Weird Super High Pitched Zing That Comes on Randomly Every 5 Seconds or So

Hello everyone! I've had tinnitus in both ears for around 20 years. Each ear had 2 different sounds, a hiss and a high-pitched tone, and none of the sounds were the same pitch. The first year was rough but luckily I habituated and things have been cool ever since. I only ever really was bothered by it when the power went out and my giant box fan didn't have power to drown out the sounds. Also lucky for me, I don't think I ever really had major spikes and the sounds were very consistent and unaffected by external factors. When the sounds are so predictable it becomes easier to tune them out.

This all changed about three weeks ago when things got interesting. 1-2 times a week, I ingest around 5 mg of marijuana edibles to help me relax and sleep at night. One night I woke up around 6 hours after taking a small amount of edibles and noticed some changes. The baseline volume of all my sounds went from around a 4 out of 10 to a 7 out of 10 and seemed to be permanent. The groundwork for habituation was already laid out in my head so it was just a matter of time before I got used to the new volume, right? Nope. A few days after the increase, my left ear developed this extremely annoying super high pitched "zing" sound that comes and goes at random intervals around 20 times a minute. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes it doesn't happen for 30 minutes, but it always comes back. It seems absolutely random and it is DRIVING ME INSANE. It's easily a 9 out of 10 in volume and because of its unpredictable nature I can't get used to it. Every time it comes back it completely blindsides me even when I know it's coming... and it's always right around the corner.

Is this normal for tinnitus? It seems so different from all my other sounds. Could this be a sign of something weird, and potentially treatable? The thought that this thing could go away is the only thing keeping me going. I'm still a week away from my ENT appointment, and I'm getting 0-2 hours of sleep a night for two weeks and feel on the verge of my mind crackin.' Obviously I've stopped taking marijuana edibles after things changed, and I don't even know if they were a factor. I guess I'm just hoping one of you will be like "yeah it's just hoobajoob syndrome and you just eat a jelly belly once a day to get rid of it." I really hope this isn't permanent...

 

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to habituate to this new sound. It's too unpredictable and yet consistent. If it was anything like the old ringing, I'd probably have it on lockdown already. How is one supposed to get used to a sound that hits like an icepick in the ear?

Does anyone else out there have a similar sound and can offer advice? To further describe the sound, it's a high frequency sound of around 15,000 Hz, and the wave form only lasts for about a second and never longer. It occurs frequently but seemingly random at around 20 times a minute. It's not rhythmic like a heartbeat and sounds kind of electronic in nature. It's very loud and when it hits I hear it everywhere including the shower. If I'm lucky I'll have a couple hours in a day when it doesn't occur, though it seems the longer I have it the less downtime I have. It's maddening and I haven't slept in 3 days.

 

@Mumbo, correct me if I'm wrong but is this "wave form" oscillating in nature? Is it only in your ear or do you feel it in your head as well? I have this metallic zinging horrible quality with my tinnitus but my tinnitus is centralized in my head and not ears. I will say I have not come across anyone else who had this in their ears, everyone else had what I call "hissing head tinnitus" that was accompanied by this because we are all high frequency sufferers.

 

Thank you for the response. It's not inherently oscillating in nature, no. It's mostly located in the left ear, however every once in a while it seems to slowly jump to the right and then back. Sometimes I feel a weird electrical tingling in the back of my neck, and even if I'm somehow able to 100% mask the sound (rare) I can still feel the tingle. It's very uncomfortable. I know it's still technically tinnitus but it feels so drastically different from my "normal" tinnitus that I can't even begin how to process habituating to it. With all my other sounds, I never had a doubt that I'd someday get used to them (and for the most part I have). This new one makes me think I"ll be one of the few who never acclimate.

Maybe things will calm down if/when I'm able to get some sleep again...

 

I was able to get my ENT appointment pushed up to this evening and was hopeful to get some answers. I had an audiogram earlier in the week which showed that my hearing is still very good. Awesome! But I kind of already knew that. The actual appointment with the ENT was... unsatisfying? I haven't seen a doctor for tinnitus in 20 years so maybe my expectations were unrealistic. He looked in my ears, nose, and throat, answered some of my questions then basically said there's nothing he can do. Due to the severity and weirdness of this new sound, I was at least expecting some vigilance to figure out what caused the tinnitus. If for no other reason than to safeguard myself in the future from it becoming worse. No prescriptions either, not even a Hail Mary "maybe try this and see what happens" attempt. When I told him I've had some pain in the jaw on the side the ringing is, he cut me off and said "but your ear itself doesn't hurt, right?" and dismissed jaw issues being unrelated to tinnitus.

