Tinnitus?

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......

Noise? What noise?

Buy great earphones, put on your favourite jams at like...120dB. The way I see it, your hearing is already fucked and there's less I like hearing people talk about as I get older.

^ ex fucking actly!

Sorry you're now a tinnitus sufferer.

Inevitably, I cannot really offer much wisdom or comfort, but my own experience might (I hope) show that it's not necessarily a major downer. I've had the ringing for a few years now, but things got particularly bad this last winter when I had a (a) suspected viral labyrinthitis (b) a GY!BE gig and (c) a cripplingly painful ear infection in succession. I now have intermittent rumbling in my right ear over the top of the constant whistling in both ears - particularly when tired.

But life goes on, and it doesn't affect my sleep too much. Funnily enough I seem to have trained myself to regard the noise as something I have always had, so it actually seems normal. I have some hearing loss anyway (slightly more than you'd expect in a 46 yr old, possibly attributable to musical taste, or lack thereof) and I also have particular difficulty picking out voices in a crowded room. So all in all the tinnitus itself seems a fairly minor issue. I can to some extent appreciate quiet places, but living and working in central London means that my life is carried on in varying degrees of noisiness, and it's those variations that I enjoy, even if there's no real prospect of absolute silence.

The thing that rather freaked me out was when I met the consultant, he said "Oh, I see you've been referred as a cancer case", and "Well, one thing I can tell you is that we won't be able to do anything about it" and sent me off for a CT scan. Thank goodness the scan showed no growths or lesions on the bundle of nerves connecting my lugs to my branes.

fucking totally getting me down just now - waking up every night - 3 or 4 a.m mostly.......

still waiting for NHS referral to specialist (only for 'official' diagnosis I guess)

I've said this before....you could try a drug called cilostazol - its a drug thats been used for years, essentially for circulation problems and prevention of a second stroke. widely accepted as 'safe' also widely available to buy and very cheap as its now 'generic'. a clinical trial has been completed for about 50 patients, but annoyingly the results aren't out yet:
http://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/a-study-on-the-effect-of-cilostazol-in-patients-with-chronic-tinnitus-citi-esr.1310/
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01378650
There's no reason why you couldn't conduct your own clinical trial as per the study - get some from the web...take 100mg's twice daily for 4 weeks - see if its any better. you might even be able to get your specialist to prescribe you it 'off label' if you ever get to that point! Just an idea - the scientific rationale is plausible - typically, drug companies won't burn millions of $$'s on a trial if they don't think it'll work or theres no scientific rationale. cilostazol has been on the market for many many years. i've got grams of the stuff in my lab, but you probably need it in tablet form :)

So what about interactions with other drugs? Is your advice really safe or do you think a doctor should be involved somewhere along the line?

Don't be ridiculous.

In any case - If anything goes wrong, he can always come onto the forum for legal advice on suing.

thanks again d-goods - must not have heard you the first time....

So what about interactions with other drugs? Is your advice really safe or do you think a doctor should be involved somewhere along the line?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The web is now full of information to support an individuals decision making process. Everyones perception of what's risky and what's not is different. I've looked at this drug a lot - side effects are relatively low...sadly getting the shits and a headache seems like the highest statistical likelihood, but this is still relatively low.

As for drug-drug interactions - yes, this is clearly important. I don't think Jason has anything other condition, or is taking any other medication...are you J?

If I were at my wits end, and wanted to try anything to get a solution, and I wasn't on any other medication, I would have absolutely no problem trying this. That's me personally.

I know nothing about you, but lets say you were the sort of person that liked to enjoy the benefits of recreational drugs...have you ever stopped to consider drug-drug interactions before smoking a joint, doing coke, gurners, MDMA, etc? I think we can stop to consider medical advice or what is safe when it suits us.

J's doctor clearly can't help him because there's no treatment his doctor, or a specialist can prescribe. I'm giving him a potential solution, using a drug thats been marketed for 20 years without anyone dying. You can decide whats right for you.

I know nothing about you, but lets say you were the sort of person that liked to enjoy the benefits of recreational drugs...have you ever stopped to consider drug-drug interactions before smoking a joint, doing coke, gurners, MDMA, etc? I think we can stop to consider medical advice or what is safe when it suits us.

I am a police officer so I haven't done any recreational drugs for over 32 years, then only cannabis. I do have tinnitus caused by seeing/hearing a lot of very noisy bands in the late 70s/early 80s and from 23 years of firearms training (probably). I'm all for trying something if my qualified doctor, knowing what I already take etc, decides that I should try it.
I think the suggestions made on a forum should be taken with a pinch of salt (unless you're salt intolerant).

LOL. You two obviously haven't met.

J. Hope you get a fix for this soon.

Mr Black...meet Mr White...or something like that.

Racist

I thought that's what we had the met police for?

You mean turning a relatively innocuous situation into some kind of race-fuelled travesty? Could always ask Mark Duggan's family.

I think the suggestions made on a forum should be taken with a pinch of salt (unless you're salt intolerant).

You should be aware that he's a grown man(possibly partially educated) so your advice really does go with out saying.

I have mild tinnitus(can hear it at night going to bed and in quiet situations when I make myself conscious of it), disappointing/ annoying considering my age but hey, another thing to add to my growing list of ailments. There's a lecturer in the School of Media in the college I'm in who wanders around in headphones the whole time to detract from his severe tinnitus. Bad times.

I wonder what smoking a doob would do for it Eightball?

^ can't do it, random droog testing at work and they mean it, maaan........

which is a shame because as the world's oldest disassociative herbal medicine, I bet it has a lot to offer

I've been told

that sucks. didn't think random drug testing was big outside the states/in the UK.

I am a police officer so I haven't done any recreational drugs for over 32 years, then only cannabis.

Even more to look forward to after your impeding retirement.

I've got to say that I do enjoy the smell of a good skunk factory.

Your first pill will be mdmamazing.