This Is What My Tinnitus Spike Sounds Like — How the Hell Am I Going to Habituate?

I've had tinnitus for over 13 years and never had almost any trouble with spikes. I've had one now for almost 3 months after a sudden loud noise exposure, and it doesn't seem to be going away. It's added a swirling/hissing and most importantly - constantly shifting sound, on top of my old one which was a stable high pitched hiss. This is pretty much what it sounds like, only with higher pitch and with a relentless piercing sensation. The volume is obviously hard to get across like this, but I can hear it loud and clear everywhere except in the shower pretty much.

It's slowly dawning on me that this might be permanent and I just simply can't imagine how I could habituate to this. The old stable hiss seems so ridiculously quaint now, I just wish I could get it back..

Does anyone have any experience with similar-sounding spikes? And do you still think there's hope it can go back to it's old state? I feel hopeless...

 

For the most part my sounds can be masked by running water out of a faucet. I have a constant low volume high pitched tone mostly in my right ear. The one that's hard for me is I have a Hissing Buzzing sound that comes and goes every other day and is reset by sleep. It's extremely strange but sometimes I get a two day break.

 

@Jay M I also have two sounds like you. And the one that varies is the hiss/tea whistle. My tone never varies, but sometimes it will get louder in the evening. Or I think it does. More likely, the tone is the same volume, but it appears louder when my hiss/tea whistle is quieter.

Most researchers refer to a single sound as tonal, and this is the usual target for sound therapies. Buzzing, whistling, etc., is usually classified as noise tinnitus--though it's actually made up of multiple sounds.

These two types of tinnitus also affect different brain networks. Though needing to check references, I recall they leave different imprints on your brain.

 

I had this same hissing/buzzing sound in 2012 for 6 weeks and then it just completely stopped. Now 2014, it's been an every other day cycle for almost 14 weeks and it seems to be of the somatic variety too. When it's low I can sometimes hear it like a low sizzling sound, lurking in the background below the tonal sound. And then sometimes it's not there. I believe it's related to stress but I'm starting to think I'm f'd this time.

 

If you think it might be permanent, I'd look into sound therapies and try some supplements. It's best to act early with tinnitus. And, since you think it's somatic, you should try a chiropractor or physical therapist. There's lots of info here as I'm sure you know!

Three months is early and the tinnitus may still be treatable, even though it's recurrent. Perhaps, you've done additional damage that is still amenable to treatment.

 

Hey Philip. Sorry for you spike. I cannot give you much advise.
My T is in another range, but I also don't know how one can habituate to this.
Nevertheless, I hope that over time it will be possible.
My T sounds like a dog whistle. Exactly like this:
h__ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuImNFsgpv8
It cuts through everything.
All the best for you.

 

Phillip, This mirrors what is happening to me and my T, I have had my T for 24 years and was never really a major issue for me, was still annoying, but could handle it most of the time until 3 months ago I stupidly had my ears suctioned and now my T has amplified especially in my right ear!
Now I am going through what you are, hoping like hell that this isn't my new level and wondering how I'm going to habituate to it.
I wish I could give you and I some answers but unfortunately I'm in the dark like you, I would say do what Jazz has suggested, take heaps of supplements, specially ones that target muscles and nerves and that promote ear health.
Magnesium seems to be the one of choice, and apparently Alpha Lipoic Acid supposed to help heal tissue damage, wouldn't hurt to try them anyway, it's better I find than doing nothing and hoping!
I have heard on another forum that somebody's spike lasted for 6 months and that was after ear suctioning so I know that doesn't really help you but stay strong and start being pro active if anything it might make you feel a bit more positive, better than doing nothing I suppose!

Hope it gets better for you,(us) bro!

Rich

 

I'm sorry to hear that Rich! Is your spike sounding the same? And did you have only a stable hiss before? Did you develop any H since the spike started? It's a bit scary that you got this from a wax-suction. When I first went to the emergency to check my ears after the spike wouldn't go away, the nurse wanted to suck the wax out, but I refused and told him to do it manually. He did it but it was quite painful for me and hard for him so after a while he went to get the doctor and explained to him that I had refused to be suctioned. The doctor asked me why and I told him I've heard to many horror stories about people either getting tinnitus or have it worsen after loud wax-removals. He literarily laughed at me and asked me who I had been telling me this nonsense. I stuck to my claim and insisted though, and eventually they got the rest of the wax out with the scrape-tool. And this was supposedly a tinnitus emergency room! Later on, the doctor even admitted he knew little to nothing about tinnitus. Go figure.

Hopefully it WILL subside though. It's a bit of a comfort that someone had a spike go after 6 months actually. Hang in there.

 

Yes it was quite a stable low hiss/electric static before, now it has just intensified and another tone or tones added in, I did get a little bit of H but really only in my right ear which has also got TTTS so that doesn't help matters much!
Yea you live and learn aye, won't be letting anyone near my ears again that's for sure.
It's amazing how many so called expert doctors know SFA about T and H, it's actually a bit scary when we seem to know more than they do!

Rich

 

I am convinced that within 3 weeks of research I know more about tinnitus than my 2 ENTs. Not necessarily about the workings of the ear, but about medicine interaction, new upcoming treatments, possible causes besides hearing loss, etc. They are so stuck in their way of thinking. And im convinced that when they get their ENT Monthly Magazine, they skip all the tinnitus articles.

