Losing Short-Term Memory / Cognitive Ability Due to Tinnitus?

I have had tinnitus for 5 years now and immediately when it started, I noticed a significant impact on my working memory, cognitive speed and acuity, and even social ability (as it related to word recall and quick thinking in conversations).

For 2-3 years, this unfortunate impact was stable, and perhaps even got slightly better as I habituated to the tinnitus.

Recently, however, it has gotten much worse and continues to accelerate. My tinnitus is a bit louder due to a couple of loud noise incidents, as well as a recent dental issue, but these other symptoms (i.e. memory loss, cognitive ability) have accelerated far more significantly than the tinnitus has increased in volume.

Has anyone else out there experienced this? Is there a link between tinnitus and developing Alzheimer's and/or early-onset dementia? Apologies if that question may seem hyperbolic, but if the decline continues at its current pace, I'll almost certainly be a vegetable before I turn 30.

Also, any way to stop it / do something about it? I've seen a few people mention nootropics like Piracetam, might have to give that a try.

 

I would have replied to your question stating no, it hasn't, but I read somewhere that there may be a link between hearing loss & dementia. As to tinnitus, I'll admit to an occasional lack of concentration & focus. That's almost a given.

 

How many hours do you sleep and how many times do you wake up each night?

 

Interesting. My votes were in line with the majority here. I've certainly found my work and socialising being impacted. Emotionally though I think I am more empathic to other peoples problems than I used to be. As long as they don't start trying to minimise my tinnitus issues!

 

My memory became a bit worse not so much from tinnitus but from exploding head syndrome, a benign thing that sounds like a door slamming shut or an explosion. It happens when we go into that period before deep sleep. Research shows it's harmless but I beg to differ. Then getting tinnitus and hearing tests because I couldn't understand a conversation which led to me becoming a recluse. I had lost considerable amount of hearing in my right ear. Hearing aids were offered as a help, and with that I went for them. Now 6 months later I can hear sit in conversation and my memory has returned not to normal but I can remember something that I couldn't before....

Also I started on B12 and it has helped. You should have your B12 levels checked.

Tinnitus itself doesn't lead to Alzheimer's but what does lead to it is people who become unattached or unsocial because of hearing problems which includes people with tinnitus. This can make us susceptible to Alzheimer's.

 

Nearly 12 hours a night. Falling asleep is sometimes tough without maskers/white noise machines, but staying asleep has not been a problem.

Interesting though that before the tinnitus started I could get by with 6 hours a night on weeknights and a few extra on the weekend. 8 hours was enough to feel well rested. But now with the tinnitus if I don’t get 10-12 hours a night, I don’t feel well rested.

I figure it must be due to some fatigue/exhaustion from having the screeching noise running all day.

 

This new retrospective study concludes that there is a correlation with tinnitus and both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69243-0

 

Makes sense, thanks for posting.

As an aside — I wish deep brain stimulation was an option for us with a little bit more risk tolerance. Seems to help in early stages of both those diseases, and has been shown in a few studies to quiet T.

In any case, if we live to see Elon Musk’s Neuralink device, we will have our cure.

 

As another aside, unrelated to this thread, I think I should've added one more element to the original poll: neuroticism.

Unclear exactly which is the cause vs. effect -- i.e. whether tinnitus more often affects people who are more Type A / neurotic, or if tinnitus itself tends to make otherwise normal, friendly people more irritable and neurotic.

Probably both. I certainly have experienced the latter, and was already more indexed to the former. But the more I read and participate on this forum, the more I become convinced that these two things are definitely related. Lol.

 

Extremely more irritable these days. I keep it off this forum though. If any of you talked to me in real life these days you’d probably hate me lol. I like to consider myself a pretty nice guy in general before tinnitus, hyperacusis, TTTS.

 

it impacted all of these things significantly for some period following onset

now it impacts them less except that I take some meds now which do to some extent adversely impact my short term memory and long-term memory binding. I take a lot of notes and photos.

Since developing bad tinnitus in 2010, my career has progressed dramatically, I have taken on more responsibility and roles which require more intense concentration and communication skills, we've added a child to our family, I've made some of the strongest friendships that I have, and I've learned how to sort of play two new instruments, draw with my left hand, and read probably 30 novels and 2000 pages of boring technical bullshit. I didn't go on meds again until 2017 so most of this happened before that.

FWIW I am extremely type-B, diagnosed ADD/ADHD from a young age and I've always struggled with attention, so in some ways, tinnitus just became the crux of that, it didn't create the problem.

If I don't read this forum, sometimes I only think about my tinnitus a half dozen times in a day. Other times, I think about it more. So it goes.

 

I find it much harder to concentrate, but then I've always been a person with my mind on others things.
I feel due to tinnitus there is almost certainly an increased risk of dementia and associated diseases, hence I'm starting now to do everything to work and improve my brain:

- regular aerobic exercise
- eat plenty of omega 3
- exercising my mind, eg improving my Russian, taking up chess, doing a writing course, reading both fiction and non fiction books
- socialising with different people
- laughing
- experimented with NR (NAD+ precursor)
- losing lots of weight and eating healthy

What is interesting is that I read that, "Scientists found those who were teetotal in mid-life were 47 per cent more likely to develop the brain-wasting condition" and "We show that both long-term alcohol abstinence and excessive alcohol consumption may increase the risk of dementia." I've pretty much been teetotal my whole life.

Will any of it help? No idea, but got to pull out all the stops.

 

Tinnitus and hyperacusis have definitely impacted my EQ the most. I can't go to situations where friends would congregate like loud parties, cinemas, music venues/concerts, bars, etc. So I stay locked in my room trying not to get a setback. Definitely has impacted my relationships.

 

That seems extremely counter-intuitive. Why would abstaining from drinking increase your likelihood of developing a neurodegenerative disease? I don't drink anyway because it makes my tinnitus louder.

 

Where did you read this? I’m pretty much the same.

 

And @weab00.

It was in some British tabloid lol, I wouldn't read much into it.

It said 6 glasses of wine or beer a week was good, after that it had a negative effect.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6919503/six-pints-a-week-lower-risk-dementia/