Hello dave: I have tinnitus, along with Meniere's disease. So I have some idea of what you're experiencing. I've had it for... oh-h-h... maybe 7 or 8 years now. At one point a doctor put an ear tube in one ear & it caused my tinnitus to explode! It sounded like I had a freight train running through my head 24 / 7! My pdoc put me on Klonopin. It helped immensely. Once the ear tube was removed, my tinnitus settled back down to a manageable level so I went off of the Klonopin. During that time period, I also saw an ENT who gave me an ear treatment called a "perfusion". It's supposed to help with tinnitus. I don't actually know if it did, or if it was just getting rid of the ear tube that caused the improvement. Anyway, I still have that constant whistling in my head. But it's tolerable &, over the years, I've learned to live with it. But you're right... it's tough...