"I wonder if the cool water, straight out of the tap, has any effect."

Could be on to something. I'll pay attention to that. I eat/crunch ice and more ice.

My ears ring constantly. As others of you have said, I don't mind it as much if there's white noise. Still, what I wouldn't give for one monent of real silence.

Cheers

sorry cant say I have had any improvement just a constant dingggggggggggggggggggg punctuated by the odd oooooooooooooweeeeeeeee ooooooooooooooooo

but I think we can zone it out ,its there all the time, but sometimes you just dont notice it. a bit like if your wife is talking, and your watching TV . or it that just a man thing

Does anyone have any experience with Dynamic Tinnitus Mitigation masking therapy?

This masking therapy uses a device that looks like an MP3 player to deliver computer-generated sounds via headphones or two miniature speakers. Overtime, this is supposed to help the sufferer habituate to their particular tinnitus sounds.

Th inventor, Dr, Jerry Halik of the University of Toronto's otolaryngology department, claims that traditional masking devices produce steady wind-like sounds that are too easily distinguishable from typical timmitus, making it hard to mask the offending note. This new device is supposed to produce pleasant sounds at low volume and over a broad spectrum of frequencies that can mask and temporarily suppress about all types of tinnitus.

A company called Audio Bionics in introducing Dynamic Tinnitus Mitigation in North America this year.

Cheers

Thanks JDPhD,

I got TMD in my accident, too. Wouldn't it be wonderful if fixing my jaw fixed the blasted ringing. I'll have it checked out.

Cheers

That sounds alot like Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. TRT works, and the only one that really has been shown to work. I'm undergoing it, and have improved GREATLY in the past 3-4 months.

I wear Amplisound pink noise sound generators about 8-10hrs a day.

jemahon,

Have you looked into the inter-actions of combining Neurontin and Xanax (Alprazolam)? The data I found says that they can react synergistically. The sedative effects of the Xanax may be magnified by the Neurontin.

I was on Klonopin and switched to Neurontin. The Klonopin was making me too sleepy and drowsy.

Maybe you could switch to another drug for the anxiety. I take Paxil for an anxiety related disorder. My brain gets stuck looping on mundane thoughts like the words to a song or spelling of a word, etc. The Paxil allows me to break out of these looping situations or even prevent them altogether.

Benzodiazepines (Alprazolam is one) are a rough drug to take long term. Have you tried any other form of treatment? Have you had any blood work done, specifically your folate and B-12 levels? I would bet you are low in both. B vitamins are the anti-anxiety vitamins. Some people have a genetic predisposition to be low in these compounds.

Do you drink any coffee to help with the fatigue and dizziness? My doctor read me the riot act for using caffeine to combat the benzo fatigue. They work against each other.

Lucy and Mark,

Thank you for your replying to my post.

Lucy my employer is aware of the injury as I did report it as a work related injury and Workers Compensation is paying for my visits to the neurologist. What I am perhaps remiss in doing is not being open with my employer as to how much the injury has impacted my life and ability to carry out my job related duties. I have been open and honest with my GP and neurologist as it would be foolish to hide my ailments from them and expect them to help me. Yes, with hindsight I should have taken more than one week off post injury. I was confident that I was going to be better soon and figured I would just work through it as I did not want to appear that I was "milking" what appeared to be a minor injury. I do not know if my employer has been communicating with my physicians, but if they have, then they will know that I'm not doing as well as I try to appear to be.

Mark, it's funny you mention the caffeine...I hadn't used it in over 15 years until my injury last April because it could and at times did trigger an anxiety attack. After my injury I have had regular coffee in small amounts on a daily basis for the brain fog caused by the accident. I've taken Xanax for 17 years now and never had the benzo fatigue. My wife was VERY surprised when I took up coffee again after so many years of not even touching decaf. As long as I am careful, a small cup off coffee does help me make it through the work day. Any more and I get to feeling somewhat anxious and uncomfortable.

I eat a very healthy diet and take folic acid together with a timed release B-complex vitamin daily to keep my homocysteine levels down as I have coronary artery disease that was treated with stents in July of 2009. Although I am a vegetarian and might be low on B-12.

Thanks again Lucy and Mark...it's a blessing to be able to share this battle with others who know what I'm going through. BTW, my neuro wants to put me on Elavil if my cardiologist agrees to it...it seems that Elavil can affect heart rate and induce an arrhythmia in some individuals.