How to Find Out What Triggers Tinnitus?

Hi everyone!

I’m having trouble understanding my tinnitus. I have no idea what makes it better or worse, like I’m not sure if certain foods make it worse or not. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to find this out? I know it’s a stupid question but everyone keeps telling me to understand the sound more and see what triggers it.

 

Trial and error is really the only way...
Tinnitus and hyperacusis are different for everyone.
Food triggers for me are Salt and Sugar - so my tinnitus may be blood pressure triggered.
Sound triggers are - cutlery, clanking plates, too many people talking and flushing toilets... yep !
Being tense can also trigger mine - I think neck and jaw tension play a huge part.

I hope you find yours and that today is a tinnitus free day or at least a quiet one.

X

 

Do you get pain with your H @Kelvin?

 

Hello @katieo.

I don't think there is such a thing as a stupid question when it comes to dealing with tinnitus. Knowledge is power and the more questions we ask the more knowledgeable we become.

So, go ahead and ask as many questions as you can think of, this forum has many members who will be happy to help you out if they can.

I agree with @Kelvin when he said....

 

Just trial and error. I've had tinnitus for over 3 years and sometimes I still don't know what triggers it.
Some predictable triggers for me are:
Sleep - this is a big one. If I don't get adequate sleep my tinnitus seems to be more intrusive the next day.
Noise exposure - another big one for me. It's usually a delayed reaction. Some people don't seem to react to loud noise. Consider yourself lucky if you don't.
Stress is another factor that seems to contribute.

You can either keep a mental note or a quick journal on how much sleep you are getting etc. and how much it's bothering you. That being said, paying more attention to it and always monitoring it early on is counterproductive.

 

Lack of sleep is a big trigger. Also, the noise exposures can result in a delayed spike, and can take a few days to appear.

Best is to keep a journal of potential exposures, and also the T levels by the day and try to correlate things. After a while you figure things out. I have learned that if it is loud enough to have my ears crackle, then it can cause a spike. One weird example is a sideburn trimmer, and I would not have guessed that a little AA battery driven device could be loud enough to cause any harm, yet now I use my earplugs with it as I figured out it really could as it is so close to the ear in use.

 

@Allan1967 No I don't have any pain at all Allan. I consider myself lucky. I have constant background tinnitus that 'reacts' and ramps-up massively in response to certain noises and noise situations. I call it hyperacusis as it seems my hearing is hyper sensitive?
I have learnt most triggers.

Sleep was another one I forgot to mention. Sleep re-sets for me and if I wake up with sensitive hearing then it stays that way until the next sleep.

It's such an odd beast...

In a massive desire to get on with life I have recently been going to gigs again. I use foam earplugs and seem to escaped triggering the horrible hissing snake. However before one gig we were in a bar with complex conversations and clanking glasses etc and my hearing hated that. It hisses and everything gets a mess.

I hope you are getting at least some time-off from the beast Allan.
I take every quieter day and just try and enjoy it. When it's bad I try and keep busy and focus elsewhere.

 

I used to keep track daily of how loud my tinnitus is, scale it from 0 to 10 and then write down what I had eaten on that day and if my tinnitus was louder than usual.

The problem with this is that I found myself focusing on my tinnitus way too much. I struggled to keep my mind off it. So I scrapped the whole process.

For me Nutella (hence sugar) makes my tinnitus go haywire!

 

Mine appears to have become the same, especially since I came off Venlafaxine.

 

Yep even a small amount of sugar makes mine hiss like a snake within a short space of time !
I wish I knew why but I think blood circulation and pressure are at the root of it.