Tinnitus

[N6BY]

I suspect you’ll eventually get used to it.

Yes. Last night I decided to accept that I might have it for the rest of my life. I turned on my ocean wave soundtrack loud enough to hear over my earplugs. (I use the earplugs because there are woodpeckers on my roof who like to bang on the gutters).

This morning the tinnitus went away. The silence surprised me. It might or might not come back. That is the uncertainty of life.

 

[Comptech]

I started out getting severe vertigo when the tinitus started. Turns out I had a tumor in my head. A surgery and a month in a half in the hospital, the vertigo was gone after loosing my vestibule nerves and my hearing nerves in that ear. Although I no longer lay on the floor holding on for dear life to keep from falling off, I still have tinnitus in that ear even thought the otic nerves were removed from my brain stem. Sometime fine, most times miserable. 30 years later my balance is still a problem.

 

[N6BY]

... I still have tinnitus in that ear even thought the otic nerves were removed from my brain stem. Sometime fine, most times miserable. 30 years later my balance is still a problem.

It seems like an unfair trick god is playing with us -- that tinnitus won't go away even if the nerve is severed. I guess the surgeons would have to figure out what part of the brain perceives sound.

Mine is in both ears, so I don't think its a tumor. I am very gradually getting used to it. I haven't needed music to go to sleep for a few weeks, just Xanax.

 

[navychop]

Ive never had Xanax. But I’ve become accustomed. Not a major deal, usually.

Probably won’t be a problem in 30 years or so.

 

[Comptech]

I think my brain is making up for it by playing tunes sometimes. I swear I hear music at times. Kinda like a old AM radio, lots of static, but a song in the background.

 

[Comptech]

My biggest problem with the situation is, as I get older, now 58, I have to hang onto things more. Foe example, washing my hair is a one handed operation, because the other is on the wall so I don't fall over with my eyes close. Your joints and eyes replace your balance when the ears go kerput, now my joints are going that way. If I make seventy, I will be listen to my own calls to the FD for a lift assist.

 

[navychop]

I think my brain is making up for it by playing tunes sometimes. I swear I hear music at times. Kinda like a old AM radio, lots of static, but a song in the background.

That’s just a side effect of the GPS tracker in your last dental implant.

 

[Comptech]

That’s just a side effect of the GPS tracker in your last dental implant.

Giliagans Island, but not the case here

 

[TheKrell]

My biggest problem with the situation is, as I get older, now 58, I have to hang onto things more. Foe example, washing my hair is a one handed operation, because the other is on the wall so I don't fall over with my eyes close. Your joints and eyes replace your balance when the ears go kerput, now my joints are going that way. If I make seventy, I will be listen to my own calls to the FD for a lift assist.

I sympathize. I developed peripheral neuopathy a few years back. First I lost sensation in my toes, and then much of my foot such that I couldn't feel pressure from the ground and got a little tipsy. Then my fingertips disappeared, making it difficult for me to do fine work or even button my shirt buttons without looking at what I was doing in the mirror. The last thing to go was my balance. I was standing in line while holding some groceries at Safeway. I happened to look up at a completely featureless white ceiling and almost fell over! In the shower, I found it helpful, while washing my face or hair, to stick an elbow on the side wall. Perhaps you could try that; it does free up both hands...

Edited to add: Oh, I forgot to complete the story above. So, after my inner ear balance went away, it came back. And every other sensation that I lost returned in the reverse order. Just plain weird. My neurologists never did find out the cause of my peripheral neuropathy.

 

[navychop]

Don’t blame “a little tipsy” on a medical condition!



Set ‘er up, Bobby- and which bourbon do you recommend for Bourbon Praline Cheesecake?

 

[Bobby]

I'd go with Wild Turkey. Smooth sippin' Bourbon so it ought to work just fine as an ingredient without overpowering the cheesecake. I'm pouring you 2 fingers, neat!

 

[navychop]

NICE! I’ll buy more of that! Which proof was it?

 

[Foxbat]

I have been giving my hair stylist a bottle of some form of alcohol for almost 20 years, wine at first until she told me she prefers whiskeys. So, I switch to Jack Daniel (I was familiar with that) but switched to Maker’s Mark the last couple of years. Last year, it was a bottle of Maker’s Mark 46 (I should get a bottle of this for myself), but this year I went out on a limb and got her a bottle of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

I’d never heard of it before, but I got this book for my Birthday, “The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-it-All” (know your booze before you choose). Inside is a fold-out guide to point you in a direction based on the different types of whiskeys (Bourbon, Scotch, Rye, Irish, etc.) and whether you intend to Mix or Sip/Savor. Buffalo Trace is right on the edge of their Mix/Sip zone, so maybe not as sipable as Maker’s Mark or Knob Creek.

If my January haircut looks horrid, I know I can go back and point to this decision as the underlying cause!

Edit: D’oh! Maybe this would have been better posted in the Friday Night Recipes thread. We now return you to that horrid ringing in your head that you’ve learned to ignore until you started to read this thread and started to think about it again.