Hi everyone my family and I are in desperate need of help. My granny was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease when she was 65 years old. A year after that she was diagnosed with Tinnitus. Both of these conditions are just getting worse and its taking a toll on our family. We have been to countless Dr's, neuro surgeons and ear specialists and no one can offer any advice or treatment. They have put her on calmatives/ sleeping pills but her body is becoming immune to it so they just increase the dosage. She is currently taking 17 pills a day. This has started causing kidney problems. My grandad watched a video on YouTube about Tinnitus and a guy said he would listen to music with ear phones everyday for 3 hours for a year and he was cured (it had something to do with sound waves and frequencies but I'm not too sure). My granny has been doing this for almost 2 years now and it hasn't helped. She walks around with her phone or mp3 players and listens to music from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to sleep. She describes her Tinnitus as "screaming in her head". We live in South Africa. We cannot afford to put my granny in frail care or anything similar to that. We are at a loss and this is our last resort. If anyone can offer information, advice, etc on how to help her with Tinnitus and Alzheimer's it will br greatly appreciated. Even if we get the Tinnitus under control it will help a lot. My granny will be 69 years old this year. Thank you in advance for any advice or information.
Is your grandma on medication for the dementia?
There is no medication for tinnitus as you know. I've heard of it being treated with antianxiety medications but you mentioned the issue you're having with that.
Another thing I've heard of is ear wax removal. They have ear wax removal kits at the drugstore but I would see a Dr. for that because of the tinnitus.
Also, there are ear buds that are like hearing aids. They fit into the ear and give off a low sound like white noise.
I don't know if any of these work, they're just ideas I've heard about over the years.
Your poor grandma. As if dementia wasn't bad enough to deal with.
I've seen TV advertisements here in the States for a product to helps with tinnitus, heaven knows if it really works or not.
I found this article on Aging Care, maybe something in it can help regarding tinnitus. Keep scrolling to read the whole article, toward the end are helpful suggestions. https://www.agingcare.com/articles/the-noise-in-your-ears-facts-about-tinnitus-133338.htm