After the diagnostic evaluation, I was advised to wait for the ringing to abate, which according to him was only a matter of time. He also gave me some prescriptions for vitamins and suggested that I learn a tinnitus control method that involves talking myself out of the ringing - a technique called biofeedback, which I had already mastered because of my panic attacks. I tried his recommendation for six months and still nothing happened. I consulted him again after finishing twelve bottles of two types of vitamin and mineral supplements and after a series of desperate attempts to cope with the ringing, which did little to abate the phantom sound that seemed to worsen through time.
We discussed several treatment options ranging from the most complex - surgery - to the simplest, which involved more drugs. He tried to explain the pros and cons of each method, but my mind was racing. I was starting to get really scared. One surgical option involved the use of high doses of radiation. Another entailed the injection of Botulinum toxin, which causes paralysis. I have never been in an operating room and was not planning on being in one ever. Another option was to take maintenance drugs until the ringing stopped. I was dead against such methods since taking prescription medication was what got me the ringing in the first place. I went home to think of a solution but to no avail. I was silently screaming, “Will I ever find a cure for this annoying ringing?”
