My High-Pitch Reactive Tinnitus + Lower Pitch Resonances

@Greg Sacramento, thanks for the help! Would eating foods that have B12 or Omega 3 be sufficient enough? Or do I need higher doses through supplements?

 

You could first try a portion of trout, catfish - be careful of bones, salmon or any fish twice a week. Lots of articles, some professional studies. It worked for me. Read toward end of article.

Brain Zaps: Causes & Treatments For Electrical Shock Sensations - Mental Health Daily

 

15 months (short update) - long stretches of tinnitus being more "in the background", with irritating and annoying flare-ups that don't last horribly long. Much of it has that "static" quality some people talk about. I almost always wake up to a really calm hiss, tends to get more agitated if I do too much throughout the day and tire myself out, but it settles when I relax.

 

Thank you for these updates. They are especially helpful for newbies who are struggling. Can you tell me when the anxiety/panic (if any) settled for you?

 

Late spring/early summer is when I had gotten back into making lots of jokes at work, settled into a normal sleep pattern, and was eating normally. So between maybe five and six months.

Also, quick 16 month update: the difference between now and my worst period is night and day. The sound just keeps getting thinner and thinner, overall, and I'm able to forget it's there for long stretches of time. It did elevate over several days while I was in the hospital (something totally unrelated), and I can't pinpoint whether that was noise, stress, or lack of sleep... and maybe those things can't be separated out because they are all so dependent on one another. After I got out it settled back to its lowest point fairly quickly (within 24 hours), and I occasionally just listen to it and find myself amazed that it has really gotten so much better.

Mind you, I still don't fully understand what happened in the first place.

 

Hey Jerad, did you end up going on B12? I saw an integrative doctor today, who said I need to bump up my B12 and Ferritin. Not surprised since my diet is practically non-existent since the relapse. She wanted me to have a B12 jab, but I opted to go with B12 sublingual.

I hope you're ok.

 

Thanks for reaching out, @DebInAustralia. I tried B12, but didn’t notice any change really (maybe I need to get a higher dosage). I was eating a lot of foods that naturally contain it. I didn’t take any supplement.

I’m not familiar with Ferritin. What is that?

 

Hi Jerad,

Have you tested your B12 (required for nerve health), Folate (works alongside B12 to make red blood cells and maximises Iron utilisation) levels?

Mine are just under lower range, but integrative doctor felt B12 injections were necessary. I will do sublingual B12 for a while, and see. She has recommended I take 1000mcg/day. My Ferritin is low again. I did have an Iron infusion back in 2020 during the tail end of another flare in my tinnitus. Maybe that is why it backed off? Ferritin is a blood protein that is involved with Iron storage and release when needed. So, a low Ferritin can point to Iron deficiency anaemia.

 

@DebInAustralia, I haven't had them checked. Thanks for the suggestion. What does the iron infusion entail? That’s good it might have helped back then. Is your tinnitus also a feeling, or just a sound? Mine feels like electricity and causes pain sensations. Is yours like that, too?

 

...Seventeen months? I guess? I worry a bit about plateauing and not quite achieving the elusive "non-issue" level. It's OK most of the time, but as I get tired over the course of the day, the shrill tones are more prone to peeking out over the top of the gentle hiss. I'm sick of having to lie down to let it settle, when the rest of me is not even tired, but that's what works, unfortunately. Kind of what I wrote in my 15 month update; may have to go longer between updates, once I get to a round number, like every three months or every six months.

 

Hi, it's the 18 month (1.5 year) mark. Nothing earth-shattering to report; mostly doing OK. I think I'm going to go for a longer stretch before posting more updates on this thread, as I suggested previously; if there's anything major to report in 3 months, I'll let you know; otherwise, see ya in November. Best wishes of relief and comfort for all of you.

 

Hi Keith,

I was wondering how you are progressing?

Best,
Jane

 

I was going to wait until the two year mark (November) but since you asked, I seem to be slowly getting better all the time on average. It still has its ups and downs, but fortunately I don't think I've hit a plateau. Right now it's really soft and gentle, but that can change if I stress myself out or stay up too late. Thanks for asking. I'll do an "official" update in November.

 

Thank you so much for the update. Your story is really hopeful to me and other people.

 

Hey Deb,

How are you? How long have you been in a relapse and do you know what caused it?

I’m in a spike/worsening tinnitus basically because of stupid, stupid, stupid me.

Went to a concert to celebrate my son’s 18th birthday. Outdoor venue. Concert was only an hour and a half. Decibel reader ranged between 70s to low 90s. I had 30 dB NRR earplugs safely in with sealant. I had tried to double protect, which was my original plan, with adding over the ear defenders. I’ve used that for Broadway musicals and it’s been perfect. My ENT even endorsed my plan. I had to take the over the ear defenders off because the percussion was reverberating to my body and I understood that that could easily lead to bone conduction hearing loss.
I had none of the signs of a temporary threshold shift. After the concert everything sounded normal. The next day I noticed my tinnitus was revving up. My left ear, which is usually the better of the two, has gotten consistently worse. I have a very high pitched hiss. Sometimes if I plug my ears it sounds like band saws are going off in my ears. But I used to get that before, just not as annoying as it is now. And for me it would fluctuate. Now it’s just loud, annoying and intrusive because I can’t mask it. The high frequency nature sounds I used to use no longer work. I’m now reacting to them which I understand is a form of hyperacusis. I don’t have any problems with feeling pain or anything around noises. I’m trying to rest my ears. I started steroids in case I caused any damage. I had to increase my antianxiety meds to cope. Definitely in a pickle. Can’t see the ENT for another three weeks. Hearing test in 4 weeks. Not sure they can do anything for me but tell me to wait it out and hope for the best.

I hope you’re doing better than me.

 

Hi, I wish you good recovery!

I wanted to ask you, what is a sealant and how do you use it? Can it be found on Amazon? Thank you!

 

Westone. It is a sticky sealant that helps the earplugs adhere to your ear canal.

 

Two years: well, right at this moment I'm doing pretty well, but I still wouldn't call it "out of the woods." I get flare-ups when I'm tired and/or stressed. Sometimes at work I go for as much as an hour or so without even noticing it or thinking about it, though it usually ramps up a bit when I sit down to take a break. Nothing about this is linear, but I'm definitely in a better place than when I was a few months in. I have to keep reminding myself how utterly impossible it was to think or focus. Now at its worst it's annoying, but not debilitating.

Best wishes to everyone and I hope the medical field catches up.

 

This just a couple of weeks after my two year post and I just want to point out that part of my baseline tinnitus sound, the "fuzz on top", has been thinning and receding into nothingness or near-nothingness for the majority of time over the past few days. This is after two years of mixed progress and long periods of plateauing or "stalling." So keep up the hope. I'm keeping up the hope.

 

Three year report: I don't feel like writing much, but I'm doing well. There has been real progress in the third year, just as in the second year. The light hiss is mostly staying in the background. Occasional flare-ups, can be triggered by stressful situations, but not as bad as before.

I had imagined that I would be doing this painful thing of forcing myself to get back on the music horse, like a disabled athlete in a movie trying to re-learn everything he/she did previously, but in a new way, if you have a sense of the trope I'm talking about. Instead it's more like... the music just naturally becomes interesting to me again, and it gets easier and easier to listen to without having to psych myself up to do it. And I haven't lost all the hearing that I thought I had lost. The clarity mostly came back, and if any part of it hasn't come back, it's pretty negligible. So my running theory is mostly inflammation, & auditory nerves being pinched by the extra pressure.

Hang in there, everyone.