Electrical Head Buzzing Tinnitus — What Has Helped YOU?

@Dginobile ,
Its worth a try.
I was put on 10mg then 30mg and 50mg and I have stayed at that dose since.
Love glynis x

 

@Cal18 In my notes from the Michigan Ear Institute. Electrical Head Buzzing Tinnitus.

"A disturbance due to swelling, pressure or interference with circulation with involves one of the more complex hearing pathways as they enter the brain".

Where could this swelling and pressure be - My electrical head buzzing is associated to my lower and upper spine with pressure on muscles and nerves according to my neuro. He agrees with MEI and has shown me other studies, but added hypertension. When I have my wife give me soft finger touch on my entire spine, the electrical head buzzing does temporary somewhat resolve. Hot treatments tend not to help.

 

I don't think that description is meant for this specific type of tinnitus but it can surely be related in some cases I guess. Your case sounds like a nerve impingement or sensitivity (once again, just guessing here).

 

@Cal18 Hi Cal: I know that I have loss of normal lordosis which is somewhat common for middle/order age - neck c spine from a CT exam. This is causing a domino effect to muscles in my neck and also is connected to oxygen / circulation.

http://www.michiganear.com/webdocuments/brochure-tinnitus.pdf

I hope you get some relief.

 

Valuable info. We all know neck and spine issues can contribute but this certainly goes a step further into understanding.

 

Have you ever tried Cymbalta for your buzzing and spinal pain? I have some of that in 30mg capsules. I seen a post of someone using that for tinnitus relief as well. I am worried about side effects. I seem to have gotten sick to my stomach on only one capsule.

 

@just1morething
I just got some Flexeril but I'm currently tapering off a low dose of Trileptal which didn't do anything for me. I did take a tiny quarter of a 5mg Flexeril to see if it was going to kill me since I'm sensitive to antidepressants (it's actually a tricyclic) and it was okay but not certainly not enough to be therapeutic.

I'm also considering Lyrica since I also have hyperacusis. Tried Gabapentin and made my vision blurry so I'm trying to stay away from that class if possible. I feel like the brain buzzing has some sort of connection to hyperacusis because it's also extremely reactive - or least in my case.

 

This old article/ link shows the basic causes of tinnitus. Every word is important. Jastreboff, Levine and other Who's Who researchers have noted research in this article. They had it right years ago. Most with T will see their tinnitus fade or will be able to adjust. The younger the quicker.

It's not so much due to what caused the T, including an accident, neck, jaw, ear relations, disease and hypertension - it's to what extend the brain activates signals. High pitch ringing can be caused by many things in which many are somatic/physical related.

There's five areas of the neck that are primary responsible for somatic tinnitus. In order they are the trapezius muscles, SCM muscles, c spine, vagus nerve and jugular veins. With the mouth/TMJ, there's nerves and joints. Hopefully within the mouth, a major nerve wasn't cut.

Whenever serious problems of nerves, joints, muscles, disease and major hearing loss are heaving involved, then usually it's high pitch ringing. Very few has extreme high pitch ringing. If they did they wouldn't be posting here. Even with those, not a ENT or neuro this or that, but a pain management physiology rehab doctor can often help them.

Electrical head tinnitus is often caused from circulation, swelling and physical nervous system reactors (spine) from nerve pressures. Touch therapy will help.

http://vestibular.org/tinnitus

Many times with proper treatment, physical T can be corrected. It's harder with degenerative conditions and disease mostly found with other people, but improvements with proper treatment will help those as well.

 

@Cal18, Sorry to hear you are having difficulties. I'm having major noise in my left ear after I fell asleep. I think it's related to my neck and left TMJ. I'm really scared of my current neck condition and noise in left ear. I keep crunching my left TMJ and twisting my neck.

 

Thanks, I will definitely research this a bit more. This would certainly explain why immediately feel worse after laying down for a few minutes or even sitting too long.

 

I think Flexeril is a muscle relaxer. I just got off Lyrica recently.

 

@just1morething
Yup Flexeril is a muscle relaxer but it's chemical makeup is similar to Amiptryline. I wonder if your spike is due to lyrica withdrawal? Did you stop taking it because it wasn't helping or too many side effects?

