Strange Sound Overlay and Sibilance Sensitivity on Top of Tinnitus

[zkdr2]

Hello everyone,

I have had average, higher-pitched tinnitus for as long as I can remember. But now I have a strange "overlay" sound that mixes in with things like fans, people breathing, certain parts of music that have a constant tone, running water, the air fryer, and similar sounds. It does not really appear on top of lower-pitched sounds.

This actually happened to me six years ago in the exact same way: sibilance sensitivity and sounds layering over other sounds. I had a really difficult time coping then, and it took me about a year to fully recover. What helped was distraction, getting a job, therapy, medication, and other supports.

I cannot hear it in silence, and its intensity seems to fluctuate depending on how immersed I am in something or how calm I feel. I know this is probably part of the habituation stage, if this is tinnitus.

It feels like my brain is finding a "pattern" or a hidden sound inside other sounds.

Does anyone here have experience with this odd kind of sound overlay? I also have sensitivity to "Sss" sounds (sibilance). I would greatly appreciate any information.

Some more background if needed:

• Multiple earaches as a child
• Listened to loud music in headphones and earbuds for years as a young adult
• Type 2 diabetes (controlled) – on Metformin, Glipizide, and Jardiance
• Was drinking three sugar-free Monster energy drinks a day, which I stopped when this started three weeks ago. I had been doing this for the past two months as my sleep kept getting worse
• There was a temperature drop from 75 to 65 degrees around the same time, and my girlfriend, who lives with me, has been struggling with severe allergies

Thank you to anyone who can help me understand what might be happening. I am trying to take it one moment at a time and appreciate the moments when I am not distressed by this. Sorry if there is too much information in this post.

 

[Jupiterman]

This is reactive tinnitus. Your brain is trying to fill in the sound gaps from the damaged hearing cells, but it is not doing a good job of it.

 

[Sydnears]

Get another hearing test. If you have had a decline in hearing, a hearing aid may help. Mine is the same, reactive. It is annoying, since nothing helps to mask it at night.

 

[Jupiterman]

A hearing test or a hearing aid will not help reactive tinnitus. In fact, they can have the opposite effect.

The tones from a hearing test, which may be played up to 100 dB if required, are likely to make tinnitus worse, possibly causing severe spikes or even permanent worsening.

A hearing aid, which amplifies external sounds into the ear, can also continually exacerbate and increase tinnitus because of its reactivity.

 

[RattleKat]

People elsewhere seem to call this dysacusis. I have been suffering badly from it since I caused myself barotrauma, and it has been driving me pretty crazy for about six months. I am always on the lookout for others who experience these phantom tones and beeps in noise, hoping to find some common ground.

Did you have any significant noise trauma? Were you heavily stressed when it started?

 

[zkdr2]

People elsewhere seem to call this dysacusis. I have been suffering badly from it since I caused myself barotrauma, and it has been driving me pretty crazy for about six months. I am always on the lookout for others who experience these phantom tones and beeps in noise, hoping to find some common ground.

Did you have any significant noise trauma? Were you heavily stressed when it started?

I did not have any significant noise trauma. I was extremely stressed when it started because my ear went deaf for almost a minute and then returned to relatively normal, but the ringing remained. It drove me insane. The ringing eventually went down, but the strange overlay sounds stayed.

After a while it went away, but now it has returned. This time it is likely connected to my poor diet, high caffeine intake, and sedentary lifestyle. I have also heard that for people who are significantly overweight, tinnitus can be a major side effect.

 

[zkdr2]

This is reactive tinnitus. Your brain is trying to fill in the sound gaps from the damaged hearing cells, but it is not doing a good job of it.

This seems right, although I'm not an audiologist.

It went away for years. Wouldn't damaged hearing cells "filling in" be noticeable for the rest of your life? I'm guessing my brain became "un-habituated" to these filling-in sounds, either because of the large amount of caffeine I was consuming (I was drinking three Monster Zeros a day for months) or because of the stress that came with it.

I'm going to try to focus on losing weight and exercising, and maybe explore craniosacral therapy and other types of bodywork to calm my nervous system.