Sudden Onset Tinnitus After Waking Up — Will It Go Away?

Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this long post...

I found this forum through googling tinnitus, hoping to find some light at the end of the tunnel. I developed a sudden (out of nowhere!) onset of tinnitus after waking up one night in mid-May 2022 in my right ear with some sound and touch sensitivity and eventually spread to my left ear (w/ no sensitivity).

I went through an incredibly stressful and fearful period in April. Experienced anxiety and panic attacks for the first time in my life and lost a lot of sleep. After the stressor was over, hoping it finally ended, I was gifted with the curse of tinnitus. The only other time I had tinnitus was for a few days following a concert, which was probably almost a decade ago.

My GP thinks the sleep deprivation that triggered the tinnitus. I am not a great sleeper since childhood and have had sleepless nights, so I wasn't convinced.

I went to see an audiologist and got the standard, typical hearing test with normal hearing. They did another test DPOAE (sp?) and it shows maybe (?) damage to my outer cochlea. When I asked for further clarification, she was not sure either and couldn't answer why or how it could be damaged -- age, genes, loud noises, etc. And no solution! I was shocked that it could possibly be age and hearing loss? I'm still a few months short of 35! How could I suddenly go from normal to this crazy onset that came out of no where? And how did I get any hearing damage? I barely listen to loud music.

It wasn't helpful at all. I left that office more confused than before. She also said my ear canal and ear drum looked normal. I was hoping it may be ear wax, but apparently I have none to very little ear wax, and maybe a tiny dandruff like ear wax near or on my ear drum, but that shouldn't be causing any issues.

I have tried various remedies - TCM, meditation, tinnitus psychologist, regular therapist, celery juice, green smoothies, cutting out carbs, eating certain kind of black beans, tarot reading, praying to anyone and everything. I even thought should I go see a medium? I am at the point where I am even willing to drink cow urine or eat dirt or something to get rid of this beeping condition or symptom. Or even sell a few years or decades of my life to live some years of silence. I feel so lost about this condition that seemingly can't kill me and no cure.

 

Hello. Very sorry to hear about your tinnitus issues. I don't know much - there are more knowledgeable members on here than me but I will chime in with my thoughts.

I am 58 and got it this year - so yeah - I can imagine at 35 your are desperate about this. However - please try to slow down. You are bombarding your body and mind hoping to chase it away and getting super stressed in the mean time. It is early days and there is a chance it could clear. I do hear about cases like yours and it can vanish particularly if you have had no sudden noise damage. The ringing you had 10 years ago was a temp reaction to the concert - I had ringing too after a night club in my 20s - never did that again. It lasted a day or so. So doubt if it is that.

Have you had COVID-19 infection or COVID-19 jabs? You may have had non symptomatic COVID-19 - not knowing you have it - and possibly it left some inflammation behind which is causing this.

It may be you will never know the cause. I do not know the cause of mine.

Whatever the cause - your best way forward is a day at a time. Don't depend on it improving or going away - though it may well do. You need to learn to manage it and make some gains. Don't bombard yourself with flavonoids, gluten free, low salt, zero sugar etc. Maybe try one thing at a time and see if there is an improvement. Check out the many tinnitus white/pink noise videos on YouTube and see if listening to them for, say 10-15 minutes, results in any improvement. And certainly scan this board - there is a lot of useful info here.

You will need to consult with the ENT people - but please research before doing anything they recommend or prescribe - check out side effects etc.

But back to my first point - life goes on - you have to make sure it does - and slow down with your whole approach - there is no hurry - tinnitus has its own time schedule - you can't hurry it away. But maybe you can persuade it to be a little kinder.

 

Hello,

Our onset stories are very similar. I’ve always been anxious and had anxiety, but in April it turned into panic/anxiety attacks for the first time. The tinnitus started early May during a panic attack that lasted like 2 days. I ended up in the ER because my body was stuck in fight or flight and the ringing was making it worse. Also, mine started in my right ear and now I have multiple tones both in right and left ear. I have no hearing loss and I’m in my early 30s.

I’ve been trying a bunch of different things as well. Currently trying to find a supplement/vitamin regime that calms it down. Looking into Taurine and L-Theanine. Camomile and green tea in the evenings seem helpful.

I’m a newbie so I don’t have advice because I’m struggling hard with tinnitus and anxiety, but you’re not alone. I find I can emotionally handle the tinnitus better when my panic and anxiety is calmed. Some things I have been doing for that is exercise, lavender Epson baths, nature walks, reading (currently reading The Power of Now).

Have you got the anxiety under control? I’m prescribed medication, but have been super anxious about taking anything and want to try the natural route as long as possible. Did some talk therapy and been doing meditation at times.

