What happened to FLL?

[ITD]

Dementia???? what type of quackery is that? Git yer butt to a real doc, fire up that 1974 Ford Maverick or what ever it is you drive, fill it up with some of that cheap gas only you can find and start driving down to Boston and get it figured out. It's probably something more on line of Meniere's disease.

Dementia? It kind of pisses me off that someone would tell someone that based off an ear exam, quackery.

There is a moral to this story, and that is to find a good general practitioner who can guide you through these issues and steer you away from the quacks.

You're not a spring chicken any more less.

[tummyman]

Check this out at MA Eye and Ear in Boston at MA General Hospital. Harvard teaching hospital.

https://www.masseyeandear.org/resear...esearch-center

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

I think it was just said as a joke at the time in the examination room by a young woman assistant who was not really aware to how bad I was feeling with the sounds of tinnitus going through my head. I was shocked to hear that word ...... it is a word that is usually used with a serious meaning especially as one starts to age.

It was just something said as a joke that I should forget about ..... everyone says things that they later regret.

Anyway, I was extremely upset to hear that, had a mini nervous break-down over it for a day or so, spoke with my sister in Newton who insists this is tinnitus due to a clogged eustachian tube dysfunction and she mailed me a brand new, prescription small bottle of nasal decongestant, Fluticasone Propionate Nasal Spray which actually seems to help lower the white noise levels and sometimes eliminate the internal hissing.


Today at 3-pm I have been referred see Patrick Fitzpatrick DO, ENT, from the Littleton Hospital at an office in Plymouth and here's hoping I get some good results like a new medication, or get a lot of ear wax removed out of my ears, or something.

You are very correct with the need to have a good primary care doctor probably to navigate the medical care and get an early start on a problem ..... excellent advice.

Am seriously not sure where I will end up with this problem of ringing in the ears, and am seriously concerned. Now is time to go take a two mile walk around Waterville Valley, and then jump in the little pond for a swim, water temp-about 65 degrees so I use a noodle swim belt for swimming the cold water. Walking and swimming is how I get away from this internal hissing problem.

Maybe I am overreacting, but the remark about dementia by the young assistant was absolutely inexcusable, even if it was made in jest. It upset you, and that is very wrong. As we age, the dementia word can be pretty unsettling. Every time I misplace something, my mind travels to the unthinkable.....oh no...I must have dementia. FLL, I am sorry he/she said that to you.

[ITD]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

I think it was just said as a joke at the time in the examination room by a young woman assistant who was not really aware to how bad I was feeling with the sounds of tinnitus going through my head. I was shocked to hear that word ...... it is a word that is usually used with a serious meaning especially as one starts to age.

It was just something said as a joke that I should forget about ..... everyone says things that they later regret.

Anyway, I was extremely upset to hear that, had a mini nervous break-down over it for a day or so, spoke with my sister in Newton who insists this is tinnitus due to a clogged eustachian tube dysfunction and she mailed me a brand new, prescription small bottle of nasal decongestant, Fluticasone Propionate Nasal Spray which actually seems to help lower the white noise levels and sometimes eliminate the internal hissing.

Today at 3-pm I have been referred see Patrick Fitzpatrick DO, ENT, from the Littleton Hospital at an office in Plymouth and here's hoping I get some good results like a new medication, or get a lot of ear wax removed out of my ears, or something.

You are very correct with the need to have a good primary care doctor probably to navigate the medical care and get an early start on a problem ..... excellent advice.

Am seriously not sure where I will end up with this problem of ringing in the ears, and am seriously concerned. Now is time to go take a two mile walk around Waterville Valley, and then jump in the little pond for a swim, water temp-about 65 degrees so I use a noodle swim belt for swimming the cold water. Walking and swimming is how I get away from this internal hissing problem.

I hear you on the assistant maybe joking around and you were probably kidding with them too. People say dumb things sometimes, especially me. I generally don't joke with docs while discussing issues, I find it confuses them.