Have you thought about amniotic or umbilical cell injections into the jaw? It's less expensive than a dental splint - many orthopedists offer it. It's supposed to help heal the nerves and ligaments in the area. I had it done but I don't know if that's part of my problem, no changes yet but my right jaw seems to be less crackly.

 

@Cal18, I seemed to be sleepy too often on Lyrica 150mg x 2/day. But noise can wear you down too. I took Robaxin as a muscle relaxer in the past.

 

From me - I crunch the left side last night as it's very sore, but my right side decided to ring harder today.

 

It seems we have similar problems with our necks. The sleep awakening cycle is disturbing. My neck is sore...probably upper cervical instability. I have a loud static hiss atm. I may have to try Cymbalta again even if I don't want to.

 

I have seen this TMJ Dr. in the past. I have some left TMJD. That is the side my noise is today and it is a very loud solid sound. I'm going to see another TMJ Dr. this month for a new cone beam scan.

http://mncranio.com/tmj-disorders/

https://managebackpain.com/tmj-pain/tmj-tinnitus

 

@just1morething With the exemption of a few treatments for the neck and a mouth guard or splint helping with TMJD, there's not much that really helps with somatic T for most. We have discussed PT neck treatments, disc needle nerve treatment, and neck bracing that really can help some. The problem with neck PT is that it has to done everyday and can take one to three years for solid tone deduction and lasting results.

Researchers have said that there's no one cure. They know that many things has been tired, except novel stem cells, hair cell replacement and a super drug.

The CEOs of the biggest drug companies in the world have all stated the same thing to Wall Street. They said that they are not encouraged to start several billion dollar drug trials until more is seen thru fMRI studies of individuals who had this testing done before and after tinnitus. Previous studies from the US Department of Defense with associated universities on soldiers over the last two decades were mainly MRI studies (before and after T) that contained older imaging software influence. Soldiers are the best to study because not only is there hearing loss, but physical and emotional elements.

When solid new fMRI studies with 2017 software can show the before tinnitus and after tinnitus scanning, then enough may be known to develop a brain drug. To this date fMRI studies have shown enough substantial data of difference in the brain. Certain areas light up in the brain with those with tinnitus and the pathways are known, but how the changes took place from before an individual had T is not mapped with up to date technology. The best hope for now is psych drugs that will be coming to market within a year.

 

@Greg Sacramento, I was mainly looking at this portion of the 2nd link. I know I'm all over the place looking for relief.

If the muscles in your jaw are tight and overactive, it can result in your ear canal becoming sensitised. There are many muscles involved in your jaw and ear function. However, clinically I find the “tensor tympani” and the “tensor levi palatine” muscles to be the main culprits in ringing in the ears, arising from dysfunctions associated with the jaw.

 

@just1morething I started getting fitted for a splint and all the stretching and clamping down made me worse, they also used a tens machine on me which amplified my electrical tinnitus. You can also look into https://www.tekscan.com/dental - they will measure areas of bite force and TMJ it's much more accurate than a splint. You may be able to find an expert in your area even if they're not listed on that site (just search dental t-scan).

 

Couldn't that be jaw misalignment caused? I tried chewing gum and the noise went to my right side too.

 

@Cal18, Do you ever get a loud static hiss sound in your ears/head? I was going to try Cymbalta but leary of side effects. Maybe Amitriptyline. I got a feeling left TMJ disorder may be a dead end for getting noise relief.

 

Sorry for my late response. Yes, I have that and from your previous posts, it appears we have similarities. I have an electrical hissing sound that sticks around for 2 days, then on the 3rd day its only ear tinnitus which is lower (just some whistling and white noise static sound). I also have hyperacusis - not the type that causes intense pain but the type that's extremely reactive and amplifies sounds like running water and street traffic. I have to wear plugs pretty much anywhere in public. Do you have hyperacusis as well?

 

Not really, although after my neck injections 2 days ago I couldn't tolerate a loud sports bar noise. I think there is a possible relationship with my neck and also HF hearing loss. I have a little high pitched noise atm. My typical noise is a static hissing which drives me crazy. Probably inner ear nerve damage.

 

I'm pretty sure the hissing is nerve related from all the cases I've read here. Seems also that many people with Hyperacusis have hissing which is most certainly linked to nerve related issues. I also think jaw issues (also nerve related) can create a hissing/buzzing sound as well just from what others have posted.

