Is This a Normal Tinnitus Sound?

Hey guys. Sorry for asking so many questions. You are probably tired of me by now. Just trying to piece everything together.

Anyway, my tinnitus is normally a hiss and I've been getting a ringing recently too. But, lately the hiss has gotten very wild. Now it constantly changes from hiss to static to eeeee and then back again. This happens every few seconds. Because it happens so quick. It almost feels like my tinnitus is pulsating.

Can anyone relate to this or know what I am on about?

 

It’s totally normal tinnitus behaviour. Many of us have experienced exactly what you describe. My advice to you is to stop prioritising your tinnitus because you will make your brain pay more attention to it and you will become obsessed. That’s the mistake I made. You need to start doing new things; break old routines and surprise yourself. You have to be very unpredictable to really divert your attention elsewhere, and you also have to give yourself meaningful things to do. Things that require your absolute attention so that there simply isn’t time to think about the noise. Over time, for most people, the brain will reprioritise the tinnitus signal as ‘meaningless’, or, ‘boring’ if you don’t constantly stress about it. Your active consciousness will slowly begin to pay little attention to it, or at least, a lot less attention to it.

 

True. I have already habituated once. But, with two recent spikes. It's all came back with a vengence. The problem is. This new constant changing tinnitus is a lot harder to mask. So, It's staying on my mind a lot more than my old hissing sound.

 

I’ve habituated 3 times. Not sure if I should count the first time, however, because it was when I was 19 and it was mild tinnitus heard in quietish areas. After a career playing in live bands, and attending live gigs and clubs, at 32 (after a really loud gig) my ears had gone past the tipping point. What I ended up with was MUCH MUCH worse, and I can relate to what you’re describing. However, I became extremely distressed by it which drove me to obsession. And it's my belief that this obsession drove my distress which further drove the obsession, etc. A vicious cycle.

When our emotions get caught up in it it becomes a very different animal. Instead of our brain ignoring it, it shines a spotlight on it instead, and keeps nudging us to remind us that it’s irritating. Certain behaviours can be bad for tinnitus, and unfortunately, most of them are hardwired and very difficult to change. However, it’s not impossible. Certain actions that we can adopt, but don’t serve a beneficial purpose (such as overprotecting our ears), can end up making us feel worse as we further prioritise the noise. This creates an unnecessary fear which can trigger all the same emotions, and stress, that may have made you obsessed in the first place. This obsessive behaviour can feed tinnitus and make it all too important. Break these negative patterns and protect your ears around real noise and in time you will move past it.

The third time I habituated was very recently after an MRI. It gave me a new tone in my left ear which is still there, but my previous experience taught me a vital lesson. I strongly believe that is why I rehabituated relatively quickly. I tried to cut the negative emotional response by forcing myself to get out of my own headspace. It’s extremely difficult to do, but after a lifetime of miserable events, I’m quite well adapted. This is also the reason why CBT, mindfulness, yoga etc, are often recommended.

 

Such great advice, Ed. I don't think my latest spike is going anywhere, I'm coming up to the 8 week mark now and it's stronger than ever.

Just a quick question if you don't mind, I currently have three different tones which is making it really difficult. The first tone is my original tinnitus, it's very manageable. The other two are new and frequently change ( from an eee to a whistle to a thunder noise) Are there any techniques to habituate two new tones that keep changing at the same time? Is it possible ? Or does it happen one at a time?

 

Same as the above really. Sometimes it just takes a really long time. I have fluctuating tinnitus with various tones and sounds. I used to dread waking up because I never knew what horror I was going to wake up to, and this included waking up in the night to a barrage of noise that would put me into a state of terror.

When I wake up now my brain just doesn’t care. It’s the new norm and I have calmed my CNS down to the point where my limbic system no longer reacts to it.

Look on YouTube and you will find various real life accounts of people with severely intrusive tinnitus that have habituated. It takes time to adapt and accept it. And I suppose there are people who will never adapt as well.

 

That's very encouraging, thank you.

I am quite terrified to go to sleep at the moment, I'm so scared what I will wake up to. It gives me a lot of hope you once felt that way too and now you're doing well.

 

Tinnitus is unpredictable and it can change from sounds to other sounds, this is 100% normal. Trying to listen, observe the sounds is not something i'd recommend. This behavior will drive you crazy and simply does no good. All of us have had this issue and still get it. Tinnitus for me is basically "mind over matters". Yes, the intrusive tinnitus is there 24-7, I pay NO MIND/NO Attention to it.

This is the approach, that lets us live with such a horrible ordeal. Distract yourself more and don't fixate, listen or even obsess over the ringing. It's not always easy to do, but it is doable......