Hey everybody! I've been a longtime sporadic lurker here, and today I decided to actually register. This is probably going to be a little long, but here we go. 
When I was a kid, I remember hearing a very faint, very high-pitched "eee" tone at night before falling asleep. I had lots of ear infections as a child, and also got "swimmer's ear."
College was where I made some big mistakes with my ears. I spent many hours at these stupid bars that blasted music; after my freshman year I cut way back on that, thankfully. I knew that I had tinnitus, but I thought that once you had it, it would always stay the same. Obviously that's not true, but I didn't have much information about it. I was totally habituated through the entirety of college - sometimes I would fleetingly notice the T before bed, but I'd give it no thought.
In grad school, I was in the library one day, and people were being a bit noisy around me. After that happened a few days in a row, I bought earplugs and started using them. I was upset to realize that I definitely had several tones. Wearing my 30 db earplugs in the 45 db library, I could even faintly hear a morse code type T sound in my left ear, which has always been the louder ear. When I took the earplugs out, I could only hear one tone (in my left ear,) and it wasn't too loud. So I just forgot about it.
In 2015, I'm not sure whether my T got louder, or if checking this forum more and more compulsively started making me focus on my T to the point of un-habituating myself. I would get very worried trying to figure out if it was getting slightly louder compared to X years ago.
I probably have at least 8 to 10 different tones in each ear; almost all of them were only noticeable with my head on my pillow. After a certain point they blend together and it's hard to single them out. Luckily, I have excellent hearing in the audiogram-tested frequencies (but I know I must have "hidden hearing loss.")
I have pretty bad earwax blockage (or so I'm told) in both ears, even though I haven't used a Q-Tip since 2012. I'm trying to get it out with this British olive oil spray I bought, hoping that using it daily for a few years would eventually clean it out safely. I have to be more disciplined about it, though. Maybe removing the earwax boulders will reduce my T.
At some point in 2016, I noticed something that distressed me a lot. In a quiet 35db room, there was a new tone that, at times, completely blocks out all of my other T. It's much lower in pitch than my classic T, and I'd describe the sound as "wah wah wah wah wah." (Not to be confused with the George Harrison song "Wah Wah.") It's a regular, pulsing tone, but it's not in tune with my heartbeat. When I hear it, I usually start to slightly panic (I have anxiety issues) and over several seconds the sound grows to "WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH." And the "wahs per second" increases - it really freaks me out.
The "wah wah" tinnitus has sporadically disappeared and reappeared since I've had it. (But I can always hear it with earplugs in a quiet room even when it's "gone.") I think when I'm well rested and not stressed, that's when I don't hear it even in 35 db rooms. I'll hear my eeee T, but not the wah wah T. It disappeared for months when I started supplementing with thiamine, only to return when I forgot to take a day's dose. (I hope it goes away again.)
I've since sworn off all headphones, even at 50 db, because one well-regarded poster here said that for those with T, they were risky at any volume. I will never go to another concert (even with strong earplugs) or loud sports stadium. And I keep two sets of earplugs in containers attached to my keychain. One set is 20 db musician's earplugs for things like my weekly hang outs at a 80 - 85 db bar with my friends, and I have 29 db musician's earplugs for louder scenarios. I also quit learning to play the guitar.
My great fear is that someday my T could get dramatically louder and drastically lower my quality of life. Hopefully that will never happen to me; it seems like that's not what usually happens.
My hope and goal is to re-habituate, and protect my ears as much as I reasonably can. Hopefully in 5 to 10 years there will be some safe and effective new treatment options available, but I don't want to be "waiting" for that. I need to be happy, and I don't want to put that on hold waiting for XYZ treatment to be available.
When I was a kid, I remember hearing a very faint, very high-pitched "eee" tone at night before falling asleep. I had lots of ear infections as a child, and also got "swimmer's ear."
College was where I made some big mistakes with my ears. I spent many hours at these stupid bars that blasted music; after my freshman year I cut way back on that, thankfully. I knew that I had tinnitus, but I thought that once you had it, it would always stay the same. Obviously that's not true, but I didn't have much information about it. I was totally habituated through the entirety of college - sometimes I would fleetingly notice the T before bed, but I'd give it no thought.
In grad school, I was in the library one day, and people were being a bit noisy around me. After that happened a few days in a row, I bought earplugs and started using them. I was upset to realize that I definitely had several tones. Wearing my 30 db earplugs in the 45 db library, I could even faintly hear a morse code type T sound in my left ear, which has always been the louder ear. When I took the earplugs out, I could only hear one tone (in my left ear,) and it wasn't too loud. So I just forgot about it.
In 2015, I'm not sure whether my T got louder, or if checking this forum more and more compulsively started making me focus on my T to the point of un-habituating myself. I would get very worried trying to figure out if it was getting slightly louder compared to X years ago.
I probably have at least 8 to 10 different tones in each ear; almost all of them were only noticeable with my head on my pillow. After a certain point they blend together and it's hard to single them out. Luckily, I have excellent hearing in the audiogram-tested frequencies (but I know I must have "hidden hearing loss.")
I have pretty bad earwax blockage (or so I'm told) in both ears, even though I haven't used a Q-Tip since 2012. I'm trying to get it out with this British olive oil spray I bought, hoping that using it daily for a few years would eventually clean it out safely. I have to be more disciplined about it, though. Maybe removing the earwax boulders will reduce my T.
At some point in 2016, I noticed something that distressed me a lot. In a quiet 35db room, there was a new tone that, at times, completely blocks out all of my other T. It's much lower in pitch than my classic T, and I'd describe the sound as "wah wah wah wah wah." (Not to be confused with the George Harrison song "Wah Wah.") It's a regular, pulsing tone, but it's not in tune with my heartbeat. When I hear it, I usually start to slightly panic (I have anxiety issues) and over several seconds the sound grows to "WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH." And the "wahs per second" increases - it really freaks me out.
The "wah wah" tinnitus has sporadically disappeared and reappeared since I've had it. (But I can always hear it with earplugs in a quiet room even when it's "gone.") I think when I'm well rested and not stressed, that's when I don't hear it even in 35 db rooms. I'll hear my eeee T, but not the wah wah T. It disappeared for months when I started supplementing with thiamine, only to return when I forgot to take a day's dose. (I hope it goes away again.)
I've since sworn off all headphones, even at 50 db, because one well-regarded poster here said that for those with T, they were risky at any volume. I will never go to another concert (even with strong earplugs) or loud sports stadium. And I keep two sets of earplugs in containers attached to my keychain. One set is 20 db musician's earplugs for things like my weekly hang outs at a 80 - 85 db bar with my friends, and I have 29 db musician's earplugs for louder scenarios. I also quit learning to play the guitar.
My great fear is that someday my T could get dramatically louder and drastically lower my quality of life. Hopefully that will never happen to me; it seems like that's not what usually happens.
My hope and goal is to re-habituate, and protect my ears as much as I reasonably can. Hopefully in 5 to 10 years there will be some safe and effective new treatment options available, but I don't want to be "waiting" for that. I need to be happy, and I don't want to put that on hold waiting for XYZ treatment to be available.
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