What kinds of noises do you hear?

[Omaschwannoma]

Steve, I read your reply/post regarding "gaze evoked tinnitus" and yep, when I gaze towards my AN side the sound does increase--albeit slightly.  For the longest time I've experienced a considerable increase in sound when I reach around to scratch my back just below my scapula on the AN side.  Somehow the nerves in the muscle have a volume switch there directed to my deaf/dead ear!  So I've got that goin for me, which is nice!

[Lorenzo]

Arushi, If you find what spot you need to scratch on your back to turn the sound down, will you let us know please? Thanks. 

Steve, there are hats going?? Really? Can I have one? Must be grey wool, without ear flaps. Apparently I have a big head.

Donnalynn, welcome to the forum / madhouse. This is a great bunch of people, so you've come to the right place for information, support, laughs, and the occasional morale boost when required.

Ciao a tutti,

Lorenzo 

[Debbi]

donnalyn - welcome!  About all i can tell you is that some things seem to get easier with time.  I am still completely confounded when the phone rings - and I can't tell if a phone is ringing on TV or in my own house!  I am sure I look like a nut running around trying to find a phone.  If my husband is here, I'll look at him real calmly and casually ask if he hears anything     He's onto me now, though - and responds by asking, " what do YOU hear?"

Steve and Arushi - never heard of the "gaze invoked tinnitis" - very interesting. And, I'm with Lorenzo - if you find an "off" spot let us know?  While the birds/frogs chirping isn't really all that bad, it would be nice to shut it off at will!

And Steve, what about these hats we keep hearing about???  You'd better get to knitting, my friend!

Lorenzo - I am regaining my taste for wine!!!!!  I had a little goat cheese, pear and pinot gris on Saturday - quite heavenly!

Of course, as some of you may already know from my surgery update thread - I am also now "spitting" sutures...   

Debbi - chirping now interrupted by spitting sutures...

[Lorenzo]

Debbi,

Spitting sutures? Well, at least you're not spitting wine anymore! Yesss!  Finalmente.  taste does come back, thankfully.  Pinot gris and goats cheese... yum. Would have been perfect with my bread. Had some Prosecco with dinner last night! Taste for wine still with me I'm glad to report.

So you have the same 'where's that phone' thing, I ahve it with my wife looking at me in a funny way... I now just ignore it, and let her react. Much less embarrassing.

Tinnitus for me isn't too bad mostly. Got used to it and don't hear most of the time. I remember there were times early on in recover that it reall got bad and drove me insane. By the way, the American Tinnitus Association has a website people can check out, www.ata.org  Gaze invoked tin is a reality, read about it somewhere a long time ago. If I turn my eyes sharp left I get louder Tinnitus too. Sigh.

Ok, time for my daily walk.

Ciao

Lorenzo

[Kaybo]

Debbi~
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I still get sounds confused - however, I just think it really adds excitement to my BORING (LOL!) life!  It was a bit unnerving when the girlies were little and would cry in a different room, but for the most part it is just a funny nuisance now.  I do have to tell you a funny story, though (bet that is surprising - a story form me!)...my friend that I talk to on the phone (a LOT) has a clock that chimes every quarter hour (or at least every 1/2 hr)...the funny thing is that her clock chimes the EXACT SAME way my DOORBELL does.  I am forever asking her if her clocked just chimed - used to I would go to the door!!  LOL!!  However, I will say that one day we were over at their house and the clock chimed and Emee went to the door because she thought that it was the doorbell!!   

K

[mimoore]

STOP the tinnitus it is driving me CRAZY. I am SSD in my left ear and have to live with this constant noise in my deaf ear. I did not have this prior to surgery.
It is like a seashell at my ear and does change sometimes to a higher ringing. I have tried to ignore it and does work for a bit but this stinks. Does it ever go away or is this something we live with forever?
Welcome Donnalynn!
Michelle 

[cin605]

I have all sorts of noise too.Yesterday it was like i was underwater if i touched my ear it was really lound but if i rub my fingers together outside my ear i hear nothing.
The relly loud blocking 7 unblocking sounds are getting better(some days)
I have constant tinnitus just like before surgery thats how i acually discovered something was seriously wrong.I didn't even realize my hearing was 1/2 gone in that ear it was the ringing for 3 months that took me to the emergency room.Went to docs for vertigo for 10 years they said it was inner ear infections.
So..Thank God for tinnitus.

[petittrv]

I had the wooshing (blood in my veins-type) noise too for a couple of months.  I had tinnitus for several years before being diagnosed and I still have that (in both ears) although I'm so used to it by now it gets blocked out pretty well.  That is the only sound I have now in the deaf ear - I've never had the voices.  One bonus I've found is that now if I sleep on my good ear, I hear nothing all night and sleep very sound.  It doesn't matter what goes on around me or if the kids are crying - I just sleep right through (I used to have to fake that but now I don't have too!).

[Debbi]

My noises in my deaf ear are pretty much down to an occasional chirping which I don't notice most of the time.  And, I agree with you on the issue of sleep.  I always sleep on my good ear and I hear NOTHING!  No husband snoring, no dog snoring, no cats playing - nothing!  It's great!

Debbi

[cin605]

WOW!You girls are onto something!I am definatly going to give it a try.

[wendysig]

My husband snoes so loudly I can hear him downstairs (and that's with the bedroom door closed) when I'm awake.  I sleep on my hearing side too and never hear so much as a peep at night.  I guess it's good that there's at least one advantage to being SSD!

Wendy

[Kaybo]

You know I had babies AFTER my surgery so that was a GREAT excuse for my hubby to get up with them..."I didn't hear them!" - which I didn't!!   ;)Of course, I had to feed them & he would wake me for that, but when they just woke up and needed some attention or as they got older...it was him a lot more than most daddy's!!  I got a good one!!

K

[Debbi]

I must say that I find quite a few positives to being SSD.  Who knew?

Debbi

[Kaybo]

Debbi~
Another good trick is that when you are a teacher and you have to put that misbahaving kid next to your desk but they chatter incessantly - just stick em on the deaf side!!   

K

[Angela]

All my friends think that being seated on my right (deaf) side is an unspoken insult