Gary and I have tinnitus. I have mild tinnitus, the kind that lasts about a minute. Gary has tinnitus that drowns out everyday conversation and lasts for days.
Gary’s current theory is that his tinnitus is caused by microscopic mites that were released into the air by the same house construction that ruined his skin. Gary thinks the mites flew out of the torn out ceiling and then took up housekeeping in his ear canal.
I heard that and I thought, oh no, invisible mites? It’a that delusional parasitosis thing again. I just felt sick, until I remembered, that sometimes Gary says things to hear how nutty they sound out loud.
Years ago he had an episode before where he thought there were flies crawling on him. It’s a drug side effect from Topamax, which he’s been on for thirteen years. Still, during the previous episode, he swiftly acknowledged the drug/hallucination connection. I haven’t heard that about the invisible mites.
In happier health news, he did say he needed to reschedule his colonoscopy. Given that all he eats lately is Chicken and Rice soup, the bowel prep should be a snap.