Tinnitus After Concussion and Severe Depression — Is It Temporary?

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with tinnitus in August 2020 following an episode of severe depression which resulted in me suffering a concussion injury.

It's a high pitched sound, in both ears and has been constant since the event.

In addition to this I've also started hearing like a 'whooshing' sound in my head, during sleep which is very unsettling.

Does anybody else experience this? I was hoping this would be a temporary issue and would clear up eventually but I'm starting to think I'm stuck with it now. It's very debilitating, as I'm sure you all know.

Many thanks.

 

I'm sorry to hear this. Many things can cause tinnitus. A brain injury is one of them. I would imagine you have seen a neurologist. Have they provided any information? The issues with sleep suck bad. I suffer badly like you and that's why I'm still up @ 5:00 am.

I hope you find answers.

 

It's still pretty early for tinnitus to resolve in your case.

My cousin recently had a concussion which resulted in hearing loss which is the cause of his tinnitus. He uses a hearing aid which apparently works well to mask the tinnitus though I don't know how.

You should get a hearing test and see if that is what happened to you.

 

Hi Jrblovsky, thanks for reply. Im sorry to hear your situation, it's horrible, isn't it. I've had a CT scan which showed no abnormalities after which they diagnosed concussion.

That was 6 months ago and things haven't improved at all. If anything they've got worse. I've been very unwell during this time, fatigue being one of the main issues.

I'm wondering if tinnitus plays a part in that at all?

Thanks.

 

@Bb1878, if you mean with a "whooshing" sound a static electric sound, I have that too. And for whatever reason it's loudest early in the morning. When I get out of bed I have my coffee and then slowly the sounds evens out, gets down to a bearable level and I can start the day. But it's always a challenge to wake up in the morning and realize the sound is still there.

Tinnitus also brought down my libido significantly. How can you relax and feel sexy with that permanent sound in your head? Anybody?

 

Yes, the sound is like a "whooshing", electrical sound, it comes in cycles during the night. It feels very odd when it happens, almost makes me dizzy even though I'm half asleep. It doesn't happen every night (unless I just don't hear it every night) but it makes for a very restless sleep, something which I'm now accustomed to, I can't actually remember the last time I slept peacefully! That on top of continuous high pitched tinnitus during the day is making life very uncomfortable.

I too have libido issues, not sure if it's linked to tinnitus, fatigue, depression or all 3. I just wish I could feel ok again.

 

The hearing aid your cousin uses, most likely, doubles as a WNG. Many hearing aids come with this function nowadays. Depending on the individual tinnitus / hearing loss situation, your audiologist can adjust your hearing aids to hearing or WNG only or tweak them so they are a combination of both.

I'm using hearing aids to mask my tinnitus noises myself and they work great for me, too.

 

Thanks, I haven't had a hearing test yet but have an ENT appt next month so I'm hoping they maybe able to find something. Good to hear 6 months is still early days, it does feel like it's never going to change. Hopefully it will clear up eventually. Cheers and good luck to you all with your own battles.