Is this appointment typical of what everyone else has come to experience from ENTs? I haven't seen one in so long that I don't even know if they normally attempt treatments. My last appointment 20 years ago was similar, except that one gave me the option of severing the nerve to stop the ringing. I think maybe I'll just have to forge my own path. I did it once, I can do it again. It'll take some time but I'll get there again.

 

Yes, it seems like a typical experience. I recently had a consultation with an ENT, he just looked in my ears and told me that tinnitus is a very common condition. Some of the things he told me were wildly inaccurate. Seems doctors don’t have to keep up with the latest research.

The members of this forum are far more educated on tinnitus than any medical professional I have seen.

 

Tinnitus Zinger Masker at 15kHz - YouTube

I posted this link today as I have a super high pitch in my head. This is odd but seems to work right away. I can get to sleep and even pipe this into a small sound machine and the wife doesn't even hear it.

 

I believe I'm having the revelation that my new ear sound is reactive to noises, but my old ear sounds aren't. What a conundrum! Any kind of masking therapy, including the box fans I sleep with at night, seem to make the left ear scream like a banshee. Even minor things like the hum of my refrigerator or the droning of the heater set it off for a few hours.

I guess that puts me in a predicament. Do I mask the old sounds and make the new one worse? Or use nothing to keep the new sound at bay but become overwhelmed by all the old sounds. Maybe I'll experiment with putting an earplug in only the left ear and see what happens. Though I wonder if this new sound was caused by chronic "sleeping with a loud box fan directly next to my head" syndrome. My left ear is also the one closest to the box fan at night so there may be a connection.

Since I have multiple tones, hisses, and zings in both ears, is it possible that each may have an entirely separate cause as well as remedy? I never considered that before but I suppose that makes sense. I guess if I ever cure one of the sounds but the others remain I'll have an answer.

 

I'll just make a quick update to say it's amazing how much better it feels after a decent night's sleep. It wasn't even a great night as I got around 5 hours, but that's more than my previous month of 0-2 hours a night including a 3 day stint of absolutely no sleep. I wish I could say it was done naturally, but I'm on a prescription of Ambien now. Whatever it takes I guess.

Yesterday was a terrible day and I was stressed and anxious to the point of feeling physically ill. After a decent night's sleep? My ringing is as loud as ever and my left ear is zinging like crazy but it only bugs me a little. I think my previous 20 years are helping me fast-track the habituation process this time around. That, and I think I realized last night this new sound is here to stay so I've started to accept it as just another annoying part of me like my big goofy feet. If it goes away, awesome, but if not I'll get used to it. I've also learned it's definitely reactive to sound, specifically my masking machines. It seems to want to compete with them for my attention so whatever volume I set it at it will always be slightly louder. Hah, joke's on it! I can just put the volume on the lowest possible setting and it will automatically calm down. Sucker.

 

I have something to add that hopefully somewhere here can shed some light on for me.

Early on with this new ear sound, I noticed I could intensify the sound by flexing my neck muscles. The harder I flex, the louder the sound gets. Weirdly enough, it only makes the NEW sound louder but not the old stuff. I brought this up with my ENT and he dismissed it immediately and said that it was something common with all tinnitus and then changed the subject. Not wanting to question him, I moved on and probably due to sleep deprivation I forgot about it until just now. Now that I'm experimenting with it, I have the exact muscle isolated to the sternocleidomastoid (yes, I remembered that crazy name from high school biology 20 years ago lol).

Obviously he wasn't correct since I can't enhance the sound of my old ringing in this manner. So, what does this mean for my new ringing? Is it something I can potentially make better with some exercises or something similar? I admit I have some terrible posture both with sitting at my desk and with sleeping at night - I lie on my stomach with my head bent in an awkward way. If this is something I might be able to improve upon, what kind of specialist should I see?

Perspective is such a weird thing. The thought that I might have a jacked up neck is giving me more hope than I've had in a month.

