Prostate cancer and tinnitus

[John B]

The latest in John Thomas' prostate cancer journey: tinnitus. I thought this might be interesting to folks here, given that John is a guitar lover and historicologist (yes I made that up). He's also an incredibly positive guy and I can't imagine going through everything he's gone through in the past few years and still maintaining a positive outlook. Plus I know a few on the forum are struggling with tinnitus, so the issues he's facing may be relevant.

[TKennedy]

A positive attitude and acceptance is everything. Looks like he has that. I feel for him, it’s a real bitch but the natural history seems to be that the brain slowly recategorizes it as an unimportant sound and it fades. Bad news is it can take a year or two. I think I am making some progress in that direction but there are ups and downs.

[Russell Letson]

I realize that every case of tinnitus is a bit different, but as far as I can tell, the brain's signal processing can alleviate its most annoying effects. Mine (which I've had at least since my teens) has gotten louder and more intrusive, but it still doesn't seem to interfere with most of my hearing needs (Is my guitar in tune? Is the furnace/toilet running? Is that a robin or a purple finch? Is that a diesel or ordinary SUV idling outside?) I understand that treatment for new cases consists mostly of adaptive training, along with some environmental adjustments such as white-noise generators at night. (My version of that: play music on the bedside radio. KBEM's streaming service runs jazz all night.)

[TKennedy]

That’s what I have been doing too Russ. It definitely helps.

[howard lee]

Yes, Russ and Terry. Mine is a moderate high-pitched tone. Constant. I do the same thing when I wake in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep. Only I am lulled by the voices of the BBC overnight on NPR radio.

[Russell Letson]

I also tune into NPR/BBC news (AKA "other people's miseries") until C. asks for music, since she can't fall back asleep to voices talking--she has to pay attention. Me, I just drift off whether it's massacres or Bach or Bill Evans.

[millring]

I've thought about asking "How's it going?" to those dealing with the tinnitus, but I supposed doing so is a little like complaining about a thread that won't go away. All that does is brings it to the top of the page. And all asking "How's it going with the tinnitus?" would do is bring it to mind again ... when the very way of dealing with is is to put it out of your mind (as best you can).

[drlj]

I can’t tell real crickets from tinnitus crickets. My house could be full of crickets for all I know.

[RickW]

I never notice mine until I try to notice it. It’s a rather loud, steady hiss. Honestly don’t know when it showed up, I assume it had something to do with playing in very loud bar bands, but who knows.