And the Beat Goes On

Research – Part 1

2011-11-09T12:40:00.000-06:00

For this research series, snippets from a previous post [Types of Hearing Loss] will be expanded into further research and comment.

Causes of Hearing Loss

I. Conductive
A. Fluid in the middle ear from colds

Common Colds can cause fluid buildup in the Middle Ear thatis due to a malfunctioning Eustachian Tube. This section begins behind the EarDrum and extends to the Cochlea. Fluid buildup begins when the Eustachian Tubefails to open and allow the fluid to drain. The pressure from this against theeardrum effectively muffles the sounds passing through. Bacterial infectionscan also arise from this issue and cause further discomfort, pain and hearingloss. It appears that children are the most susceptible to this than adultsare, but then it is not all that rare for adults to have this type of infectioneither.

Treatment?

Most infections will go away on their own. Doctors doprescribe antibiotics to speed up the process and recommended for very youngchildren. Sometimes, temporary hearing loss in children can happen and may lastfor several months. If you get concerned, go to your doctor!

http://www.commoncold.org

http://www.webmd.com

Causes of Hearing Loss

I. Conductive
b. Otitis Media - middle ear infection orinflammation

You have an earache. Depending on the cause and location ofthe offending condition, the type of earache is either: Acute, Serous or ChronicSuppurative.

Acute is typically viral in nature, accompanied by upperrespiratory infections.

Serous, also called Otitis Media w/effusion, is simply acollection of fluid in the middle ear caused by a failure of the EustachianTubes.

Chronic Suppurative is a hole in the tympanic membrane[eardrum] and a bacterial infection.

Children have a higher risk of permanent hearing loss thoughit is not unheard of in adults as well. Early detection and treatment isbeneficial for all ages.

Causes are Strep, Flu and the common cold mostly, butanything that causes an earache must be diagnosed as soon as possible. Thereare many reasons and causes, many more severe than a mere earache!

Treatment?

There are several options available from over the counterdrugs to prescription antibiotics. In the more serious occurrences of theChronic Suppurative types, surgery may be necessary. Placement of a “grommet”in the hole helps to reduce the risks of reoccurrences.

http://www.uptodate.com

http://www.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.cdc.gov

Types of Hearing Loss

2011-11-07T21:51:00.000-06:00

Warning: Very long post

The Research series begins with some up-to-date information, gleened from the past year off of the web and using Google as the primary search engine. Basic information is provided in outline format. You will see the three basic types and some of the potential causes for that type of hearing loss. There are also some links to medical remedies. I chose to stay away from "home" remedies because anybody and everybody wants you to try their solution, LOL!

And so we begin:

Types of Loss

I. Conductive

a. Fluid in the middle ear from colds

b. Ear infection (otitis media)

c. Allergies (serous otitis media)

d. Poor Eustachian tube function

e. Perforated eardrum

f. Benign tumors

g. Impacted earwax (cerumen)

h. Infection in the ear canal (external otitis)

i. Presence of a foreign body

j. Absence or malformation of the outer ear, earcanal, or middle ear

II. Sensorineural

a. Illnesses

b. Drugs that are toxic to hearing

c. Hearing loss that runs in the family (genetic orhereditary)

d. Aging

e. Head trauma

f. Malformation of the inner ear

g. Exposure to loud noise

III. Mixed

a. Literally a mix of any or all of the above

b. Damage in the outer or middle ear and in theinner ear (cochlea) or auditory nerve

Causes of Hearing Loss by Type

I. Conductive

A. Fluid in the middle ear from colds

B. Otitis Media - middle ear infection orinflammation

i. This inflammation often begins with infectionsthat

cause sore throats, colds or other respiratory problems,

and spreads tothe middle ear. Infections caused by

viruses or bacteria, acute or chronic.

