13 Months with Tinnitus. First 8 Months Constant, Last 5 Months Has Become Intermittent.

Hello all. I'm Kevin, and I've had tinnitus since late March 2018. It has been an emotional rollercoaster ride. I think my tinnitus was caused by a variety of things. I have TMJ on the right side of my jaw this is also my tinnitus ear.

My tinnitus increases when I am chewing or when I yawn or stretch my jaw muscles.

I believe noise exposure is what eventually unleashed the beast. I had an audiogram which did reveal some high frequency hearing loss.

At the beginning it was easily a 10/10 screaming high pitched ringing throughout my head. It settled down to maybe an 8/10 for 8 months then in Dec. 2018 it became intermittent. I began to notice that it would almost disappear for a day or two only to reappear just as loud as before. I received 3 days in a row of near silence at Christmas time.

Around Feb. this year it changed from ringing to a high pitched hiss that sounds like air escaping a tire. It's just as loud. Some days easily a 10/10 but less intrusive than the ringing. Ear fullness also disappeared around this time. My eardrum also use to flutter, but that also seems to have diminished as well.

It continues to follow the same pattern. 2 days of 1 or 2/10 mild t then it ramps up to very loud severe tinnitus for a day then it settles back down. Sometimes it might become quiet the next day, other times it might take a day or 2. It seems like every Wed. I'm dealing with loud intrusive tinnitus. It's like clockwork. I've tried eliminating all of the foods, caffeine, and alcohol that seem to trigger tinnitus.

I have a follow up appointment with my ENT in 11 days. She recommended Lipoflavanoid and Zinc supplements, but was not very helpful. I take a slew of supplements-- ginkgo biloba, magnesium, zinc, omega 3, multivitamin, turmeric, and a probiotic. I added CBD oil about 2 months ago. I'm hoping and praying that my tinnitus fades away, or at least would just remain like it does on my mild tinnitus days. Volume makes such a difference when it comes to tinnitus. On the mild days I don't need to mask it at all to sleep, and I can only hear it in a quiet room. On the loud days I'm like a different person. I'm much more irritable, and my ability to concentrate and sleep is severely compromised.

I'm a teacher, and I've managed to keep working although it's been a great challenge this year. Schools can be noisy environments and I am unable to wear earplugs unfortunately. I had hyperacusis initially that seems to have subsided a bit but still remains for certain sounds. The hyperacusis is really only in my right ear.

My doctor prescribed 50 mg. of Trazodone for sleep, but it appears to have lost its effectiveness with time. I've never dealt with anxiety nor depression until tinnitus reared its ugly head. Like I said I'm hoping to see more improvement in the coming months and year. Holding out hope that a treatment or cure is discovered and released to the public very soon.

I'm keeping myself informed of the latest research news as it gives me hope. I also hope that these changes in my tinnitus are pointing me in a positive direction. I feel often that my life has been put on hold.

Thanks for listening.

 

Welcome to the community KMc24 - there's a wealth of information here to get your self stuck in to. It's good to hear you get days where it's much more mild and actually gives you a chance for some restful sleep, I think we all live for those days!

To carry on working when you're experiencing something like tinnitus is extremely commendable, so kudos for that! It's tough to concentrate on other things when you've got tinnitus trying to grab your attention 24/7.

I hope you find something that'll help you here!

 

@KMc24 My T is identical to yours: High pitched hissing "air escaping" sound that fluctuates in volume throughout the week. It's completely random and no diet/sleep/stress reduction seems to affect it one way or the other. You're not alone, man. I too hope it eventually fades, but I'll be honest I think I'm stuck with this for good.

The best we can do is to not place any emotional attachment on the volume, be it loud or quiet. I'm just trying to go about my day without getting emotionally attached to its volume level at any given time. That's what I've been working on.

 

I can relate to "putting life on hold", I feel the same. The fact that you had 3 days of near silence seems like great progress, hope it goes back to that or better.

 

How long have you been taking Trazodone? I've been taking it a bit over two months, same dosage for sleep. It works most of the time but sometimes not. I have loud fluctuating tinnitus and mask every night.

Did you get your TMJ issue addressed?

 

Yeah that's exactly my approach. I try not to attach an emotional value to it and just try to ride it out. There's no rhyme or reason to the fluctuations, it's just like my brain goes looking for it again. On the quiet days my hyperacusis seems to subside as well. I hope the both of us can get to the point where it's quiet all the time, or even better, silent. I sometimes think I'm in for the long haul too though.

 

I've been taking the trazadone for about 3 1/2 months. It's 50 mg. thinking about bumping it up to 100 mg. I've noticed the same thing-- sometimes it doesn't work well. It knocks me right out, but seems to wear off quickly, and sometimes I have trouble getting back to sleep. I don't really want to get on benzos or anything stronger because of some of the horror stories I have read. I wear a night guard, but I think there's deeper issues that need to be addressed. I believe my auditory nerve has been compromised because of the tmj, and the precipitated the tinnitus. I've been grinding my teeth at night for years. I got the guard probably 1 1/2 years ago. I know there's a connection because my left ear is fine. That's the side that doesn't click.

