When my T started last August 1, 2012, a week after I talked with my dad and he told me he had T like 30-40 years ago...he's 80 yrs old...he said there were times before when it started that it would distress him but now he hardly notices it...that gives me hope -)

I've had it for about 3 months . At times I totally block it out . My wife started having it in her right ear . That is why I try not to talk about it because mine started a week after I learned about t from someone else . I wonder if the power of suggestion has anything to do with it .

a friend of mine has it. one day he was over at asked me what i was listening to, it was my forever companion moses lang last track. he asked if he could hear and i gave him the earbud. he was astonished and asked if that's how loud my tinnitus was and i said yes. the look on his face was priceless as most people don't think t is a big deal. he could not believe how loud mine was compared to his and the look on his face said it all....that tinnitus is a whole different ballgame, he said. yes, i guess it is. i think the estimates i always hear is 25 million with 10% of those being severe.

The brain is excellent at picking out internal noise, so thats why 1 in 10 people will report having tinnitus. But as Suera pointed out these cases are not severe at all, yet they are classified as tinnitus.
The medical community should have a totally different medical name for severe tinnitus- auditory cortex dysfunction- or something like that.

I've gone into coworkers office and asked why they had such large fans going only to find out they have tinnitus, or they've heard that I have it and reached out to me. Not a lot, but discovering four in a staff of 1200 in just the 8 months I've had it is telling.

50 million people in the US have T according to the ATA, 12 million seek help for it (see a Dr.), and 2 million have it so badly it affects their lives. With 350 million people in the US, that means 1 in every 7 people you know have T to some degree.

I go to a church of 1200 people--I know many people there who have T, but going by "the average," 1 in 7, there are 300 people at my church who have T! And "statistically," 1/4 of them (75) have seen a doctor about it. I know one other man in the congregation who has it almost as bad as me---just as loud, but his does not fluxuate every day...so he eventually began to not notice it. However, his is so loud, I would describe it as severe. Another man I know there has T like fairly loud radio static...his is moderately severe.

The others I know who have it range somewhere in between--from a "somewhat annoying" whine to an "eeee" they only hear in at night or in a quiet room. None of the ones I know who have T have T that fluxuates, though...it is the same tone/pitch/volume day in and day out for them, unlike mine that changes in tone and volume day by day.

T is as unique as a fingerprint and it is appears that you may be your own best advocate to have some control over it.

I have intermittent t ranging from a very loud hiss to a quieter hiss to background noise on various days. What is rather unique is that it is predictable whereupon it goes in three day cycles. Today is that very loud hiss which I wish to ignore, it ought to be a little quieter tomorrow and quieter yet the next day, until it returns to what I have today the following day.

Therefore I could set business meeting going out a week following this schedule. How goofy! But I could change the pattern a bit too. I know my triggers which is mostly sodium. Therefore I can trigger a bad day tomorrow by eating pizza today (lots of sodium) so I can likely have that bad day tomorrow and then quieter later in the week. How weird is that, but that is having some control even if it appers to be tormenting.

There are a lot of people out there that have it. But the extreme cases, like most of us, are the ones who's lives are affected by our Tinnitus. Most of those who have it are not aware of it most of the day. NOT US!!! I am almost completely dysfunctional. I can get lost so easy it's not even funny! If im in a crowd and the noise get's a bit to loud or overwhelming, I'm OVERWHELMED! Try being normal like that!!!
mike

Spot on Mike!

McMurdo,
the guy with the severely loud tinnitus - did he describe how it sounded like, how loud is it and what caused it?
How long did he take to habituate to it ?

I just can't believe its possible to "not notice" truly LOUD tinnitus- not many examples of that on tinnitus boards either...

I read this post yesterday, and started asking co-workers. I couldn't believe it when 4 of the five I asked have it! No one ever talks about it, they say they just "deal with it"! I have gotten to the point where I need to do something about it, because it is affecting my sleep and sometimes work. Mine is the worst at night, it keeps me up and I have no relief, though luckily, mine is only in my right ear, for now. One co-worker says his is "in stereo" at the top of his head! Also, mu hubby has it too!!!