Rewiring Tinnitus: How I Finally Found Relief From the Ringing in My Ears Kindle Edition

Before I leave my review, I'd like to put it into context.When I first discovered the "ringing in my ears," I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He ran a series of tests which came back "very unremarkable." Next, he suggested I make an appointment with an audiologist.That visit resulted in finding out that I had some age-related hearing loss, but I was not a good candidate for hearing aids. The audiologist mentioned that a colleague of hers who for his patients who had newly-acquired tinnitus, they benefited significantly by taking melatonin. (Taking melatonin did not seem to help those with existing cases, however.)I decided if something was "safe" and inexpensive, I would try it.If you can deal with the weird dreams that may result from getting deep, R.E.M. sleep, I would highly recommend melatonin. My theory is that the restorative sleep you may get from taking this supplement may help to quiet your brain, because as Glenn Schweitzer says in his book, tinnitus is the result of an over-active brain. It is trying to fill in any silence it perceives.The audiologist said that she had circumstantial evidence that increasing the potassium and decreasing the sodium in your diet might help, because these are two components of the inner ear. Even though I believe it is my brain that is "ringing" and not my ears, I figured I had to eat anyway. So I loaded up on bananas, oranges, orange juice and yogurt.I looked on online at the over-the-counter aids for tinnitus. It seemed that about half of the reviewers swore by the products they had purchased, and about half swore at the products they had ordered.What I did do: I ordered some inexpensive Ginko Biloba. I did not order an over-the-counter "remedy" for tinnitus, which got the mixed reviews I just mentioned and was very expensive for just a vitamin tablet, I instead ordered a bottle of comparable Super-B Complex vitamins at a fraction of the cost. (Manufacturers of products which they position to relieve a certain kind of "pain" probably realize that "sufferers" will pay just about any price to "get well.")Next, I decided I needed to educate myself further. I checked out a number of books from the library, including one from a Ph.D. But I was highly disappointed. Although in the books' titles, they promised relief from tinnitus, for the most part, I read in the book "you can try this, it might work, but it probably won't." It seemed to me that these authors were more interested in impressing their academic colleagues by producing definitive works on the subject than actually providing help for the reader.So I turned to Amazon and ordered Glenn Schweitzer's book. As soon as it arrived, I was excited to page through the book. A number of things have immediately struck me:This book was written from the perspective of someone who "had been there and done that," not some disinterested researcher. The author has likely been afflicted by this condition far worse than you or I.Even though this is a self-published book, it is very well-written and well-researched. (Maybe the author's wife had something to do with that!)Glenn writes from the easy-to-read perspective of a friend or counselor. He is warm and caring. (Not caught up in spewing technical jargon.) And most of all, he offers hope.All I really wanted to know in reading are two things: 1) how did I get tinnitus and 2) how do I get rid of it. (I have no intention of becoming an expert on the subject.)To his credit, Glenn dismisses covering the first item. (Who care how you got it?) He primarily concentrates on point number two.Glenn says that once you dismiss any medical conditions as the cause of the situation, the buzzing is actually harmless. (I had been over-dramatizing my condition as though I had received a death sentence.)Next, the way to lessen the effect of tinnitus was not to try to ignore it, but to actually focus on it. And he discusses in the book ways to do this.As I mentioned, I just received the book. But maybe just by reading some of Glenn's key comforting takeaways, combined with the actions I have already taken, the buzzing has decreased nearly 70%. The only time I am hearing the buzzing is times like now, when my surroundings are totally quiet. But if my condition continues to improve, even that might disappear. Otherwise, as Glenn points out, habituation may take over.The way I think of habituation: Let's say all of your life you have perfect vision. Now something happens and you need to get glasses to correct your eyesight. If you spend time thinking to yourself, "I hate the way I look in glasses! I don't like having a box around my face! Why can't I just have perfect vision like I had before? Why am I going downhill like this?" etc., getting glasses will be a traumatic experience for you.But, as most glasses wearers come to realize, after habituation sets in, they aren't even conscious of the frames resting on their nose and ears, unless they think about it.Reading Glenn's book can help you with that.Thank you, Glenn Schweitzer, for writing one of the most thoughtful, honest and beneficial books I have ever started to read!