ii. Acute Otitis Media - typically associated withfluid

accumulation in the middle ear together with signs or

symptoms of earinfection

iii. Chronic Otitis Media - is a persistentinflammation of

     the middle ear, typically for a minimum of a month
iv. Links:
                  1.Otitis Media
                          i.   http://www.uptodate.com
                                   ii.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov
                                   iii. http://www.cdc.gov

2.Acute Otitis Media

i. http://www.medicinenet.com

ii. http://emedicine.medscape.com

iii. http://www.nejm.org

3. Chronic Otitis Media

i. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

ii. http://emedicine.medscape.com

iii. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov

C. Allergies (serous otitis media)

i. Allergic inflammation that starts in the noseand throat

ii. Food allergies can be an undiagnosed cause

iii.Links:

i. http://www.nutramed.com

ii. http://www.betterhealthusa.com

iii. http://www.silcom.com

D. Poor Eustachian tube function

i. Connects the middle ear to the throat andequalizes

middle ear pressure with environmental pressure

ii. Symptoms are:

1. Closed when supposed to be open

2. Open when supposed to be closed

3. Alternating between open and closed states,

creating a clicking noise

iii. Links:

i. http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com

ii. http://emedicine.medscape.com

iii. http://www.medicinenet.com

E. Perforated eardrum

i. Is an opening or hole in the thin layer oftissue

(eardrum) that separates the outer and middle ear

ii. Caused by very loud noises or foreign objects inears, injury, etc.

iii. Links:

i. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

ii. http://www.entnet.org

iii. http://www.emedicinehealth.com

iv. http://en.wikipedia.org

F. Benign tumors

i. Typical name - Acoustic neuromas and are rare

ii. Early detection for best results in treatment

iii. Links:

i. http://emedicine.medscape.com

ii. http://www.mcenta.com

iii. http://www.dukehealth.org

G. Impacted earwax (cerumen)

i. Occurs when earwax becomes wedged in (impacted)

and blocks the ear canal

ii. Continuously trying to clean your ear of cerumenby

using a cotton swab, for example, can damage your ear

iii. Links:

i. http://www.hcawestflorida.com

ii. http://emedicine.medscape.com

iii. http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com

H. Infection in the ear canal (external otitis)

i. Common name is Swimmers Ear

ii. Microbial infection

iii. Links:

i. http://www.medicinenet.com

ii. http://en.wikipedia.org

iii. http://www.nlm.nih.gov

I. Presence of a foreign body

i. Got a bug in your ear?

ii. Remove Q-tip

iii. Fingers are too big anyways

J. Absence or malformation of the outer ear, earcanal, or

middle ear

i. Typically this is due to a birth defect

ii. Links:

i. Microtia

ii. Atresia

II. Sensorineural

K. Otosclerosis

i. A disease involving the middle ear

ii. Affects the movement of the tiny bones in themiddle

ear

iii. Conductive type of hearing loss

iv. Often surgically treatable

v. Links:

i. http://en.wikipedia.org

ii. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

iii. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov

iv. http://deafness.about.com

L. Ménière's disease

i. Also effects inner, but causes are unknown

ii. Persons will often have a combination of Sensorineural

hearing loss, dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ear

(tinnitus), andsensitivity to loud sounds

iii. The hearing loss comes and goes, but over time,some

loss becomes permanent

iv. Diet and medication may help, but there is nocure.

Surgery may be suggested

v. Links:

i. http://emedicine.medscape.com

ii. http://en.wikipedia.org

iii. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov

iv. http://www.nlm.nih.gov

v. http://www.familydoctor.org

M. Autoimmune inner ear disease

i. Sudden-onset hearing loss is fast, dramatic, andshould

be medically treated as soon as possible. With swift

medical treatment,the hearing loss from this disease

can be reduced

ii. Is an inflammatory condition of the inner ear

iii. Occurs when the body's immune system attackscells in
the inner ear that are mistaken for a virus or bacteria

iv. Rare - less than one percent of the 28 million

Americans

v. Links:

