Hello All:
Thanks to all of you for your considerations. It's really appreciated!
A few comments:
1) With all the ED drugs, one of the possible side effects is changes in hearing or vision. In my passionate opinion, the consequences of these side effects are woefully understated. IMO, they should say that deafness and blindness is possible if one continues to take these ED drugs with hearing and vision side effects.
2) With respect to my ED, I had no real problem per se. I had a few instances (less than 3 or 4 over a three month period) where my body was not cooperating. That said, I was under a great deal of stress regarding a trust on my wife's side. My wife's family put me in charge of correcting things, which was extremely stressful. Family members and money issues can make for poor behavior, and I was the one who had the fix it and break the news to those trying to take advantage of things. I think stress was my problem, not something physical.
3) My hearing test indicated that I actually have above average hearing for someone my age. Hearing aids are not likely to provide benefit for me because I don't need sound amplification. I can hear just fine in voice type frequencies.
4) I do have high frequency hearing loss, as do most men my age. However, my high frequency hearing is really bad. I have never even noticed this. The human brain is programmed to expect a frequency range. The problem with people who suffer with tinnitus is that their brains recognize this lost frequency. The brains of tinnitus sufferers try to correct things and produce the missing frequency on its own. This is a bad thing. People without tinnitus, but with hearing loss; their brains do not try and correct for this loss of frequency. This is a good thing.
5) There are "noise cancelling" hearing aids that try to program the brain to stop producing my tinnitus sounds. As I said, tinnitus sounds are produced in the brain, not the ear. However, this noise cancelling approach only works with people who have hearing. I am very fortunate in this respect. A person can be stone deaf but still have tinnitus. I have great pity for these people!!!!!!!
6) Stress reduction is essential in controlling/lessening tinnitus. This is a huge challenge because tinnitus causes a great deal of stress!
7) Dietary changes are also essential. Salt, alcohol, sugar, and caffeine consumption must be greatly reduced, or eliminated entirely. All these things are things I like! That said, this will be the easy part.
8) Meditation is a key component as well. I am not a mediation kind of guy. I don't even know how to do it, but I must learn, and start right now. I've bought books on it and am studying them now. I will seek out meditation groups to speed my learning curve. From what I've read, meditation must become a permanent part of my life, for the rest of my life, if I want to beat tinnitus.
9) It takes great discipline to not let tinnitus stop you dead in your tracks. It sucks the initiative and motivation out of your body. For example, I love hardcore road bicycling. It is a life long love of mine. That said, I had to force myself to go out for a short 7.5 mile loop today. I hadn't ridden for several days. I often ride over 200 miles per week. Even though I rode just 7.5 miles today, I did it! I refused to let tinnitus steal one of my favorite things in life. I punched my tinnitus in the face and rode today. And I'm going to ride again tomorrow. I'm proud of myself! I will not be defeated!
10) My wonderful wife is a career professional and started a new job today. That is stressful for anyone. Sadly, I was not able to offer her the support and encouragement that she needed and deserved. I was mired in my own misery. I will NOT let that happen again!
I am fighting as hard as I can. I am genuinely hopeful that my symptoms will fade back to normal because of my short term, low dosage usage. It will take a great deal of work to speed my recovery and to keep myself from wasting a year of my life waiting. I hope I'm up to the task. I think I am. The thought that my condition could be permanent is not something I can fathom right now.
My family and friends have been really great. Both my sons have been fantastic. My wife is her regular remarkable self. They are greatly helping my efforts because they remind me how much they care for me and how much I have to lose.
One of my good friends, Rick Stxxx (you get it), told me yesterday, "Scott, hang in there. You will be a better person on the other side of this." He's right. I believe I've been good and fair to all those I have touched in my life. But I know I could have done better. His comment gives me hope and inspiration to do better.
Thanks to all of you,
Scott