Additionally, I’ve have a CT, blood work, been to a chiropractor, bought a heated back massager, acupuncture, neck stretcher, sound machine, ear drops, Flonase, etc.

What’s your tinnitus sound like? Does it fluctuate or change?

Look forward to speaking with you.

Take care,
Sam

 

I was exposed to COVID-19 probably about a week or so before my tinnitus onset, but I tested negative on the rapid test and also did not have any symptoms. My two vaccines were in 2021 and my booster was in mid January 2022. I actually thought about this and whether or not my tinnitus could be from my COVID-19 exposure, but then I tested negative multiple times. But this also makes me worry if we have to continue to get vaccinated for COVID-19. I don't want to overthink that there is a correlation, but the timing is a bit weird. I have been thinking whether or not I should go see an ENT... I feel like not a lot of people have gotten any success with visiting the ENT.

Wow! Our experience sounds very alike! Sounds like we tried similar things too - chiropractor, back massager, neck brace, sound machine. I haven't tried acupuncture tho. I have also tried face massager. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were me. I also was afraid that I would need to take anxiety meds when I was at the peak of my anxiety, so I went the TCM route to try and control my anxiety. Took it for a couple of weeks and didn't feel like it made a difference. I have read up on how to lower cortisol, what foods to eat, just to avoid the possibility of taking meds.

I have since calmed down. The stressors in April are gone. The only thing right now is the tinnitus. I would say it is more anger and frustration than anxiety. There are moments where I think how I will live the remaining years of my life and how much I missed my former pre-April life.

I can't keep up with the sounds of my tinnitus. Feels like it is different/changes/has a mind of its own. I mask it during the day with various things, but at night it is hard because I find sound machine annoying. Even with my window wide opened, I can still hear it. I don't know what the cause is. My audiologist doesn't know either -- she thinks it is the combination of hearing loss, stress, age, genes, etc. But it's confusing since this all seems to change suddenly and if I did have hearing loss, it couldn't have been overnight and so the onset of tinnitus shouldn't have randomly happened. I don't know. The more I think about it, the more I'm confused.

 

There are many possible causes of tinnitus. The common ones are loud noise exposure, drug side effects, hearing loss, medical issues with the ears or sinuses, etc. But extended stress and anxiety are also known causes of tinnitus. Extreme emotions such as deep grief, anger, depression etc. can also cause tinnitus.

 

Hey!

Right!? That’s why I had to respond to you. A lot of our details are very similar.

I’m still struggling with the anxiety aspect though, but I’m a lot better then the last couple of months. Some days are better than others.

My tinnitus is the same. It’s up and down and all over the place and I can’t seem to figure out if it has triggers or if it’s just random.

Did your hearing test show any hearing loss? Or just the damage to the outer cochlea? Thus far, I have no indicated hearing loss, infections, damage, etc. I’ve never had ear infections, used headphones or really been around much loud noise. I went to a concert in April, but I didn’t find it loud at all.

Oh and I forgot to mention - sometimes masking works and sometimes my tinnitus goes over the sound of the fan or TV. Also, I think I have TTTS/MEM or something along those lines because the sound that now comes in my left ear is similar to morse code and it seems like something is twitching around in there.

 

If the cause is extreme stress, then is there a higher chance it goes away? My stressor is gone, literally not much stress, but tinnitus is still here. T_T

I found journaling helps with anxiety and forcing myself to get back to my normal routine. That is exactly how I feel about my tinnitus - ups and downs, all over the place, no idea of triggers... other than the everyday possible stress, I don't have major stress at the moment. Don't know what else could be freaking me out that the tinnitus is still here...assuming the reason is stress that is making it stay. My tinnitus psychologist told me that stress and food has nothing to do with tinnitus -- and I'm like are you sure? Because that's not what I am hearing. Then my audiologist said it most likely a combination of factors. Medical community needs to get their shit together. Not helpful to say one thing by one medical professional and something else by another. Incredibly frustrating experience.

My hearing test only tested to 8000 Hz and not the high frequency. I believe it is the typical standard hearing test. So I don't know if I have high frequency hearing loss? But the second test DPOAE, the audiologist said it shows damage? Maybe? She wasn't sure either.

This is literally what she sent me "DPOAEs measure the function of the outer hair cells and are associated with tinnitus and difficulties understanding speech in the presence of background noise. DPOAEs were absent or reduced from 5-10 kHz in both ears." I asked for further clarifications, but she didn't provide much. She didn't seem like she knew either. I had always thought I had great hearing - I can even hear my neighbor sweeping his leaves in his front yard from all the way in my room, which is the back of the house! Like come on - what is happening here? lol. I never had trouble hearing in crowds or anything. So no idea. Because if I really did have some kind of hearing loss, I didn't have tinnitus before April. It is so bizarre. I do use headphones for work but I don't blast my headphones.

