Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

My dad has recently been diagnosed with Tinnitus.

In simple words, its a condition where you constantly or at intervals hear sounds in your ears. Ringing, buzzing, whooshing, etc.

Its a very tough situation…he cannot control when it hits him or when it stops and he is losing sleep because of it.

He has other health issues as well…diabetes, high blood pressure, hearing loss, he’s had multiple strokes and open heart surgery.

Despite all this, he has complete mobility ALHUMDULILLAH and can do practically everything. Alhumdulillah.

But this recent development is really taking a toll. He wakes up in the middle of the night and stays awake…he gets stressed and that affects his BP and it just overall is a bad situation.

My question is…has anyone here had any experiences with this? What helps and what can he/we do?

Thank you!

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

I have this issue...have had it for a few years now. My problems stems out of another problem that was caused by multiple ear infections after multiple sinus infections. At this point, every now and then, I have vertigo as well. My prescriptions include an antivert and a decongestant. Nothing else. I'm used to it now. I'm not sure what's causing your dad's tinnitus. It may be a temporary thing.

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Have the doctors investigated a cause into his tinnitus?

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Reha, I am so sorry to hear that. My mother has been suffering from this disease for ever. And it has pretty much isolated her :( . No amount of medicines, have been able to help her.

She just takes it one day at a time. Another aunty of mine had the same problem, and she was diagnosed early on. She stays away from the AC, does not eat or drink anything cold and watches her diet like a hawk. She can tell what foods trigger her tinnitus.

Prayers for you and your abbu. It is especially tough for the family members. Ammi has a constant buzzing sound in her ears and she can't hear what other ppl are saying. She also has hearing deficiency,

Hopefully your abbu is in the early stages so it can be reduced if not eliminated. Prayers with your abbu.

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

@Reha...

I have had tinnitus for several years now...although it has not been established how and why I got it,I think you should get your dad's physician to do more tests and say what caused it.It happens when the middle/inner ear has been damaged.Could be from constant loud noise or as Niksik said from multiple infections.You must determine the root cause though.

The main thing is not to get stressed...difficult I know...as that just exacerbates the situation.Your dad needs to learn some breathing exercises to calm himself and also if he has hearing loss,then wearing the aids will help to filter the tinnitus as he will be able to hear background noises better.

I suspect it is at night when he really panics...I used to be terrified that I would never be able to go to sleep.Is there any way he can have a radio/cd on very low at night without disturbing your mum?...this sound will detract from the buzzing and should help him drift off.

The worse thing to do is panic..:(

Look,I'm no expert.Just speaking from experience.There is absolutely no reason for your dad to feel isolated and this not a debilitating disease...if he can overcome the stress this is causing him,then he can totally control it.

Sorry for the long post....but Alhumdu'Lillah...he sounds like he is on top of everything else,and IA,he will overcome this too.

@Niksik....I totally feel for you regarding the vertigo.Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

He also has vertigo to a small degree. Loss of balance, the room is moving and because of it he won't go near staircases.

He has been hearing impaired for most of his life. There was an ear infection in his childhood that resulted in hearing loss since then. The tinnitus though is new. The other health problems didn't help either.

Thank you so much! It sounds just like my dad.

His tinnitus is new...what you're saying though...there are things in your aunty's environment she can eliminate or control? So maybe we can look into his diet and see what can be changed?

The biggest issue I am having is that he gets very very very nervous and high strung (rightfully so) when the noises start and this aggravates his other issues. He can't do anything, go anywhere, he just wants to lie in bed or go to the ER right away. It panics him and he starts to fear there may be something else. We go to the ER once a week now just so he can be sure nothing else is wrong.

How did you all learn to live with it? How do you teach someone to ignore a sound that is drowning everything else out? How can we help him? What can we do?

@CharmedOne...the hearing aid is a great idea. He has one right now but that is mainly for loss of hearing. Are there devices meant for people with tinnitus?

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Reha…I’m sorry for what you guys are going through…I don’t really know anything about Tinnitus, but I was just talking with my cousin who is a PA, while going through this thread, and she has seen some patients who suffer from this. She said that there are small electronic devices available that work like those “white noise” machines to drown out sounds and help people fall asleep. I don’t know if you guys have heard about these or not, but I did a quick google search and found this website..hope it helps

http://archhealth.org/ArchContentPage.aspx?nd=1349

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Thank you khatti! That was very helpful and I am looking into it right now. ^

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

My dad has same problem but sounds were not that lod to awaken him in the middle of night htough he has little hearing loss.
i myself face same problem after sinusitis problem though i can sleep properly.but there was a time i used to wake up at night so i can understand wt ur dad is going through.
i think he should avoid sour and cold things that will help.

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Did your father try this? Is it working?

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

We did try white noise machines but he doesn’t wear a hearing aide at night and he is very hard of hearing without it. It made no difference for him because of his hearing issue. But it might work for someone who doesn’t have a hearing issue.

Re: Tinnitus - remedies, cures, advice, tips, etc.

Tinnitus treatment is indeed quite unsatisfactory as it’s poorly understood. At the outset ENT doctors ensure there’s no serious pathology associated as well as simpler issues like ear wax (a lot of earwax constantly stimulate the eardrum and cause perpetual sound sensation. Also a look into patient medication is needed (your dad I suspect is on heart medication - some - especially Diuretics are well known cause of tinnitus. But in majority of cases no etiology can be discernible. Masking techniques like the ones discussed above are useful.
But often it’s not the tinnitus but the anxiety and insomnia associated with it is what distressing to the patient (in one post you have identified that for your dad too!!) - in UK tinnitus clinics often advocate starting on antidepressants which are quite useful - but in your dad case careful choice is required as he is heart patient so commonest antidepressants (SSRIs like Fluoxetine etc will have to be taken only with cardiologist approval- best option in most such cases is citalopram if you go along that route.
I hope your dad has started to cope better with this.