I have had severe tinnitus in my left ear for many years. But in the last couple of days I've started to get it in my right ear too. These new sounds in the right ear sound similar to Matt01's experience and are completely different to the sound I've long had in the left. In my left ear the sounds are extremely loud, comprising of a very loud and consistent whooshing and often pulsating sound from which I can usually deduce my heart rate, with another very loud tinny constant sound (ringing noise) above it. It's constant and I do a pretty good job of living with it considering how loud and intrusive it is. I'm amazed really that it doesn't drive me mad and I've no idea how I cope with it.
The new sound that's now started in my right ear is a 'distant' sound but surprisingly intrusive mainly because it is like listening to morse code - it's not one long sound but very fast broken up sounds, identical to listening to someone tapping in morse code on one of those old films. This sound feels like it's deep in my ear or brain. The louder sound in my other ear sounds like it's right on the surface, if that makes sense. I have had this morse code sound before for a few days about six months ago but it has just come back and I have a feeling it might not stop this time which is scary. Although it is very faint and not at all loud, it is oddly more intrusive and annoying than the very loud sounds in my other ear. It's almost harder to ignore because it is faint and presents the temptation of actively 'listening' to it to see what's going on. The sounds are constantly changing but always like morse code noise. No idea if anyone knows what I mean.
As for the cause, I've always thought that the louder sound in my left ear was caused by having my ears syringed (to remove wax) but I'm also aware that I was on carbimazole at the time (to treat an overactive thyroid) and I now know tinnitus can be linked to that. I had been off thyroid meds for about 8 years until recently but my thyroid condition has now returned. I may have had it (but it was not yet diagnosed) when the morse code sounds occurred in my right ear a few months ago. I'm now back on carbimazole and struggling to get my thyroid back to normal levels. Seems a bit of a coincidence that these sounds started again with a vengeance in the last few days, so I suspect my thyroid and/or the meds are the cause. An overactive thyroid obviously speeds up all the systems in the body, so makes sense that maybe it overactivates whatever the mechanim involved in the ear/brain that is linked to tinnitus. It's a nightmare really. It was bad enough to have it so loudly in one ear, and to now have to cope with a whole new set of sounds of a different volume, type and annoyance level in my other ear feels quite a challenge at the moment.
The new sound that's now started in my right ear is a 'distant' sound but surprisingly intrusive mainly because it is like listening to morse code - it's not one long sound but very fast broken up sounds, identical to listening to someone tapping in morse code on one of those old films. This sound feels like it's deep in my ear or brain. The louder sound in my other ear sounds like it's right on the surface, if that makes sense. I have had this morse code sound before for a few days about six months ago but it has just come back and I have a feeling it might not stop this time which is scary. Although it is very faint and not at all loud, it is oddly more intrusive and annoying than the very loud sounds in my other ear. It's almost harder to ignore because it is faint and presents the temptation of actively 'listening' to it to see what's going on. The sounds are constantly changing but always like morse code noise. No idea if anyone knows what I mean.
As for the cause, I've always thought that the louder sound in my left ear was caused by having my ears syringed (to remove wax) but I'm also aware that I was on carbimazole at the time (to treat an overactive thyroid) and I now know tinnitus can be linked to that. I had been off thyroid meds for about 8 years until recently but my thyroid condition has now returned. I may have had it (but it was not yet diagnosed) when the morse code sounds occurred in my right ear a few months ago. I'm now back on carbimazole and struggling to get my thyroid back to normal levels. Seems a bit of a coincidence that these sounds started again with a vengeance in the last few days, so I suspect my thyroid and/or the meds are the cause. An overactive thyroid obviously speeds up all the systems in the body, so makes sense that maybe it overactivates whatever the mechanim involved in the ear/brain that is linked to tinnitus. It's a nightmare really. It was bad enough to have it so loudly in one ear, and to now have to cope with a whole new set of sounds of a different volume, type and annoyance level in my other ear feels quite a challenge at the moment.
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I'd switch for a high pitched constant tone any day. Constant tones are almost a walk in the park compared to this (I have constant tones too).
