't be surprised if you are too. I tried an antidepressant and it made my tongue go out of control. Luckily I only too one. I'd check with the doc, if I were you. Maybe the Ativan or too much of the other stuff or the mix.

 

GJ thanks for the article. I have the left ear thing & super sensitive to noises, some that make me very edgy. Family wants me to think I'm exaggerating but now I know better. The high whine comes and goes in loudness and I have slight hearing loss in that left ear.

 

It was more o f a pain until I found out the benzos make it so. For me, knowing what the problem is eases my reaction to it. Sometimes I can't stand hearing people move around in the apartment but that's part of the PTSD, I'm sure. Either way, the taper is going when I never thought I could come round the bend with it.

 

Very happy about that. The depression waffles but I'm good right now. Hope all of you are too. This stuff isn't for the weak of heart although it does make you feel like you're hear will go or you may blow a gasket. I'm still here after long term recovery. And after untold horrors I am relatively balanced.

 

Happy New Year.

[[Bi...]]

How toxic is Glutamate in the inner ear?  Hard to say.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11102482

[[no...]]

The below article would figure considering we're emotionally messed up in the brain due to the withdrawal bashing we're going through...

 

Love Nova xxx :smitten:

 

New study reveals link between tinnitus severity and emotion processing in the brain

 

 

Tinnitus, otherwise known as ringing in the ears, affects nearly one-third of adults over age 65. The condition can develop as part of age-related hearing loss or from a traumatic injury. In either case, the resulting persistent noise causes varying amounts of disruption to everyday life.

 

While some tinnitus patients adapt to the condition, many others are forced to limit daily activities as a direct result of their symptoms. A new study reveals that people who are less bothered by their tinnitus use different brain regions when processing emotional information.

 

"We are trying to understand how the brain adapts to having tinnitus for a very long time," said Fatima Husain, University of Illinois speech and hearing science and neuroscience professor who conducted the research with kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley and neuroscience graduate students Jake Carpenter-Thompson and Sara Schmidt. Husain also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Carpenter-Thompson is lead author on the paper, which is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

 

Husain's research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging, an imaging tool that enables researchers to see changes in blood oxygen levels in the brain during an activity.

 

Using fMRI, Husain's team previously compared how the brain processes emotion in patients with mild tinnitus and people without the condition. While in the scanner, study participants listened to and rated pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sounds (e.g. kids giggling, babies crying and people babbling in the background). The researchers reported that, in contrast to those without tinnitus, patients with mild tinnitus showed greater engagement of different areas in the brain when processing emotional sounds.

 

To further understand this altered brain activation, Husain conducted a new fMRI study to see if there were any differences among tinnitus patients. Because some patients adjust to the ringing in the ears while others do not, the severity of the condition can vary greatly. Husain's team measured the severity of tinnitus, or tinnitus distress, with a series of surveys and questionnaires assessing hearing, attention, emotion and sleep.

 

Patients with lower tinnitus distress used an altered pathway to process emotional information. The path did not rely on the amygdala, commonly believed to play an important role in emotion processing in the brain. Instead, patients who had adapted to their tinnitus symptoms used more of the brain's frontal lobe, a region critical for attention, planning and impulse control. The researchers suggested that the greater activation of the frontal lobe might be helping to control emotional responses and reduce tinnitus distress.

 

Another aim of Husain's research was to evaluate possible interventions to help patients reduce tinnitus distress. The study reported that physical activity might influence emotion processing and help to improve quality of life of those bothered by tinnitus. Husain hopes more research will investigate this link. Her future research on the topic will also include active duty service members, a group highly affected by trauma-induced, early-onset tinnitus.

 

 

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20151215/New-study-reveals-link-between-tinnitus-severity-and-emotion-processing-in-the-brain.aspx

[[Bi...]]

The below article would figure considering we're emotionally messed up in the brain due to the withdrawal bashing we're going through...

 

Love Nova xxx :smitten:

 

New study reveals link between tinnitus severity and emotion processing in the brain

 

 

Tinnitus, otherwise known as ringing in the ears, affects nearly one-third of adults over age 65. The condition can develop as part of age-related hearing loss or from a traumatic injury. In either case, the resulting persistent noise causes varying amounts of disruption to everyday life.

 

While some tinnitus patients adapt to the condition, many others are forced to limit daily activities as a direct result of their symptoms. A new study reveals that people who are less bothered by their tinnitus use different brain regions when processing emotional information.

