My New Reactive Tinnitus Is Making Me Miserable — I Hear Whistling on Top of Every Other Sound

I have had tinnitus for 10 years but recently it got worse due to a noise exposure. I now hear a whistling sound on top of every other sound. It's driving me mad. It's not maskable. I didn't even know tinnitus could be like this. I really wish it would disappear or at least get better but I'm not hopeful. Maybe I'm weak but I'm in tears. I let my guard down for one moment and instantly this happens. It wasn't a bar, concert or movie theater. It was people playing music from TV speakers in a family gathering. I didn't realize it could ruin me. And now I'm going pay for it for the rest of my life. The whistling sounds are distorting every other sound. They even follow me in the shower.

The weird thing is that I didn't notice these whistling sounds for the first few weeks after the noise exposure. My general tinnitus felt worse but I didn't notice anything like this. I tried actively to not give it attention because I didn't want to fall into a tinnitus anxiety vortex. I was constantly trying to mask my worsened tinnitus by playing water and nature sounds on earbuds and now I fear that might have caused the whistling sounds. They were the kind of buds that didn't go into the ear canal. I tried to use them on low volumes only but maybe it was too loud anyway. I even slept multiple nights with the earbuds and they often dropped out of my ears during the night. I thought it was fine as long as the volume was low because sound is sound whatever the device... I don't use them anymore. Whatever the case, this is the situation I find myself in and can't change that. It's another thing I can constantly blame myself for. I don't know if it's possible that I always had the whistling sounds but just didn't notice them at the beginning. Or maybe they appeared on their own.

I'm anxious and afraid. I don't know what to do. I don't know if there's anything to do. It seems worse because it's not a constant maskable sound. It can't be masked! I don't use masking sounds anymore because they don't work.

 

I'm hearing at least 2 kinds of sounds on top of other sounds. One of them is a high-pitched squeaking sound. The other one is a lower pitched whistling. I hear it in everything. I hear it in music etc. They react to the environment "real-time". If this is permanent, how could I "habituate" to this? How could sound enrichment help me? These sounds distort all of the sounds I experience. I hate this to put it mildly. I hate myself for using those earbuds after the noise exposure. I thought low volume nature sounds were fine. Or maybe there's another cause but I will never wear earbuds again anyway. How can I cope? Did I get some super rare, weird tinnitus? I would have preferred another sound that could be masked. I hate myself for letting this happen.

Maybe my sounds are more like distortions than reactive tinnitus actually. Does that count as reactive tinnitus?

 

It counts as reactive tinnitus if those sounds can still be heard even in silence. It’s usually lower volume in a quiet setting, but will get louder by any external noise that triggers it. Air conditioner is a good example of this (the higher the fan speed, the louder tinnitus gets). Distortions alter the way external sounds are normally supposed to be heard as. As an example, the sound of wind was exactly like the noise a rattle snake makes with its tail for me.

If I compare my distorted hearing to what it was before, it’s much better now. Reactive tinnitus is still a bitch though. But I do have better days where the reactivity is less noticeable. Hoping it improves more overtime. It gets better overtime, so don’t give up hope.

I should also point out there’s another variation of reactive tinnitus where people spike to all sorts of noise. Spikes can last for hours, days, week.

 

I may have both. The squeaking or whistling sounds are distortions I think. It's hard to not hear them because they attach even to the smallest of sounds. Then I have another irregular, kind of a metallic sound that might be reactive tinnitus. On top of this I have my old electrical sounds that are louder than before the incident (but not catastrophically so thankfully). Ever since my original tinnitus began 10 years ago, I have always protected my ears with earplugs in loud situations. How could I let this happen. Maybe it was that damn alcohol that I normally never drink. I'm thinking of trying HBOT. It has been about 1.5 months since the incident. But I also fear that I made it worse with masking sounds on earbuds after that.

