Arrgghhh Tinnitus

[Rianne]

I had a very mild form of tinnitus. Then last week, one ear became super muffled. My thoughts, rats, ear wax. So I started putting hydrogen peroxide in both ears. Slight bubbling sound, I thought softening the wax. Did that for a few days. Now my tinnitus is 10 times worse.
I have a Dr appt. today. I know there is nothing they can do for tinnitus, but I cannot go to sleep. This is terrible.

[RunningBum]

I've had tinnitus, and it seems like it's getting worse with some meds I've been on. One time I was convinced there was some appliance or something screeching. I went all over the house searching for it, but I knew it was a lost cause when it never subsided even in remote corners of the house.

Notice when you holds your hands over your ears it doesn't change. Tinnitus isn't actually outside noise, it's in your head. I'm surprised that anything you did with ear wax made a difference.

If you've started a new med recently, that could be it. See if there's an alternate, or if it's really necessary.

The only other thing to do is to accept it. Convince yourself it is just part of life, and try to treat it as background music. Hard to do, but if you let it bother you it will drive you crazy. So I've just accepted it and don't mind it, as long as it's not too loud. At night, maybe add some white noise so it's not the only noise you hear.

[mickeyd]

I have had it for about 60 years. I got so used to it that I forgot that I was also afflicted. Thanks for reminding me, not.

[NoMoreJob]

I've had it for many years. I usually don't even realize I'm hearing it (so I guess I'm not) until, of course, it's brought to my attention by something like this post.

[marko]

Have had off and on attacks for 30 years, some lasting six months.
What worked for me: acupuncture. Makes it go away within hours.

[PatrickW]

Have had it for many years. After much experimentation, I discovered that salt triggered it.

[swakyaby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko Have had off and on attacks for 30 years, some lasting six months. What worked for me: acupuncture. Makes it go away within hours.

Now that ‘s interesting!

[Pellice]

I've had mine for 40 years. Our brains are surprisingly good at dealing with stuff like this (floaters too). One thing that helped me was realizing that the closest sound to my tinnitus was the background nightime noise of summer insects. I was able to sell myself on the idea that that noise was tolerable.

[cbo111]

I have it pretty bad, but after 20 years with the power line buzzing in my head, I kind of block it out. The cause is no mystery to me. Too many thousand hours buzzing around in machines with multiple noisy engines and shooting guns too often wearing pitiful foam earplugs made by a "lowest bidder." A surefire recipe for tinnitus.

[EastWest Gal]

As a musician, I was rather disturbed when I developed constant tinnitus in 2014. However, it has not progressed. It seems louder at some times than others, and does not at all interfere with my hearing. One thing I notice, is that when I drink a little too much, I notice it less, but then after it is MUCH worse.

There seems to be few very effective treatments for tinnitus, but avoiding alcohol seems to helpful. There is a product, Lipoflavinoid, that is supposed to be helpful, but I haven't tried it enough to see how well it works.

For the most part, it seems having an accepting attitude toward tinnitus is the most helpful for me in dealing with it. Though it is there constantly, most of the time, I don't even notice it.

[NoMoreJob]

Now I'm noticing mine again. I really need to stop looking at this thread!

I'm going to unsubscribe right now.

[Palmtree]

I've got it too. It's gotten much worse in the past year or so. Some days it's a high pitch constant thing. Other days it's like night sounds.

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Mine started in 2012 and sounds like a high pitch whine (in both ears) surrounded by high frequency white noise. I cannot be in quiet places for long before it drives me crazy. I've been tested...and have about 20% hearing loss in both ears (high frequency). One theory is that the brain is replacing sound that it no longer can hear. I've read about some new experimental procedure that effectively "reboots" your brain (electrically speaking). That is definitely not for me! I keep imagining the blue screen of death following the reboot. One thing that helps when I'm working at my computer is to run a loop of recorded white noise. It can help cancel out the phantom frequencies that I am hearing.

[euro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoMoreJob I've had it for many years. I usually don't even realize I'm hearing it (so I guess I'm not) until, of course, it's brought to my attention by something like this post.

+1............................

[O2Bfree]

I have it in my right ear, possibly caused in part by ear infections over the years. It's worse when I'm tired, and most noticeable when I'm trying to fall asleep at night. I don't notice it as much when we're camping near a river. That sound, even if it's faint, seems to mask the ringing better than white noise.

[Murf2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne I had a very mild form of tinnitus. Then last week, one ear became super muffled. My thoughts, rats, ear wax. So I started putting hydrogen peroxide in both ears. Slight bubbling sound, I thought softening the wax. Did that for a few days. Now my tinnitus is 10 times worse. I have a Dr appt. today. I know there is nothing they can do for tinnitus, but I cannot go to sleep. This is terrible.

Do you have any hearing loss? I have tinnitus also. It was really bothering me but I had moderate to severe hearing loss also. I finally started wearing hearing aides now I rarely notice the ringing during the day. There is a school of thought that your brain is trying to replace the sound it isn’t getting. At night some white noise helps. + 100 on the drinking. I used to be a heavy drinker. Stress at work was getting to me. I would go to bed and the tinnitus sounded like people whispering. It was weird.

Good luck with it and keep us in the loop, please.

Murf

[Sue J]

I have had this too, for quite a long time. I don't really notice it unless I'm in total silence. Or when reading a post about tinnitus!

When it's quiet and I notice it I take it as a reminder that I'm still alive.

Odd thing I have noticed is that my Instant Pot and a few other appliances have a high pitched beep to notify you of things. If I'm standing next to it in the kitchen I can hear it but if I'm in another room I never hear the beep. I think it's the same frequency as my tinnitus and I just can't hear it. If DH is home he'll tell me my pot is beeping. Good reason to stay married.

I would like to know more about the acupuncture treatment.

[skipro33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoMoreJob I've had it for many years. I usually don't even realize I'm hearing it (so I guess I'm not) until, of course, it's brought to my attention by something like this post.

Ditto. Doesn't bother me until something reminds me of it and I think about it. Then it's LOUD!

[Bir48die]

Over 30 years here. Ramps up when I’m tired and when I’m sick. Have a noise machine at night. Weird thing is I also have pretty acute hearing when there isn’t lots of chatter. Comes and goes on how it has affected me mentally

[Telly]

A couple days ago I was wondering when a new Tinnitus thread would come up!

My tinnitus took a big increase in volume. Seemed odd, as I had not taken any pseudoephidrine (for sinus congestion/sinus headaches) for a while. I have had a background level of tinnitus for many years. It sounds exactly like the old IBM PC-AT hard drives that had lots of hours on them, where the bearings make that high-pitched noise. Sometimes its two separate hard drives, and they can start a sliding beat note between them.

Taking pseudoephidrine for more than a day or two increases the volume. Taking it for more than a few days can add in the ghost chains, the sound of steel chains being pulled up off of a concrete floor link-by-link.

No idea why my tinnitus went up in volume recently, but the level is slowly dropping back towards the usual volume.