i. http://www.entnet.org

ii. http://www.earthritis.org

iii. http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com

N. Very loud noises

i. Can cause permanent loss

ii. Totally avoidable in most cases

iii. Links:

i. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov

ii. http://www.urmc.rochester.edu

iii. http://www.austar-hearing.net

iv. http://www.entnet.org

O. Acoustic neuromas

i. Tumor = this is a noncancerous (benign) andusually

slow-growing tumor that develops on the main nerve

leading from yourinner ear to your brain

ii. Symptoms can include hearing loss or ringing inone ear

accompanied by a feeling of fullness (ears plugged up)

iii. Surgery is NOT typically recommended

iv. Links:

i. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

ii. http://www.anausa.org

iii. http://www.mayoclinic.com

P. TBI - Traumatic brain injury

i. Physical head injury: skull fractures, a holein the

eardrum, and damage to the middleear structures,

resulting in hearing loss

ii. Causes? Isn’t that a "no brainer"? LOL

iii. Links:

i. http://www.ninds.nih.gov

ii. http://www.traumaticbraininjury.com

iii. http://en.wikipedia.org

iv. http://www.cdc.gov

Q. Presbycusis

i. Age-related hearing loss

ii. Sensorineural Hearing Loss

iii. Speech begins to sound muffled or unclearbecause the

ability to hear high pitch sounds is the first to go

iv. Rhyming mistakes can occur - hearing fin insteadof tin

or just plain thinking you heard one word, but it was

another wordaltogether

R. Ototoxic Medications

i. Known to be a cause of hearing loss

ii. Types of Ototoxic Medications

i. Aminoglycoside antibiotics (such as

streptomycin, neomycin, or kanamycin)

ii. Salicylates in large quantities (aspirin)

iii. Loop diuretics (lasix or ethacrynic acid)

iv. Drugs used in chemotherapy regimens

(cisplatin,carboplatin, or nitrogen mustard)

III. Mixed - A combination of any of the above!

Been a while

2011-11-07T21:21:00.000-06:00

Been a while since my last post.

Doing a LOT of breathing and coping! LOL

Yeah, it has been tough dealing with this, but here I am again. I have been working on that research though and will be posting my outline that I plan to follow. I am not one for research, so if you see things I have missed, PLEASE let me know.

It has been interesting the past week or so. My wife and I have discovered a new app for the iPad/iPhone that is used for creating ambient sounds to help you relax. So far we like it, except I have to have too loud for her. The iPhone app makes various nature and man-made sounds you can put together and control the volume of each.

You see, one of the techniques employed to help with tinnitus is sound masking [noise canceling]. If you recall, tinnitus is thought to be caused by the lack of sound reaching the brain and in return, the brain creates its own noise to make up the difference. Researchers suggest to get a "sound machine", set the volume of the machine to just under the sound level of your tinnitus. In this way, the sounds help distract the brain from the tinnitus and helps you to rest. I hope I am fairly accurate in this description [its only taken me 30 minutes to get this far! lol], I would hate to misinform anyone.

Well check out the outline, follow some links and get informed.

Later!

More Research

2011-10-27T19:06:00.000-05:00

I know I have yet to touch onthis subject, except in passing. Beginning today, we will correctthis and create a base for further research. At the end of this blog, you willfind some links that I will be referencing in later posts.

To start, it would seem best toexplain the different areas, specifically, that I have issues with:

1. Actualhearing loss

a. This is a physical hearing issue most people arefamiliar with. We will touch on it briefly perhaps even explain how the brainmay react to an actual reduction in the amount of sound it “hears”.

b. It is a foundation for the following two issuesto compound on.