I will tell you that I have dealt with several older relatives with dementia over the last 10 or so years and none of them, even in the early stages, would have been able to write as you write now, so I doubt you have it.

Allergies have been bad this year, which block things up and can cause ringing in the ears, voice of experience here. I'm still thinking menier's disease, which is aggravated by allergies and salt of all things. EDIT: and caffeine

Anyway, I hope you get this sorted, hopefully it's nothing serious.

[Merrymeeting]

Whether stated inappropriately or not, there seems to be some basis for the statement.

Search for "tinnitus and dementia link". Several studies come up. THis is just one.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...of%20attention.

[salty dog]

FLL, for what it's worth, I've had tinnitus for about a dozen years now, slowly getting worse. I think it's a bit different with everyone. I find it is harder to block the noise now whereas earlier on, I would hear it less often. For the uninitiated, imagine the high buzzing sound of an old fluorescent light fixture and multiply that several times and that's what it's like for me (at least). I have heard it can get so severe it can practically drive you mad. I was told by a hearing specialist a few years back that they can fit you with frequency canceling hearing aids that you tune to your particular frequency and it greatly reduces the sound. If it continues to worsen for me, that's in the cards for me.
Good luck to you.

[TheTimeTraveler]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

What you describe ..... high buzzing sound of an old fluorescent light fixture ..... is a very accurate description on what I have.

So yesterday I was seen for a short time, about ten minutes, by Dr Patrick Fitzpatrick ENT from North Country Otolaryngology, Littleton Hospital. He's a young guy in his thirties with red hair and seems very very good. Now, I have a hearing test on July 7 up north at Littleton Hospital.

Supposedly, the tinnitus noise comes from the cochlea inside the inner ear.

Am going down to Boston and working on getting an appointment with either Mass Eye & Ear or Vernick and Gopal because I really want to get this frigg'n problem repaired and I have two sisters living down there.

Do not want to wait, but want to get the best care I can get, asap, pdq.

SMART move by acting on this immediately! Nip it at the bud. Hope it all works out.

[ApS]

My tinnitus started before I was in my teens--and gradually got worse. It is most intense after dinner, when sitting in front of the computer. Caffeine is mentioned as suspect, but that's not going to change. (Not giving up my two daily mugs of coffee)...!

Described above as "internal white noise", my answer has been to provide external white noise. (Fan or space heater). It masks the ringing until it can be ignored. (Just now, the ringing has started up again, simply thinking about the topic).

I had a particularly difficult session with tinnitus when, as a teenager, I skiied to our family's empty lakefront cottage. It started as a windless, bright, and sunny day. This was in the "dead of winter", when everything was covered with deep snow. Since snowmobiles weren't a "thing" back then, the silence at the cottage was driving me crazy. All I could hear was my ears assailing my head from within!

I left immediately, shuffling off on skis, for the eight-mile return to Wolfeboro. (Over the lake ice, having seen nobody for hours, and feeling the thick ice rumbling like thunder under my skis).

Particularly distracting (which is an important relief for tinnitus) was a sudden black cloud cover--a strong headwind had come up--accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature from 40° to about 0°!

.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

I agree 100% that external distractions help. Aside from keeping busy with various projects that provide distractions, I happen to enjoy music from past decades….Goodman, Dorsey, etc., and can listen for hours. That sort of thing can make you oblivious (almost) to the tinnitus.

[ITD]

Getting an appointment in Mass with an ear guy that quickly is really good. When I had problems a while ago (ear infection) they were out 6 months.


Less, you've had a clean mri, you are not falling down, you can rigorously exercise. You are relatively comfortable, wait it out for the appointment.

I suspect they will want more tests, once again, rule out menier's (sp), stick with the expert you have an appointment with. The doc at Laconia probably has Fridays off anyway.

I hope they can get you some relief, but you need to start coming to terms with the fact this might be your new normal. Hopefully not, but getting old is not for sissies.

