Bebee - I've had hearing aids for about a year - the kind with maskers which produce an ebb and flow sort of sound. I'm happy with them (I also have a hearing loss) but of course there is no "cure" for Mr. T. I would say the screaming days are fewer than before the aids. I wish you well ~ and life IS worth living! Don't give in! Pat

Bebee where is your hearing loss? Mine is 11m-12m range and I've been wondering if hearing aids would help. Did you go to an audiologist for this? I hope this helps you, please DO NOT give up...I understand your feelings I really do but you cannot let this beast win and besides that I've thought my luck if I off myself this T will follow me to my grave....then what?!!
Sue

My loss is very typical... Normal in the range of human voice, and then drops sharply ay high frequencies.. Right ear is worse than left.
I can function just fine, hear most everything around me. converse normally, talk on the phone with NO problems... I can't hear a field of crickets that well in my right ear, and only moderately in my left... Same with most very high sounds . most of my loss is at frequenncies we don't use very often anyway.. Those are the only frequencies that will be boosted by my audiologist. I hope onec my brain gets these "lost sounds" back, it turn down the damn gain...

I am going to utilize the 45 day trial period to its fullest, and will keep everyone posted on what improvement they make in my perception of T... If they help even a modest amount, I will call it a win and take the $5K hit... If they do nothing except let me hear every cricket and katydid, instead of only half of them, they go back and I get my money back... i would hand the guy $500 for his trouble, and his VERY good service, but if they don't help, I can't keep them.. Nothing else has helped so far. Only benzos have done anything at all, and thats just help me cope... the ring is loud and non stop, and is getting worse instead of better... I was having more "good" days a month ago than I am now....Actually, I have noot known a "good' day since this curse came upon me... All bad days really, just that some were not as bad as others.. Lately, they have just been all bad, and I am fadinng fast as oppossed to progressing as I was several weeks ago.

Thats the reason for the " I don't want to live" talk.. My Christian faith dictates my life was given by god, and its not mine to end... However, i can still pray that i don't grow old... I am 57, and right now, I don't case if I make 58.... bob

So sorry to hear things have gotten worse when you seemed to be doing better. :( It might just be a spike, though--they can last for weeks sometimes. I remember praying to God to not wake up in the morning, too. T can be so miserable. I Still hate my T with a passion and how it has changed my life, but I don't pray for God to take me anymore, so I think over time things will get better for you, too. You have not exhausted all your possibilities yet --cutting out certain foods, trying different meds, etc. Have you been checked for TMJ, GERD, and so forth? What about MBSR? I hope the aids work (though my loss is above 10K so I couldn't use your aids--I think the Widex go higher?) and if not, you have other things to still try. I think you will find having the noise (white noise, music, etc) to be very soothing even though you can still hear your T above it. I know hearing the "shhhh" of white noise or babbling brooks or music or whatever is very calming to me. I probably would have lots my mind months ago if I'd had to listen to my T "straight" without the white noise going along under it. I really hope these work for you!

Ha, I meant have you tried MBSR--not have you been checked for it! : ) Silly me. I didn't realize how I wrote that up there. 0_o

Twice in the past week while looking around for some white noise or any noise, I have tuned into the Chicago Blackhawks game, and the singing of the National Anthem, and I'm neither a hockey fan, nor do I live in the Chicago area.

But I am a fan of Jim Cornelison, who sings the National Anthem.

McMurdo.. I am doing better than I was at onset, but I am just growing weary... I want to be normal again... I know it won't happen, and I get disgusted, depressed and tired... I am ok, I just have some pretty bad days mixed in with the normal crappy, unhappy days.
I am not about to put a gun in my mouth, but the joy is completely gone from my life, and I am a depressed and unhappy man, where just a few short months ago, I was happy and content with my lot in life... I see myself as I see mant t sufferers... The joy has gone of life .. Thats what I see here, and on yuku as well, when it comes to folks with T... Not too many happy campers.

How do you KNOW your hearing loss is above 10K??/ There is very little in nature that goes that high, and I don't think most hearing tests go above 8 K... The Widex and the Oticon will touch 10 K, but both drop off fast at around 8 K I think... Many hearing aids don't even go to 7, so you have to be careful... If they don't work, I will go back to the HA dispenser, hand him $300 for his trouble, and get my money back... I get 45 days, to try them, and I shold know within a month if they are helping my T... If I get a 25% improvement, I will call it a win and keep them... bob

Bob, I had to go to a special audiologist who has the equipment to test up to 12M so that's how I know where my hearing loss is. Please keep us posted on your aids as I am seriously considering that to be my next step.

My widex goes up to 13. I set it at 9

Bebee - I was also tested by an audiologist who tests up to 12K. I can HEAR at 10.5K and 11K, it just has to be louder than what most "normal" people can hear at that level. Plus I play have played tones at that level on my 'puter for my family (hubby and three almost-grown kids) and they all hear it fine at low levels--even across the room--but I have to put my ear up close to the computer to hear it at that (low) level or turn up the volume. If hadn't been tested, I would have said I didn't have any hearing loss because, as you said, there isn't stuff going on in the everyday world at that pitch.

I'm anxious to hear how the aids work for you.

BTW, I know just what you mean about the weariness and joy being gone. I felt that way completely!! Things are slowly shifting back the other way, though. Will I ever be as joyful as I one was? IDK. But I do know I'm not quite as weary and depressed about life as I was a year ago. The T is still a burden and a struggle, but there are better days now than before. The hardest part for me is my T changes location and tone and volume so much (always the same high pitch though) that I struggle to get "used" to it because it changes day by day. Eventually, though, I guess I will get used to all the different variations--it's just going to take quite a long time. I think you will find time is your best friend (and maybe drugs, lol)...the suffering will get less and the better times will come eventually.

A man at my church has "basketball buzzer" T. That "buzzer" sound at the end of a HS basketball game? He hears it 24/7. Ugh. I mean at least its the same every day because it was easier to habituate to since it never changes, but OY what a sound to have in your head ALL THE TIME!! Whenever I have a bad T day I think of him and the screeching jet engine whine I had when this all started for me a year ago and I think OK, maybe the hissing today (or electric shrill brain buzz, or whatever I have that day) isn't so bad... It helps me get through that day, anyway.