2. Tinnitus:Possible Causes and Solutions

a. Tinnitus, in its most basic form is:

i. Ringing in the ears

ii.Wind type noises [Actual Wind noise, Fans, etc.]

iii. Clicking or Pops

iv. And in my case I will add:

1. Nuts and bolts in Blenders

2. Water Cooler/Evaporator Fans

[BIG ones onbuildings]

3. Jack hammers

4. + more than I can recall at the moment

b. There has been a lot more studies and researchdone on it in the last 10 years and still I do not think they are much furtherin their understanding. That is Not to say people have not been helped, it isjust saying they still do not really understand the issues and have not come anycloser to a universal treatment for helping the average sufferer. Yes, thereare individual cases of success, I applaud those and am so glad they haverelief. But, they are far from typical.

c. As for Solutions? They vary greatly from viabletheories, to holistic/herbal solutions and outright scams. Pick a card, anycard will do. Just make sure you have the faith in it to follow through. As forthe scams, people are idiots and then you have the scum that sells it to them.Offensive, yes, but so true!

3. HearingRecall [The clinical term I have heard it called]

a. This is what I have always called Hearing Memorysince I first recognized it when I was younger.

b. This can include [though not exclusively]:

i. Gun shots

ii. Tires squealing

iii. Conversations

iv. Music

v. Excessively loud noises being endlessly played

vi. Any other noise/sound you can thinkof that you

may have heard at any point in your lifetime, from

any source too.

c. One suggested solution: Retrain your Brain!

i. It is a part of ongoing studies suggesting to

employingnoise reduction technology.

Alternatively, as some are calling it, sound

masking.

As we move through these lines ofthoughts, undoubtedly some of you will think I do not have a clue as to how toconduct any research, well bully for you! Do your own! LOL, just be sure to send me the information too, I always want to learn more.

Below, are some of the links I mentionedpreviously to help you get started. I purposely left out descriptions, why? Iam done for the day and they will be regurgitated in later posts anyways.

http://www.tinnitustreatmentonline.com/Tinnitus_Research.html
http://www.tinnitus.org/home/frame/THC1.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20890204
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10879585
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12498744
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17606035
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home
http://www.tinnitus-audiology.com
http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab007330.html

The "Want to"

2011-10-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

I have missed creating newentries for the last several days, frankly, not having the “want to”. Sleephas been elusive, but rest has been even more elusive. However, I have to saythat Wally World is no longer with me, WHEW!

Although a new thinghappened: It was Karaoke time at our house. In other words, I had the pleasureof hearing one of my favorite albums by the Newsboys AND listening to my wifesing-a-long. Guess what? She was nowhere near me that day. Besides, how couldshe know who or what to sing-a-long with? I know that sometime in the past Imust have heard her singing to those tunes, but when? I guess that is not muchdifferent than any of you sitting in a room, suddenly you hear “Name Goes Here”call for you, but they are in “Place Goes Here”. Well, maybe a little moreintense of an experience, but the concept is the same. At least my wife cansing! [Well enough for me anyways! :D ]

Lately, I have been prompted to research Tinnitus and the other subjectspertaining to my issues once again. So, look for my unwanted opinions [What? Meopinionated? :P ] and search results in the following days.

We will be hitting on three areas:
1. Actual Hearing Loss
2. Tinnitus: Possible Causes and Solutions
3. Hearing Memory, or as I have also heard it called: Hearing Recall

You can expect to see links to various topics and of course, my unbiased [ROFL]opinion of these subjects.

I welcome all Comments, yes they will be screened/published by me, be cleanabout it.

As always, choose to be Absolutely Wonderful!

Nothing New

2011-10-21T23:31:00.001-05:00

Literally - Nothing new

Wally World crashes still there.

Giant evaporator fans still running.

Beatles still going at it with Sergeant Pepper's Band :P

Still Breathing and still...

Absolutely Wonderful [By choice!]

How to Cope

2011-10-20T22:00:00.002-05:00

Today was a "Coping" day.

How do I do it?

Do whatever is the most relaxing and least frustrating for me, so I read allday.

Breathe.

You may notice I say that a lot! There are a lot of reasons for it; the main reason is that it helpsto relax me if I deliberately stop and just breathe. The CRASHES are stillthere from Wal-Mart the other day, but as with anything else, I cope with itand go on. Of course that is in addition to the Tinnitus and the hearing memory[today it was The Beatles for a bit]. LOL, you would think that as much as Ilisten to Neil Diamond, those songs would be the ones I would end up hearing!

