Introduction — Tinnitus Since Birth? Getting Worse in My 50's

I have had tinnitus since I was a little boy, maybe from birth. It sounds a lot like katydids. The sound pulsates with my heartbeat. I also hear a low tone that only happens when all is quiet. It kind of sounds like the hum of a refrigerator running. I'm hearing both sounds at the same time as I type this.

And if I hear a loud noise close to me, like a truck horn, I'll wake up in the middle of the night, for the next couple of nights, with a distinct tone in my ears like the tone TV stations used to play when they went off the air for the night.

My tinnitus has been getting worse now that I'm in my 50's. I've become sensitive to high pitched sounds, like pots and pans clanging together. Loud, high pitched female voices are also a problem for me.

Some days my tinnitus isn't very noticeable. Other days, it's disturbing. I hope it doesn't get so bad that I eventually spend my days in torment and have to go on sedatives. I try not to think about that possibility.

I went to an ear doctor recently and he recommended "Lipo-Flavonoid Plus." I hope it helps.

 

Welcome to the forum. The above description seems to me you have a certain degree of hyperacusis. That happened to me besides my ultra high pitched T a few years back. All normal sounds seemed too loud and piercingly hurtful to the senses as they felt glassy & pitchy. Yes, I couldn't stand dish washing sound at the kitchen when plates and pots clanging together making those high pitched sound. I couldn't even stand my wife's voice when spoken too close to me. If you H is of this type, there is a good chance it may fade within the year. It happened to me and many folks who reported initial H struggle. It takes some time but it will be the first to fade. Here is my story and another guy whose T & H also got better over time. Take care & God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light-how-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.12911/#post-162785

By the way, there is a Hyperacusis Support forum here on TT too. So you can also try to post some questions on your issue with sound sensitivity there.

 

Thank you for that!

 

I attended an ATA-sponsored webinar earlier this evening on T, and one of the presenters said that there was going to be another webinar in May on hyperacusis. More info is here: https://www.ata.org/news/events/ata-webinar-hyperacusis

It's always surprising to read or hear of someone having T since they were a young child. When you told people what you heard, did they understand what it was?

 

Thank you for the info on the webinar. I can't remember trying to explain the sound to anyone when I was a child. I didn't know it was unusual. I thought everyone heard a noise in their ears. My earliest memory of being conscious of tinnitus was when I was watching an episode of Star Trek (the old series) when I was about 6 or 7 years old. Kirk and the gang were on the surface of a planet, and there was this noise --a constant tone, or tones-- that played continually. I think a few of the planets they landed on had that noise. I remember thinking, "That sounds a lot like what I hear in my ears."

 

Do you have to be a member to view the webinar?

 

That is hilarious. They must have landed on the alien Planet of Tinnitus. Because Kirk & Spock both got tinnitus from an unexpected explosion on a Star Trek set and here is a video clip of William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) talking about how he got his T with David Letterman.

David Letterman with William Shatner - March,...

 

LOL I've seen that interview before, but I never made the connection. That's great. Thanks!

And now for your listening pleasure, I just found the tinnitus sound on Star Trek from when I was a kid. Go to the 11:10 mark.........
http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/104239/Star_Trek_the_Cage/

I wish my tinnitus had been caused by an explosion. I'd be more hopeful of it stopping one day.

 

Come to think of it, that Star Trek sound would probably work well for masking tinnitus.

 

Nope, you only have to sign up. At least for the one I attended I didn't have to be a member.

 

Thank you very much Billie for the link, this interview was really great to watch, I knew that William Shatner had Tinnitus, but I din't know that David Letterman had Tinnitus too! It's a relief to see them both so funny in this interview despite their suffering!

 

Hilarious! We can suffer and still have a lot of humor!