Anyone successful in dealing with Tinnitus?

Two months ago I had the flu, blew my nose too hard and since then have had a pulsing vibration in my right ear. Went to an ENT no tumors or closed down arteries so now I'll start changing medications and see if this helps. I'm listening at lower levels now, down from 75-85db to 60-75db. Inserting a foam ear plug when not listening to music helps to reduce the intensity of the vibration and sometimes seems to eliminates it!! The vibration is similar to the pulse of the bass in a loud car audio system thumping it's way down the street!!! So one of the things I dislike the most is now something I feel/hear pulsing constantly, life's strange.

I thought I might be getting it intermittently, until I realized it disappeared when I turned off a ceiling fan.

This is my first post on this subject on the 'Gon. I'm not sure as to what the severity of my tinnitus is, as I have not seen an ENT about it. I've had tinnitus for about two years now. Root causes are: operating lawn equipment with no hearing protection when I was a teen; loud concerts; listening to the stereo too loud; and possibly (?) road noise. I've since taken measures to minimize these harmful things. The ringing is always there, but its level fluctuates. Things that seem to make the ringing louder are: road noise from inside the car; any high-speed fan such as a bathroom ventilator; playing the stereo too loud; and to a lesser extent stress, not getting a good night's sleep, caffeine and alcohol. Always seems to be worse in the evening/better in the morning. I'd like to throw out a few questions to those of you with tinnitus:

(1) Anyone find that road noise inside the car bothers your tinnitus? What do you do about it? I currently wear soft earplugs everytime I get in the car, as I have a long commute, but I'm worried that this is pushing earwax further into the ear canal. (side note: bring a decibel reader inside your car and see what the level is when going 70 mph. you might be surprised. mine showed 85-90 db)

(2)Does your stereo seem to aggravate your tinnitus? If so, did you make changes to your stereo? What changes? Did the changes help?

(3) How long/how often can you listen to your stereo before your ears say "enough!"

Thanks for your consideration.

I recently cut out my morning coffee routine, and this does seem to have helped.

My stereo listening level never goes above 75-80 dB on peaks. My bum gets sore long before my ears do.

Nicotico:

Your thoughts on car noise are interesting. Ear plugs impacting wax should not be an issue, if your ears are clean. The over the counter Murine kit is easy to use, though it may require repeated application, and it is not unlikely that reducing wax buildup helps with Tinnitus.

Listening fatigue (and possibly, Tinnitus) can likely be ameliorated by gear choices. For me, getting rid of metal drivers and moving to silk dome tweeter and paper mid-bass helped. "Hard-sounding" SS electronics might also be an issue.

Good luck, everybody!

John