 

Hey @Philip83 ...Sorry, bit of a side track here, but do you know what frequency your T is more or less???

Ummmmmmmmmmm...I played your tinyurl and put my speaker volume slowly up to 100 (max) and just vaguely heard some sound swishing sounds. Then manually turned my speakers' knob way up and then finally heard the sound like wind in trees, varying, like in an alternating wind. Somewhat 'natural' sound...But hey any unwanted sound can drive me/anyone nuts. No issue on that score.

So either I'm really deaf somewhere in that range, or you purposely made the volume really, really low...Is that right?

Anyone else not hear a thing at normal to loudish computer speaker volumes???

Best, Zimichael

 

The recording-volume on it isn't loud, but it seem to play very quiet for you for some reason. I just tried it on my iPhone speaker, and on max volume it's pretty loud. The pitch isn't exactly correct comparing it to my T, which is a bit higher (around 13kHZ I'd say, more like a dog whistle/crickets), but what I mostly wanted to get across is the constant shifting in volume and panning. There is also a very slight shifting in frequency, also on a second-to-second interval, but these are really hard to explain/mimic

 

@Philip83 Hey thanks! Yeah, if up in that range, I am out of it...I can't hear anything up there. Thanks for response.

No doubt shifting volume and frequency would be even more of a pain than a constant tone. Geeeez...what can I say except 'my sympathies' and hope it chills out for you somehow. This stuff is a royal ##!`*==^@!!!!

best, Zimichael

 

Hey Martin: Mine sounds a little like yours. A high pitched dog whistle. Same thing, I'm not sure how to adapt to that particular tone. If it was a little lower in pitch, or maybe a lower hissing noise, it might be easier to habituate. But when I hear it, and cant imagine ever getting used to it. Does anyone have a higher pitch sound (ie. Dog Whistle) that they have habituated to? And if so, did you do any sound maskers or sound therapy that helped? Just seems like habituating depends on the tone also. Please correct me if I'm wrong (and trust me I want to be wrong).

Mark K.

 

@Mark K.
Billie48 here on the board habituated to high-pitched dog whistle. Also user Jeff M. has this and feels better.
But for both it took some time, so don't expect a quick fix. I know of some others (with high-pitched or multiple noises) from another board who struggled, but are better now. Others here have still problems with it.

I for myself can say that I am 15 months in with this. I think I have 2-3 high-pitched tones in my head which can only be masked by loud cricket sounds (can sometimes hear my T in the shower). If all noises scream full-blast and oscillating, it is a real battle. Difficult to say if I made progress. In the beginning I had panic attacks and high anxiety. I could not sit still for even a second (fight or flight mode). Now, I can sit still, can go through my day more or less. But anxiety is still there and a moderate depression.

But I need to admit that this really depends on each person how long it takes. What I mean is, if you have a fulfilling life, much hobbies, you are a very positive person and so on, things could happen much quicker for you towards habituation. So I believe that habituation is possible, even for loud, high-pitched T.
But it takes longer.

Regarding sounds, like mentioned, best helps blue noise (since higher pitched), crickets and bird sounds. Also I listen to talk radio, audio books and sometimes music. During the night, I don't need background sound. Sleeping is no problem, because during sleep I do not hear my T.

And yes, I can remember the one or other day where T was low or just white noise. Much easier to deal with.
You will take time. But yes, I think one can habituate to even loud, high-pitched T. And besides that, there are some promising drugs like AUT00063 which could maybe lower our volume. Maybe a habituation treatment like TRT or CBT could also help.

Stay strong and keep touched.

 

I got a pretty loud ultra high pitched dog whistle sound in my left ear that likes to shift around in my head when it feels like it , it is very challenging to deal with but I strongly believe that we can habituate to it and the brain eventually will tune it out most of the time.

Some people on this site have done so succesfully but as Martin said, it will take time and alot of patience, more patience and resolve than you ever needed in your life.

 

I had a 2 year spike that was L O U D. I put cotton in my ears because I figured I better protect myself while they were healing. It went down.

 

Thanks all. I've had two (2) good days in a row, where my ringing was very low or in some cases non-existent. I started using this hearing aid tinnitus retraining device last night (called Widex Dream series Zen Program) which uses fractal tones to help your brain stop focusing on the ringing. It seemed to make my mind focus on the tones and not the ringing while I was (attempting) to sleep. However, when I woke up this morning, it seemed like my ringing was a little louder and more constant. Not sure if this is normal for this kind of technology. Guess I need to let it run its course before I say its not working or making it worse. Has anyone tried any hearing aids or sound generators or tinnitus retraining techniques? I'm using this Widex Hearing Aids with the Zen program, but I hear of other programs called Neuromonics. Not sure if one is better than the other or if they all do some good. Anyway, as you can see I'm trying anything to help reduce or better cope with the ringing. I just don't want to make it worse. Any advise would be great!

Mark K.

 

@Philip83

Did this ever calm down? This panning sensation in your audio file is something I am quite familiar with. It's not constant, but when it acts up, it's that to a "T". (I hate myself for doing that.)