Am I Going Mad, or What Is This Whistling Noise I Hear Only Outdoors?

So I've had tinnitus on and off. What I'm curious about, and something that is driving me insane is this:

Today I have in 2-3 occasions locked myself into my room and turned everything off and I try to listen for my tinnitus. There is nothing there. Absolute nada. When I go out on my balcony or outside I can hear this distant whistling noise, which seems to be "following" me. I don't know if it's like my anxiety that makes me interpret every noise out there and think it's tinnitus, or if it's actually tinnitus. This whistling noise is only heard outdoors, and I have not asked anyone if they can also hear it.

Does this happen to someone else?

 

Try inserting earplugs, or wearing Peltor earmuffs when you are outside and you hear that sound. If the sound disappears then it is not tinnitus.

 

I sometimes close my ears with my fingers, it feels as if the whissling sound disappears or gets more quiet. I know many would say that I should be happy I can occasionally hear silence, but this uncertainty drives me mad. I just got home and went inside my room.....complete silence. When I was out i heard that whissling, distant sound.

 

I have this as well as normal T. some call it reactive T or hearing distortion.

 

Yeah, I have this too. Whenever I'm around white noise I hear a whistling noise in addition to the static of the white noise. Sometimes when I'm in a new environment and around new sounds (for example a different A/C, fridge, or car), it can be difficult for me to tell which sounds are real and which are in my head.

 

u have this as well it's so annoying. how long have you had it for

 

Sometimes T sounds like it's coming from an external source. I've had it. Probably still do. I'm slowly but surely learning one thing - actively listening out for new T is a big no-no.

 

It's seriously annoying. In my case I find it worse than the T itself, because at least the T can be masked. But if I'm listening to music and there's a sustained note, the whistling will be there.

I think it started a few weeks after my initial noise exposure. In the beginning it got steadily worse, once I was driving on the highway and it got so loud I thought there was a police car behind me. After that it improved for about three to four months, at the end of which it almost didn't bother me at all. For the last month or so it's been getting worse again, unfortunately. I've spoken to a few members here who said it eventually went away for them, but it takes a really long time (same as T).

 

And when that goes away, ur left with a "normal" T or nothing?

 

mine went away after 3-4 weeks then came back after a noise exposure. that went away after 2 weeks and now it's back again..been 2 weeks it nearly disappeared but an alarm has made it even louder.

have hope my friend

 

And why is it silent when there is...silence?

 

Are you certain there isn't something outside actually making a whistling noise? Maybe your hearing is more untuned to it. Can you hear it with earplugs?

One morning my good ear was driving me crazy because it was ringing, too. I decided to play nature sounds while getting ready. One of my kids walked into my bathroom and asked what the weird sound was. I responded, "Nature sounds from the tropics." She turned it off and said, "No, that sound!" Yeah, my good ear wasn't ringing. There was a weird buzzing sound in my room.

I remember hearing it before tinnitus but ignoring it. Now I always hear it when I listen for it, and so does everyone else in my house!

 

But now my "normal" T has vanished and Im left with this. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for the silence..but just a bit curious why I keep hearing strange sounds in different enviorments.

 

Good to hear that it disappeared for you once! That means it may do so again. Unfortunately it's been with me for so long that I consider it part of having T. I'll be grateful if it goes away, but at this point it doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon.

Normally when I hear the whistling it means the ambient noise is enough to mask my T completely. If I then plug my ears, I'll hear only my normal T. Sometimes when I wake up from a bad dream, I'll hear the whistling as an additional tone over my usual T. Fortunately this usually fades away within a few minutes of waking up, again leaving me with just the usual tone.

 

I'm pretty sure the sound I hear has no external source. Which makes it all so much weirder, since when it's quiet my T is very quiet, if even there at all. But as soon as external sounds get mixed in I start hearing this whissling sound. I hope it's some kind of healing process or something that will go away. Cause i've had it on and off for 6 months.

 

Since I first discovered my T after repeatedly assuming it was the noisy steam in my apartment, if there is some new prolonged sound I will check with both my husband and son so I can either dispel or confirm that the sound is originating in me. I live in a high first floor apartment in a neighborhood where there may be construction or landscaping so I never quite know what the sounds are. Also, at times I get this very high-pitched piercing sound lasting for several moments and then disappears which only I can hear and I cannot figure out why this is.

 

So for the last month I've got my life back. My T has been either very slow or sometimes not even there.

Two days ago when I was going to sleep I noticed this irritating sound coming from the outside, like a high pitched type of sound almost. My masking sound can't cover it. Now yesterday I heard the sound again. But now my mind has been focusing on that sound so much that wherever I go the sound is there, like stuck in my head. So now I'm not even sure anymore if it's T or external sound.

Does/has this happened to people here? You hear something from an external source, you think about the sound so much that it gets stuck in your head and is almost becoming a "new" T?

 

Bump