(This is a review my wife wrote).Mr. Schweitzer didn’t promise my tinnitus would go away, and it hasn’t. He didn’t promise effortless results, and he’s right about that too.I have had tinnitus for years. Mine sounds like static on the radio with a faint high-pitched whine. Sometimes I get bees, either a few or, worse, a hive of bees buzzing around aimlessly. Angry bees are the worst. The tinnitus would rise and fall and I didn’t have any idea what to do. Sometimes it would be better, for no reason I could see. Being busy, white noise, background music; sometimes they helped, sometimes not.But since reading his book, I’m better. I did not know where tinnitus comes from and now I do. It is the operating noise in your inner ear, similar to the whir of a fan in operation. It is harmless, although annoying. People without tinnitus don’t hear this normal body noise –lucky them!Mr. Schweitzer discusses the background of tinnitus, tinnitus triggers, keeping records of those triggers, tinnitus as a symptom of your overall health, and most importantly, what to do about it.There is no cure. But — and this is important — you can habituate yourself to your tinnitus. He does it with meditation. Now, I have meditated in the past. It helps me keep a clearer focus. Unfortunately, as with flossing, I am inconsistent with my meditation. Like exercise and flossing, mediation works best when you do it every day and so often I don’t find the time. Also, my tinnitus got in the way.So I started meditating again and this time, did something I would have never thought of: I focused on the sound of my tinnitus as Mr. Schweitzer recommends rather than trying to ignore it. That is, I used the tinnitus like an ‘om’ mantra or focusing on my breathing.I learned a few things right away. My tinnitus is not in my ear canals, but on the other side of the ear drum. It’s primarily on my right side. It rarely pops up on my left. Considering how ubiquitous and annoying the buzzing is, it turned out to be surprisingly difficult to focus on it.The idea behind focusing on the tinnitus during mediation is to habituate yourself to the sound, remove the negative emotions that make it worse, and train yourself not to hear it as much. Mr. Schweitzer suggests that this process will take several weeks to a few months. I agree with that assessment, but within a few days, my tinnitus is better. Not a lot. But a little bit, and I didn’t believe that would ever happen.I had also never considered tinnitus triggers even though I knew my tinnitus was always worse after I had a poor night’s sleep. I had discovered on my own that aspirin made my tinnitus worse. I hadn’t considered alcohol or caffeine as triggers, along with many prescription medications.Thanks to this little book, I understand my tinnitus much better. The better I understand it, the better I can cope with it.

I was in a state of panic. How loud could this thing get ? I read most of the book. I followed the suggestions.6 months later and my tinnitus is still here but now it’s a background minor annoyance. For great batches of time I forget that it’s even there.

Those of us who deal with tinnitus know that the Internet is loaded with bad news. Lots of terms like "permanent," "life-long," "no cure." And those of us who have seen doctors have experienced being shuffled to medical assistants who seem not to care. This book is remarkable in that it focuses on what one can DO to habituate as quickly as possible. The book gives you hope and a sense of control. That sense of control I got from the book, alone, made my tinnitus less of the focus of my life and has helped me habituate faster, even though I have yet to try the meditation techniques. It is well written and researched, easy to read, not full of "new age" "woo woo" stuff, and contains just enough technical information to bring understanding. Many thanks to the author.

While I do think there's some useful techniques and advice in the book, it seemed to me that the book is primarily an advertisement for audio on his website that he charges around $60 for. So you're paying $8 to be told that you should go meditate (by listening to his audio tracks) and use brain entrainment (by listening to his audio tracks) and then you go to the website and find out you have to pay for it too.His main point was that meditation was very useful for him, then he pads the rest of the book with fairly generic health advice, and wants you to pay even more for the things he recommends. It just struck me as deceptive and taking advantage of people who are suffering.

I can recommend this book most heartedly. I've had tinnitus in both ears since I was 18. I'm now 57, and for most of that time I've lived well with tinnitus by learning not just to tolerate it but to see it as part of me. Sometimes I get spikes with stress and then my brain tunes into my tinnitus again which is what brought me to Glenn's book. Reading it reminded me of the truth about living with tinnitus. You have to make a friend of it not a foe, and I'm now putting Glenn's advice into practice. Wise and welcome words of empathy, encouragement and practical advice in this almost ground-breaking book!

After suddenly devolping tinnitus in October,my world was turned upside down. I went down the Medical route and was informed nothing was amiss but there was no cure. I saw this book , read it then downloaded the app( extra cost). I have persevered with the mediation. I am now out of depression and after nearly 3 months I'm am learning to manage my tinnitus. I would highly recommend the book and the app to any tinnitus sufferer.

I highly recommend the 'Rewiring Tinnitus' book. The reason we continue to be tortured by tinnitus is due to our negative reaction, but this can be replaced with a positive one. Glenn Schweitzer teaches you how to do this in a very easy way. The book is written in a positive and compassionate style which I like a lot. It really is a labour of love, and Glenn Schweitzer has put a lot of hard work into his book. Buying it has been the best thing in regaining my life and happiness.

I will start with the meditation guidance and writing down things about my tinnitus. Have to say I’m very disappointed that after buying the book, you have to then buy the rest of the items you need for the guidance in the book to work? Also the website doesn’t actually work either, have tried on various devices to have the guides sent to me and it just crashes.Don’t buy unless you are prepared to keep forking out after purchase.

why do people who write these sorts of books think they need to include all sorts of things which make reading it utterly unattractive, how many of the pages were actually necessary, not the amount produced that's for sure.