New Tones All the Time?

[historicalagency]

I'm at a loss. My tinnitus has only gotten worse over time, it seems like I get new tones every 3-6 months. Why is this happening? Why would tinnitus get progressively worse? Even if I ignore it, even if I de-stress, I still get NEW noises altogether.

It seems like a lot of people get habituated and move on with their lives, even to loud and intrusive tinnitus. But tell me, how do you habituate to something that ONLY keeps changing and getting worse?

 

[Eren101]

I get new noises sometimes as well. Very low pitched tone that comes and goes away after a few seconds.

Tinnitus is a weird thing and often predictably unpredictable.

You already went to an ENT I guess, so what did he tell you?

 

[historicalagency]

I get new noises sometimes as well. Very low pitched tone that comes and goes away after a few seconds.

Tinnitus is a weird thing and often predictably unpredictable.

You already went to an ENT I guess, so what did he tell you?

It's not a matter of comes and goes. It's new noises, new tones that are 100% constant, just like the rest of my tinnitus.

 

[yonkapin]

I went through a bunch of different noises the first 2 or 3 years with tinnitus. Some would last hours, some would last months on end. Eventually settled though.

 

[Jiri]

I went through a bunch of different noises the first 2 or 3 years with tinnitus. Some would last hours, some would last months on end. Eventually settled though.

I see you've had tinnitus for years now. Did it get better (lower in volume, fewer tones..)? I don't mean habituation, t. fading away. Also, did you take any psychiatric meds? Sorry, if I've got too many questions.

 

[MBH]

I have head tinnitus, but I have hissing, static, and crickets. And the static will stay for awhile, crickets come and go. The hope is you do come adjusted to it. Which I feel my body feels right than it's alright

 

[James Foley]

I too experience frequent new tones. Sometimes last a day or two, a couple of weeks, or a couple of months. They appear completely randomly so I could just be sitting watching the TV or at my desk at work. They vary in loudness and mask-ability, but usually cannot be heard over a running tap or the TV. I've had no luck in finding a pattern or a solid trigger. I'm not even sure what caused my tinnitus in the first place.

Worth saying that I was basically tinnitus free around my third year of having it, well, to a point where it didn't bother me at all. After the third year I started to get frequent spikes, and I still get them now.

I'm at a point where I mostly ignore them and shrug them off as just another typical spike. I know I've spent far too much time in the past worrying about new tones, which only makes it worse. Stress and anxiety always makes my tinnitus louder. Unfortunately I still have days where it does get me down and it will take me a while to get out of the worry / blame cycle.

Just as a side note for the 'solid trigger'. If anything, I have found that a pretty strong headache usually brings on a new tone gradually throughout the day which will stick with me for a week or so. I have no idea if this is an actual trigger or just coincidence. The new tone is always extremely high pitch, basically right on the edge of what I would be able to hear. Part of me thinks these are muscle related but I've never perused it. (Clenching my jaw actually lowers my tinnitus.)

 

[yonkapin]

I see you've had tinnitus for years now. Did it get better (lower in volume, fewer tones..)? I don't mean habituation, t. fading away. Also, did you take any psychiatric meds? Sorry, if I've got too many questions.

Yeah I would say it's calmed down. Early days I would have a lot of random tones come and go for any numbers of days or months. I would get spikes more often also.

Overall the tinnitus is more quiet and I don't experience spikes as much. Many of things people claim that cause them spikes or used to cause me spikes don't now. For example: caffine, MSG, lack of sleep, ibuprofen, asprin, exercise, moderate noise, etc.

 

[fishbone]

I'm at a loss. My tinnitus has only gotten worse over time, it seems like I get new tones every 3-6 months. Why is this happening? Why would tinnitus get progressively worse? Even if I ignore it, even if I de-stress, I still get NEW noises altogether.

It seems like a lot of people get habituated and move on with their lives, even to loud and intrusive tinnitus. But tell me, how do you habituate to something that ONLY keeps changing and getting worse?

From my experience, further damage to the ears (loud noise, possibly lawnmowers), meds, illnesses and stress/anxiety are the main culprits for new tones/sounds. I was having an awesome cereal and one of the ingredients in it starting giving me a new tone. There should be an underlying reason, for new tones appearing.

I'm sorry that this is happening to you....

 

[Jiri]

Yeah I would say it's calmed down. Early days I would have a lot of random tones come and go for any numbers of days or months. I would get spikes more often also.

Overall the tinnitus is more quiet and I don't experience spikes as much. Many of things people claim that cause them spikes or used to cause me spikes don't now. For example: caffine, MSG, lack of sleep, ibuprofen, asprin, exercise, moderate noise, etc.

Thanks for responding and that is really great news for everyone, myself included. I couldn't find the cause of your tinnitus on your profile, so i suppose it was noise-induced?

Btw, I love Mark Hunt.

 

[yonkapin]

Thanks for responding and that is really great news for everyone, myself included. I couldn't find the cause of your tinnitus on your profile, so i suppose it was noise-induced?

Btw, I love Mark Hunt.

Hell yeah! War Hunto.

