Anyone Else Have More Than Just One Reactive Tinnitus Sound?

I have multiple reactive tinnitus sounds that I hear everywhere and it can range from 3 to 5 tones.

I feel like such an extreme case since most people talk only about having one reactive sound like a hiss or something.

I've got beeps and whistles and hums that I can't mask.

I'd like to hear from someone who has more than one reactive sound. One unmaskable sound is less overwhelming then multiple.

Who else has multitonal tinnitus that can't be masked?

 

Pretty much just one... a ringing, hissing sound that gets louder mostly in my left ear in response to ambient sounds and my own voice.

 

Me.

My tinnitus is reactive in a sense that if I do anything besides sit in a quiet room, I get new loud tones.

It also doesn't get masked by anything, and if I turn on a fan or something or hear the heater going in my house it goes right over it and doesn't get masked - AND I'll have a new louder tone once the external noise stops. It's a nightmare.

 

This is exactly what I have since a minor noise trauma three weeks ago... It sucks big time. Did yours get better over time?

 

Huh, I just asked in the other thread if anyone’s reactivity was only or predominantly in one ear, but they have bilateral tinnitus. Mine is in my right ear and the tone sounds to be much like yours. Mine doesn’t react to my own voice though, thankfully.

 

You're very lucky to just have one even if still annoying. So yours is like a combination of a ring/hiss or something like that? Like a high pitch ringy hiss? I've always thought hissing reactive tinnitus isn’t that intrusive compared to tones. I never had just a reactive hiss but I thought a hiss would not be as noticeable since there's a lot of things that sound like white noise or something similar but I wouldn't know since I'm unfortunate enough to not just have a hiss...

 

Why is reactive hissing more common than reactive tones? It seems most with reactive tinnitus just have hissing or static so I feel quite alone and upset that I get tones too.

Well I just saw the poll, so maybe some people besides me DO get more than one reactive sound but I mostly read about people only having a reactive static noise.

 

So you get more than one reactive tone then?Hmm well I’m still figuring this stuff out. It’s nice to know I’m not alone but it sucks this is a reality.

 

Can you clarify your definition of reactive tinnitus? I've noticed people here using the term in a couple of different ways. These are my takes on it:

A.) Tones growing louder over an external source and dissipating when the source is gone.
B.) Pre-existing tones growing louder after a bothersome noise is gone (let's take the noise of an AC unit as an example) or tinnitus being 5x as loud after something like a shower.
C.) Something else.

 

Well I heard it like that too.

I guess I’m asking if anyone hears multiple tinnitus tones when a fan is near you and then it goes lower or away when you turn the fan off?

Mine is like that. You say you hear your tinnitus over a fan right? But then a new tone gets added as well when the external source is gone so it’s like you get a spike as well, correct?

I’ve learned people’s reactive tinnitus can differ from one another.

 

To keep it simple, I hear multiple tones over any sort of attempt to mask. My tinnitus also grows louder and stays that way following any sort of masking attempt.

 

Count me in for 2-3 non-maskable sounds.

 

Mine is only the single tone, but is like this, grows louder then stays that way. The duration it stays that way varies though. Sometimes hours.

 

Mine is a ringing with hissing like @DRobi said above. They are synchronous so I think that’s why he said basically one.

I have several other tones, but they aren’t reactive and they are truly distinguishable from each other.

 

Tones maskable, no longer "as" reactive, still ramp in volume but not as badly.
Intermittent morse code tinnitus (all the 5 different ones) are extremely reactive and distort any attempts of masking / volume match.

 

I've lost count of the amount of reactive tones I get.

In response to low frequency sounds it's like everything turns into static/white noise.

If a fan is on then I have extremely loud cicada like noise coupled with annoying squeals that sounds like screaming children and squeaks. Usually like a revving engine type noise is layered on top of it. If I have a TV on, it's usually just high pitched feedback. If I try to play guitar I end up heading the overtones of a note more than the actual note, even on acoustic. It sounds like a cymbal ringing out. When I listen to music it's all out of tune, since everything from like 500 Hz to 5 kHz is doubled and either sharp or flat (in this case the distortion comes from the source of sound and not my ears). It's also like a glockenspiel is aimlessly playing along to whatever I'm listening to, always out of tune and out of key. But it always sounds exactly the same every time for any specific song.

I knew of someone with almost this exact same issue had their problem get cleared up by Prednisone so I'm hoping this works. So far everything has gotten a little quieter after a 3 days of Prednisone except the distortions of sounds.

 

I get this reactive unmaskable sound that is an oscillating dronish noise. I hear it over everything like a wooOOooOOoo. Very awful.

Does anybody else get unmaskable reactive drone noises that they hear clearly over everything? Not the maskable kind but UNmaskable type.

I have other reactive sounds, this is just one of my worst ones.

Anyone else have anything similar? Especially oscillating reactive sounds?

A reactive hiss would probably be annoying but much easier to deal with.

 

Seems like our cases are the most similar. I've also had hearing loss all my life so it is horrible that the little I have left has been probably permanently ruined.

 

I was born deaf in my left ear. No tinnitus there but it dominates my good ear. Two different sounds (high pitched tone and a lower pitch scream) and a volume that goes up and down.

 

Does it sound like this?

What Does Meniere's Sound Like?

I have heard hydrops described as "dronish" a few times on this forum. And it's a term I have rarely seen otherwise.

(Hydrops doesn't have to be Meniere's. Secondary hydrops can happen from things like noise, viruses, etc).

 

Not quite but I just know it's a low drone oscillating sound.

It's been hard going to doctors because everything has been delayed because of COVID-19 but around January I'll be maybe trying different medications or I'll talk to the doctor about possibly trying antiviral titers like what you told me about a few months ago.

My appointments have been delayed because of COVID-19 I'm assuming. I have an appointment on the 28th of December. I even have an MRI which may or may not show anything. I'm having a whole head MRI I believe. I'm looking to try medications that can possibly reduce the reactivity and the distorted hearing so I can improve my quality of life and live somewhat normally again.

 

I hope they can give you something. There are drugs that still could help you (fingers crossed) including antivirals, diuretics (if you had a secondary hydrops), steroids (oral or intratympanic) potentially if you got a better work up.

Low frequency distortions are just a lot less common and sometimes have better treatment options.

 

I've never been offered medication for my low frequency hearing distortions. One is an explosion and the other sounds like I'm listening through a conch shell or metal pipe. Audiogram "normal."

Would any meds apply to my distortions with the etiology of acoustic injury (intense acute noise)? If so, please let me know and I'll contact one of my ENTs. Thank you!

 

If yours was definitely caused by acoustic trauma:

Secondary hydrops, perilymph fistula and superior canal dehiscence can all be caused acoustic trauma and all treated really differently. It's possible that your low frequency hearing loss and tinnitus is just from hair cell/synapse loss but even low frequency sound exposure often causes high frequency loss (i.e. people can come out of a heavy bass concert with high frequency hearing loss) so it would seem a lot more unusual.

Regular ENTs often don't do good work ups. Otologists are better usually and your ENT can refer you.