Tinnitus

[Guest guest]

I'm changing the subject header since so many of you have been discussing their

problems with tinnitus.  This is for those of you who are recently implanted and

are finding their tinnitus to be more active.  As you know, the surgery itself

effects the inner ear, and in some people, this causes the tinnitus to act up. 

I was one of those people, and was also blessed to have it disappear after a

time.  Then for some people, when they are activated, this also causes the

tinnitus to act up more.  I imagine that the auditory nerve is suddenly told to

get back to work after a long period of being partially or totally lazy

(depending on your hearing history), and now it is squawking back, saying, " No,

I don't wanna, you can't make me, I'm going to whine (bells ringing, train

sounding, jackhammer going off, name your poison) until you let me off the

hook! "   Well, maybe that isn't what is going on, but hey, just imagine it,

okay???  Anyway, whatever is

happening, it is a reaction to the changes that are taking place.  Hopefully

for most of you, after a period of time the tinnitus will settle down so that

eventually the tinnitus will either disappear completely, or if that isn't the

case the sounds coming through the processor will drown out the tinnitus enough

so you can ignore it.  In either case, patience will have to be the order of the

day.  However...

- you said " I'm hoping mine goes down too, once the sounds coming through

my implant start sounding like normal sounds (instead of a louder version of my

tinnitus.) As far as dealing with it, I wish I had an answer. It really exhausts

me, sometimes makes me dizzy or will cause my eyes to start tearing up. "   One

thing you may want to consider is that you may need to have your map adjusted. 

For some people certain electrodes need to be shut down because they cause

physical problems, such as facial or eye twitching.  The audiologist can

determine if this is the case, and turn off those electrodes.  There is no need

to suffer with this, waiting for when sounds become more normal like.  In my

case, my head vibrated when there was a high frequency sound.  We turned off

those electrodes for about 4 months until my brain got accustomed to hearing all

of the other noise, and then we were able to turn those electrodes back on.  So

please, don't just

suffer along with this.  There are things that can be done to help you brain to

gradually adjust.  Just call your audiologist, and see if they can turn down the

volume a little (you may be able to do this yourself), turn down the sensitivity

a little (again, you may be able to do this yourself), or just have the

offending electrodes turned off to allow your brain time to adjust.

When I was activated I considered my brain to be going through a training period

much like a person does when they want to run their first marathon.  You don't

just go out and run 26.3 miles right off the bat.  You have to gradually

condition your body to get in shape for the big day.  The same is true for your

brain.  You are taking it from a quiet mode into a very noisy world, and

suddenly the brain has to process all this sound, and so it is confused and

tired.  While you don't want to give in to the brain by giving it quiet periods,

because that will take longer for you to reach your goal, but perhaps you can

slowly " condition " your brain to the sounds by starting with a quieter map, and

then each week turn it up a little louder.  What I did was on week 1 I started

at volume 4 and sensitivity 5.  Each week I increased it by 1, until I had

reached 9 for volume and 10 for sensitivity (normal range).  After 6 weeks of

this I went back in for a

new map and did the same thing, gradually conditioning my brain to tolerate

sound.  Eventually I was able to tolerate all sounds, and hear in the 20 dB

range for all frequencies. 

So consider what might work for your individual situation.  Give your brain a

chance to gradually adjust...don't ever give up because it will eventually get

better!  Another suggestion if you are usually in a quiet world ( I work in an

office with minimal sounds unless someone comes to talk to me) is to have your

processor hooked up to a MP3 player, and listen to a radio station.  That has a

mix of words and music.  Over time (like several months), eventually your brain

will make out what the DJ is saying, the weather man is saying, and possibly the

music that is playing.  I did this, and will never forget the day when I

realized that I understood the weather man when he gave the current

temperature!  If the music is too annoying at this early stage, then listen to a

book while reading along.  Be active in your rehab!  But only do what your brain

will tolerate.  Don't make it so unbearable you don't want to wear the

processor.  That isn't the

purpose of bringing you back into the hearing world.

I hope sharing my experiences will help you all!!  I want you to all experience

the true joy of hearing and understanding what you hear once again!!  Best of

luck!