tinnitus

oh jeez, that david baguely book is aud$150

oh! that's an old sciencey one - it's this one, more of a self-help book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009CH8X10/

fantastic, reading the sample now

Jolly good. If you ever feel desperate and need someone to chat/moan to, do feel free to drop me a webmail!

cheers! i'd make the same offer but my webmail address is long defunct, but i'll be here anyway if you need support &c.

Non-stop the past three weeks. Not sure if there's a connection to what's going on--I was thinking that all the silence plays a part.

Went through a very anxiety-filled week, also a week of almost non-stop tinnitus. I know a couple of things that were causing the anxiety, but I think the tinnitus played a role. I've read that stress/anxiety can be one of the contributing causes of tinnitus; I get the feeling it's like a feedback loop, though, and the tinnitus in turn exacerbates the anxiety. Today, for reasons as mysterious as ever, almost no tinnitus--and it was such a relief, I felt calm the whole day.

I got written up at work right around the same time as the pandemic started to kick in and my tinnitus volume level exploded. it's not great! its gotten less extreme lately but I also got laid off from the aforementioned job so I have no daily stress, just long term stress.

i wish you both well.

i keep meaning to start meditating. i think you're exactly right about the feedback loop, clem.

Huh, didn’t know about the anxiety and stress link. Would l-theanine help?

I got that from the Mayo Clinic site (under "Lifestyle and Home Remedies"):

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350162

To help with the anxiety, I bought some Melatonin over the counter a couple of days ago. I guess it's possible that that helped with the anxiety, which in turn helped with the tinnitus...but that seems a little too quick and too easy. I think it's more likely today's break was attributable to the randomness of this crazy thing.

Haven't noticed a correlation between noise and heat before but the ringing is fierce today. Coincidence?

I haven't noticed that, but it's something you'd have to consciously check. I'm on my second quiet day in a row after a few days of non-stop activity.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-tinnitus-treatment-alleviates-annoying-ringing-in-the-ears/

Steep price tag, not surprisingly, but promising. I'm guessing some of it would be covered by insurance.

electrically stimulating touch-sensitive neurons in the tongue or face can activate neurons in the auditory system

Say what?!

My tinnitus is noticably higher in one ear than the other. I feel the need to tune my head.

It's such a mystery how all over the place is. I think I can categorize and roughly quantify it:

40% of the time, it's either not there at all or I'm not conscious of it, which as a practical matter probably amounts to the same thing. When I am aware of its complete absence, especially when out walking late at night, it's like a gift.

25% of the time, it's very faint--there, but not a bother at all. I'd accept this 100% of the time if given the choice.

25% of the time, it's actively annoying, enough to spoil a walk.

10% of the time, often after waking from a nap with the TV on, I'm thinking "Are you kidding me?" And I regret every time I ever listened to music really loud in the car.

from that xpost Scientific American coverage: Our approach is to make everything in the auditory system much more hyperactive to everything but the tinnitus.
Reminds me of reading long ago that William Shatner was trying a headset, I think it was: white noise biofeedback, auditory system learning to ignore tinnitus. He said it was making a significant difference, but I don't know about long term results

just listen to Merzbow once a week (not kidding)