If you went to a concert in April then maybe your tinnitus is from that and there is a high probability it'll go away.

 

Yeah I’ve found audiologists and ENTs to not be very helpful. The ENT basically said ‘get used to it and use a fan.’ I was so mad.

The concert was a few weeks before the onset of my tinnitus so I don’t think it contributed because I feel like if it was the cause it would have been like the next day. As that’s what I’ve read happens to people. I was sitting almost at the very back of the stadium (nosebleed seats) and talking to my partner next to me was fine and I could hear everyone around me. But it’s possible it contributed! Just like I had COVID-19 in January and the booster in February. Could be anything, but I’m still pretty stuck on the anxiety/panic attack theory as it started during my like 2-day long panic attack.

I’m actually maybe having a ‘spike’ now, not sure if it’s due to trying Flonase yesterday. I don’t have allergies, but wanted to give it a try anyways.

 

It's so weird that these people don't seem to know nearly as much as people on here do. I tried to tell my audiologist about hyperacusis and dysacusis but she seemed to classify any issues all in the same boat, as just tinnitus coming in different forms. It was pretty much just 'do this hearing test and leave, I can't tell you anything new or useful'.

 

It is unfortunate not as simple. Tinnitus caused by stress and anxiety may not go away even if the stress is over, at least not right away. It may take months, like 6 months to 18 months as often quoted here in the forum. But it can vary individually.

The best strategy is to continue living life as normal as humanly possible. Minimize the impact of tinnitus so the brain eventually doesn't consider tinnitus as a threat. With that the limbic nerves which was activated by the tinnitus trauma and which cause your brain to zoom in on tinnitus and monitor it non-stop will gradually be replaced by the normal parasympathetic nervous system, with the frontal cortex of the brain replacing the Amygdala in processing the tinnitus stimulus. This takes time but the body will do the switch magically at some point. With that the intensity of tinnitus will fade and then habituation will kick in eventually. This takes time and patience. Try to take up a new hobby or go outdoors, or anything that interests you. This is important to let the brain relax and focus on interesting things instead of the tinnitus. Time and patience will eventually help the brain to fade tinnitus from consciousness.

Please read up my success stories for more details of the helpful strategies.

All the best to you. God bless.

 

Thanks @billie48. I'll continue to look through the success stories. I'm not going to lie, it's hard and there are moments where I find myself asking how would I continue down this path, considering average life span is around 70-80, and I still have probably years, decades to go...

 

@crescentsky, I just caught up with your story.

This is crazy, man, so sorry. I've been very skeptical about stress causing tinnitus, but what do I know. For me it is obvious, I subjected myself to a very loud noise. I am beating myself about not knowing the danger - I always thought the result of noise is hearing loss, I had no idea about tinnitus being linked to noise, not to mention I had no clue about hyperacusis.

But to have debilitating (apparently for you as well) tinnitus come out of nowhere after waking up? That's insane.

I am sorry. But I think if you ears are ok or mostly ok, you are still in a far better spot than I am. You may heal - all that needs to fix itself is the brain, and ears should not be in the way.

I feel now like normal low level noises have fairly slowly but surely pushed my tinnitus into catastrophic territory. From super mild at the onset to catastrophic in 7.5 months.

 

Hi @gameover, thank you for dropping by. I pray for us and everyone on this forum that our ears will heal from this and we can move on with our lives. I have read that with noise trauma, it will likely heal over time. Perhaps in a few months, your ears will start to feel better. This is what I hope for myself as well. Tho, I don't know what the cause is and even the medical "experts" don't know. I don't even remember when it started - if it started in April or May of last year.

Everything is a blur now and I don't even remember what happened between those two months last year. It just started after waking up one night and then over April/May it became 24/7. I do however know it was triggered from my old tenants moving out and lack of negligence on my end of screening the new tenants. My new tenant was a nightmare. I felt like I was in a never ending horror movie. They were incredibly loud at night, caused a lot of problems, I didn't sleep for a month dealing with them and their shenanigans. If I had never met them, I think I would have escaped the tinnitus fate. But it's too late to talk about what ifs now.

 

We don't really know, but from reading stories online it seems that for noise-induced tinnitus reduction or remission is rather exception than the norm. But then the "out of nowhere" (stress?) tinnitus is probably less understood. Good luck to you.