Tinnitus Gone When I Wake Up — It Only Returns When I Get Up and Start Walking

Hi,

I’ve had tinnitus since late July 2019, anyway, I don’t always have the typical eeeeee screech, this is intermittent and normally only there if I plug my ear in a really quiet room or in the dead of night, my tinnitus sounds like a drone/buzz/revving engine and primarily in my left ear (have had fleeting tinnitus and strange noises in the right ear from time to time).

Anyways for the last couple of days I have woken up to... nothing... have lay in bed for a couple of hours and still nothing...

It only returns when I get up and start walking around. This morning while lying awake it started to come back so I turned over, lowered my tense shoulders and relaxed my jaw and just generally tried to relax and it again went away.

Anyone know what this means?

Also when I woke up one morning I felt I had a stuffy nose so pressed my thumb and finger on my nose to open it up and this also lowered the tone of my drone.

Any answers/questions welcome guys.

 

HI @Deniseh

It doesn't sound as if you have full blown tinnitus yet which is good. I have some suggestions for you to try so that it stays this way and hopefully improves.

The most common cause of tinnitus is noise induced. Typically, it is listening to music through headphones at too high a volume, unfortunately many people do not realize this until it is too late and they develop tinnitus. If you are a regular user of headphones then I advise you to not use them for a while or keep the volume as low as possible. I suggest that you never use them even at low volume but it's your choice. If you frequently go to clubs or concerts where loud music is played, this can also cause tinnitus.

I strongly advise you not to plug your ears and listen for any tinnitus. If you continue to do this there is a risk, your brain will focus more on the tinnitus and it can develop making it louder so be careful. I also advise that you use low level "sound enrichment" using nature sounds instead of sleeping in a quiet room. More about this is explained in the links below. I advise you to read all the information in my posts as I feel it will help you and prevent you developing full-blown noise induced tinnitus if this is what your symptoms are.

Take care and all the best
Michael

PS: It might be a good idea to make an appointment at ENT so tests can be carried out on your auditory system, including the nose as you mention nasal problems.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

@Michael Leigh

Thank you for your reply, unfortunately my job is in a contact centre (for a UK bank for 18 years now) so headphones are unavoidable although I keep them at the lowest level possible, I’m also waiting to receive noise cancelling phones to see if they help. I never listen to music through phones or buds either and only really go out for dinner which is comparatively quiet but I also take my earplugs (<27 Dbls) in case it gets too loud.

I have already seen an ENT consultant through BUPA (I’m a big advocate of the NHS but way to slow) she did a few tests ( shook head, checked balance for vertigo) and also put camera down my nose, nothing remarkable she said except my larynx had been affected by acid reflux, MRI also given ( not sure if with or without contrast but they did put a dye through my system half way through) and everything apparently was ok except for ‘loop in blood vessel close to left hearing nerve but no compression so of no consequence’

Also had a hearing test at Audiologists and apparently everything ok there as well so final results was ‘ Don’t know for sure but think it’s caused by reflux and also b12 deficiency so should get better but will take time’

I feel it is slowly getting better especially as I am starting to get small periods of silence but was unsure whether it was actually tinnitus I have or just a problem with my auditory system

Thank you for pointing me to your links they were really helpful

kind regards

Denise x

 

Sounds quite a bit like my case. Did you happen to have some kind of neck/head trauma before your T set in? There are some situations where noise is not the trigger.

 

@Tybs

Not to my knowledge, lead quite a quiet life actually and prefer going to dinner with husband/family/friends than loud pubs/clubs and never go to concerts.

I work on a computer for work so posture not great, risk assessment showed muscle tightness in upper back and neck so had to get a specialist chair but no trauma and that was a couple of years ago

 

It's like I'm reading a description of my own life. You're not some hidden twin, are you?

I got my T after I fell down the stairs: did not hit anything, but the incident caused heavy strain on my neck because I grabbed and hold on to the support bar with my arm while sliding down.

Can you describe your different sounds in more detail? Do they vanish/reappear during the day as well, are they tonal or more like wind or static noise? Does your posture affect their volume?

To illustrate: I mostly have wind-like/static sounds, and two tones that highly fluctuate in volume. I used to have crickets and other sounds as well, but physio exercises in the past months eliminated sounds or reduced their volume from roughly 9/10 to 1-2/10. Right now I can magnify or nullify every static sound in a few minutes by switching postures in bed (lying on left/right side, back or belly). Took a while to analyse, since every sound has its own positive/negative posture , but it explains why I sometimes "randomly" woke up in silence in the first few months. Controlling it definitely was not possible before my neck treatment.

 

HI @Deniseh

Thank you for the additional information. I have corresponded with many people that work in call centres and use headphones/headsets for long durations. Unfortunately, a lot of these people have developed tinnitus due to wearing headphones even though the volume is kept low. Noise cancelling headphones may not have any beneficial affect if headphone use is causing irritation to your auditory system. I realize you need to wear headphone for your job and I'm not saying you shouldn't wear them.

I too am and advocate of the NHS and would like to make you aware of a few things that you might not know. You will get the best help and long term aftercare for tinnitus under the NHS that no private practice can match in the UK I assure you. I have been an out-patient on the NHS for tinnitus for 23 years and know this to be true. I was told this many years ago by my GP and he was one hundred percent correct.

