My Ear Ringing Is Never a Single Tone...

My tinnitus like fluctuates every second. In both ears. It’s not a steady high pitch sound that is typical of tinnitus. Maybe it was at first? I don’t know, can’t remember. It has changed so much in 3 months. Also have had echoing/burning/blaring/vibrating/fullness/loudness... Yea. Apparently ears can do these things :/

it’s literally just a constant sensation of “noise” lately. Both ears. Not one steady sound really - sometimes gets pretty high then comes back down. But all over the place.

Any ideas? Is this good or bad?

 

@sssing @Michael Leigh @humptydumpty69 @Bill Bauer

 

Mine fluctuates and changes with just minutes in-between throughout the day. Started getting pain 1.5 years after initial onset and I just saw an ENT. They put me on a nose spray and so far it seems to be helping.

 

i get it too sometimes.. it sort of undulates in tone. there's no rhyme or reason to the way tinnitus sounds. it's just the sound of overactive neural activity perceived as sound

 

@Tara Lyons

My tinnitus changes all the time, and it has been following that pattern for 6 years. It is not good or bad from the health point of view. Tinnitus like a clean dial tone or static are still very common, but ever changing tinnitus is not so unusual. Personally, I think that is very challenging to habituate to a noise that is changing all the time and I blame it for my slow progress. In my case, I think that I managed to fry the high frequency part of my hearing in the left ear and that provides way too many possibilities to the neural networks in a wide range of frequencies to fire in many different states and produce all sort of noises.

 

I would say it's not good or bad, but common. Many member here said that in the first months their tinnitus was fluctuating and all over the place.

My ultrahigh frequency sound did fluctuate a lot, changed ears, changed characteristics from electrical buzzing to whistle, went haywire, went down, did whatever the hell it wanted. Around 3-4 months (can't remember exactly because the last 7 months have been blurry) it stabilized to a grinder-dentist drill type of sound and now it's only changes in volume and shrillness.
I gained an other unwelcome sound, but other than that now it seems to be a lot more steady than it used to be.

 

The fluctuations you are experiencing and other symptoms are usually signs of Noise induced tinnitus. A lot of people with this type of tinnitus experience this in the early stages which you are in. This will probably continue for some time because your auditory system has been affected by noise trauma. It will eventually settle down. My advice as I've mentioned in my post: New to tinnitus what to do? Don't try and fix anything or go to ENT doctors and Audiologists seeking treatment in this early stage as this could aggravate the situation.

The ear is delicate and often rights itself, so leave things alone and be patient. If you are feeling overly stressed which happens, have a talk with your doctor. You have been given medication to help you relax and I suggest you continue with it. Providing you have normal tinnitus, that is without: acute pain in your ears, dizziness, balance problems or deafness, then leave things alone and progress slowly. The only other thing I would recommend if you feel that the tinnitus is affecting you too much is talking with a counsellor, preferably an Audiologist that is trained in tinnitus and hyperacusis management.

You are going through a healing and adjustment process and therefore, your brain is on high alert and noticing every little change in the tinnitus. It is a strange new noise that it hasn't heard before and it takes time to get used to it. With time the brain will gradually push the tinnitus further into the background, as it learns to accept the tinnitus and no longer sees it as a threat known as habituation.

Michael

 

@Tara Lyons
I would consider reading this and take the tests to judge for yourself.
https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/symptoms/tinnitus

Once again - I think your tinnitus will fade or dissolve.

 

It’s just a constant sensation of noise! Ugh! Why would ENT say this is Eustachian tubes? I’m guilty of being an headphone user

@Michael Leigh

 

I'm going to try harder to be patient. I have to. I know this isn’t going away overnight. I just miss silence and can’t believe I took it for granted.

Woke up to the “loudness” in my left ear. Left seems to be the worst. :/

I just feel a constant fullness and noise and the weird loudness sensation!

:/

 

@Tara Lyons

Your tinnitus may be due to Eustachian tubes. If it is the condition known as ETD: Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, then I advise you to follow the advice of your ENT doctor as this is their area of expertise. However, from what you have told me, that you were a long term user of headphones and probably listened at high volume levels even though you may not have realized it then your tinnitus is Noise induced. As I have mentioned, the most common cause of tinnitus is Noise induced, and headphone use is one of the main causes of it.

If your tinnitus is related to your Eustachian tubes, than follow the advice of your ENT doctor.

Michael

 

When you were seen at ENT, what did your doctor say was the cause of your tinnitus? And what did he/she suggest that you do?

 

He never gave me a cause. I have no answers. Just put me on a bunch of antihistamines.

 

Both of my ears are going nuts. Ringing with all different tones and loudness. And fullness. This is terrifying me!

 

My experience is that if the tinnitus is not due to otitis media or ETD or wax, ENTs have absolutely no clue what is the cause of the tinnitus, nor do they care. I know that they main area of expertise is the structure of the ear and how it works, but when I, a total layperson, know more than they do about tinnitus, that's concerning.

