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Controlling Tinnitus: What works for you?

Hearing Loss | Last Active: Oct 17 3:14pm | Replies (205)
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@windyshores

@bobbyboomer how much taurine have you been taking? I suppose it might be dependent on weight and size-?

I am slowly "habituating." I tried masking sounds (rain) overnight and woke up with ear pain and vertigo: I lost my balance getting out of bed!

So I have hyperacusis and reactive tinnitus (learning the lingo here) and need silence at night. I make sure to have a good book and go to sleep as soon as sleepiness hits me.

The ENT was dismissive and told me to get a mouth guard. He also said that he had tinnitus since 19 and "you just put it on the back burner." He needs to recognize that some tinnitus is more bothersome than others, and also that with new onset or new increase in tinnitus, there is an adjustment period. It takes time to adjust and empathy is needed, not chiding.

I am doing a lot of art: I find that I forget to notice the sounds when I am busy in a happy way.

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Replies to "@bobbyboomer how much taurine have you been taking? I suppose it might be dependent on weight..."
cudabinacontenda | @cudabinacontenda | Mar 23, 2023

@windyshores It truly amazes me that ENTs behave this way. When I had my acoustic trauma and was suffering from a confirmed 5-10 db loss in my right ear with hyperacusis, my ENT said that I had better hearing in my left ear than he did, so I should consider myself lucky given that I was 12 years older than him. He then told me that my hyperacusis was likely a mental health issue, and I should go to therapy. Needless to say, I got a new ENT who, quite frankly, is only a lesser jerk, so I’m still shopping. Luckily, I’ve noticed an improvement in the hyperacusis over the months since, so I haven’t yet tried taurine. I live in NYC, so I wear earplugs or headphones outside and in loud stores, but not in my home, except when doing dishes or vacuuming. I only notice tinnitus in the wee hours when I can’t sleep. Then it’s pretty loud, but not during the day.

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