Hi all,
I've had this issue for probably about a year now, but it's been particularly bad this month. I am just not 100% sure it is tinnitus, as it doesn't seem to to quite fit descriptions, so I was hoping someone might be able to offer some guidance.
I've narrowed it down to a few triggers, but these definitely aren't consistent. Reaction to triggers seems to be worse when stressed, or, as I have managed to narrow it down the last few months, when I am in a period of PMS. Sometimes it'll get set off if I am too hot (though only usually when lying down, at night), or certain pitches of voice through the phone for long conversations (and very rarely in person), or after crying hard, and sometimes just by lying down. I do remember getting it mildly when I got too hot at night in the past, but it would always fade when I cooled down. It doesn't any more.
I'd actually describe it as more of a sensation that a sound. You know if you have hiccups for ages, it starts to hurt a bit and be a bit exhausting? The sensation in my ears is like that, but every second or couple of seconds. It isn't timed with my heartbeat as I understand pulsatile tinnitus usually is, and though fairly regular, does have odd erratic beats. At the height of the 'hiccup', my ears are filled with a roaring sound which overtakes any other surrounding sound. It is an intensely uncomfortable sensation which makes it hard to sleep or focus on anything. It leaves me feeling worn out.
Once triggered, the only thing that helps even a little bit is putting my fingers in my ears or somehow creating a hard seal in the ear canal. Sometimes it will go away if I do that long enough, other times it will just come back. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how long it sticks around, but if I manage to sleep with it then it will usually have gone by morning.
I do wonder if it is something to do with my hormones and sinuses. A few years back, I would wake up every morning and just sneeze and sneeze, and have a nose dripping like a tap for the first couple of hours of my day. After seeing an ENT specialist, he dismissed it as 'a hormonal imbalance in my sinuses'. It's better now than it was - I do sneeze a few times upon waking, but no more dripping nose. I did also used to work in pub with live metal and rock bands twice a week. I'd come home from those shifts with ringing ears, but that would fade by the next morning, and I haven't worked there for 5 years or so. My brother also suffers hyperacusis and tinitus, though it he tells me it is always a ringing or buzzing, and a constant rather than in pulses.
The only other thing I've come across which sort of fits is Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome, but like pulsatile tinitus, it doesn't seem to fit completely.
I know that was a bit of an info dump, so thanks for reading - any advice or thoughts would be welcome.
I've had this issue for probably about a year now, but it's been particularly bad this month. I am just not 100% sure it is tinnitus, as it doesn't seem to to quite fit descriptions, so I was hoping someone might be able to offer some guidance.
I've narrowed it down to a few triggers, but these definitely aren't consistent. Reaction to triggers seems to be worse when stressed, or, as I have managed to narrow it down the last few months, when I am in a period of PMS. Sometimes it'll get set off if I am too hot (though only usually when lying down, at night), or certain pitches of voice through the phone for long conversations (and very rarely in person), or after crying hard, and sometimes just by lying down. I do remember getting it mildly when I got too hot at night in the past, but it would always fade when I cooled down. It doesn't any more.
I'd actually describe it as more of a sensation that a sound. You know if you have hiccups for ages, it starts to hurt a bit and be a bit exhausting? The sensation in my ears is like that, but every second or couple of seconds. It isn't timed with my heartbeat as I understand pulsatile tinnitus usually is, and though fairly regular, does have odd erratic beats. At the height of the 'hiccup', my ears are filled with a roaring sound which overtakes any other surrounding sound. It is an intensely uncomfortable sensation which makes it hard to sleep or focus on anything. It leaves me feeling worn out.
Once triggered, the only thing that helps even a little bit is putting my fingers in my ears or somehow creating a hard seal in the ear canal. Sometimes it will go away if I do that long enough, other times it will just come back. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how long it sticks around, but if I manage to sleep with it then it will usually have gone by morning.
I do wonder if it is something to do with my hormones and sinuses. A few years back, I would wake up every morning and just sneeze and sneeze, and have a nose dripping like a tap for the first couple of hours of my day. After seeing an ENT specialist, he dismissed it as 'a hormonal imbalance in my sinuses'. It's better now than it was - I do sneeze a few times upon waking, but no more dripping nose. I did also used to work in pub with live metal and rock bands twice a week. I'd come home from those shifts with ringing ears, but that would fade by the next morning, and I haven't worked there for 5 years or so. My brother also suffers hyperacusis and tinitus, though it he tells me it is always a ringing or buzzing, and a constant rather than in pulses.
The only other thing I've come across which sort of fits is Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome, but like pulsatile tinitus, it doesn't seem to fit completely.
I know that was a bit of an info dump, so thanks for reading - any advice or thoughts would be welcome.
I'm glad you've found something that helps, though!