Breathe and choose to be Absolutely Wonderful. It helps you cope. J

In Spite of it all

2011-10-20T02:56:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a long day.

At 1:30 am I woke up with a CRASH, courtesy of a kid atWal-Mart the day before, which made me jump out of bed. Got back into bed around 3 and triedto stay there. It must have worked; I woke up around 4 and at 9 am, feeling like I hadhad some sleep after all. Today, I will be Absolutely Wonderful.

With morning household duties [CRASH!] out of the way, Idecided to clean the garage up and tackle the shrubbery along the front of thehouse. We plan to remove all of it and prepare it for a new look. But it allhas to come out. So I started on the west side where several saplings had grownout of control. Had no clue [CRASH!] as to how much a mess I was about to makeand was thinking that I would be able to cut it all down to fit into my trashcans and set it out with the rest of the trash on pickup day. Well, it all camedown and about a 1/3^rd of it made into [CRASH!] the cans. It willtake 3 more weeks for the tree debris to disappear and the bushes have not evenbeen touched yet. Still, it is progress! At least the activity had been adistraction enough to barely notice the crashes [yes, they are still going offif you had not noticed, lol!].

Another task was to work on a computer remotely to repairand install software. I love computer work and it is one of the things thatreally help me [CRASH!] to focus on something besides the noise. Unfortunately,staying focused is extremely difficult and it is very hard to concentrate forany real length of time. Did I mentionthat the CRASHES are still going off? Still need to finish that task.

End of day found me going to bed about 11pm. 1:30 hit with a CRASH and it was out of bed for me. Decided I needed to give it anothershot, but was out of bed again [CRASH!] by 2am.

So here is yesterdays post in spite of it all! :D

CRASH!

CRASH! CLANG!

2011-10-18T23:21:00.001-05:00

Today was a good example of what happens when a sudden noisehappens and my head picks up that sound and then continues to replay it endlessly.

Deciding we needed some items from the local Wal-Mart, Imade a trip out of it to accomplish some other tasks as well. Had not been instore more than ten minutes when someone’s child, pushing a cart, took out somemetal display near me. That was at 1 this afternoon, now it is 10pm and I stillhear that noise. If it is like any other time I may be hearing it for the nextweek to several months from now. Needless to say, I ditched most all my otherplans, got what I needed and headed home. Times like this I really detest beingin public. I imagine that I look like a twitching weirdo every time the crashgoes off. At least people seem to give me a wide berth when I come their way,lol.

Thinking about this and other times it has happened, it doesnot appear to need an outside source to begin the sudden onslaught of loudnoises. For example: In September of 2010, I was at an event in my area when Isuddenly started hearing the sounds of exploding cannons. Not your Civil Warera cannons, oh I wish they were. But rather they were more along the lines ofthe battleship size. The explosions were very random, so I could not attributethem to my heartbeat or any other known bodily functions. I cannot think of anyoutside source that would have caused it to start either. As they used to sayon Dancing with the Stars, the explosions happened “in no particular order”,totally random frequency. They finally ceased fire sometime in May of this year.

At least today’s crashes are nowhere near as loud; still,they make me twitch and wince. I just wonder how long they will continue.

Here’s to hoping I get lucky and they stop soon!

See ya tomorrow! J

Oh yeah,
Today was a choice to be Absolutely Wonderful!

Who?What?

2011-10-18T23:21:00.000-05:00

It is always fun to hear someone laughing and having fun. Itwould be even better if they were anywhere near me! Or real for that matter. L

Today is Monday and it has been a full day so far. I got upat 4:30 this morning after getting into bed at 1:30 or so. I slept in! Woohoo!

