They didn't take it seriously

Trisha Roberts, 53, from Birmingham, has suffered from tinnitus for more than five years. She says she didn't get any help from her specialist and was left feeling very alone.

"I first experienced tinnitus, which sounds like a very loud ringing noise inside my head, five years ago after going to see a steel band play in a pub.

"When I left the concert my head was throbbing; I collapsed on the stairs at home and was rushed to the hospital. I saw a doctor who told me it was tinnitus and prescribed me diazepam to help me sleep. I have been on and off the diazepam ever since as at night the tinnitus is almost unbearable.

"I saw a specialist, and paid £400 for an MRI scan to rule out a brain tumour. I wasn't offered any treatment at that time and I was just told to get on with life. I really feel like they didn't take the tinnitus seriously.

"I now suffer from depression and I feel like the tinnitus is ruling my life; I never get any relief. I don't feel sociable anymore and I don't like going out. I know someone who can 'switch off' from his tinnitus, but I've never been able to do that, though I wish I could. I also heard that gingko biloba was meant to work for people, but I tried it and nothing changed.

"People say 'it must be awful'’, then they forget about it, while I go on living in a nightmare."