I will be traveling soon and having to fly again. I am concerned about this. Last time my ears were affected. Ths time I have good seats, front on the aisle. I think that will make a big difference. I am also using major hearing protection. Ear muffs and plugs. I don’t know if I will use my noise cancelling headphones or not. They seemed to mess with my ears last time. Anyway, hoping for the best!

Lately my tinnitus has been fluctuating quite a bit but is much better than it was a few weeks ago. I can tell my low tone hearing is not where I want it to be though. I have come to learn what my variations of tinnitus mean. Right now my hearing is out some even though I don’t notice it.

The T in my left ear is just about completely gone. Yippee for that.

I blame my relapse on the stress of my surgeries. I will recover completely again though. No doubt about that. BTW, on my flights to Norway, I am sitting up front on the aisle and using ear pugs and a head set. I think I will be fine.

The past few weeks for me have been very stressful. Family issues, marriage issues, lots of work and other things. Then my son got a flu and I was fighting that in addition to trying to keep my ears afloat. I have always said that stress is a killer for Menieres. It really is. The problem is that sometimes it is very hard to avoid in this game called LIFE. As well, when tinnitus increases, it causes a stress response and then when sleep is affected it gets even worse. So it can be a vicious cycle.

I started valium therapy last night in hope to get myself calmed down. After my last surgery, I had to take it for 3 weeks for a surgical issue. I found it helped my tinnitus as well. After doing some reading, I heard that some people use it for vertigo attacks and also for tinnitus. I think there is something truth to that, at least for me. I have not had a full blown vertigo attack since starting low level laser light a year and a half ago. But the valium seems to help tinnitus so I am trying it now again for another 3 weeks. Again, it will be hard to tell if it is the laser light that is helping or the valium or both. I don’t really care. I had gotten so stressed out last week that any relief is welcomed.

Right now, my T is very low. This is the first time in a few weeks it has been this way. About a .5 . I hope it stays this way!!!

Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and all else! Hope everyone receives the gift of lower tinnitus!!!!!!!

The Luminex laser I purchased has proved to be invaluable and a great investment. I not only use it on my ears but also have used to accelerate the healing from my surgeries. It is expensive but I will use it for the rest of my life for sure.

Other than that all is the same! Just taking it one day at a time!

I was told to get Bose noise canceling headphones and when I went to Best Buy to check them out, I was horrified at the price- $300. BUT, then I tried their demonstration, especially with airplane noise and I was so amazed that I decided they would be a good investment. I also wore my most heavy duty earplugs which are the putty type ones that are supposed to block out about 30 decibels of noise. I figured with the two of them, I would be fine.

I booked the plane flight only 2 days in advance so I had almost no choice in seating. The first flight I was midway back next to the window. The plane was just a small commuter plane, holding maybe 100 people. The first thing I began to notice after sitting down in my seat was a very loud medium frequency horn like, whiney sound. It seemed to be the one tone that the ear plugs and earphones were not canceling out. This lasted or about 45 minutes until the plane was up in the air. It was really bothering my left ear but there was nothing I could do to damper it. After the plane was flying, it was gone. A friend of mine told me that was part of the idling sound of the engine . The rest of the flight was manageable. At one point I took the earphones off for just a minute to see if they were making a difference in the noise and they were. I couldn’t believe how loud the plane really was. I don’t know how other people can stand it but then when my ears were fine, I didn’t notice that kind of noise either.

Second flight was much better. I was seated towards the front on the aisle. THAT IS THE PLACE TO BE. Much less stress on my ears even though the plane was tiny. Only about 50 seats

When I got home, I knew that my ears had taken hit. Even with all of the ear protection, the noise was very loud for an extended point of time. I had the typical “ringing” sound in both ears and I noticed that my ears were super sensitive to regular sounds, like the tv etc. I went to bed but while I was sleeping, I had some horn sounds come and go in my left ear. My right “Meniere’s ear” seemed fine. By morning, things seemed better but then by later that day worse. With my regular wet cotton ear plugs I use around the house, I am having a medium whiney pitched tinnitus ( that sounds JUST like the plane btw) accompanied by strange echo that I have NEVER experienced before. I think that perhaps, some hair cells in my left ear were pretty severely damaged in the first flight. Though without a hearing test, it’s hard to tell. I used the Luminex for 30 minutes yesterday with the probe inside the ear canal and also without the probe outside the ear around the mastoid bone etc.

Last night while sleeping there were no more weird, whiney horn sounds but today, I still have the strange echo going on which is only noticeable with ear plugs in. I believe I will make a full recovery.

Next flight, I may just try wearing the big ear protection headset I have (same kind used when riding on a lawn mower or working with a chain saw) with ear plugs. They may cancel out the noise that the Bose headset didn’t. They are also a lot cheaper to purchase but not nearly as comfortable. I also will know to book my flight in advance in order to get a good low noise seat. Flying first class in an aisle seat would be optimal if it wasn’t so expensive. But for long flights, it would be worth it for sure.

As well,  I have been tapering off the valium and have had no increased T all. I am almost off it. Tomorrow will be a big day though. I have to take a connecting flight back home. It will be the first flying I have done since my full blown Meniere’s diagnosis 2 years ago. I am wearing major earplugs and also bringing noise canceling headphones. I was also told that taking a decongestant a couple of hours before the flight can help keep ear pressure down. SO, we will see!!! Hope it all turns out ok!!!

It may be the way I am using the Luminex now. I am not using the inner ear probe (which decreases the power by about half or more) but instead using it on full 500 mw power on the outside of my ear shining into the ear canal. The light penetrates surprisingly deep. I am also zapping the mastoid bone.

Well time will tell, but I am hoping the quiet, free of Meniere’s period lasts for a long time!