Yesterday afternoon, it was suggested that I beginjournaling my days and how my hearing is doing. Being the techie I am, I doveright into trying to get a software solution installed on my machine so itwould not be necessary to have my personal life out here on the web. Since thebrain power is not there anymore, here we go with a readymade solution from youknow who. Hey at least I am making an attempt at doing what was suggested! Iwant my cookie!

As for the laughing? That is what woke me up this morning,sure beats having a car wreck happen right inside your head. I got up in apretty good mood, headed to the office to figure out why I could not get theblogging application to connect to the database that was created for it. Spent theentire rest of the day coping with the roaring and deciding to just keepbreathing. I know, I know, that sounds really drastic, but it is true. Sometimesit is all I can do: breathe and cope. Unfortunately that is more often than notthe way it is. I have to admit, being in front of the computer enables me tokeep my mind busy and focused away from the noise. Either I am reading, playingaround with software or games, it all helps. Yes, I do spend a LOT of timeright here. Since I do not work at the moment, I also manage to keep the housereasonable too. Still, just trying to keep my mind occupied with anything atall helps.

Then I had to get out to the grocery store. Eating is goodfor you, ya know? After dealing with this 24/7 for the past 2+ years, it hasbeen difficult at time to just go shopping. Too many people and added noise.

In a nutshell:

Hearing started out to be a hoot today, transitioning intothe more “normal” evaporator fans you see on office buildings. With theoccasional outbursts that make you wince, always fun too. Then for the tinnituspart, a constant ringing at about the level of a telephone bell on high.

Final thought?

It is sad to miss hearing your wife say she loves you. But Ihope she does not mind repeating it! J

The Start

2011-10-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

Too be fair, we need to start atthe beginning

It appears that I was born with ahearing disability, and to cut this story down to size, let me just say thatuntil my early 20’s, my issues were limited to the occasional loud “ringing inthe ears” and a noticeable hearing loss. As time droned on [pun intended], thetinnitus became worse.

From about 25 to 35, the noisewould get so loud that I could not hear anything else at all. Nothing, nada,zip; except the noise that chose to manifest itself those days. Usually it was justa roaring, clanging noise or the like. But other sounds would often get mixedin, recognizable stuff like music, conversations, gunshots, tires screeching,etc. At some point, I decided that these noises were “hearing memory”. At timesthe sounds would become debilitating to the point where all I could do isbreathe, literally. The volumes of these “real” sounds would be at “normal”levels compared to the other stuff, still loud though. This would last a fewminutes to a few hours, sometimes as long as a day. Then they would go away and all was well withmy world. Until the next time.

I never said anything about thesenew noises to anyone.

LOL, if I did, they would becalling the nearest loony bin!

I use to [use to] scaleall this like: 1 – 10 freight trains, average being 3-4, with 10 meaning I washiding somewhere until they passed. This has long since change.

During the ages of 35-42

I beganto experience all these symptoms on an ever more frequent basis. Episodes werehappening on a yearly basis and lasting longer each time, sometimes up to aweek. No longer able to average it out to 3-4 trains, my averages were now morelike 6-7 consistently. Also increased in frequency/volume were the “normal”noises as well. Volume levels became so loud for both types of noises; itbecame difficult to be on a phone without using a headset with volume controlto overpower what I was already hearing. Relying more and more on reading lipsto communicate too.

42 to 47:

On average, the “attacks” werecoming nearly monthly now. Sleep has become ever more difficult. Anytime Ilistened to people, they were sounding like they were in a hallway, at adistance. Or like they had their head in a tin bucket. The best way I coulddescribe those times were it was like you just had a firecracker go off veryclose to you and caused everything to sound funny. But people sounded that wayall the time. On top of that, I had to pick out what they were trying to sayfrom all the noises going on in my head!

47 to Present:

One day about 2 or so years ago,the final assault began.