I haven't done anything except take some supplements since my tinnitus became worse because people often say there's nothing to do with tinnitus except to give it time. But I'm now starting to panic that maybe I should have done HBOT right away and maybe something else. The sound exposure happened on 10th of September but I didn't notice the distortions right from the start for some reason. I think I'm going to try HBOT. I feel like I have done a series of bad decisions: no ear protection at the party -> listening masking sounds on earbuds -> not immediately going to HBOT. Should I have taken prednisone as well? Why didn't I hear about these earlier. I'm still feeling sad and panicked.

 

HBOT and Prednisone likely won't do much. You just need to chill and try to be in silence if you can. You ears need a break. If you have reactivity, sound therapy may also aggravate it. Try not to dwell, there is a still a chance this crap can go away, but you have to rest the ears and stop going to loud noisy places even with earplugs.

 

Hi @Heikai - I'm so sorry to hear how panicked you are about your new symptoms. I concur with @Wrfortiscue - be kind to your ears and to yourself.

I'm generally not huge on medication, but can personally report positive effects from anti-anxiety meds (benzos) for acute panic and antidepressants for medium-term relief when I was trying to reckon with my own deep, dark hole. I offer this only because you sound like you may be veering into a place of despair.

Don't know what supplements you've been taking, but I'm an advocate of NAC.

I'll be hoping for some recovery and symptom reduction for you. And, most of all, I'm hoping that you can find a way not to blame yourself, and to find things that help you relax. I know that's really easy to say, and very hard to actually do, especially when you've got the whistling and distortions going on.

 

I bought NAC only yesterday because I hadn't heard of it before. Wish I had if it can actually do something. I take Magnesium, C, B12, Ginkgo biloba and capsules that contain A, D, E and Omega 3s.

I was at a board game cafe yesterday with friends and hope that wasn't too much noise. We were in a separated corner of the cafe and there was no loud music. Only loud people in a distance and soft tune playing somewhere. It wasn't much fun because of my situation but I thought it could be good for mental health. Of course I'm now regretting that because I seem to do that with everything recently. I hope it didn't make anything worse but my regular tinnitus feels worse now. I can't do anything right. Yeah, my regular tinnitus definitely feels worse now. WTH is my life. I saw @Wrfortiscue's advice to avoid loud spaces only after getting back home. Maybe that's common sense but I thought safe noise levels couldn't hurt me so. My tinnitus has never before the incident become worse from safe noise levels. I should just stay still and do nothing. I really am veering into a place of despair especially now. How can I turn back time.

I have an ENT appointment in a few hours. I don't know why I booked it. I don't know if I should go. It would probably make my tinnitus even worse like everything else. Maybe I should just quarantine myself. I have too many noises. One reactive one that I can hear in shower too. I know I'm not the only one who's suffering and there are people who suffer more, but this is still hard for me especially when I keep making things worse.

 

Hi @Heikai - looks like you've got a nice list of supplements. I'm curious to know if you went to the ENT and whether you found anything out.

As for your worry about whether you should be out in the world and your desire to turn back time, I really encourage you to ease up on yourself in those areas. First, since you can't turn back time, focus on what you can do moving forward. Care for your ears and your wellbeing (I know, easier said than done

My take is that the acoustic trauma was the big issue that has led to your current presentation of symptoms, and what you do day in and day out will (slowly, and over time) lead you to your future presentation of symptoms. If you are regularly in loud noise for extended periods of time, it's possible you'll do more harm over time. If you focus on protecting yourself in realistic ways (being in a low-key board game cafe - and possibly with some earplugs depending on the level of ambient noise - seems reasonable from my perspective), the hope is that things will settle over time.

As frustrating as it is not to have relief, I've read so many posts by members here detailing how it took them 6 months or a year (or longer) before their spikes returned to a more acceptable baseline. Knowing that this can be the timeline can help me regain the perspective I tend to lose when I'm panicking.

Finally, if you are not seeking support for your mental health (therapist, psychiatrist, etc), I would advise that.

