does anyone have any advice for when the tinnitus is extra bad and you're deaf in the affected ear, so you can't mask it? nothing is helping so far and it's driving me mad :-X you'd think after more than a decade listening to it I'd be somewhat used to it
I'm so sorry. That does sound bad. It is unfair and awful that if we must having hearing loss, we can't just have some peace and quiet. Bleah, bleah, bleah to tinnitus. I am curious, now that you are deaf in that ear, does the tinnitus still fluctuate? I have partial hearing loss and tinnitus, which as you may have picked up on, I really dislike. The only things that I have been able to tell have any impact on my tinnitus are quiet, classical homeopathy, and antivirals.
Get your mind on something else..play a game, watch an interesting TV show...anything to occupy your mind other than listening to the racket going on in your head. I am bi-lateral, and had a laby on my right ear Jan. '09, and that ear has louder tinnitus than the one with some (not much) hearing left. My tinnitus freakin' roars in the right ear, and yeah, it's enough to drive one mad. It's also one reason I use MJ, as it lets me concentrate on something else, and basically just forget the screaming biatch(s) in my head. I've also had luck with meditation..or at least my form of it. Just sit back, close your eyes and take your mind elsewhere. Concentrate on an old vacation, or maybe a place you want to visit some day. If it gets too insanely loud, I go take a nap..noise can't bother me when I'm asleep..
The tinnitus does still fluctuate and sometimes (like the past week) it's been unbearably loud. I can barely think
I think the fact that it is still fluctuating is hopeful that it can fluctuate in the quiet direction. Are you taking anti-virals? If not that seems like a good place to start, as they have helped so many of us. I hope you find some relief soon. I've been there with ongoing loud tinnitus, and it really is difficult and exhausting. My heart goes out to you. Since being on anti-virals, my tinnitus is rarely loud, and when it is that doesn't last for long.
Have you tried anxiety a daily medication? That, a prescription diuretic and making sure I'm keeping my sodium levels low have really helped me.