Hello from Canada! Triple Tinnitus Experiencer Here

Hi everyone,

I'm Rick and I'm from Canada. I've actually had tinnitus since 1984 - it started right after a rock concert where I sat right in front of the Marshall stacks. The next morning I discovered both my ear drums had been damaged and I've experienced a quiet hiss in my ears ever since. I remember it bugged me for the first few months but then I got used to it and actually kind of grew to like it - it's like having my own personal white noise machine with me all the time.

However, at the beginning of this year, I noticed a louder hum in my right ear. It's not very loud and if I plug both my ears, the sound of my breathing is louder than the hum usually. Sometimes it's similar in loudness and occasionally it's louder than my breathing.

Myself and my ENT believe the cause of the new hum is adhesive otitis (glue ear) - my right ear has a sticky fluid trapped in the middle ear. It comes and goes as far as how much pressure I feel in my ear, but the hum is fairly consistent. Only when my ear is actually aching a bit from the pressure does the hum get up to be louder than my breathing (with my ears plugged).

Unfortunately, my autonomic systems haven't got the memo that this is a temporary (hopefully!) situation and that my life is not in danger. As a result, my brain is turning up the gain on my hearing in both ears and I can hear a third level of tinnitus that sounds like cicadas or heat bugs. And it gets REALLY loud. That gets my anxiety going and I start to feel dizzy and drained very quickly.

Over the last 4 or so months I have been working on habituation. I also took an online CBT course geared for tinnitus in the UK through Dr. Hasir Aazh. I can see and feel the effects of habituation as I've gone longer and longer periods without noticing the tinnitus and when I do, I usually lose focus on it within a few minutes. However, starting last night at bedtime, I've been experiencing a spike where the cicada sound is back and its quite loud and triggering my anxiety. Hopefully it will pass and I'll got back to having a lot more good days than bad.

Anyway, I hope to learn more about my tinnitus here and perhaps help others on their journey. Because of the damage I did as a teenager, my ENT is confident that my tinnitus will get worse as I age (currently 52) and that likely the hum I am experiencing now will go away once the glue ear clears up. I have to admit, in the last month or so it has been much better - very little pressure in the right ear and the hum has been quiet. I suspect a hike up north has triggered this latest spike, as there was pollen everywhere on the trail we took (my wife and I).

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! I didn't mean to write a small novel, but that's just how it goes some times.

Rick

 

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk from another Canadian. You seem to be on the right track of recovery. Spikes and setbacks can happen on the road to recovery or habituation. Try to stay calm and positive that spikes will usually settle down to the baseline. This way you won't trigger the limbic nerves and end up with fight or flight mode of response to tinnitus, which can intensify its ringing. Try to read up the success stories to remain hopeful things will improve. Take good care. God bless your recovery.

 

Hello fellow Canadian!

 

Hi everyone,

Sorry for my delayed response. When I did my original post, the site was responding terribly slowly. I checked back over the following days and even weeks, but the site was having some type of issue. Obviously that has cleared up, as the site seems fine now.

So, an update on my situation: the hum in my right ear is still there, but it is very mild. I've been using a tool called Otovent which has greatly helped in clearing up my glue ear. I just saw the ENT in Aug and he said things are looking much better in that department. I have another appointment in Feb - if things are the same or better, we'll call the case closed. If it is worse, then I'll wind up getting tubes in my eardrum to drain the remaining fluid.

But more importantly, the reactionary tinnitus is still happening. It gets very, VERY loud sometimes. But the weird thing is it doesn't bother me at all. Usually (like right now) I notice it, but within a few seconds, it fades in to the background like the sound of a fridge running. What I used to lament earlier was that I couldn't let my mind wander as the tinnitus would just grab 100% of my attention. Thankfully that is not longer the case. I know that I'll have to deal tinnitus for the rest of my life, but if I can remain habituated, it should be doable. I do regret the loss of silence - but that was inevitable given how poorly I treated my ears as a teenager and young adult.

One complication I ran into is that my Dad also suffers from tinnitus. His is really bad, as he was a police officer and in the 70's and 80's they used to fire guns in the basement at the police station - without ear protection! Unfortunately, earlier this summer my Dad tried to commit suicide over his tinnitus. Fortunately my Mom discovered his situation and called 911 and he was rescued. He's on the road to recovery, working with a phycologist and trying very hard to habituate to his tinnitus. I've been trying to help my Dad along and help myself at the same time. It's a rough road, but we're getting there!

When my Dad had his episode, it was just when my tinnitus was ramping up. I was very anxious that his fate was my fate, but over the last few months, I'm feeling like both of us are going to get through this - together!

Thanks for your support and reading this far.

Cheers!

Rick