 

Best to talk to a physiotherapist who has had some experience working and treating people with tinnitus. Exercises may help, but a lot of people can modulate their tinnitus through neck and jaw movement.

You can search the forum to find members who are experiencing the same symptoms. If you want to speak to them, just tag them using the @ symbol and then their username.

For example @makeyourownluck.

 

Hmm... I think I just made a connection that I probably should have figured out weeks ago.

For nearly two years, I've had a chronic cough, especially after I eat meals. I have to vigorously clear my throat anytime I eat or drink something because it feels like it gets stuck. It's kind of the sensation of mucus sticking to the throat when there is none. Not long after the cough began I experienced a sore throat which still persists to this day. At the behest of my girlfriend I eventually saw an ENT (the same one I recently saw for the tinnitus) and after an endoscopy he saw there were several ulcers near my larynx. They looked like large canker sores. He said this was common and prescribed me a nasal spray. Three months later when it wasn't working, he prescribed me a new nasal spray which also didn't work. I felt defeated and just dealt with it ever since.

Fast forward to a month ago and now I have a crazy new sound in my left ear that appears to get worse when I lie down and after I eat, as well as a left Eustachian tube that is nearly impossible to clear. I think I may have laryngopharyngeal reflux that my dumb ENT ignored all the signs of. I think stomach acid caused the ulcers, and then the acid gets stuck in my throat where I proceed to cough it up towards my nose, mouth, and Eustachian tubes. Is this weird sound stomach acid marinating in my ear? I guess only time can tell and it could be all coincidental. I should probably cut back on the spicy foods and stop eating food RIGHT before sleep. No more bed pizza for me!

Oh yeah, and I should definitely never see Dr. Young ever again.

 

Hey there,

What you're describing here sums up my tinnitus to a T (sorry for the pun).

I have exactly the same zingy (or how I've described to my audiologist as 'knives sharpening', 'squeaking' sounds) randomly going off in my left ear that sometimes traverses to the right ear and can feel like a low-level burst of electricity firing across the rear of my brain.

Prior to all this I'd begun to notice a mild hyperacusis (without pain) setting in to my stable 25 year old tinnitus.

I personally think what I'm experiencing (and perhaps you too) is something colloquially referred to as 'reactive tinnitus' but which in my view is more of a symptomatic intersect between tinnitus and mild hyperacusis in some patients.

I've got a face-to-face with my audiologist in the next couple of months and intend to explore the hyperacusis avenue much more with her. I want a solution and to at least try and stabilise my current predicament, which in today's clinical setting means some kind of sound therapy I believe.

 

Well that certainly sounds familiar. We're even similar in longevity as it relates to our old tinnitus. I've noticed I'm more sensitive to sounds recently, both in terms of how it makes me uncomfortable and an increase in zings. So what you're saying makes sense. It's amazing how low level the sound can be and still cause a reaction. As an example, the heater in my house kicking in from several rooms away always causes a reaction or the hum of my refrigerator.

I guess whichever of us figures this junk out first has to inform the other of the best way to proceed. Good luck to you!

 

Phew, this is really starting to wear me out and I wish I knew the best way to proceed.

Any kind of sound masking makes it go bonkers as if the zings are trying to compete with the noise and always be louder. I don't believe I'm overly sensitive to external sounds in the sense that they don't hurt to hear, but the zings themselves hurt in the same way nails on a chalkboard do. Because of that kind of discomfort, I almost feel that the zings themselves are capable of damaging my ear in the same way a loud sound can. That's probably not even possible but perhaps the painful zings are just warning sirens that something IS damaging the ear. I'm staying optimistic because I know this will get better in time, but in the moment I'm pretty miserable all the time so maybe it's time to see about getting meds to help.

I'm not quite at this point yet, but has anyone had the auditory nerve severed in an attempt to stop the tinnitus? It may be worth being deaf in my left to get some relief, but I've also heard that sometimes even that doesn't stop the ringing once it's in the brain.

 

@UKBloke, @Mumbo:

Does your tinnitus sound like car breaks squealing? I have also been experiencing high frequency “zings” that sound like car breaks and have that glassy, knife-like sharpness to them. They seemed to start about 5 weeks ago after using topical colloidal silver for an ulcer on my leg. The zings vary in intensity. Sometimes, they’re light enough that they can be ignored if I’m busy. Other times, they make their presence known so forcefully that it stops me dead in my tracks — like being shocked with electricity. The frequency of them, even when they’re low, has a piercing quality and is quite grating, so I find them to be pretty intrusive.

