Tinnitus & Hyperacusis from Exposure to High-Pitched PC Noise

I have had tinnitus for 3.5 weeks now, accompanied with hyperacusis, specifically when exposed to high frequency sounds. Before that I already had slight tinnitus, but it was barely noticeable and it didn’t bother me at all. I also already had pulsatile tinnitus, but only occasionally when I slept with my ear on the pillow.

Just recently I brought my PC to the repair shop and when I took it back, a high pitched sound emitted from the PC. I was so stupid to try to ignore it because I wanted to play a game on it. After a few hours I went to bed and my ears were still producing a high pitched sound in both ears, I was surrounded by that sound.

Three days later I felt it was virtually gone, then I went to a workplace where I heard a electric saw, I got exposed to it. But I heard no tinnitus, only when I came home and I sat on the couch the tinnitus returned. Since that moment it hasn’t gone away again.

I have not used the PC anymore since the moment after I stopped gaming and went to bed. I just wonder if my hearing is damaged? Can you get hearing damage from a high pitched sound coming from a desktop PC?

I desperately want the high pitched intrusive screeching sound to go away, it really drains me. It bothers me in quiet places and at night. When I am at home it bothers me the most. I don’t get why, I turned off my WiFi, TV, and turned off the electronic switches in my house for the things that I don’t use.

When I am outside it doesn’t bother me as much, also because when I’m outside the house it usually gets less severe, and when I get home and I hear my tinnitus it is decreased a lot, but when I am at home for a half an hour it spikes dramatically.

Recently somebody was on my network who I didn’t know, and then I changed my password, and I heard my neighbor get mad short after that, maybe it’s a coincidence but he and I don’t get along either way. I also have a other neighbor who I don’t get along with, a crazy guy with psychotic tendencies. I don’t judge mental illness but he does harass a lot of people. I also have mental illness but I don’t purposefully harass people. My worry is that they know of my tinnitus and that they purposefully try to make it worse, because I do talk about my tinnitus in my home and my apartment block has thin walls so maybe they could hear me.

I am frustrated because if I lived somewhere else, maybe the tinnitus would have gone away already. If I sleep in other places for a few days the volume drops a lot. When I sleep at home it spikes again, with all that progress gone. I do sometimes hear sounds close by my house on a entertainment building that has ventilation that makes a zooming sound, and also a high pitched sound with it, but it seems I only hear it. Before that PC mistake those sounds didn’t bother me so I think it’s hyperacusis. I also hear very fast sonar like sounds in rapid succession at home.

Could it be that my neighbors have, for example, a mouse repellent that produces high pitched sounds that worsens my tinnitus?

Either way, I want to feel at home in my own house again. I can’t even relax, and sleeping is hard because of the tinnitus that is worse here, and I get stressed and very mad about it. I also have restless legs, inside tremors, headaches and head pressure that drives me nuts. It feels like I’m under attack with radiation or frequencies or something.

Is there anything I can do to shield myself from sounds outside my home? For example from my neighbors or outside? Closing windows doesn’t help and earplugs don’t help either. Earplugs also don’t help because I hear my tinnitus more because, well, that’s the only thing you hear then.

I think it’s useful to note that I have taken antidepressants for about 8 years, but in the last two months I have lowered my dose. I also took antipsychotics for a year, but have not been taking them for 4 months. I also took benzodiazepines for 8 months; everyday about 1 or 2 mg of Lorazepam. I’ve now been clean from Lorazepam for about 2 months. And, finally, I vaped a lot of weed for 3 years, I quit that a week ago because it makes my anxiety worse along with the tinnitus.

I really want to relieve myself from this nightmare called tinnitus and hyperacusis. I really have immense respect for people living with this, I can’t take this anymore, I don’t want to live with it, I want it gone.

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

Yeah, it sounds like your ears were damaged. It could be just temporary, so maybe it will go away in a few weeks or some while longer. Or maybe not.

There are some devices that try to repel rodents or insects by using ultrasound, which is not something our ears can detect, but sometimes they can also produce a high-pitch squeal too that only some people can hear. But, high-pitch sounds don't penetrate walls very well, so it isn't too likely that that is what is happening.

If you think your apartment is responsible for an increase in your tinnitus, you could just try wearing some earplugs or earmuffs for a couple of days to see if that helps. If it does help and your ears feel ok elsewhere, then you have your answer.

There might be something in your home environment producing sounds that you aren't aware of that are causing the problem too. So, you might look into that. For example, I can't be in a room for a long time that has a ticking clock. It will eventually wear down my ears which become sensitive, raw and sore, and the minuscule tick of the clock increasingly pounds away at my ears until it become intolerable. So, no ticking clocks for me. For you it could be something different. But maybe you are just going through a phase and things will settle down in time.

The nearby ventilation sounds that you mention could certainly be a problem, especially if you have a degree of hyperacusis. You will know if you have hyperacusis if noise just sounds too loud and have become uncomfortable or intolerable because of the perceived volume. That can happen if the normal volume control in our hearing system is damaged and louder sounds are amplified along with the quieter sounds.

I would suggest that if there are certain sounds, places or environments that are causing you problems, then avoid those things. If that means you have to move, then you should do that. But try giving your ears a rest, use hearing protection a lot for a while (not forever) and time might bring relief.

 

Earmuffs don’t work. I still hear the extra sounds in my house. I wonder if the extra high pitched sound is in my head or if it’s external. Or if there is something that makes it worse.

Do you guys think an EMF shield works? They are expensive but if it works, I happily prioritize my money to buy it. Or are EMF shields quackery?

 

Perhaps you should get a sound analyzer app for your phone, something that allows you to see the db of the entire audio spectrum. I have "db meter - frequency analyzer" (android). In landscape mode, it nicely shows the db of the entire sound spectrum. For instance, it shows a couple of spikes around 16 kHz from my led lamps. I can't hear them but a younger person might. At least it will show if there is something in your environment producing noise significantly above the background. But it could also just be tinnitus, especially if noise protection doesn't block it.