 

"We are trying to understand how the brain adapts to having tinnitus for a very long time," said Fatima Husain, University of Illinois speech and hearing science and neuroscience professor who conducted the research with kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley and neuroscience graduate students Jake Carpenter-Thompson and Sara Schmidt. Husain also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Carpenter-Thompson is lead author on the paper, which is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

 

Husain's research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging, an imaging tool that enables researchers to see changes in blood oxygen levels in the brain during an activity.

 

Using fMRI, Husain's team previously compared how the brain processes emotion in patients with mild tinnitus and people without the condition. While in the scanner, study participants listened to and rated pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sounds (e.g. kids giggling, babies crying and people babbling in the background). The researchers reported that, in contrast to those without tinnitus, patients with mild tinnitus showed greater engagement of different areas in the brain when processing emotional sounds.

 

To further understand this altered brain activation, Husain conducted a new fMRI study to see if there were any differences among tinnitus patients. Because some patients adjust to the ringing in the ears while others do not, the severity of the condition can vary greatly. Husain's team measured the severity of tinnitus, or tinnitus distress, with a series of surveys and questionnaires assessing hearing, attention, emotion and sleep.

 

Patients with lower tinnitus distress used an altered pathway to process emotional information. The path did not rely on the amygdala, commonly believed to play an important role in emotion processing in the brain. Instead, patients who had adapted to their tinnitus symptoms used more of the brain's frontal lobe, a region critical for attention, planning and impulse control. The researchers suggested that the greater activation of the frontal lobe might be helping to control emotional responses and reduce tinnitus distress.

 

Another aim of Husain's research was to evaluate possible interventions to help patients reduce tinnitus distress. The study reported that physical activity might influence emotion processing and help to improve quality of life of those bothered by tinnitus. Husain hopes more research will investigate this link. Her future research on the topic will also include active duty service members, a group highly affected by trauma-induced, early-onset tinnitus.

 

 

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20151215/New-study-reveals-link-between-tinnitus-severity-and-emotion-processing-in-the-brain.aspx

 

 

Thanks for sharing Nova.  It's true the ringing would not bug me if I could force myself to just not care like some people.  I think it's the frequency.  My tinnitus is pitch perfect to mess with my nerves and set me on edge like listening to a baby crying.  I can put on a set of headphone's and play tones of someone else's tinnitus tone and it does not bug me in fact it helps me. If I turn up the volume I can mask out my own tinnitus tone with some one else's frequency and feel great.  We all hear a different tone and that's a key that needs deep investigation.

 

I think the real problem with tinnitus is that it's designed to be as warning signal for us.  Like when people do not get enough air or too much CO2 in the room everyone will get tinnitus. This warns them something is wrong and designed to get them agitated. 

 

I swim daily and have practiced holding my breath for 3 minutes since I was 9.  I always remember getting a very loud case of tinnitus for a few minutes after holding my breath for that long.  Now when I hold my breathe I do not get that tinnitus warning because it's on full time! 

 

I think our brains are telling us "Danger, danger Will Robinson!"  when there is no real danger.

 

I think our "ALARM" systems are stuck in the "ON" position.  Just need to find that "OFF" switch to that tinnitus warning signal. 

 

One thing thing is for sure, before benzo's I had perfect ears and did not have a noticeable or debilitating level of tinnitus like now.

 

 

 

 

 

[[Do...]]

Always good to read the studies. The ringing goes up and down with me. Doesn't get on my nerves as much since I started to detox and feel I can't free myself from benzos. The ringing has become less important than getting my life back.

[[Bi...]]

Always good to read the studies. The ringing goes up and down with me. Doesn't get on my nerves as much since I started to detox and feel I can't free myself from benzos. The ringing has become less important than getting my life back.

 

I do not think we all have the same levels of tinnitus.  At my worst point 2 years ago it was as loud as having my head stuck in a jet engine and gave me pain and pressure sensations that got me hospitalized 2 times.  It's hard to believe your head can do something that severe to your ears.  It felt like someone had inject my cochlea with a mixture of sulfuric acid and speed. 

The level of tinnitus that withdrawal has left me with is still loud enough to kill my creativity and concentration.

 

I am still a long way from home and I have shifted my thinking to 'years' for my full recovery. 

Miles to go.

[[Do...]]

Symptoms are not often the same for anyone. I'm too busy with the amplified noise at the moment. It follows me until I leave the place of constant stress that is my awful apartment in the land of loud and vulgar neighbors.

 

I'm sorry your tinnitus is so bad. That must be frightening. I'm not a fan of hospitals. Doctors don't seem to have answers for the mess that is prescription drug hell.