My Tinnitus Is Very... Weird

Hey everyone,

My name is Heidi and I'm 20 years old. I'm joining this forum after 4 months of suffering with tinnitus, because it keeps getting worse and worse. It started in July with a really small noice in my right ear, kind of like when you play the flute. It varied in frequencies, and I could hear it only when I had my earphones on or put fingers into my ears.

I went to see doctors and we did a hearing test. Apparently my hearing was just fine, so they couldn't tell me why I had tinnitus. For the past year I had been clubbing a lot because it had been my first year in university, but I had never noticed any damage. Only in July this sound suddenly came one night.

I've always had some kind of tinnitus in my life ever since I was small, but not like this. What I mean is that I've always heard this kind of chirping or hissing sound and it has never bothered me, but this weird whistle sound that occured was nothing like that normal white noice tinnitus I'd had.

Anyway, the tinnitus started getting worse. Nothing helped me, I even had fysical therapy multiple times for my neck and back and it did no difference. When I started university again in September after my summer break, the noice just kept getting worse.

I did continue going to festivals and night clubs with my university friends because I was a tutor and I had "responsibilities," which I know was very bad. I just didn't want to give up on my life as I knew it because of tinnitus. I always made sure to wear ear protection if I went to a place that had music.

My tinnitus stayed the same for a while, but then I got a cold and my ears were clugged. After that the tinnitus in my right ear became really loud, and week after week it just keeps getting louder. Now I can hear it even when I have music on, and it sounds like multiple whistle so are being blown at the same time. Also, the sound is kind of like a beeping sound and it varies in frequencies, kind of like someone was trying to play a flute and failed miserably. Of course in the background I have this hissing sound, but even that is comforting when compared to this terrible beeping whistle noice.

My problem is that the noise seems to be getting worse. I don't go to clubs anymore, but the sound keeps getting louder anyway. What's weird is that sometimes when I wake up in the morning the sound is so bad I can't hear anything else, and sometimes if I've slept well the sound is really small, kind of like in the beginning when it first occured. At night it's the worse, and for the past few weeks I've hardly been sleeping.

I just don't understand what could cause this. In July my hearing was fine, and there was no damage. Also, I hadn't been to any clubs or concerts in over a month when I suddenly noticed the sound one night. I remember it being a Tuesday. On the Monday before that I had had no sound in my ear. Also, it's weird that the sound is only in my right ear. I also notice that my right ear is always making these crunchy noices when I open my jaw, kind of like it's clugged but I can never get rid of it.

I'm going to see a therapist in a couple weeks, because I' ve lost control of my life because of this sound in my ear. But maybe I should go to an ear doctor once again, but it is always so depressing to hear that there's nothing wrong and doctors can't do anything about it.

Anyway, are there anyone else that can relate? Do you have a sound in your ear that has multiple sounds? Or does your tinnitus keep getting worse? I would like to understand my tinnitus better.

 

You are only 4 months in, at this stage it is crucial that you protect your ears as much as you can, give them rest and wear ear plugs when you leave your house.

I recommend also checking your B12 and Zinc levels because deficiencies in these can make your tinnitus worse.

All the best and good luck.

 

This is why you have tinnitus:

See this:

www.masseyeandear.org/research/investigators/k/kujawa-sharon-g

 

Hey!

Thank you for responsing. I'm pretty sure the exposure to loud noise is probably the reason for my tinnitus, unfortunately. The weird thing is that I have no damage to my hearing and the sound is only in one ear and keeps getting louder...

Also, a month ago when I had high fever, the ringing stopped completely for three days. Even though I was in pain because of the fever, it was probably the best three days of my life :') After recovering from the fever, the tinnitus was almost nonexistant for a week, but it slowly came back and continued getting worse.

 

Pure-tone audiograms don't detect auditory deficits until the damage is severe enough (meaning: hair cell loss). See search term "hidden hearing loss". Good luck.