I wish you well, and will keep an eye out for your updates.

 

I will definitely be very careful about loud ambient noise from now on but I fear I made my regular tinnitus permanently worse already. I don't think I have ever had a spike that became better. My tinnitus was very stable for 10 years before all this happened. I didn't realize I was in such a delicate state right now. I really should have stayed at home. Actually, at the moment my regular tinnitus (electrical sounds) bother me the most because of the raised volume. It's way harder to mask and ignore.

 

It has now been a little over 6 weeks since my tinnitus originally got worse due to loud music.

Please, could you nice people tell me if there are any treatments I should try before it's too late?

I know 6 weeks is already a while ago but I don't want to regret not doing something in the future. It's still under 2 months ago. Of course if some experimental treatment would worsen my tinnitus, that would be the absolute worst. I'm mostly trying to avoid any future regrets regarding my tinnitus.

 

Time and patience, that's it. You bought NAC, which is a good thing. You're already taking vitamin supplements.

I believe you're doing all you can do make it better.

I also have severe tinnitus + hyperacusis, but I must admit my reactive tinnitus/distortion is the most boring part, as every noise triggers other noises on top of it, so I can understand where you're at Let's be patient and careful with loud noises, that's all we can do.

How did your ENT appointment go?

The only "treatment" option I can see is asking your GP a short course of benzos, that can alleviate the symptoms pretty quickly. It will most likely not cure anything, but the brain is a veeery curious animal, and if you allow it to calm down for a short period of time, your reactivity might just vanish. The quicker you offer some relief to your brain, the less likely it'll record the reactivity as a new norm for you, so give it a try.

Don't get dependent on benzos though, just short courses and progressive taper.

You can also look for counselling, always good to attack your symptoms from all sides: medication + psychological support (hypnosis, EMDR, etc.)

 

The most believable treatments I have seen people take early on are HBOT and intratympanic dexamethasone injection. Especially the injection seems to have helped people here?

He gave me a laboratory referral for an audiogram. I haven't been yet. I think I can do it at any time. There shouldn't be any risks with doing an audiogram, right? I was quite distressed during the visit. My regular tinnitus felt bad after my day with friends. Thinking back on it, there were kind of loud situations even before the board game cafe. We ate at McDonald's for example. Thankfully, I think my regular tinnitus has calmed down a bit.

The ENT prescribed me OPAMOX for 2-3 days. I haven't taken any yet.

 

Just make sure that, if they measure your loudness tolerance (unlikely unless you go to a hyperacusis specialist), they go slow with the upward progression of sounds, as I have read that people have had spikes from that. If they're simply measuring your hearing threshold, it's unlikely there'll be any more issues, since they're going to try and gauge how well you can hear things at the lowest volumes. If you're concerned, express those concerns to the audiologist before you begin.

As for other treatments, like intratympanic injections and HBOT, those typically have a very narrow window that you're outside of. Also, I wonder if you've got more of spike than the type of full-on acoustic trauma (the type that, say, a close explosion or gunshot would cause), so I'm with @Pitseleh in thinking that NAC, quiet, time and managing stress are probably your best options.

I've been experimenting with self-administered low-level laser therapy, and have noticed some positive symptom reduction, though how much of that is caused by the LLLT and how much is natural healing is very hard to say. It's expensive (I paid $840 for my device), and supposedly most effective in the months after an acoustic trauma. I'm not necessarily advocating it for you, I'm just responding to your question about what else is out there.

I'm glad to hear that your regular tinnitus is calming down, and I hope it stays that way.

 

My sound distortions keep changing in intensity and pitch. Maybe not important anymore, but these distortions only started to happen this month. The original sound exposure at a party/celebration happened on 10th of September. The only thing I can think of that could have made it worse after that are the earbuds that I used to play soft masking sounds on. I stopped using them the second I realized this possibility. I have now sworn to never use earbuds or headphones ever again.

