Intermittent Tinnitus Some Nights: Could Not Using a Night Guard Be the Reason?

Hi everyone. I am 32 years old. I started having tinnitus a couple of months ago, but only some nights. Basically I wake up during the night or in the morning with tinnitus that fades away after one hour. It doesn’t happen every night but frequently (this past week it happened on four nights).

It actually happened already 11 years ago, very similarly, lasted a few months and then went away. At the time I started wearing a night bite guard and a couple of weeks later the issue went away. Not sure it was related though.

I currently don’t wear the bite guard anymore. Do you think it can be related? My old dentist is retired, I’m thinking about getting a new bite guard from another dentist but I am so scared it will make it worse. This time, compared to 11 years ago, it’s happening more frequently so I am scared it will get permanent.

I am a new mom to an amazing 14-month-old baby boy and I just want to enjoy every moment with him, but right now I feel so scared that the tinnitus will become permanent (I can’t find any experiences similar to mine), but even now that it’s not permanent, when I wake up in the night to the sound it’s not easy to fall back to sleep and the following day I need to be rested to take care of my son.

Any advice / similar experiences?

Thank you so much.

 

Hi @blake991. Sorry to hear you're going through this, especially being a new mom and wanting to focus your energy and attention on your baby.

My tinnitus is a bit similar to yours with some differences. Mine is intermittent, some days I have it and some days I don't. I often experience going to sleep with no tinnitus and waking up in the middle of the night or in the morning with tinnitus (primarily in the right ear). Where our experiences differ is that mine doesn't often calm down -- it stays "on" for the rest of that day and only resets during the next night's sleep. On rare occasions will it calm down, and I'm determining that it has to do with certain noise exposure in the day (as it turns out, hearing conversation type of noise like at a cafe or restaurant actually seems to calm my tinnitus down sometimes).

I've had my tinnitus for 19 months now, and my experience has been more or less the same since day 1.

I have the strong suspicion that mine ramps up in my sleep due to a stressor at night, like obstructed breathing (I have sleep apnea) or poor fluid flow (like the glymphatic system doing its toxin cleaning cycle in the night) or some kind of hormone trigger.

I did try wearing a night guard for a while, but it didn't seem to affect my experience. But perhaps it'll help you if your jaw/teeth is your night-time stressor.

 

Thank you Joe for your answer. I am sorry you are going through this as well.

I think you are right, I might have some night stressor, probably related to my neck or my jaw. The last 4 days it happened every night but it was really, really low, sometimes only lasted 10-15 minutes instead of the usual hour, so I could go back to sleep quite easily. I am really scared it will become permanent though.

I will book an appointment with an ENT for next week, and also with a dentist to discuss wearing the night guard again.

I am so happy with my life now and we would also want to try for a second kid in a not so distant future, I am scared that this will prevent me from doing this.

P.S.

The ear affected changes depending on the night. Sometimes it’s the left ear, sometimes the right... I really don’t understand!

 

That's interesting that it switches sides @blake991. Do you know whether you bite down or clench your jaw in various ways? Or perhaps it's related to your sleep position.

It can be challenging to pinpoint causes. Don't get too frustrated if you find it difficult to zone in on a cause. Perhaps your ENT or dentist can offer some suggestions. My experience with doctors and professionals is that everyone sees things from their point of view. For instance, my dentist thought my tinnitus was due to night jaw clenching. My chiropractor thought it was due to spine misalignment causing muscle tension. My therapist thought it was stress/anxiety.

Having said that though, given that you experienced this 11 years ago and it went away after a couple weeks of using a night guard, I'd say odds are that it's related to your teeth/jaw. Seems very correlated.

I can understand your worries about how this may affect your future plans, like having a second kid. I understand that the uncertainty of whether it's permanent weighs heavily, like you have to put plans on hold to see how this plays out. Best case you find a way to prevent it or it goes away on its own. A worse case is that it appears each morning like you're experiencing. An unmentionable even worse case of course is something more permanent than that. It's hard to imagine being able to cope with it and continue with your life plans.

If I could use myself as an example, I have two children (now 11 and 9). When my tinnitus began 19 months ago, it was so intrusive--loud all day or off all day. I was bewildered as to what was happening, scared the heck out of me, and I couldn't concentrate on my work or being a dad or husband. I had to take months off of work, and I got into a major anxiety/depression spiral.

It took a big adjustment to get my mental health in order and to get used to this new reality. I didn't think I could do what I used to do, being the sole bread-earner and a father. But at about a 9 months to a year in, I began to get adjusted and get back into being normal.

Nowadays, I live my life mostly as I used to. Sure, I have to take it easy on the loud days (it can be pretty annoying). And I try to live a simpler life to keep my stress levels in check. But I'm back at work and and back at being a member of my family, no longer reacting with anxiety or depression.

I guess what I'm saying is that what may seem like an impassable mountain now might one day be something you conquer. And you'll be able to continue on despite it.

 

Thank you Joe, your message makes me feel better. I am reading many posts here on Tinnitus Talk but reading desperate stories and reading about many suicidal thoughts is not making me any good - but your words are so kind and useful. Thank you.

 

Sure thing @blake991, I'm happy to share. I agree, reading many posts can be sobering and worrisome. I hope things go well for you. Let us know how you're progressing and if you learn anything new about your symptoms.