 

Hey @Mumbo, I have something similar, albeit at a more moderate volume. It comes and goes but it came with the onset of my tinnitus. Perfectly described as a zing/oscillating tone that comes every 10 seconds or so. It's damn annoying.

I'm a big believer in NAC during spikes. I take 1200 mg at night and 600 mg in the AM. I do this until the spike subsides - which everyone has done - so far. I also use my RedLightMan light that a few users on this forum have reported success with. Obviously, YMMV but I'm damn sorry you're dealing with this.

 

The glassy, knife-life sharpness you mentioned is a great way to describe them. Mine also sound like car brakes squealing but at an even higher pitch. It's similar to the sound an old CRT television makes but always cutting in and out and always comes with a bit of ear pain. Mine also vary in intensity and sometimes I can tolerate them. Usually this is within the first couple hours of the day. After that, they gradually start to get more intense and peak around dinner time and will subside a little around 30 min before bedtime. They don't always follow the same pattern throughout the day, and some mornings are great and others I'm woken up at 4 am when they inexplicably begin at max volume. I've had maybe two tolerable days in the past month, a single decent day, and the rest insufferable days.

I've attempted a lot of experimenting this month to see what affects it. Little appears to make it better, but at least I located some triggers that make it worse. Exercise makes it worse, but I've not let it stop me from my 60 min per day of high intensity cardio. As far as sounds that make it worse? Literally every sound ESPECIALLY masking sounds lol. This wasn't the case in the first week, and at least then I had a sanctuary when I needed it. When it came to my old tinnitus, anytime I had to wear shop quality ear protectors it would drive me crazy because there was nothing to mask the ringing. Now, wearing those same ear protectors is the closest thing to an escape I have as the zings quiet down a bit. It's still amazingly annoying, but it makes it feel like only getting stabbed in the ear with a Q-tip rather than a screwdriver.

Despite it all, I'm still optimistic about how this will all play out. Things will be good again, and I'll be a stronger dude in the end for it. I hope you're able to get through this unscathed because I know how hard it is. When I think about what my tinnitus was like for 20 years prior to this I feel like I really took it for granted, haha.

 

Whoa, I've never heard of a RedLightMan light. I'll have to look into that. I'll also do some research on NAC to see if I think it's worth a shot. Right now other than a new Ambien prescription, I'm not taking anything at all as I'm a bit paranoid about making things worse. Thanks for the tips!

 

Another night of 0 hours sleep, I'm ready to give NAC a shot. Do you have a link to what you personally take?

 

Today when I got out of bed, I got up a little too quickly and started to black out. Tall person problems! For about two seconds all my tinnitus stopped, probably because my brain was preparing to pass out and started to shut off all nonessential functions. I didn’t fall or anything but I got to hear silence for a brief moment before it all came back. It was kinda nice haha. It really put into perspective just how many crazy sounds are in my ears.

I’ve been using earplugs a modest amount the past few days to try to lessen the “zings.” I don’t want to overdo it so I only do it a few hours a day. It slows the occurrence of them somewhat but then my regular tinnitus is all I can hear and it doesn’t take long before that’s maddening. However, a new challenger approaches! Yesterday when I used earplugs I noticed a new sound in my left ear. It sounds just like Morse code in quick erratic tones of always the same pitch. I can’t tell if it’s also reactive to sound since luckily it’s fairly quiet and I can’t hear it unless the earplugs are in. Unfortunately it’s annoying enough with earplugs in that it’s highly distracting. I guess when I need a break from the painful zings and require earplugs I’ll have to deal with yet another sound.

Trying to stay optimistic but to quote Bilbo Baggins “I feel thin, sorta stretched. Like butter scraped over too much bread.”

 

Hey Mumbo

Do both ears have that reactive zing?

I’ve had it since day 1 after a noise trauma... :/

My experience on Tinnitus Talk is that many people tend to get reactive tinnitus after many years with normal tinnitus.

I’ve read this more so than people getting reactive tinnitus at onset. Especially this very annoying “instant “ reactive tinnitus...

Do you still have variations with it from day to day? That should give you SOME hope...