 

Yes, we have damage to our hearing. The hearing tests arent always capable of detecting it. Especially high frequencies. There is a drug in trials that may be a to hit wire stem cells in our ears to repair the damage so at least theres some hope.

 

I will look into that, thank you very much!

It would be interesting to know if other people have tinnitus is one ear only. It feels weird that only one ear would be damaged, but of course not impossible.

 

Thank you for responding as well, JohnAdams! I guess it is possible I have damage even though it wasn't detected. I really hope there will be a possibility for a cure in the future.

The weird thing about tinnitus is that it isn't really that high frequency and it sometimes changes.

 

Hi Heidi Sorry to hear about your experience. Anyone with t. understands how this is not a fun time in one's life. My t. started in July as well, in the left ear first, the right about a week later. The tone fluctutates for me, sometimes quieter, sometimes just angrier. As I have read on this forum I have begun to appreciate that t. is different for a number of people. Some people it is in one ear, some in both and some have different tones in one ear at the same time, or in both ears different tones. I have had my ups and downs as well and the start is the hardest, getting used to the noise, understanding it, and hoping it will with time, become a thing in the past. Hold on, have hope, and keep reading and reaching out for support through friends, the medical profession, and definitely this forum. It has helped me for sure. Sometimes just reading and learning that you are not the only one can sometimes help you go through some of the harder times. I may have to go back on blood thinners for my heart, which means my t. may get louder, so I turned to this site to remind myself I am not alone with this. It is a comfort to know you have company in times of duress, even though we do not know each other as the friend down the street, we know each other through our common bond of t. I must admit, the crowd on this site is filled with a lot of very strong people, and even though we all would prefer not to be here, it is good company to be in don't you think? Best of luck with your t. and I hope this helped. Remember, this is a world wide site so give it some time and more people with greater experince than mine will hopefully respond as well.

 

It's interesting you say that and I would have to investigate why that even happened. When you were sick did you feel like your body was more interested in that than anything else? How much did you relax or do differently (like stay in bed and take meds)?. The more you can figure why your tinnitus changes or how you can even manipulate it, then you might have better success in the future with managing and reducing it. You say physio didn't help, there may be some different therapies that could show improvements (like osteo or chiro or acupuncture etc), it might help you figure out the problem. Try supplements to see if anything helps, if it was related to your blood for example then Ginkgo might be useful to try as it is a natural blood thinner. If you tinnitus is related to stress and anxiety, you may find relief from something like CBD oil, some people here have said it basically got rid of it (not for me though)...it's nice to have a cup of green tea after having some though! Please be careful taking stuff though and see your doctor if you're concerned.

I remember some people talking about a delayed onset of tinnitus, that something could have happened but it took weeks for the tinnitus to actually appear. I'm not sure how true that is...but I'm in a similar situation to you in that I can't say anything specifically caused my tinnitus but I went to bed one night and it just appeared in my left ear. I had a loud tone that went on for 3 to 4 months and then when I accepted it and found ways to cope with it on a day to day basis successfully is when things started to change and then it reduced a lot, like the hiss you mentioned and I was happy.

Give it some time, it's very possible it could reduce as you carry on, I see a lot of people here that have tinnitus for several months and then it reduced.

 

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss


You have hearing loss, audiologist have inaccurate test, @attheedgeofscience is right

 

they don't even detect some forms of hair cell death especially at vunerable super low and super high frequencies. It's so corrupt how audiologist get away with this shit.

 

Hi @John CC

I've done a lot of research on nutrition, and have run across almost countless foods/supplements that help with keeping the blood thin. Many even caution about eating or taking something if you're on prescription blood thinners. Thought I'd mention this in case you would ever consider using foods/supplements--that don't increase tinnitus--over prescription drugs that do.

 

With tinnitus because it's a "sound", people focus on ears and loud noise. But my tinnitus came on from a concussion. Don't beat yourself up about the clubbing because that may not have anything to do with it. The brain plays a big part in our perception of sound. Your hearing may be fine, but your brain is just perceiving a noise.