I also drunk more alcohol that day (10th of September) that I had ever before. It was still not that much because I had been almost a teetotaller before that. I didn't suffer from a hangover or anything (I still don't know what that feels like). I wonder if my worsened tinnitus had anything to do with alcohol. At least it made my decision making worse apparently. I will become a teetotaller once again.

 

Careful with HBOT. You never know whether it's going to help or actually make it way worse. I wouldn't consider HBOT in your situation.

As to intratympanic injections, well, one may consider these right after a severe noise trauma. But if I recall correctly, it should be done within 48 hours after the incident to have some chance of maybe partial recovery.

There's no such thing as a universal go-to treatment protocol to follow with tinnitus/hyperacusis. You're doing it right. Just make sure to be gentle with your hearing capital: no overly loud places, no headphones/earphones, minimum long-distance driving (vibrations), stress management, basic vitamin supplements, benzos/antidepressants in heavy mental distress scenario.

 

First the good news: I've had this reactivity, a high frequency eeee over the dishwasher, over water running, over MacBook fan (I bought fanless MacBook especially for this case).

The reactivity was gone after 2 years or so.

It is back now due to a new recent noise trauma.

So have hope that it goes away because it can happen.

How loud is the superimposed eee, if I may ask? I know it is subjective but try to describe.

 

From what I understand, this also works for all hyperacusis-related symptoms provided one doesn't face noise incidents.

Not so clear, by the way, whether reactivity should be categorized (if that's of any importance) in tinnitus or hyperacusis.

But yeah, TTTS, hyperacusis, sound reactivity usually fades away after a certain amount of time.

It can be super annoying and energy-consuming, but seems to be less vicious than tinnitus on the long-run.

 

My sound distortions are confusing. Right now as I'm sitting here, I'm hearing an annoying beep over the PC fan and hum of the fridge. It's similar to TV no signal sound but a bit lower in pitch. The volume is about the same as the sound it appears in. It's very noticeable. But I have also had lower pitched sound distortions that sound more like wobble. It can sound a bit like blowing into a bottle. I don't know. The distortions keep changing.

I also have a reactive tinnitus that appears on top of other sounds. This I can hear in shower as well. It's a bit like metallic morse code. I don't know. I'm bad at describing sounds.

And finally my "regular" tinnitus that I have had for 10 years is louder than before. I feel like my board game night with friends increased it even though it seems to have lowered a bit from that. Maybe it started to get better but then the board game night made it worse again. Sigh. I don't know. It's bothering me again. I would probably be coping better if I had not gone to the board game cafe.

I'm tired and fed up. My tinnitus never changed at all for 10 years and now I have 2 new noises (reactive tinnitus and sound distortions) and my regular tinnitus is louder. Tinnitus used to be a no problem at all for me because it could be easily masked. Now I can't mask it nearly as easily and if I do, I'm going to hear my new reactive tinnitus and sound distortions on top of it. I haven't enjoyed anything for a while. I'm trying hard to not make anything worse.

 

Sounds exactly like mine.

PC fans, showers, A/C fan... they will all have a high pitched piercing "eeee" sound accompanying them (remember I also have a very disturbing low hum).

But I say again... it went away (the reactivity at least) almost completely. No idea if it healed or if it "fell out of my consciousness". All I know is that now it is back after an acoustic incident that really I did not know would make my tinnitus worse, but it did.

So I would say... I think (and read a lot of other people here saying the same) your reactivity will probably subside again... just keep on protecting (not overprotecting, because then you will start hyperfocusing), keep on living. Keep on distracting your brain. Don't compare how loud it is today over how loud it was yesterday... tinnitus makes weird jumps. There is no way to look at it like a regular linear disease... and it takes very very long to cure... very slowly.

I know it's annoying, trust me, I do. But it's just a sound. It's just a sound (repeat that as a mantra until your brain believes it).