Yeah, my story is probably scattered through my posts on here through the years.

The damage was noise induced. A combination of stress (cancer in the family) and going out to 2 gigs in one weekend with a flu. Was a recipe for disaster. Abused my ears for years with countless nights spent clubbing, at gigs, concerts, etc - without ear plugs, usually standing right next to the speaker stack. Surprised I didn't get tinnitus earlier, I actually did have tinnitus for a week in 09 or 2010 but forgot about it as soon as it went away. Also had history of ear infections as a kid. Also studied music and was DJing, etc. I was destined for tinnitus in hindsight.

Anyway tinnitus in 2012, and then in 2013, through the (valsalva maneuver) I pretty much gave myself hyperacusis which made everything much, much worse. Then I was basically on this forum every day for 2 or 3 years. Got over that though and just deal with the tinnitus now.

 

[Jiri]

I remember watching him fight back in K-1 with Jérôme Le Banner and then KO'ing him with right hook. Unreal how much punishment he can take and still keep going. One of the greatest fighters of all time, no doubt.

The damage was noise induced. A combination of stress (cancer in the family) and going out to 2 gigs in one weekend with a flu. Was a recipe for disaster. Abused my ears for years with countless nights spent clubbing, at gigs, concerts, etc - without ear plugs, usually standing right next to the speaker stack. Surprised I didn't get tinnitus earlier, I actually did have tinnitus for a week in 09 or 2010 but forgot about it as soon as it went away. Also had history of ear infections as a kid. Also studied music and was DJing, etc. I was destined for tinnitus in hindsight.

Anyway tinnitus in 2012, and then in 2013, through the (valsalva maneuver) I pretty much gave myself hyperacusis which made everything much, much worse. Then I was basically on this forum every day for 2 or 3 years. Got over that though and just deal with the tinnitus now.

Yeah hyperacusis is one of my main problems too. I'm scared I'm gonna get new tones in my head or another worsening of tinnitus volume. Well, like I said, it's great to hear that your tinnitus is quieter now. It gives hope. Would you say you're now back doing all the things you used to do before tinnitus (apart from DJ'ing I guess)? I'm gonna have to go through your posts on here to to get a better picture of how severe your tinnitus once was.

Cheers,

Jiri

 

[yonkapin]

I remember watching him fight back in K-1 with Jérôme Le Banner and then KO'ing him with right hook. Unreal how much punishment he can take and still keep going. One of the greatest fighters of all time, no doubt.

Yeah hyperacusis is one of my main problems too. I'm scared I'm gonna get new tones in my head or another worsening of tinnitus volume. Well, like I said, it's great to hear that your tinnitus is quieter now. It gives hope. Would you say you're now back doing all the things you used to do before tinnitus (apart from DJ'ing I guess)? I'm gonna have to go through your threads on here to to get a better picture of how severe your tinnitus once was.

Cheers,

Jiri

Hyperacusis is a nightmare, but you can get through it. I don't want to hijack this thread but if you have any questions, shoots me some PMs anytime. I'm back to do doing most things including a little mixing.

 

[Jiri]

Hyperacusis is a nightmare, but you can get through it. I don't want to hijack this thread but if you have any questions, shoots me some PMs anytime. I'm back to do doing most things including a little mixing.

True. Thanks heaps for responding anyway. I might send you a P.M. later. I'm currently tapering off from clonazepam after nearly 5 months of use so... I guess I just need some reasonable hope things will get better to get through all this.

 

[historicalagency]

Yeah I would say it's calmed down. Early days I would have a lot of random tones come and go for any numbers of days or months. I would get spikes more often also.

Overall the tinnitus is more quiet and I don't experience spikes as much. Many of things people claim that cause them spikes or used to cause me spikes don't now. For example: caffine, MSG, lack of sleep, ibuprofen, asprin, exercise, moderate noise, etc.

That's good news. I find that when I ignore my new tones sometimes they actually go away for awhile, or forever. But some just seem to stick around. I will say the ones that stick around are the ones I initially fixate on because of external stressors. I wonder if this is all just a matter of CNS hypersensitivity -- you notice a new noise, and instead of forgetting about it, panic and it sticks around. I definitely have PTSD and very bad anxiety/panic disorders, and I for the life of me can't figure out what caused my T except I'm a musician as well and I have TMJ disorder. Although, I have no hearing loss at all. Anyway, it also seems that half of my friends also have some degree of "tinnitus", in that if they really listen they notice noises -- sometimes multiple ones! But they just never thought about it or cared? I've been reading research as well about how the same CNS mechanisms that cause chronic pain disorders that have no structural cause are the ones that might cause tinnitus which.. makes complete sense to me. Now it's a matter of handling my lifetime of trauma, which I do believe would almost obliterate my T but that's a really difficult and time consuming task

 

[Layla23]

@yonkapin

That was incredibly informative. Thank you!!!!

 

[Layla23]

@historicalagency

I'm going through the same thing right now. It's frustrating and scary. But what gives me hope is that it seems to settle after a few years for a lot of people. And if it doesn't....well I guess future me will have to deal with it then.