Evolving Tinnitus After ~10 Years

Hi! I have joined the forums after 10 years of tinnitus as over the last few weeks I have developed some new sounds in the mix and need some support/guidance.

Then... (my history with tinnitus)
I first experienced temporary tinnitus after going to gigs and playing in bands throughout my teens.
I stupidly ignored this warning, and continued to do these things without protection for many years.
Eventually the tinnitus got too loud and it never stopped. My sound is a high pitched hiss/beeping.
I became depressed/anxious/suicidal and sought medical help, where I was informed there was no cure or treatment available, and that I must learn to cope with it and move on.

I continued to ignore the warnings, thinking it could not get worse, and started to go to raves which were generally louder than the concerts and did not have proper equipment or sound technicians. I listened to loud music through ear buds to mask the tinnitus, which eventually made it worse.

I went through some positive changes in my life, and with some struggle, I learnt to accept the constant ringing was just "the sound of silence" and I began to lead a normal life, and the noise faded into the background.

I was very comfortable with my tinnitus and had coping mechasims, which were effective for about 5 years, until last week, when I've gone back into panic mode...

Now... (new additional sounds)
I was doing some work in the garden taking up decking with a metal hammer and crowbar with headphones in. Occasionally I would take the headphones out to talk, or my friend would take over, and there were moments where I did not have headphones in and heard the banging of metal on metal. Stupid...

It wasn't until a few days after this incident that I noticed a new "chirping" sound in my left ear. It sounds like the random squeaking of breaks when you are walking next to traffic, the boiling point of an old kettle, or a hearing aid that is faulty. The sound is right inside my ear, as if it is being played from an earbud. It seems to be reactive, and only chirps when I move. If I hold my finger inside my ear or wear an ear plug it mostly stops, and luckily, when I lie on my left side to sleep, it also stops. (I have had a similar sound before temporarily and thought nothing of it because it would quickly disappear.)

There is also now a lower pitched and louder version of the usual sound I hear in both ears, but only in my left.

The constant ringing I can cope with, but this random chirping is very loud and really grabs my attention. I am unable to focus or relax, and my mind is drifting from conversations or movies. I know giving attention to these sounds will fuel the fire, as my "usual" sounds are much more noticeable now, but I am finding it very difficult to ignore this chirping. I can hear it over most things I try to mask it with.

I am going through a lot of stress at work at the moment that already has me on edge, and when I realised these new sounds may not stop any time soon, I had a big freak out/panic attack. and again the following nights. This was about 3 days ago.

Moving forward... (what I will try to do)
My GP said there was nothing wrong from what he can see, and prescribed me anti-depressants, which I do not plan on taking if possible. He has forwarded me to Audiology/Tinnitus specialist and I will have an appointment hopefully in the next few weeks to get an updated MRI.

My hope is that the chirping noise will fade away, as it has on the random nights I've heard it before.
Or maybe there is something physical that can be done to relief this chirping, because of the fact that the noise stops when my ear is plugged, or lying on my left side and staying very still.

My fear is that nothing can be done, as I feel it will be much harder to habituate to this new chriping sound than it was to the constant beeping sound. I have overcome this before, and I will overcome it again, I just hope and pray that the chirping can stop...

I'm trying my best to keep my cool, and reading through success stories there are some of you that have gotten over this, but I just needed to voice my concerns somewhere to others that understand, and hopefully get some reassurance. I also plan to document my journey here.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck to you all.

 

Sounds like it's been a week since the incident? I am new to the community so take my advice with a grain of salt. It seems though that lots of people report spikes or new noises from what would be loud but tolerable noise for a normal person, followed by a return to baseline within a couple of weeks. I've also read that the fact that it's not persistent means there's a higher chance of it fading. Though if the noise was exceptionally loud or your hearing is muffled you may want to seek steroid treatment like prednisone ASAP.

You mentioned an MRI, but many people here have acquired or worsened tinnitus from the loud machine even with ample hearing protection. If you can find out which machine they use you may be able to see how loud it is and find a quieter machine or forego the MRI entirely.

Thank you for sharing your previous experience with tinnitus. I am new to the condition and it helps to know that you were able to cope with it. If you coped before I'm confident you will able to cope again, but hopefully just giving your ears a rest for a few weeks will get you back to your original baseline. I would also hope you can destress and relax as there are physical triggers for tinnitus and yours does change based on physical movements.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply!

What you say is definitely reassuring, there is a lot of new information here for me which is great news.

The incident happened last Monday on the bank holiday, and the symptoms ramped up during the following days, coupled with work stress.

Things I have been recommended IRL are not recommended here, so I will go over the MRI and medication options with the specialist before jumping in any machines or taking pills. I'm quite against getting into anti-depressants, after winning my previous mental battles alone, but maybe this is a good opportunity to address my anxieties and possible imbalances.