 

Thanks for the support. I woke up a couple days in silence, and I thought it was gone. It slowly built back up though. I know as soon I wake up what kind of day I'm going to have, and it doesn't change until my next sleep cycle. Lately, after a loud day, the next day it returns to quiet. Not long ago I would have to wait 3 or 4 days for that. Yesterday it was screaming loud today it's quiet. So far Mon. and Tues. were quiet then it ramped up Wed. Thu. back to quiet. I hope that's a good sign. Maybe my brain is trying to put it off and deal with it?

 

Maybe you have grinding of the teeth when you are sleeping? If then that can contribute to TMJ problems and possibly your tinnitus. I have TMJD more so in my left which is where my tinnitus is the worse. I'm trying to get back in the habit of wearing my custom made appliance for TMD and sleep apnea.

I also have HF hearing loss that probably is contributing to my noise, although I've seen others that have similar audiograms to mine that don't have tinnitus, so it's a bit confusing. Trying to address any bruxism and TMJ disorders may help. Some people scare others away from benzos such as diazepam and clonazepam, but they are prescribed by prominent tinnitus Dr.'s. Diazepam could help relax your jaw muscles also.

 

What were you taking for sleep before trazodone? I have read that trazodone causes tinnitus, but it seems like your tinnitus improved during the time you were taking it.

Do you have somatic symptoms (neck movements, pressing on head/face, bending, etc.)? I have severe somatic tinnitus but my ENT says the tinnitus could be caused by TMJ. I have it in both ears, but my right is slight worse which has the more cracking. I have used only the right side to chew for the past decade since I have an ongoing issue with a tooth on my left side.

 

I wasn't taking anything, and the lack of sleep was catching up with me. I also use the side where I have the tmj for chewing. I've been consciously trying to chew on my left, but I've had dental work on that side which changed my habit of chewing on the nontinnitus side. I don't have somatic tinnitus I believe, but I can modulate it and make it increase in volume when I stretch my jaw or yawn. It returns immediately to it's former volume. I'm almost certain that my tmj has played a role in my developing tinnitus. If surgery would improve or eliminate I would do it in a heart beat. The tinnitus is on the side where my jaw cracks. The other side doesn't crack at all. My jaw is definitely misaligned. I do have some high frequency hearing loss as well. I have also read that trazadone can cause tinnitus which concerned me, but it hasn't seemed to effect it negatively.

 

I have to look deeper into correcting my TMJ. I've been grinding my teeth for well over 20 years (I'm 44). I got a custom fit night guard which is protecting my teeth, but doesn't stop the grinding action much. I still wake up with tense jaw muscles in the right side most days. I've been thinking about switching to a benzo in order to get a better nights sleep and possibly calm my reaction to my tinnitus as it inevitably spikes every few days. I have an appointment with my doctor and my ent in 11 days where I will discuss these issues. The trazadone only keeps me asleep for about 4 hours then I wake up suddenly sometimes from the sound of my t. I often struggle getting back to sleep. My tinnitus returns every 2 days which literally keeps me on edge the night before. No matter what I do it comes back. If I sleep well it's not quite as loud, but a poor nights sleep sends it through the roof.

 

Hi Kevin, welcome to the forum! You and I are on the same boat! I have gotten tinnitus around a year and a half ago. It was around the 8 month mark I got some significant improvement in my tinnitus. And now I am settled with this somewhat predictable cycle of 2 days loud, 2 days medium volume and 1-2 days low tinnitus. Sleep seems to be the key to the change in volume but 1-2 good days straight, you can almost guarantee a bad day is coming!

The changes in your T is definitely a good sign. Just like me, you should be seeing improvements slowly as our ears heal very slowly. For me, I just have to develop a system to manage the loud days and I am all set. But it’s still very hard to do...

 

I've been on the trazadone for 3 1/2 months. It doesn't seem to work as well as it did initially. I've read that it's effects wear off over time. At first I was like a zombie. It usually knocks me out for 4 hours, but sometimes I'm awake after an hour. I wear a custom fit night guard, but I haven't addressed my tmj beyond that.

 

Strange how our tinnitus sounds very similar. It shows that there is a similar mechanism involved. It's crazy that modern medicine just can't figure it out. This week I had 2 quiet days followed by a loud day then another quiet, and then back to loud today. The quiet days seem to becoming more frequent, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Sleep seems to play a role in the loudness though. I think stress is also at play in regards to the spikes. I hope you're right as far as the healing process. Ears do seem to take an awful long time to heal. I think that since it's no longer a constant tone shows that some healing has taken place. My doctor said everyone heals at a different rate too. I'm hoping in the coming months and year I continue to heal and have it at least be quiet most of the time if not all the time. Only time will tell ultimately. I agree the loud days can be very hard to deal with. It can be demoralizing when you know they're coming too, and there's nothing you can do about it. I guess we just have to enjoy them, and take one day at a time. My t is loud today and yesterday I couldn't even hear it until I came inside where it was quiet.

