Is There a Way to Reduce Non-Tonal Whistling Tinnitus?

[JasonP]

It's not a set frequency, it's more of a light whistle, kind of like wind blowing through something. It is unmaskable. What kind of thing would be good for this? Is this in the brain or is this caused by some kind of fluid?

 

[stophiss]

It's not a set frequency, it's more of a light whistle, kind of like wind blowing through something. It is unmaskable. What kind of thing would be good for this? Is this in the brain or is this caused by some kind of fluid?

Jason,
I believe you described the most common type of tinnitus and what I have. My T sounds like a shower running...or standing next to a highway as a car rolls by at 70 mph. Or perhaps yours if it emulates a whistle is a bit more tonal.

Jason, all tinnitus is brain. Sound that is not based upon air pressure deflecting the ear drum is brain...a sound if you will without provocation. The provocation is based upon changes to the brain independent or related to any damage to the hearing apparatus. And why its so difficult to solve. Brain disorders which are based upon complex neural pathway firing are extraordinarily complex. How can the brain be regressed back to the neural pathways used for hearing that didn't create tinnitus? Would this even be compatible with a change in your hearing apparatus that may have caused your and my tinnitus? These are daunting questions that presently don't have a solid answer. That answer may come....or....there maybe a way to intercept the signal to the auditory cortex and tweak it to eliminate the unwanted frequencies we call tinnitus...doing this by implanting a small computer that is tunable. This is different than implanting the cochlea to do its job more effectively. Many of us can live with less than perfect hearing due to a cochlea that has lost its hair count. What many of us would like is a way to tune out the frequencies that are not caused by the environment. Currently and somewhat ironically, all we have presently to accomplish this is the power of the mind called habituation which of course is not the same as eliminating aberrant neurons firing in the brain that cause tinnitus.

 

[Bobby B]

I use the app on my Iphone called whist tinnitus - very good at re creating the typical high frequency hiss/air leak sound you get with acoustic trauma and match it for masking

 

[3ri0w]

Do you have short whistle tones that stop and start again?

 

[MikeL1972]

Hi stophiss,

Excellent analysis.

I remember reading about a "brain-mapping" project last week with the goal being to map the entire human brain. Obviously, this is an incredible endeavor and something that will take a while to complete. However, the potential for incredible breakthroughs once everything is documented and mapped are astounding.

 

[Jkph75]

I have the same thing, except mine is not light. Do you also have a low sound that sounds like a tugboat? I have a ton of sounds. I think I have Hydrops which would be fluid changes.

 

[JasonP]

Do you have short whistle tones that stop and start again?

I have the same thing, except mine is not light. Do you also have a low sound that sounds like a tugboat? I have a ton of sounds. I think I have Hydrops which would be fluid changes.

Well the whistle does not stop but I somtime am able to reduce it with lamictal or an antihistamine or hearing aids....sometimes

 

[3ri0w]

Well the whistle does not stop but I somtime am able to reduce it with lamictal or an antihistamine or hearing aids....sometimes

What do you mean "sometimes" with lamictal? Isn't it a medicine you have to take daily?

 

[JasonP]

What do you mean "sometimes" with lamictal? Isn't it a medicine you have to take daily?

I don't know exactly how it works but sometimes I have woken up with loud tinnitus and taken Lamictal in the morning and it lowered my tinnitus almost exactly one hour later. I still haven't quite figured it out yet why. Melatonin was also taken at night on quite a few of those days. I might have a different brain chemistry than most because I think I have a mild bipolar II issue. I have never been "manic" which is good but have had fluctuating emotions. If it were not for the T, I would have been able to be so much better as I found that fish or (fish oil) can really improve my mood, give me energy, and help stabilize me when not having T. It also seems to work pretty good with Lamictal. The problem is though, if my T gets too loud, it can cause me to get depressed after a while and then sleep more which causes depression for several reasons. One is that, the sleep will throw off my circadian rhythm. The other is that too much sleep can cause depression. If I get a reasonable amount of sleep around 7-8 hours, I am likely to more even and less than that more "excited" but the T can help bring me down and also too much "excitement" usually causes a crash later. It's like "what goes up, must come down". Its best if I can stay as neutral as possible. Sometimes I also have taken anti-histamines at night which have lowered my T in the morning but I don't think it keeps it down plus it can make me sleepy the next morning and act as a kind of depressant.

 

[3ri0w]

Yea I can relate a lot to what you are saying! But do you mean that melatonin 'causes' tinnitus on the next morning?

Wonder what it is about too much sleep causing depresssion

 

[Jazzer]

I use the app on my Iphone called whist tinnitus - very good at re creating the typical high frequency hiss/air leak sound you get with acoustic trauma and match it for masking

Bobby B. can I ask you what your hiss decibel level is ?
Jazzer

 

[Bobby B]

@Jazzer
The acutal decibel of T isnt as high as it seems maybe 15 db