I'm unsure if this is placebo, but earplugs really helped the chirping, while exaggerating the beeping. I made an earplug from cotton wool and this has given some relief, and hope that maybe a hearing aid or something can assist with the chirping in particular.

As of this morning I will stretch, meditate, and visualise daily, while focusing on diet changes. I also opted to go back into work as WFH is quiet, which was great before, but a distraction now, lol.

 

HI @Liam Robinson

Noise induced tinnitus will usually remain stable for many years after habituation has been achieved but if hyperacusis is present, the person is likely to experience random spikes due to the auditory system being oversensitive to sound. You haven't said whether you had hyperacusis prior to the recent increase in your tinnitus? To keep things simple I will assume you didn't have hyperacusis.

Since the tinnitus is noise induced, there are two possibly three things that will cause it to increase and make one hear multiple tones that previously weren't there. The first and most common is further exposure to loud noise or the use of headphones, earbuds even at low volume. In the case of exposure to loud noise, this can happen even when ear defenders or specialist earplugs are worn. If external sound is loud enough it will pass through the head and transfer to the inner ear by bone conduction and irritate the cochlea. This can spike the tinnitus, that may reduce to its previous baseline level after a while, or increase it to a new permanent one.

Stress has a direct impact on tinnitus and tinnitus is an integral part of our mental and emotional well-being. Stress makes tinnitus worse and tinnitus makes stress worse. It can become a vicious cycle as one feeds the other. It is impossible to completely eliminate stress from our lives, because life by definition is problematic and all of us experience problems. The best we can do is to try and keep it as low as possible. You have said that you're currently experiencing stress at work. Try and find a way to make your working environment less taxing and more pleasurable.

Your GP has done the right thing by referring you to Audiology as these health professionals usually specialise in noise induced tinnitus. Hopefully you will see either an Audiologist or Hearing Therapist and it's likely they will have tinnitus. Hearing loss can also cause tinnitus to increase so you'll probably have a full hearing tests as well as MRI.

I advise you to consider taking the antidepressant that your doctor has advised, as this will help to reduce your stress and hopefully the tinnitus since they are linked. Please click on the links below and read my posts, then go to my started threads and read the following posts: Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? The Habituation Process, Acquiring a Positive Mindset, Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, From Darkness Into Light. Hyperacusis, as I See It.

All the best,
Michael

Tinnitus, A Personal View | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Tinnitus and Mental Health | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Hi, thanks for the info!

I had actually saved your posts to have a good read through already hehe.

I didn't have hyperacusis previously, but since the incident, pretty much any noise or movement now seems to make a high pitched squeal in my left, and this new loud lower pitched sound makes the "old" noise in my right seems like nothing lol.

I'm hoping the "reactive" bit can calm down as that's really bothering me, and that the new constant sound will at least quieten down a bit as I try to relive the stress.

Either way I must learn to live with the changes once more, it's just deeply upsetting to have to go through this for a second and more intense time.

I'm just massively thankful that the reactive chirping stops when I lie down so I can sleep lol.

 

You said you’ve heard this sound on random nights before. Did it last several hours and you woke up and it was gone?

I’m also intrigued by the fact that you don’t hear it when you plug your ears or put earplugs in. And that when your head is in certain positions it seems to disappear. That sounds to me like there might be a somatic component to it vs. it being noise induced.

Are you having any problems with your neck or jaw?

 

Hi

Yeah I've had a similar noise to this before that just lasted a night or so once or twice, but not this intense.

This evening I've been laying on my side plugged up and it's been relatively calm until I removed the cotton plug and sat up to watch the screen.

I hope that it is somatic and coincidental - I'm very tense and clenchy and have to tell myself to calm down and release, more often recently with life stresses.

I would like to say that my ear feels odd, but it could just be due to the fact I've been trying earplugs etc.

EDIT: After saying this, I've put a noise cancelling plug back in, lied down and I can still hear the squealing

 

Sounds like you may have TTTS. I am having very similar thing happen with my left ear. My historically "good ear".

 

TTTS is a new term for me. Is there relief for this?

The sounds got so loud last night I feel like I was under attack, had a a big panic attack and leg spasms. I felt sick and dizzy before going to bed and I still do after waking up.

The high pitched zapping chirping stopped after the attack and lying still on my side, but it still chirps when I move today and I'm scared to move...

I'm going to call 111 and try to get seen today because this is unbearable

 

Sorry to hear you are going through such a difficult time at the moment Liam. This is the reason I have sent you my post on mental health and tinnitus because it can be very stressful. Please take the advice of your GP on antidepressant. I also advise that you do not read up on conditions such as TTTS, Noxacusis etc etc. Believe me, it is not going to help you as this will often instil negative thinking which is something you don't want. Try to calm yourself down although I know it's not easy. Play low level sound enrichment.

