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Oliver Sacks – Hallucinations

I have had tinnitus as far back as I can remember. It is present almost 24/7 and is very high pitched.

It sounds exactly like how cicadas sound when they come in droves back on Long Island in the summer. Sometime in the last year I also became aware of the music playing in my head.

I kept hearing Bing Crosby, friends and orchestra singing "White Christmas" over and over.

I thought it was coming from a radio playing in another room until I eliminated all possibilities of outside input. It went on for days, and I quickly discovered that I could not turn it off or vary the volume. But I could vary the lyrics, speed and harmonies with practice.

Since that time I get the music almost daily, usually toward evenings and at times so loud that it interferes with my hearing conversations.

The music is always melodies that I am familiar with such as hymns, favourites from years of piano playing and songs from early memories.  They always have the lyrics. . . .

To add to this cacophony, I now have started hearing a third level of sound at the same time that sounds like someone is listening to talk radio or TV in another room.  I get a constant running of voices, male and female, complete with realistic pauses, inflections and increases and decreases in volume.

I just can’t understand the words.