 

To give you a bit of hope, be sure to check out that thread from the German guy about "Clomipramine". Apparently it did wonders for him (and a couple other Germans that also have hyperacusis).

Couple of people are currently trying it here on this forum.

 

I had an audiogram and apparently it was normal. I know it doesn't show hidden hearing loss but at least I don't have bad hearing. I feel like at times I wasn't sure if I was hearing a test sound or my tinnitus. One time I wasn't sure and suddenly the sound stopped which confirmed that it was a test sound. My worsened and changing tinnitus is still quite new to me.

I'm almost about to buy this. It's a bit expensive for my poor ass but thanks to my loving family, I'd be able to buy emLas-520BCB. I'd think it couldn't make my tinnitus worse but there are accounts of at least temporary spikes which is scary. I also feel a bit foolish because it's not scientifically proven to work and could be 100% placebo. But I also don't want to regret not trying anything when my spike/noise exposure is still somewhat acute. Any comments? It's not like there are any other possible treatments with any degree of validity. I definitely don't want to make my tinnitus any worse.

 

I had a recent appointment with an audiologist who specialises in tinnitus/hyperacusis management. When I explained my reactive symptoms, which are exactly the same as people describe here, the person said that yes, 'hyperacusis can aggravate tinnitus'. I thought it was quite an interesting way of looking at it.

 

Hey @Heikai - yes, I have many thoughts about LLLT. They range from "it actually seems to help," to "it's making my tinnitus spike," any improvements are just a placebo effect.

I encourage you to read through this thread - admittedly, it's lengthy, but it really helped me in my decision to order my device. Also, as a service to others who may be considering at-home LLLT, I started logging my initial experiences with the device, and have been posting occasional updates. My posts begin on p. 12.

I've been really doing my best to simply document my experience - I want others to derive their own judgements. I will say that, right now, I'm experiencing my typical baseline tinnitus, after having had it nearly disappear for large portions of several days during my second 10-day course of treatment.

Finally, in terms of your recent audiogram, unless you've visited someone who can test above 8 kHz (the normal "high" value), it may not really be a valid test. By that, I mean that you may have hidden hearing loss in the higher registers, beyond 8 kHz. I am convinced that's my issue, despite two pretty clean hearing tests. And, like you, I also had my tinnitus interfere with the sounds the first audiologist was playing.

Take good care, and keep us updated on how things progress!

 

I have not been sleeping well since my night out with friends 1 month ago. I have very high pitched sounds that are hard to mask. I still have sound distortions but they have changed. I have less whistling and more metallic or screeching distortions. The high pitched sounds bother me the most.

Honestly, I have started to regret and panic about not trying out HBOT. I know people in this thread didn't recommend it for me, but it feels so bad that I didn't at least give it a go. I feel so bad about my situation that I should have tried anything possible. I yet again failed to avoid future regrets. I might still try it even though my tinnitus worsening happened almost 3 months ago (10 weeks and 3 days). I feel so bad. I hate regretting all of my choices.

 

I was kind of having a panic attack but I'm calmer now. I'm probably going to travel to another city for HBOT in the morning, but I have been unsure this whole time still. I'm worried that the risks are too large when compared to the unlikely positive effects.

However, I did try HBOT 10 years ago and it didn't have any adverse effects then but maybe my situation is significantly different now. My tinnitus/ears seem to be more vulnerable than before but maybe it's fine if I use protection. I'll of course stop the sessions if it feels like too much. It could make me feel better to try HBOT as a last-ditch effort at least. Or it could make things worse but I'm not sure how likely that is. It seems to be fine for most people like it was for me 10 years ago. I can change my mind until I'm sitting inside the chamber.

 

I was hesitating to try HBOT to the last second but I decided to try it once. When the dive began it was pretty difficult to level the pressure in my ears. At one point pressure started to build up in my right ear until I got it open. The first time the pressurization stopped, I was asked if everything was OK. I noticed that my right ear was a little sore from the pressure. I decided to continue but asked to go slower. It was a bit easier after that. I decided to stop at 2/3 of the planned pressure. It crystalized to me how idiotic I was being in that stupid chamber. I didn't want any more treatments.