When it's possible take your time and read through my articles as they are a form of counselling, and mostly deal with the way tinnitus affects us emotionally. If you are able to print and refer to them often instead reading them on a screen, that will be better, as this will help to reinforce positive thinking.

All the best
Michael

 

I was prescribed Amitriptyline and Betahistine. I haven't taken any yet because I lost the prescription and had to get another which I picked up today. I have taken multivitamins, fish oil, and magnesium supplements for the last 2 days as recommend on here.

Sunday was a good day and I had a break from the zapping chirping sound after a hot bath, stretching, and meditating. I had also put some high fidelity ear plugs (for music) in when going outside and banging around in the kitchen and the pressure from these seemed to stop the chirping sound. I repeated my mantra from years before that this is just an alarm bell reminding me to live my life and take care of myself. I will overcome this. Then I heard a hoover in the distance and had a bit of a wobble cos I didn't know if it was in my head or not.

The low buzzing got so loud that I couldn't sleep that night, it kept waking me up. Though I think this is partly due to the stupid pillow speaker I tried out in the evening (for 5 minutes before deciding direct sound was probably a bad idea).

I attempted to go to work today to distract myself but there was a lot of noise and I had a breakdown and had to go home. I calmed down, had some nice Lunch.
I put some waterfall sounds on to try and mask the returned chirping so I could focus on work, but I had an odd feeling after a while. I turned it off and the chirping has "broken through" into a VERY loud constant squeal that is absolutely unbearable. Am currently waiting a call back from 111 again.

I stuck my head in between the fridge and the wall and the humming of the fridge seems to have resolved the squeal to the original chirping. This seems very usual compared to my other tinnitus, and I can definitely feel pressure inside of that ear now. I really hope this is something physical that can be treated. I can accept the high hiss and the low buzz as mental, or baseline, but this is variable chirping is very strange as it seems to be effected by external things.

I've calmed down and have prepared to do the course of meds but everything is telling me that this particular thing is related to the nerve or pressure or something like that behind the drum. I really hope so...

My cat knows there is something up because he is usually doing his own thing but is up for a cuddle today lol.

 

I have had a high pitched hissing in both ears that I've managed without issues for ~10 years. Caused from exposure during gigs and parties etc.

A few weeks ago my left ear was exposed to a metal hammer hitting a metal crowbar a few times after removing protection and someone else taking over.

Over the last few weeks I have developed a mid-range beeping which I could deal with, but on top of this there is an intermittent high pitched chirping/zapping much like the squeaking of car breaks in traffic or morse code. Maybe an old kettle at boiling point.

It has progressively gotten worse. At the start of this I could silence it by lying on my left or plugging the ear. I have had a day of silence which was hopeful, until I listened to a waterfall track that caused the sound to "break through" into a VERY loud constant squeal. This was resolved back to a chirping/zapping by listening to the humming of the fridge, but since then, the chirping noise has not stopped and has gotten louder.

I'd like to say I feel some light pain and pressure, and it's almost as if I can "feel" the noise now. My guess is that there is something wrong with the nerve or inner ear. I am very tense in my jaw neck and shoulders also. I have been stretching and meditating to relieve the anxiety and calm the spikes of my usual tinntius.

My GP did not want to listen to a word I had to say and just sold me Amitriptyline, Betahistine and Diazepam and sent me on my way. He referred me to ENT but there is a 42 week wait...

I'm currently sat in urgent care waiting to be seen as I'm verging on suicidal now. I've not slept properly or been able to focus or relax for days and I'm terrified this will continue, as it is much more invasive than my regular tinnitus which I could even fall asleep to the sound of.

I'm praying that this particular noise has a physical cause that can be addressed because I am not sure I can habituate to this one. It's so high pitched, loud, and intrusive I cannot see how I can deal with it.

They just told me to listen to white noise on YouTube and they will call me back to start an investigation.

They said I must explain the slight pain/fullness/zapping feeling "properly" otherwise they will just dismiss it as psychological.

I know my tinnitus well and I'm sure there is something physical at play here regarding this new chirping sound.

I think I'll go to a private clinic for a second opinion also as I'm not so confident that they will take this investigation seriously...

Thanks for listening to my rant. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

 

Sounds like the issue I am having now. I notice it over any sound. I'm getting desperate about it too.

 

Did this ever improve for you? I’m having symptoms like these. Very high frequency zaps.

 

Honestly you had plenty of warning signs and yet you continued to bash your hearing. Don't know what else to say but protect your ears and good luck.

 

I'd love to hear how things worked out for you. So many of your symptoms are similar to mine that it's almost like looking into the future.