 

For me, napping on quiet days will wake the tinnitus and somehow “resets” the cycle to a loud day immediately. Does yours have this problem too? This is why I never nap on quiet days...

 

Yes. I stopped taking naps awhile back because of that it's just not worth it. Also on my days off from work if I wake up early then attempt to sleep later than usual that also changes it from quiet to loud. Its terrible because I'd like to catch up on missed sleep. I have had a few occassions where napping hasn't affected it though. Sometimes napping changes my loud t to quiet too. If I wake up in the middle of the night I can automatically tell what kind of day I'm going to have sometimes. Oddly I've woken up with loud t went back to sleep and woke to quiet. Just doesn't make any sense sometimes. The only thing consistent is all I get is 2 days of quiet t at a time except for Christmas where I got 3 in a row.

 

Damn, that’s exactly what I have experienced too! For me, resetting from loud to quiet via napping seems a lot infrequent than resetting from quiet to loud (which I have done a lot lately).

 

I've stopped taking naps too... a scary experience. I'd doze off to a more mild tinnitus and walk up 20 min later to blaring tinnitus. Even if I have other sounds going on like a TV, I'd still wake up to blaring tinnitus.

 

Agreed. Going from loud to quiet from a nap is quite rare. If it's quiet and I feel like napping I get up and move. I started jogging a few weeks ago, and I lift weights. I figure if I have t I might as well be in shape. I used to enjoy the naps because I don't sleep very well at night anymore that's why I try to wear myself out with exercise. I never realized how many people have sleep issues from t until I joined this forum. I try to keep a regular sleep schedule so I can continue to have some quiet days.

 

https://www.starkey.com/blog/2014/10/research-shows-teachers-at-increased-risk-of-hearing-loss

This sounds more like you have noise induced T than tmj issues. You may want to revisit earplugs at work. Some teachers do wear them. A neighbor is a full time teachers aide, and has hearing aids, and is in her 50's.

 

It is noise induced.

Being at school doesn't help at all. School is a noisy environment and I believe it is slowing my healing process. I often have trouble hearing my students, and I have to have them repeat themselves often. I've thought about claiming disability benefits to get out of that environment. If I could get even half of my income I would do it. 16 years in a classroom has taken it's toll on my ears. The bells are loud and when my t is loud I feel like they are piercing through my ears. Not to mention the hallways, the classroom, and the fire alarm which is ridicously loud, but the district says it is below the danger threshold which is an out right lie. This article is absolutely accurate. It really confirms what I already suspected. I'm not sure if I could wear earplugs at work, but I feel like I need a hearing aide already and I'm 44. I'm going to talk to my principal about the fire alarm and see if I can leave the building before we have our fire drills.

 

Should not have to choose between being unemployed or losing your hearing, as both choices are terrible.

Have you gotten an audiogram? Are there other colleagues at your school with hearing issues?

I would get a handheld, calibrated db meter and start measuring the exposure. If in the USA, may need to call OSHA. Nobody should have to work in an unsafe environment without some proper protection.

I can hear pretty well with my musician plugs, and they just blunt the louder sounds that bother me. No real reason that would not be compatible with teaching in a classroom.

 

I downloaded a decibel meter on my phone. I was just thinking about musicians earplugs too. That's a good idea. You're right about that being a horrible choice. The alarm is so loud a lot of teachers and students cover their ears. It goes off without warning in all the classrooms, and is at its loudest as we exit the building. I'd be interested in the earplugs that you use if you don't mind sharing. I have gotten an audiogram which revealed high frequency hearing loss. I have a follow up in 9 days with my ent. Calling OSHA is definitely on my mind. Other teachers complained and they simply said it meets the threshold which it obviously does not. The district officials don't have to endure it so they don't care. I'll probably have to get a real decibel meter and not a downloaded one. If my ears could get a break from school they might recover faster. I noticed that my greatest gains in recovery have been during breaks from school. That's probably why I got a few days of near silence around Christmas. They added 2 more weeks with students to the calender this year which is a real bummer. Looking forward to summer vacation.

 

I use Avantek earplugs, that are rated at -18 db. They are a knock off of Eargasm, and I got them on Amazon.

The problem with the db meter on the phone is they are not calibrated. The iPhone ones tend to be better as the hardware is more standardized. The android ones, well not so much.

Good luck with it, but I would protect as you already have some hearing loss, and the T should improve if you stop setting it off. I would also keep a pair of muffs handy for a fire drill as they can exceed 100 db, and those musician plugs will only be partially protective for such loud sounds.

 

@KMc24 -- No if's, and's, or but's about it, you absolutely need to do something to protect your ears far better. Whether or not you could get disability benefits, it seems you should be able to at least get some doctors' assistance with getting the accommodations and protection you need. -- All the Best...

 

Absolutely. I need to start now. I'm going to talk to my doctor about it very soon. I have to protect my ears more. Thanks for the advice, and showing genuine concern. I really appreciate it.