Hello to Everyone

Hi all,

I am 42 years old, normally energetic, very fit, and healthy (weight train 3 days per week, aerobics 5-6 days per week, I do eat oatmeal, grains and low fat dairy but have for years, consume 5-7 servings of fruits and vegs per day, nuts, don't smoke, nor drink, etc.) and don't consume much in the way of "processed" foods.

I started getting rather bad and consistent Tinnitus 24/7 about two weeks ago. Prior to that, I was getting hints of it for a couple of weeks for very brief periods of times. I had been using a pair of headphones for work one day and the volume was very briefly loud for a couple of moments before turning it down. I never wear headphones so the overall sound of them seemed weird even at low volume.

On any rate, I have had TMJ issues for years and wear a nightguard every night as I clench my teeth in my sleep. I am due for a new one as I wear them down every 1-2 yrs, but decided to go to a TMJ expert this time instead of my dentist. I have been getting slight ear and minor headaches at times - and occasionally a slight flutter or minor plug then pop feeling in my ear....maybe every 4-5 days. My jaw muscles are sore and teeth hurt too.

I went to my general Dr. and and ENT - both said my ears look great. I did take an audio test and showed loss; I'm at 40 db and at high frequencies drop down to 60-70. This surprised me as my hearing seems pretty good.

Last year in Nov 2013, my father passed away. Prior to that time, my life was getting very, very stressful and for the first time in my life I developed anxiety and sleep issues. Even though things calmed down in my life after his passing, my anxiety stuck around and my sleep has generally been okay (actually did a sleep study last year and was normal).

I tried several SSRIs and just could not use them more than a week because of side effects even at low dosages - mostly insomnia issues. I am thinking of giving Amitriptyline a shot. I've also been using guided meditation and some CBT techniques to help manage anxiety.

I've been prescribed by a psychiatrist I see monthly .5 mg of Klonopin I use once a night - since June. I switched to 10 mg of Valium the last 10 days just to rule out the Klonopin which I think has no association to the Tinnitus.

I had been using 20mg of Prilosec once a day, but quit taking that about a month ago (ironically, the Tinnitus started around the time I quite taking it). Acid reflux has been good and Gastro Dr I saw last year for it said it was brought on my anxiety and late night eating which I stopped.

I was also using 10 mg of Buspar per day (prescribed) when the Tinnitus started although went off it and was only on that for two weeks.

What is interesting though --- unlike many, my anxiety is actually LOWER since the Tinnitus started. I guess because I am so focused now on it and I do find it more tiring to deal with. But I don't fear Tinnitus. It does kind of get me mopey and depressed (especially today) - but I don't get scared of it...just damned annoyed and am trying to learn how to cope with it and improve. I was a a restaurant last night that was fairly loud and it was nice to have it largely drowned out.

One night last week for an hour or two it dropped quite a bit in volume. Another night I woke up and it was seemingly gone! Only to reappear when I woke up.

Question: could anxiety have brought this on, or is it TMJ. When I open my jaw and keep it locked pressing my hands on my lower jaw to life it, I can sense the Tinnitus sort of change slightly. I wonder if the headphones at work had something to it too. I have a hard time believe the TMJ could be the main cause, but now I wonder?

I would appreciate your thoughts and possible direction I should take.

I'm also a home theater buff with a big surround sound system, but never played at ear hurting levels. But I realize I need to keep an eye on it.

Thank you very much for your time.

- D

 

Me too.

Assuming a standard audiogram from 0-8 kHz, a loss of 40db in the 0-4 kHz range, along with a loss of 60-70db at 6 and 8 kHz, would mean you would have a hard time getting by without hearing aids, I should think.

A normal hearing 40-45 y/o with no regular exposure to noise, should have no more hearing loss than 10db in the 0-4 kHz range, going up to 15/20 db loss in the 6 to 8 kHz range. So something is not right.

At least that would be my opinion.

 

Yeah, even my girlfriend says I have no issues hearing her.

Now, sometimes at work, when people kind of whisper or talk away from me at low levels, I do have a hard time hearing them. However, it doesn't seem unusual to me. But I really don't consider my hearing bad. (Shrugging)

Maybe the Tinnitus interfered with the test?

 

Also, how loud is too loud for my home theater with movies? My ENT Dr. so long as my ears don't hurt at a certain volume, I am fine...thoughts?

 

Get a decibel meter and measure the sound (forum members use iPhone apps but I don't know how accurate they are). We generally avoid anything above 80-85dB. You might be surprised how loud a Die Hard explosion is.

 

Your tinnitus would have to be quite severe in that case. You can have a hearing test done with pulsed frequencies, however.

But, overall, there are many variables at play in your case. Difficult to pinpoint anything specific...

 

Our inner ears are a delicate piece of biological machinery. This isn't about decibel levels and being just on the border of what is considered safe. There is a huge "go-with-the-flow" mentality when it comes to daily living - which includes a lot of noise our ears were never designed for: cinemas, concerts, nightclubs, car shows, gyms, etc.

Basically we all need to stop treating our ears like doormats. No wonder half the population ends with tinnitus in this world. Sigh...

When having tinnitus, this is what your inner ear is telling you (in the case of most people):

 

Just an update...

My T dropped by at least 80-85% for the entire day yesterday! It was very nice as I barely noticed it. Today it is back and buzzing LOUDLY. I've been better at ignoring it, but it's still there, of course.

I've gone to two TMJ experts to get opinions; both think it can be causing my T but cannot say for certain; I'm going to be going with a splint to get my TMJ back under control and see how that goes. Even if I didn't have T, I need the TMJ under a bit more control. I'm going to have to start listening to sounds/noise at night as I was woken up at 4:30 a.m. from the buzz last night...it's been raging since.

 

Just thought I would give an update on my Tinnitus.

It's been just over five months since it started and I created this thread.

The condition is somewhat slightly better. 4-5 days per week it is relatively quiet but noticeable in the form of a low ringing noise or hiss where as a couple of days per week it is much louder and more like a buzz sound. I was hoping by now it would overall be even lower, but I guess I have come to just get used to it a bit more and end up taking my mind off it more. Today is a loud buzzing day..and it is annoying when this loud.

Recently and incidentally, a 4 cm mass was found on my kidney but biopsied as benign thankfully, but will need to keep it monitored for quite a while. It has added more anxiety for me and I do hear my Tinnitus worsen when that happens.