I had an episode were the noisetook over and to this day it has never relented. The only way I can trulydescribe the way everything sounds to me these days is: Ever see Charlie Brownon TV? Remember the classroom when the Teacher was talking? Yeah, you guessedit. Wah, wah, wah. Now I have to interpret the Wah, Wah’s or read peoples lips.No more telephones. Volumes vary still, but they are way beyond the 10 trainlimits consistently now, WAY beyond. Just for the tinnitus part now, it is asif there are those chiller/evaporators with the huge fans you see outside ofoffice buildings. One on each ear. As for the “normal” noises, nothing likejumping out of bed in the middle of the night to check to see if your wife wasjust shot. Or listening to songs you really hate, and at full volume, like “andthe beat goes on…“, guess you know the one, LOL.

Needles to say, I do not sleepvery well. Typically an hour or two at a time, with periods of extended 3-4hours out of sheer exhaustion. Concentration has become an issue and I amunable to work at anything that requires extended periods of concentration orthought.

Suggestion: If you cannot find it,look in the dishwasher or the freezer. Maybe even in the bathroom trash. It isbound to be somewhere!

These descriptions are very basicand what I hear is varied in volumes, pitch and intensity. Sometimes I think Ican even feel the sound pressure, though I do not see how that ispossible.

What my wife and I have tried:

In an effort to find a solutionto this we went to a world acclaimed hearing specialist, did all the tests,only to have them shrug their shoulders and say, “we don’t know…” Sure theywant me to try this drug or the other, but they tell me in the same breath thatthese drugs are meant for an entirely different purpose. However, “we” haveheard that it also has this side effect. I don’t think so Dave, I am notwilling to take a drug that is designed to accomplish one thing in hopes thatthis “reported” side effect may also happen to me. They also are conductingstudies that is an attempt to address these issues.

These studies are to find out ifit is possible to retrain the brain in how it hears sound.

It seems that my earlier mentionof “hearing memory” is a close description of what they think is happening Ijust did not know what the possible reasons may be. Our brain seems to expectto hear a certain amount of noise. If you have a significant amount of hearingloss, they think the brain feel as though it needs to make up the difference.What I have always called “hearing memory”. It produces recorded sounds andplays them back for you. Nice gesture, but I sure wish I had control over whatwas played back!

Tinnitus does not help too wellwith hearing loss as it produces a catch 22. You have a hearing loss; noisesare loud, so you turn up the radio to overcome both. Causing damage to the hearing,this is complicated by the tinnitus. So you turn up the volume. Lather, rinseand repeat until you brain decides it needs to make up for the missing soundsit expects you to hear. Now you have a hearing loss, noises from tinnitus andyour brain grasping for real noises.

The study I mentioned intends forthe test subject to wear advanced hearing aids that have a multitude of soundchannels that can be adjusted individually. Each channel would be tuned to adifferent sound according to what you are hearing. In effect, this is very muchlike noise cancelingtechnology. Each channel would thencancel out, or reduce the sound level at the very least, one noise frequencyrange. Multiply this by as many channels as you need. Then set the hearing aidsto actually act as their intended purpose magnifying the sounds around you. Oncethat is accomplished, you go in each week for a tune-up and retraining session.

Now for why I know this is notgoing to work in my case [negative I know, but its reality]:

Noise in my head does not remainat constant levels of volume or frequency. Literally varying minute by minute.Adding new sounds and others fading away. Noises that are sudden, like gunshotsas just one example, are simply beyond the control of the study. They areconstant enough that they need their own channel, but there is no way to tuneit for them. Also, the tuning has to totally rely on the subject [Me] to beable to tell them what they hear and at what volumes, the frequency level, etc.I just simply find that nearly impossible, nearly. I cannot say it would beimpossible, but can you tell me how a hearing disabled person would be able totruly tell someone what a sound is? Much less pick it out of a mess of othersounds?

Conclusion?

Decide to get up every day andmake a choice to be absolutely wonderful.

Breathe.

Do all you are able to.

Breathe.

Sleep when you can.

Breathe.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Sometimes you get a really goodday and get a LOT accomplished! I look forward to those days now.