A Perpetual Sounds of Crickets After Listening to MyNoise.net White Noise

Hello! I've always had somatic tinnitus prominently in one ear, but after recently rupturing my ear drums, I started to have symptoms in both. In addition to all the new stress surrounding this, I started spiking pretty badly.

I tried a few methods to relieve this like stretching to relieve this and have had some significant improvement at times. However, I recently thought to try some white noise that I saw recommended on this forum for relief.

Now, I didn't listen to any of it for very long in fear that it might just make things worse, but lo and behold I now have a perpetual sound of crickets in my ears. Previously, I only had significant high-pitched screeching of moderately improving volume in my left ear, and a low whooshing pulsing tinnitus in my right ear. Right now after trying to sleep it off for a day, I hear a noisy static/hissing at base in both ears with infrequent high pitched ringing here and there. Beneath that, I hear the frequent oscillation of crickets chirping. It's very similar to the noise generator I linked below, and it's tangible enough to where I don't think it's just my imagination.

It's only been a day -- less than 24 hours even -- so I suspect it'll probably get better and clear up with more time as it has in the past for me, but I was curious if anyone else had similar experiences? I'm growing highly wary of white noise and other maskers now, and hope I just haven't caused even more damage in trying to mask my tinnitus.

https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/ultrasonicNoiseGenerator.php

This is the white noise for anyone curious. I only listened to it in one ear for a few minutes at a time at a low volume with most of the sliders disabled, but it seems to have still 'imprinted' into my cochlear, brain, or whatever is perceiving this phantom sound.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Interesting. I don't generally hear about many people getting their symptom from white nose. @buttercake is the only one that immediately comes to mind, but his came after listening at long periods.

It's more likely that you might have just gotten a spike from experiencing these specific frequencies than something that will be more chronic. I would give it a few days or a couple weeks to see how the spike changes or if it subsides before you get worried about it being longer lasting.

I don't think you need to forego any masking or sound enrichment altogether, but you might want to specifically avoid that link. MyNoise has some other great offerings, though. I personally use the Japanese Garden as my go-to besides my nighttime rain noise.

 

Thanks for the reply. Your thoughts mirror my own which is very comforting. Tinnitus for me is a little bit like gasoline for the fire that is my anxiety -- so even though the tinnitus itself isn't usually intolerable, it really wreaks havoc on my mental stability at times like this.

 

You are absolutely right. I had already had problems with mishandling stress, anxiety, and depression before onset, so to deal with this unwieldy symptom on top of that has truly exacerbated some of my worse qualities. I am extremely fortunate I am not prone to suicidal ideation, but I can't deny that I have perceived a sharp drop in my quality of life.

It has been advised many, many times that getting your mental health under control, as well as your sleep, is one of the best things you can actually do. Of course, that is much easier said than done, as if it were that simple I would not have had to deal with it before onset.

I wish you the best in finding whatever solution works for you, and when you find it, I hope you will share it here on the board!

 

@Mercury many people here report getting tinnitus from white noise. It is a a very key component of reactive tinnitus. White noise often makes tinnitus worse for many -- you can do a quick search. Some believe it is a form of hyperacusis. Depends on who you talk to. Most audiologists I've seen have just called it reactive tinnitus.

Not everyone is able to use maskers and white noise.

Also, your tinnitus is probably not caused by anxiety seeing as how you ruptured your eardrum. Your tinnitus might get a little better as your eardrum heals. If it doesn't, you should see someone.

 

I don't think it was exclusively induced by anxiety, but I was suffering from mild panic attacks after losing a loved one on bad terms prior, so I wouldn't be surprised if it contributed to it in some way. This occurred before the ear drum problem.

My tinnitus was improving notably after that rupture, but I am slightly neurotic, so I overreacted in trying to find ways to placate it. My present issue is the deafeningly oppressive static with a background of crickets which obviously originates from the white noise. The physical trauma from the ear drums might be affecting it, but the acoustic trauma is what worries me far more. Yesterday it was just residual crickets, but now there is a severe hissing that's clouding my mind and stressing me out beyond words.

I'm going to give it a couple of days and see if it clears up, and if not then I'm definitely going to see an ENT and try to get a prescription for Prednisone to in an attempt to combat the hearing loss I probably just inflicted on myself. The last time I went to an ENT, they basically told me to suck it up and piss off -- which, to my credit, I did successfully accomplish after some habituation. However, I don't think I'll be able to cope with a persistent relapse of this intensity. Is there any particular specialist you'd recommend seeing for what I've described? Of the ones whom I've heard can help with tinnitus are ENTs, audiologists, neurologists, dentists, and physiotherapists.

The thought of this noise not fading is suffocating especially coupled with knowing how avoidable it was in bitter hindsight. I truly envy those who are able to come to terms with it and perceive it as a non-hostile entity, or even something positive. I always try to tell myself that it's a harmless sound and try to use it as a conduit that evokes fond memories of all the joy I've experienced in life. Unfortunately, however, my own pessimism and insecurities instead warp it into a symbol of guilt -- a catalyst that dredges up traumatic memories that I've tried so hard to bury in my subconscious. It's practically the sound of my conscience eroding away at my sanity. I've gone through this cycle of paranoia over tinnitus spikes before, but every time it places a greater burden on me mentally and usually adds another layer to the omnipresent screeching. It violently triggers my OCD in the most negative ways, leaving me unable to focus on work or anything productive, so I just fall into this vicious catch-22 of doubt and self-deprecation that feeds into itself, perpetuating my downward spiral of stress and insomnia. But tinnitus has done me one good: any fear I had of death disappeared after enduring the long sleepless nights with only phantom hissing and screaming as solace.

Thanks for the advice and sorry for venting my frustrations towards you.

 

No apologies! You deserve support and attention, but I don't want you to think that white noise can't set off tinnitus because there are a lot of people here who can't use white noise, and the first thing doctors will recommend is a sound machine -- even after you've explained that sound makes the tinnitus worse. You probably have reactive tinnitus or hyperacusis. Just do a search on the board for one of those two things and you'll see you are not alone.

I'm not sure how much of a choice you have, but try to find an otologist rather than an ENT. They may also tell you to suck it up and piss off, but in a more educated manner. Just kidding. There are a lot of good doctors, but we tend focus on all the ones that kicked us when we were down. You never really forget those encounters. You go to someone for help with an invisible gun to your head and they basically tell you to relax. This is why I don't recommend emphasizing your anxiety. They already know you are anxious.

Since you are anxious, it wouldn't hurt to find a psychologist who specializes in OCD since you have those tendencies. Maybe just someone you can see temporarily for tips to help you cope with the noise. CBT can be helpful. But you should also see an oto or someone who can explain what's going on with your auditory system.

 

A couple of days later, my symptoms remain and my concern is growing.

I've made an appointment with an ENT, but it won't be for about a week. I'm likely to head to Urgent Care to try and see if they can deduce what's going on, or at the very least, get a prescription for Prednisone before the hearing loss and tinnitus becomes irrevocable.

Any input on my line of thinking would be appreciated. Particularly because I might be I underestimating the side effects induced by the steroids.