Another newbie question

[Ship of Fools]

The post just before this outlined my situation ..... my next question has to do with lifestyle choices that are supposed to impact tinnitus.

Do caffeine, nicotine, alcohol etc make the tinnitus worse?

Would the smoke from a cigar aggravate it?? ... would it kill / damage the hairs in the inner ear and make things worse?

[lohearn]

I find that not getting enough sleep makes my tinnitus a lot worse. Alcohol causes me to not sleep as well so again, being tired makes my tinnitus worse.

[DocAudio]

During the course I took for my Au.D that focused on tinnitus, it was stated that there was no evidence that those things changed tinnitus in a significant way.

Now, I have tinnitus 24/7 and, personally, I notice a difference when I am very tired or when I consume a lot of caffeine. So although there is no anecdotal evidence to support the thought that environmental factors can exacerbate tinnitus, from personal experience I can say that there are times when I notice it much more. Is it quantifiably worse??? Probably not, but perceptually it's worse and that's what I notice.

[Reidan]

For me silence makes my tinnitus worse!! ;)

I have not noticed any foods or drinks that make it worse. I do not smoke and only drink alcohol occasionally, so can not comment on those. But stress and exertion makes mine louder. Anything that gets the heart working harder.

[Sandra]

I know what you mean by silence, right now it is very quiet as I type and my head is full of a ringing sound. Mine is also worsened by stressful situations and taking nsaids(aspirin,ibuprofen and such.)

[DocAudio]

Everyday sounds mask out the tinnitus and when you remove the everyday sounds you hear the tinnitus more prominently, hence only hearing it in quiet.

[Reidan]

I was trying to be funny with my comment. But I know for some this is not a joking subject as their tinnitus is loud enough to be heard over normal noises and drives them mad.

Thankfully I only notice my tinnitus when the room is very quiet. Like Sandra, I am hearing it right now while typing this. I am at work and everyone else on my hall has left for the day. So the only sounds are the clicking of the keyboard and the ringing in my ears. Even when I do hear it, I am usually able to ignore it. So I would never say that I have "suffered" from it. Just mildly irritated at times.

[candy183]

This is a nice article identifying the main causes of Tinnitus. I don't like the idea of wearing a hearing aid to add extra sound into my ears. I will wiat for hearing aids after I get a bit older and can't hear well, or my Tinnitus drives me crazy and I can't stand it any more.

[Betska]

Hi all,ok my life is consumed by the tinnitus,I have been studying online for any treatments and causes for a long time.Basically I have noticed when its windy its worse,when its springtime and I get any allergy,flu,cough sneeze its worse.I have Meneires disease and so I also have the pleasure of ear pressure days and vertigo from hell.My ENT last week said my physical exam showed everything same as 12 months ago but I am yet to have my hearing tested as I have noticed I cannot hear as well.He said there is a cure for tinnitus,we just dont have it in Australia yet,stem cells will regrow the hairs and can totally reverse tinnitus and restore hearing or at the very least improove everything.I believe in Iran,Japan and other places human trials have begun.So I finally have hope I will 1 day stop this noise thats driving me insane.Also I read about Tinnex,anyone heard of this?

[Betska]

Just an added note,somone wrote here about hearing aids helping tinnitus,this is not the case,hearing aids were designed for people whos hearing is fading away not for people getting deafened by noise.Apparently for us tinnitus suffers wearing a hearing aide is to try turn up the sound to hear over the tinnitus.I have long hair so wearing them noone will see them anyway,if/when I am told to get some.I find the best way dealing with Tinnitus is to always have a tv,radio or music playing and to busy urself.Lower sodium,drink lots water get a 30min walk in everyday.Alcohol can cause it to be louder but best thing is to start a daily journal,write in all what you eat,drink and even what the weather is lie,what stress level ur at and for us women what part cycle ur at.You will find ur own triggers.I just wish I could find a local support group or a free online live support group.

[lepetitoeuf]

Alcohol can cause it to be louder

Getting absolutely wrecked all the time caused me to experience some serious fluctuations in my tinnitus, it would become very loud at times. I've recently cut my drinking back in a big way and it's stabilised the tinnitus as well. I think that being hungover also had a negative effect on my hearing, it fluctuates far less when staying sober.

[iceman0486]

Just an added note,somone wrote here about hearing aids helping tinnitus,this is not the case,hearing aids were designed for people whos hearing is fading away not for people getting deafened by noise.Apparently for us tinnitus suffers wearing a hearing aide is to try turn up the sound to hear over the tinnitus.I have long hair so wearing them noone will see them anyway,if/when I am told to get some.I find the best way dealing with Tinnitus is to always have a tv,radio or music playing and to busy urself.Lower sodium,drink lots water get a 30min walk in everyday.Alcohol can cause it to be louder but best thing is to start a daily journal,write in all what you eat,drink and even what the weather is lie,what stress level ur at and for us women what part cycle ur at.You will find ur own triggers.I just wish I could find a local support group or a free online live support group.

Incorrect about the hearing aids Betska. There are a lot of "ifs" involved with tinnitus and hearing aids but the reality is that part of tinnitus can be caused by hearing loss, and adding in some volume that has been lost can reduce the perception of tinnitus - with the added benefit of helping you hear better.

Looking for support is good and I wish I had somewhere to direct you. However, if you have hearing loss with tinnitus it would be worth your while to at least try hearing aids out to see if there is any help there.

[Ship of Fools]

Iceman you are 100% correct. My tinnitus is dramatically less noticable with my aid in..... to the point that i can go hours at a crack now without even thinking of the tinnitus.

As i said in one of my other posts i took a "tinnitus impact test" or something like that and on my first visit i was a 28 or something and at my first follow up appointment after getting my aid my score was a 2 ...... i would say that is an improvement :D

[seb]

I too find that my tinnitus is basically not there or drastically reduced when I have my HA in.

[Um bongo]

Incorrect about the hearing aids Betska. There are a lot of "ifs" involved with tinnitus and hearing aids but the reality is that part of tinnitus can be caused by hearing loss, and adding in some volume that has been lost can reduce the perception of tinnitus - with the added benefit of helping you hear better.

Looking for support is good and I wish I had somewhere to direct you. However, if you have hearing loss with tinnitus it would be worth your while to at least try hearing aids out to see if there is any help there.

Agreed.

Always worth a go, not everybody gets complete remission, but it's fairly rare to find people who don't get some benefit at least, even if that's just from the reduced stress by not having to struggle so much to hear everyday sounds.