Anyone Know Why Tinnitus Comes and Goes During the Day/Varies a Lot in Volume? Makes No Sense

Hi guys.

Hope you're well.

I've got a question that I really hope someone can answer or provide a theory on.

I have a hissing type tinnitus, but it comes and goes during the day. So for a few hours during the day its so low I can barely hear it and then it ramps up and is pretty loud, then its like a medium level.

I know there are some people that have tinnitus that is constantly the same volume/pitch all day all night.

However, I don't understand why the tinnitus would fluctuate like this during the day, with no real pattern.

What do you think is causing it to be near silent for hours during the day and then ramp up out of the blue?

 

@sanj100

Tinnitus affects each person differently especially in the early stages of onset. It will settle down. You must try not to listen too much to it and whenever possible, avoid quiet places and rooms especially at night. During the day sounds from the enviroment, partially mask the tinnitus and provides some distraction for the brain, so it doesn't focus on the tinnitus as much. During the evening and at nighttime, surroundings are more quiet and this can make the brain focus on the tinnitus more. For this reason it is good to use sound enrichment in the background.

Please click on my "started threads" and in the list you will see my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, that you might find helpful. I advise you not to use headphones even at low volume.
All the best
Michael

 

Hi, Micheal.

Thank you for this.

But my tinnitus is very different. It is usually really quiet in quiet rooms and gets louder when around noise. So when I'm sitting in a silent room, like now, I get the most relief and when I am around lots of noise the tinnitus ramps up. This is very different to most people, I know.

 

Actually what you're experiencing is not that uncommon. I will assume that your tinnitus was caused by "exposure to loud noise" Perhaps headphones, clubs or concerts etc? In this case your auditory system has suffered noise trauman and is sensitive to sound. You may have some hyperacusis. It is advisable that you use background sound enrichment at low level, to help desensitise your auditory system. Try to avoid loud sounds so it doesn't spike your tinnitus.

Read my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View. And read: Hyperacusis, As I see it. Both are on my Started threads.

Michael

 

Forgive me, but I thought it was uncommon as from what I've seen in this forum most people can't bear to be in quiet rooms as it makes their tinnitus more prevalent and prefer to be round noises which mask it, whereas I'm the opposite. Also, my tinnitus was not caused by noise exposure at all but by middle ear surgery where two of my hearing bones have been removed.

I think you might be right about the hyperacusis though, which is what could be causing my tinnitus to get louder around sound. The background sound enrichment should hopefully be useful for this.

 

@sanj100
Thanks for the additional information. It would have helped a lot if you had mentioned the ear surgery. You are right most people cannot tolerate quiet rooms. I read on your profile that you've had tinnitus for just 1 month. I then assumed (wrongly) that you were in the early stages of tinnitus caused by noise. I believe it would help if you have a word with a Hearing Therapist about this as they are knowledgable in the treament and management of tinnitus. If you haven't suffered noise trauma I don't think you have hyperacusis. Hyperacusis is normally associated with tinnitus when caused by loud noise.

All the best
Michael

 

I have the hissing type noise like yours and mine can be up and down all day. If I hear a noise similar to my tinnitus, it aggravates it and sends it into overdrive. I was trying to fix a puncture on my bike the other day and I couldn’t distinguish between if the bike losing pressure or if my tinnitus was making me think it. Trying to really concentrate on certain sounds makes my tinnitus much worse. I do have some hearing loss though!

 

Hey, Micheal.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

From what I've read, although it is more common for hyperacusis to be caused by loud noise, it can also be caused by middle ear surgery (my case), ototoxic medication or even just anxiety. But, unfortunately, there isnt that much detailed literature on hyperacusis.

And thank you for the advice about a hearing therapist. I will look into this.

 

Ah mate, I feel your pain. I noticed you've had tinnitus since 2015, has yours gotten better with time at all? Any habituation? And have you tried much to address it?

 

@sanj100 ,
If your operation was recently your tinnitus could settle.
My son had his ear bones out aged 7 years old and another op age 11 and age 16.
His tinnitus went away after the operation and even with hearing ploss hes fine .
Just sending hope your way that yours might settle too!
Love glynis x

 

Hi, Glynis.

Really? That's quite promising. Do you happen to know how long he had his tinnitus for before it went down?

I still find it amazing how some people like your son can have all their hearing bones removed and have no tinnitus wheras others suffer from a tiny hearing loss and get raging tinnitus. Tinnitus is so confusing.

Thanks.

 

It went after about 3 months.
His hearing is around 40db in the ear now and does not wear a hearing aid.
He is also epileptic and takes medication for it .
Love glynis x

 

Definitely better. It was a long road, I didn’t go out for 6 months. Most noises just made it worse. That was a while ago, I always take ear plugs with me now, just in case. I can listen to it now and it doesn’t bother me (I obviously still wish it wasn’t there). But yeah, I am habituated. I can usually hear the tinnitus, even over so called moderate noise. In the early stages, even if I could mask the noise, I could still feel that the noise was still there. (Weird sensation in ear). Trying to keep my anxiety under control and getting plenty of sleep (and even not letting myself get too hungry) are ways I keep it to a minimum. Had MRI scan (only have it in right ear), medically there was nothing wrong.

 

I'm really glad to hear you habituated to it.

From what I gather from your message above, your tinnitus is a lot less reactive to noise now than it was when you first got it two years ago?

What did did you do/if anything over these two years to reduce the noise or your perception of the noise. Any TRT? CBT? Meditation? Anything like that?

 

Ah that's interesting.

Maybe his epilepsy medication is helping keep his tinnitus at bay. As I've read on this forum in many places that many epilepsy medication are effective in reduce/eliminating tinnitus.

 

In the early days the noise was loud and unpredictable, it could not be there (or at least be very mild) and then just suddenly kick in. Now it’s a lot more steady. By that I mean, I possibly heard it more but at a lot lesser volume. Even though the noise fluctuates a little it doesn’t do it like it did. That made it easier for me to habituate to.

 

I was prescribed valium by the doctor just to help with my anxiety. I wasn’t convinced that anything else would help but once I got through the first 3-4 months it calmed down a lot.

 

Hi Philippe, Would you say you sleep better now? Have you been able to come off the Valium? I can deal with my tinnitus during the day and sometimes like the post above mentioned can't even hear it it's that quiet but sometimes it seems to just come back with a vengeance and wake me up (so not related to stress or lack of sleep.)

 

Hello Pinkhoneybee!

I definitely sleep better now but it has been nearly 2.5 years so I am kind off used to it (or as used to it as I can be). I don’t get the anxiety I did at the start but it still can annoy me and I still get bad days. I took Valium up till about 6 months, these were only low dosage (2mg) but took the edge of it and helped with my T. I must admit though, in the early days sleep used to always help my T, no matter how bad. Now, more often than not, it seems to be making it worse. I wake up and it is loud. Sometimes it will improve after a couple of hours of waking up, sometimes it may not, I sometimes have a headache with this. I then need to wait until the next day to see if it improves. Do you know what caused your tinnitus?

 

I've your same tinnitus.
I think we've just to wait. It will go down. And ye, sound arrichment at low volume in the night will help our hyperacusis to go down. It will take time.
I'm at 8th month, but it has improved a lot.
And still improving.

 

Patience is the key @Alvise and you seem to have the right attitude...

Michael

 

I know this is an old thread, but have you studied the relationship between these spikes and having eaten foods high in salicylate?