Stop running to the ER for stuff like this, if you go in begging for action, you might get it and it might not be what you need or it might make things worse.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

So ....... what the heck should I do with myself and my inner white noise, "tinnitus" problem? What ......o-what ...... do I do, do, do?

This is a totally serious question and excuse me for being a little blunt here.

I was able to get an appointment on June 23 at the Mass Eye & Ear Infirmary at the Newton Wellesley Hospital to see both an E.N.T. doctor and an audiologist.
June 23 is about twelve days away and I do not want to co-exist with this white noise, hissing problem and do nothing about it between now and June 23. Is possible I will not get any good results even at the MEEI on June 23, you know.

My recent MRI-exam from Speare Hospital Radiology was examined by the radiologist and it showed no problem, I was told by a nurse on the phone, without going into any details. It gave me a clean, healthy report.

I am like a very healthy 69-year old, capable to walk three fast miles around the town and through the forest, and then swim about 200-yards of 65-degree pond water with a foam noodle-swim belt doing the breast stroke or side stroke, here in Waterville Valley. I just have this unbelievable "tinnitus" problem and am not getting the care I want to get ... hut-hut-hut! I actually like to do this as a way to escape the tinnitus white noise issue because walking and swimming sort of make the problem, go away, during the activity.

So, what I could do is to take myself, tomorrow-Friday, June 11, to either the Speare Hospital, Plymouth or Concord Hospital in Laconia ....... Emergency Room ...... in an effort to get some better care.

For the record I've received both shots of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccination.

I actually have pretty good health insurance, Medicare and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plus substantial financial resources ...... and, as the saying goes, one cannot take it with you .....so's I definitely want to get after this health issue ..... asap-pdq.

Am thinking the hospital in Laconia has an Otolaryngology Dept, while the hospital in Plymouth does not, so I should probably drive myself to the Laconia Emergency Room ....... tomorrow morning-Friday ...... all things considered ...... with my dire situation.

I figure that doing nothing and waiting till June 23 is not a smart plan ...... am better to go to the Laconia E.R. where they probably have experience with my type of medical problem and maybe I can find an E.N.T. doctor who will be a strong help for me.

Wish me luck ........ and .......... pray for me! .......fll

I do not have Tinitus, but do have some ear problems myself.... that now that I have grown to not be concerned about it, most often I don't even notice it.. But that takes time.....

(Note, I get a click in my ear from specific muscles spasming, there where treatments that worked to some degree, but it was more matter of leaning to ignore it, it will not go away and the surgical option doesn't make sense unless they have to go in for something else)

Unless you feel the issue is putting your life at risk, I am not sure I would go the ER route... while the might find something, chance are based on what you have said has been done so far they will not... and in the end you will have maybe gotten a second MRI, and second un-educated opinion on something that really requires a special to help you figure out... All Dr. are simply not created equal, and I don't mean to imply the Dr. in the ER are not educated, they are just not specialized.. and that is what you are in need off.

So how to live until you go into MEEI..... well just stay busy is the best thing, which it sounds like you are doing....

I am sorry I don't have any good answer, but hopefully knowing that there are others out there that face similar circumstances helps...

Now on the wise guy side, this weekend make your why down the Wiers Beach... ALl the motor cycles and boat noise, should drown that white noise out at least for a while and give you some releif...

Take it easy FLL, and hope you get some answers and relief soon......

[MeredithMan]

You will be in excellent hands at Mass Eye and Ear. My son has been treated there for years and they have so many docs who are so specialized, I am confident if the docs you see there initially can't figure out your problem, you will be directed to the proper one who can. Best of luck..

[FlyingScot]

I agree with MM and ITD. You'll get the best possible care at Mass General. It would just be a frustrating waste to visit an ER before then. Best case, the ER will refer you to Mass General

Keep hope alive!

[salty dog]

Just read the same article. Don't know about the mindfulness part. I'm a low-key person, no stress. No amount of 'masking' affects it for me. I'm inclined to go along with the fact there's really not much to be done. Pretty much a 'grin and bear it'. All in all, a damnable affliction. I wish you the best.