New Chirping Sound in Left Ear! Terrified, Please Help!

Hey everyone,

I've had mild T in both ears for the past 7 years or so. Very low bass hum that can be masked by a small fan, background, or other ambient noise. The only time it becomes deafening is if I'm in a very quiet room, which due to my fans, I'm almost never in anymore.

Well, about a week ago I was sitting at my computer and suddenly my ear pops and my T spiked to a a loud hiss that could be heard over all of my fans.

Thinking it would settle back down, I ignored it for a few hours. It did get gradually lower, but is now stuck on this weird intermittent chirp/hiss sound that is difficult to mask. Every once in a while it's also punctuated by what feels like an electronic noise.

It's really driving me crazy and I'm absolutely terrified this new sound won't go away. I've been to the ENT and he prescribed me methylpredisolone, which helped a bit, but now I feel like the sound is fluctuating as my anxiety worsens.

Does anyone have any experience with new tones? How long did yours last? I know it's only been 9 days from the onset, and some spikes can take months to cool down, but does this count as a spike if it's a new tone entirely? I'm just so damn afraid - it's so much more difficult to mask now.

We've been have real backlash weather where I live (high, dry temps, and then large sudden rainfall), and the barometric pressure shifts already did a number on my baseline tinnitus before. So I'm hoping it will all sort itself out.

 

On some days, I get new tones or change in tone every 30 minutes. You will get used to it, trust me.

Anyway, have you been taking any medication recently? Have you been protecting your ears during your mild T episode of 7 years? Any other events that could have triggered the new tone?

 

No, no medication at all. It feels like my whole worlds is crashing down. I was so habituated before because the masking was so easy, and now it's not.

I bring ear plugs with my absolutely everywhere just in case. I will even detour around certain places like carwashes or construction sites if I'm on foot just to be safe.

 

I have a chirp. I believe it was due to an inner ear infection. I also got prednisone but it didn't help. Its been about 5 weeks and I don't hear the chirp in the day. Only when I sleep. It seems to be getting quieter as time goes on.

I feel my eustachian tube is still healing. Its not do bad during the day but I psych myself fearing it'll come back worse. The only way to calm myself down is by listening to music with bells/flutes. It sounds ridiculous but anything to ease the anxiety right? Elf music on YouTube. Lol I'm serious.

Wishing you well.

 

Oh I have the electric noise too. I know exactly how you feel. But mine has been quiet for two weeks. It doesn't like fans though. It gives me extreme anxiety, so I turn on the music to distract me.

Make sure your ears are good as far as fluid and pressure goes. Once again, wishing you well.

 

My T changes daily, I never know what I'm gonna get, high pitched with a buzz, Secada, harmonic, changing tones with the other stuff on top of it. It's never just one going. The newest to add is Morse code with a harmonic sound at same time. That one freaked me out and it happened right at when I was trying get to fall asleep, then couldn't. The best way I've learned to deal with new tones/sounds is try to stay calm, breathe through it, and let it do its thing. Hope it does sort itself out for ya.

 

Thank you all - it's especially reassuring to hear that the sounds have been progressively diminishing for you hopeforme. Because my T has been constant for so many years, things like have a huge impact on my mental health, because my mind immediately goes to the worse case scenario. But you are all right, I should just remain calm and ride out the spike.

 

A long hot shower takes my anxiety down. Controlling the anxiety is key.

 

You will get used to it mostly. I get an electrical noise most of the time. I have so many tones that I don't freak out over any new tones anymore. I hate the sounds but I don't feel so anxious about them. When my T wasn't as bad in the earlier days I would panic over new sounds and monitor my T a lot. That is what we tend to do. Now it is just bonkers loud with lots of tones, so I've kinda given up monitoring the sounds. I can't sleep not so much due to anxiety but the annoyance and loudness of the sounds. Weirdly, then my T is horrendous but my anxiety is less as I am not so afraid of it getting worse. It has already gotten worse. In a sense the worst has happened and yet I am still managing to work and live, albeit very challenging.

 

I just laugh at my changing tones now. I've got humming, sine waves, Morse code. I get the odd bit of chirping now and again. Add on occasional ear popping and the odd thump. I'm going to try to get it down in musical form someday! There is nothing anyone can do about it. Once you realise that you can start to get on with your life again.

 

@wordperd Hi i just got the same noise (morse code type tinnitus) just wonder how things are going for you right now.. Did it go away or did you get used to it ?

 

Hi dear, I am suffering the same tinnitus as yuo described and with no solution since 2014. Did you find any cure for it?

 

Hey Maxi, just saw this post while browsing. I guess my T noises may be similar to yours? My constant T noise is a hissing static noise (kinda electrical) that is always there. Then I get these squeaky chirping noises that come and go for no apparent reason (the brain is weird), and also once in a while I get a sorta gurgling sound like my right ear is full of fluid or something. The ENT says there is no fluid in my middle or inner ear. Anyway, the beat goes on (no pun intended) and I am slowly habituating to all of this. In my case the only thing that helps is to be in a quiet place, or insert an ear plug into my good ear. The right ear is 100% deaf. Yea, I wish there was a cure for this. I'd give up a lot to be free from this.

 

Hi John, unfortunately this rare tinnitus appered just after an argument phone call. I did all the medical studies including several IMR´s and with no luck at all. Only once I got rid of this for a few moments in the middle of the night. when I was prescribed with a combination of trimetazidine, lysine clonixinate and Cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride. But in the mornig the noise came back again. Major depression teke over me since 2014 and I give up too.

 

when I was earlier in and things were more variable and also I was unmedicated, I'd have things like this go on for weeks, but always eventually came back to baseline.

an annoying chirp on the left IS part of my baseline, though :-S

the number of times that my own sudden spikes correlate with computer use is interesting, but I think it's a neck position issue: it's happened to me a LOT seated at a computer, but never happened when using my desk in a standing position

 

Did you had a bad posture?