Only after the HBOT my ears were checked and it was discovered that I have a lot of earwax which probably made the pressurization more difficult. I did say that my ears were quickly checked by an ENT before and they were, but for some reason that ENT didn't say anything about earwax back then. Maybe he was too hasty. I wish my ears were checked again before I got into the chamber. Maybe then, I wouldn't be as stressed about this afterwards.

I didn't really notice any differences except that I felt like it got worse but I'm totally not sure if that's just me stressing about it. My ears felt a little bit sore during the rest of the day at some points. The small pressure changes produced my air-tight earmuffs also felt uncomfortable afterwards. When I got home, I took Opamox (oxazepam) and went to sleep. I slept well. Right now, I'm just hoping I didn't make things worse.

No need to say "I told you so". Nothing catastrophic happened, I think. I still think it was the wrong choice. And I'm still worried it made something worse although my situation wasn't good in the first place. I hope it's just my imagination. My metallic and high pitched distortions might be reactive tinnitus after all btw.

I'm not sure if I'll continue updating here anymore. Maybe after a long break. This place is a great resource and generally a better source of info than healthcare professionals. I didn't like the audiologist/HBTO expert at the clinic. He was too much about the tinnitus being about the negative reaction to it and not an actual physical condition. My stress is not causing my tinnitus. It's the other way around! I'm sure he doesn't have tinnitus himself. Now it's time for me to get depressed and anxious, and lock myself into my home. If things will get better with time, good. Oh, and I probably should find a safe way to clean my ears.

 

OK, my tinnitus has been even worse after the HBOT. I can't deny it, except I don't know if I can be completely sure if it was just because of the noisy trip to another city (with earmuffs) or because of the HBOT (or both). It was a bad decision anyhow. I wasn't thinking clearly. I had been very much isolating apart from the few doctor's visits and this trip to the HBOT. I now have a new reactive noise/distortion or two. Or maybe it's an older noise that just changed or raised in volume. My tinnitus is too chaotic for me to analyze it clearly. I know it's definitely worse and considerably harder to deal with.

I feel like this was my last straw at some level at least. Despite my previous situation, I still had nice, brief moments where I wasn't completely miserable. Now it's hard to exist from day to day. I have high-pitched "regular" tinnitus and like 4-5 different reactive distortions. It's crazy. I really want some of the reactive distortions to get better with time. My worsened "regular" tinnitus was already annoying enough but this is so much worse. This is completely unreasonable especially when compared to what caused it. I want to see the life's manager.

 

Hi @Heikai - sorry to hear about your worsening condition. I encourage you not to try to figure out why your tinnitus is worse (whether the trip to the city, the HBOT, or something entirely different) and to focus on caring for your wellbeing.

I see that you've got access to a benzo, which is great for acute panic (and, as you mentioned, to sleep when things are noisy for you). Are you also taking any type of antidepressant? My personal experience is benzo for panic, antidepressant for general, longer-term stability.

Anyway, I'm not a doctor, so just sharing my experience. I know it's really hard to hold your tinnitus - it sucks, and I wish I could take it away or at least turn down the volume for you. I worry about you when you sound more catastrophic, and I'm really hoping that things can settle down for you.

 

I have exactly this. If I run a fan at night, my tinnitus is much louder than if I didn’t run the fan.

Has your reactivity gone down at all? If that could fade, I would be chilling with my baseline.

 

Some days are less noticeable than others, but it’s always there more or less though. I prefer mornings... seems like the reactivity is more weaker then. I try not to monitor the reactivity as much anymore to be honest. Better off this way personally speaking.

And yes, if the reactivity faded, I’d actually consider myself cured and I say that as someone who also has trouble masking their baseline tinnitus as well.