I remember reading some of your other posts and I think you've had some other non-ear nerve related issues as well, is that correct? Have you ever taken a tricyclic like Nortriptyline?

 

Yeah, I have tried Nortriptyline but the dry mouth was bad. I had terrible whistling noises in my left ear last night ( I thought the only way out was death) But I took serax at double my dose plus Gabapentin and I'm functioning pretty well today. I always worry about falling asleep and the noise coming back when I wake up.

 

I thought I knew them all but Serax is probably the only benzo I haven't heard of until now. I'm glad you got it under control. It gets scary when we're barely used to a certain level and then things suddenly shoot up.

Yes, the whistling noises can get pretty loud - especially in the morning. If you don't mind me asking, did the Nortriptyline help at all with lowering it and also how high did you go on the dose?

As far as pure tones and whistling go, I can say I seemed to be doing better when I was getting regular acupuncture and massage at least once per week. When I stopped that, things seemed to decline. I'm going to resume next week.

 

It seemed to help but the dry mouth was so bad. I was taking 25mg/day for awhile and another time 25mg 3 times a day. I'm reluctant to take tricyclics, SSRI's, or SNRI's because of side effects. Maybe I don't stick with them long enough to see if the side effects go away? So I am stuck with a relentless condition with no long term relief in sight for now. Still looking at neck, TMJ disorders, but not with high confidence for relief.

 

How long were you on it? 25mg 3x a day sounds very high for this medication - that's probably why your side effects were so bad. I would think 25-50mg max. My mother took Nortriptyline for around 7 months or so for fibro. She said she "felt weird" for a while, maybe for several weeks and that she did not feel any benefits until around 3 months into it. She was on a low dose - 10mg and stopped taking it eventually due to weight gain. She's Italian though so I'm sure the bread and pasta doesn't help. She said a lot of the pain came back after she stopped.

 

It's been a long time. I have Amitriptyline 50mg on hand right now. I'm not sure how to stop my loud hissing....I guess sleep for now.

 

@Cal18 This is my first post on this site. I’ve had T for approx 6 years, the result of a head injury. I’ve never before come across someone’s description of their experience that is anything like my own, yours is as close as I’ll ever find I think. It’s such a relief to know that I’m not actually crazy. My T is one sided (in the main), and it is not the same each day. It started as a whistle on day 1, followed by what I described as an electrical type of experience, not just a noise but also a feeling. On day 2, I get a feeling of being ‘plugged in’. To add to this my T on all days is reactive, but not Hyperacusis according to some of the specialists I have seen. I don’t experience pain from noise but my ears do ‘spike out’ if a noise is too loud. I took all this very badly when first diagnosed and struggled with sleep. I was given Mirtazipine AD medication to aid with mood and sleep. Unfortunately I slipped further and attempted suicide with a tablet overdose. Following that I have tried all I can to get on with life but my hearing and T are constantly changing, worsening slightly. This seemed to happen mostly if I’d been to somewhere busy like a supermarket or a pub or restaurant. So kinda like a spike but it would not return to its previous state. I too have massive issues with travelling in a car like yourself and @BLane report. I have been off the AD’s for a few years but fear I’m
close to needing them again, and maybe something else that can maybe de-sensitise the nerve? My main issue is a reaction to electrical activity. My T picks up on anything like this straight away, again similar to what @BLane mentions about AC. This has increassed/heightened recently and I am currently off work as a result. I get a reaction to anything with a fan, like a laptop, a cooker hood/extractor, blowed/heaters, air con, and now even my iPhone has an impact (oh and running water??) I fear that I will be unable to return to work which in itself brings stress, anxiety and other issues do any advice or suggestions are most welcome. I’m in the U.K. so I appreciate things are a little different but have any of you thought about or been offered Trans Cranial/Electric Magnetic Stimulation (there’s a number of variations in name) ? I wondered if this may help, or indeed if this would make it worse? My other worry now is what to do when I go out anywhere, do I wear plugs, do I try to persevere with WNG’s.....I used to wear the WNG’s, like you they make it worse and irritate what’s already there but I felt they protected my hearing from any sudden loud noise (well, until the latest increase). I now wonder if they are the reason for the ramp-up, it’s awful not knowing which way to handle. Apologies for the long post, hope everyone is managing well and any support or advice would be gratefully received.