Sure there wasn’t a loud bang that same week you got it? Or flu or vaccine...?

I don’t think you have to be afraid of masking even if it reacts to it. But perhaps you should try a month without just to see?

Most importantly be careful with loud screechy noises or bangs out on the streets.

I had some luck with this the first half year but a setback took that away permanently.

 

I’m sorry you have to deal with this too Is it for you both ears or only one ear?

For me, only the left ear does it consistently. Every once in a while the right one does it too, but it’s usually short-lived. It’s been getting worse pretty much daily since it began and the peaks are fairly predictable. At night after I take my Ambien, I get a couple hour period where I can listen to the TV, white noise, etc without the zings going bonkers. The reactivity slows down (but doesn’t fully disappear) and I can sleep with a white noise machine for about two hours before it starts back up. Then I’m basically awake for the day. In five weeks I’ve gotten less than 70 total hours sleep. I don’t know if the Ambien quiets the reactivity or if it’s just my body’s natural rhythm but it always starts again at the same time.

I don’t know the cause. Though I could be imagining things but about a week prior as I was sleeping I could’ve sworn my ear made some crazy loud distortion sound. I don’t believe there was an actual sound - I think the sound was all in the head.

I think what I’m struggling with is how to proceed. The zings hurt so I don’t know how to learn to ignore pain. And when tinnitus is always at the forefront of my thoughts and attention I’ll never habituate. It needs to slip to the back of my subconscious and just became yet another part of me, but how is that achieved when it hits like a hot dagger in the ear every-single-time? It instantly reacts to things like white noise, fans, refrigerators, the heater etc but it seems when it reacts it also becomes more sensitive to reactions. I listened to white noise for 30 minutes at super low volume yesterday which made it so sensitive that by evening it was reacting to my wife’s breathing.

I dunno, being so insanely reactive AND painful with no chance of masking is making me miserable pretty much all the time. And it’s only been five weeks lol. One day at a time, I suppose...

Oh, something I’ve failed to mention is that when I use white noise, the zings switch from an erratic pattern to rhythmic. It’s a different rhythm from my pulse. Why could this be?

 

For me it’s only the damaged ear that reacts. Very, very annoying and not possible to get used to at all.

It’s normal for many types of tinnitus to change when you’re around sound and mine does that too. Both the baseline and the reactive shit can do this.

Don’t have much to say other than protect your ears when around people. Because you have no clue what will happen and the first half year you might get lucky.

 

Your brain may get used to it eventually. I highly doubt you’ll be bothered 30 years down the road lol.

Year 1 “omg I can’t handle this crap”
Year 5 “omg I can’t handle this crap”
Year 15 “omg I can’t handle this crap”
Year 200

I highly doubt you’ll be bothered for eternity lol, well unless it keeps changing every 2-3 years.

 

In 30 years I’ll be dead as a stone so yup looking forward to that habituation

 

That’s the best habituation anyone can have.

 

@Mumbo, if you need another friend, @Wrfortiscue is a good choice.

He got that annoying reactivity as well but tries to persuade himself it’s no big deal

Like you, his is a little up and down in volume and consistency.

One of the few people here recovered both from reactivity and normal tinnitus is @Jason C.

If you haven’t read it yet, it’s a cool story from whining newbie to superman in 2 years. Mostly first year regarding reactivity.

 

@Mumbo, @Exit, @Wrfortiscue, @IntotheBlue03:

For these high frequency zings, do you think hearing aids with amplification could help the brain lower the perception of them (if we have hearing loss)? I wouldn’t want to mask with white noise, but I’m just wondering if the amplification could help from hearing aids.

 

The thing I’m confused at with the reactive tinnitus is “what is it trying to accomplish?” Is it like a little kid who wants to sing LA LA LA along with all the other sounds? Or is it more dire like my ear is repeatedly telling me to stop all sounds as kind of a warning siren?

I’m always torn. The zings get to be too much so I put in ear plugs. Then the baseline tinnitus increases and that becomes unbearable. I just switch from one type of auditory issue to another all day.

If I sever the auditory nerve will that end it all? Or will some of those sounds still remain even though I’m deaf. Would the reactivity at least stop? I know it’s desperate talk but it’s also desperate times; for the first time in my life, I had a mental breakdown last night and my wife had to take me to the ER to be sedated.