A lot of people do not realize how delicate the ear and auditory system are. When someone develops tinnitus the best treatment is to do nothing, for at least 4 months preferably 6 months before being seen at ENT. Providing there are no additional symptoms such as: Deafness, dizziness, acute pain the ears. Often tinnitus will correct itself over time so most ENT doctors prefer to wait and see what happens. Too early and intervention can make tinnitus worse. Therefore, it right that a referral to ENT under the NHS should be 4 to 6 months. If there are additional symptoms such as what I have mentioned above, then a patient is usually fast-tracked to ENT for tests.

Headphone use is by far the most common cause of tinnitus even at low volume. Please read the post below.

All the best
Michael


I have expressed many times in the forum that it is a risk for anyone that has tinnitus which was caused by exposure to loud noise to use any type of headphones even at low volume. There are people in this forum that have tinnitus which was caused by exposure to loud noise and use headphones without any problems. However, there are many people that have "Noise induced" tinnitus and used headphones at low volume and regretted it, because their tinnitus has increased and wil lnot reduce to its previous baseline level.

The ear canal is approximately 26mm long. When sound is directed into through headphones, it has only one place to go and that is towards the eardrum. This can cause irritating to the cochlear situated behind the eardrum, due the syncopation within music. When listening to music through speakers, there is some dispersion before it is picked up by ear and enters ear-canal. However, if music is too loud one can still cause irritation to the auditory system which can spike the tinnitus and possibly make it worse.

There are people in this forum that have tinnitus which was not caused by exposure to loud noise and are quick to say using headphones causes no harm for people with Noise induced tinnitus. These people do not have NIT and therefore, know nothing about the condition. If you choose to follow their advice because they are telling you what you want to hear, that is your choice. Just remember, should your tinnitus increase then you will be the one in distress all by yourself with no-one to help you. Peruse some of the posts in this forum from members that have NIT and used headphones and regretted it.

 

Hi @Tybs

Lol being your hidden twin would be AWESOME lol

Sorry to hear you developed you tinnitus after an injury and hope all is well with you now. My tinnitus sounds like wind also and can sound quite nasally and will go up and down in it’s tone almost like a quiet engine gently revving, I also have a gentle eeeeee sound in my left ear which comes and goes but never constant. I’ve also started to get fleeting t and a strange vibration, sometimes the odd thump from my good ear ( right one) Previously I would say the sound is almost constantly there in my left ear but the last month or so it will disappear from time to time but always comes back unfortunately. However the past few mornings have been peace perfect peace until I get up, and like yourself I can stop it by changing positions, weird eh.... Today has been a good day with hardly any t at all but my tubes are popping every time I swallow think this could be ETD?? This has been constant from the start of my t journey

Do you still have tinnitus?

Have you had work done on your neck shoulders and how much did it help???

Feel as if sometimes it’s a needle and a very large haystack lol x

Regards

Denise x

 

@Michael Leigh

Thank you Michael for your reply

I totally understand where your coming from re the earphones but unfortunately I’m not in a position to change jobs but I am being extremely careful and hope that’s enough

As I said the NHS is a godsend for those of us in the UK so let’s hope that never changes. The care you’ve received sounds top notch in comparison to mine which was certainly not as comprehensive even although it was private so maybe in the future, if this persists, and I pray to God it doesn’t,I’ll go back to my GP for a referral however I apparently was referred at the beginning of my journey but still no appointment and that’s almost 6 months (even though at first I presented with possible vertigo but this was ruled out)

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help with myself and other victims of this cruel disease

Warm wishes and God bless


Denise x

 

@Michael Leigh

Also meant to say that I only have head set on for max 4 hours a day with a 10 min break every 2 hours

regards

Demise x

 

I have weird clicking/popping sounds when swallowing as well, though that doesn't bother me much.

My T still exists, but is in no way comparable to when it came up. Apparently the pain signals coming from the nerves in my neck are (partly) being perceived as sound, thereby causing T. An interesting study of the DCN explains this a bit. I'm not a doctor or scientist though, so I just stay with the basics.

I'd suggest getting your neck diagnosed for any issues with nerves being pressurized, since posture matters for your T as well. Good chance that doing some exercises for a while could lighten things up. If those have effect, then I'd say you're on the right track in finding your cause of T.

Having said that, I'd still recommend following @Michael Leigh his advice concerning headphones too, if possible in any way. I stopped using them as well, at least as much as possible. Better safe than sorry...

Let us know here on the forum if you get some relief or not, knowing about the results is always good for analysis

 

I understand your disquiet @Deniseh but please believe me the best help for tinnitus in the UK is under the NHS and cannot be matched by private treatment in the UK. The reason being: Tinnitus can be a long drawn out process and treatment for it. 23 years ago I was referred to ENT and had to wait 6 months for my appointment. I was in a lot of distress. I asked my doctor to please recommend somewhere private I could go. That's when I was told the NHS is the best. I didn't know at the time that the correct procedure is a 6 months wait. I now have the experience. I correspond and counsel people with tinnitus. If your symptoms don't improve and you are referred to NHS ENT just be patient you are in the best capable hands I assure you. You can even go to an NHS hospital of your choice if you have the means to get there....

Take care
Michael

 

If your symptoms are caused by headphones (and I hope they are not) The only solution is to stop using headphones/headset. Sorry to be so sobering. I have corresponded with many people over the years affected by headphone/headset use which has caused tinnitus.

Again, I hope it isn't the headphones that are causing your symptoms by part me believes it is.
Take care
Michael

 

The headphones are likely a cause of this. You should try and use them at minimal volume. Alternatively, you can try to use them with a musician earplug to protect the ear.