 

You said in your previous post your doctor mentioned Eustachian tubes? I think you should see him and ask for a diagnoses. Something usually causes tinnitus as I've previously mentioned, the most common cause is exposure to loud noise and headphone use. Your doctor gave you antihistamines for a reason? Quite frankly, I don't think it's good enough been given medicine and not told the reason for it.

Take care
Michael

 

Perhaps that is your experience and I'm not going to disagree with you. My experience with ENT doctors over the years has been quite different and I have nothing but praise for the medical professionals that have treated me. When I first got tinnitus 24 years ago, I had the usual MRI scan and hearing tests. I was advised by my ENT doctor that no underlying cause within my auditory system could be found that was causing the tinnitus. Hearing tests showed better than normal and I had no inner ear problems of the kind you mention - neither did I have a problem with my Eustachian tubes and no acoustic neuroma could be found on my auditory nerve.

I was referred to Audiology which is the usual practice in the UK, when ENT can find no underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus and Noise induced tinnitus is suspected which it was in my case due to headphones. I saw a Hearing Therapist and started TRT.

I am aware that some ENT doctors are lacking especially in their bedside manner towards patients. However, I must be honest and speak as I've found. I have an excellent ENT consultant, hearing therapist, and audiologist. My GP/family doctor that I had in London couldn't be better and showed my appreciation for all her help over the years, by buying her a gift shortly before I moved to Brighton. My present GP is very good and hope this continuous.

I am sorry to hear of the way you have been treated perhaps, if you were to get a referral to another doctor the experience will be better.

All the best
Michael

 

What do you mean by a loudness sensation and how does this differ from the tinnitus? Do you mean the tinnitus is loud or like, your own voice is loud?

My ENT originally suspected Eustachian tubes as well (it isn't for me). I think this is very much a default position to take because as awful as ETD is, there are slightly more tools in the toolbox than for cochlear damage or damage to the auditory nerve.

In your case, I don't know enough, but I wouldn't rule out eustachian tube problems yet. Do you have seasonal allergies? Do you take anything like flonase or other allergy meds?

Do you have any history of autoimmunity or fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome?

 

I don’t know how to explain it, just a loud sounding sensation but not a loud high pitch ring.

I did develop allergies when I was younger but wouldn’t the antihistamines have solved this issue??

 

That's interesting, as that sounds different from tinnitus. Does anything trigger it, like talking, exercising, sneezing, etc.?

I meant some combination of allergies and/or allergy meds being the cause. Did the antihistamines change the condition at all?

 

Nope, usually happens after I’m exposed to a lot of noise and go into a quiet place.

 

That's so strange. And you have no memory of any loud acoustic trauma? Has it faded at all in the 3 months since you've developed it?

 

It’s changed drastically. I woke up with “loudness”, dizziness, ear ringing, then it was hissing, a few echo episodes, burning, fullness, of course ringing. Blaring. Idk it’s hell.

I don’t think so?

 

Have you had the work up for Meniere's, vestibular neuritis, or labyrinthitis? Is it episodic? Chances are, if it's in both ears, all three are unlikely, but not impossible.

You say it's in both ears, but is one ear clearly worse than the other?

 

No, no one's checked me for that. Left is def worse!

 

I’m terrified it’s neurological therefore I won’t improve

 

It is understandable the way you feel but you will improve with time.....

 

There's a high likelihood that my problem is neurological and autoimmune so I know all about gloomy outlooks. In my case, I probably need a cure for autoimmune diseases and the inner ear, which is frightening to think about.

The good news is that in your case, since it's much worse in one ear, that helps to rule out autoimmune diseases, which are almost always bilateral (after the first few weeks). In my (non expert) opinion, being mostly unilateral and not noise-induced is probably a good sign. The fact that it came on suddenly and you have a clean MRI rules out a vestibular schwannoma, which is good.

I just thought of something. Have you tried a low sodium diet? That's an excellent thing within your control to try. The theory is that by reducing sodium, you reduce the amount of endolymphatic fluid of the cochlea. vestibular apparatus, or both. The beauty of this treatment is that it's wonderful for your health, BP, and tinnitus otherwise. Even if the pathology is not related, you still might see small improvements, have lower BP (therefore better stress control), etc.

See https://vestibular.org/secondary-endolymphatic-hydrops-seh

I very much wonder if you have a Meniere's like disorder going on. I am not the person to talk to about this, but maybe this will get you in the right direction.

If I recall correctly, I think @FGG mentioned having a Meniere's workup. She would know much more about this than me.

You may also want to consider trying lysine or the antiviral acyclovir. Some Meniere's patients have reported success with these.

 

I swear people on this site are more helpful than doctors.

Thank you!

 

@Tara Lyons I mentioned Lyme disease to you a few days ago. Read last paragraph.
https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Epidemiol...-Brief-History-of-Lyme-Disease-in-Connecticut