On and Off Tinnitus for a Year

[Maija]

I have had tinnitus in my right ear for about a year. The cause is unknown. I noticed it after a bad flu I had in February or March 2016. In the beginning I had tinnitus for about 6 weeks and then it stopped. It was gone for months and it suddenly returned in the autumn 2016 and went away again after some weeks. Now I am having my third period of tinnitus, I have had it this time for 3 months already with one longer break.

I went to see a doctor and audiologist. My hearing is excellent, no sign of any damage, infection etc. No hearing loss, no pain. I tried massage (neck, back) and trigger point therapy. The latter seems to help a bit.

My T is not loud but it is annoying, small really high pitched ringing. I only hear it in total silence. Weird enough, I traveled to Asia (10 hour flight) and my T was totally gone for 3 weeks after the flight, then it came back. I though a flight should make T worse, not better.

I use sound app to mask my T in the evening/night. I hope to find some help and treatment ideas in this forum.

Oh, and I am a woman and 40 years old if that matters

 

[billie48]

@Maija
Welcome to the forum. You are very lucky to have T gone for 3 weeks totally after a flight. When I took my flights I could hear T even above the jet noise. LOL. And flights don't help much either. For me and others, flights can aggravate T if we happen to have bad congested nose and sinus during flights as that can prevent the proper balancing of the change of pressure during takeoff and landing. This can result in ear pain and plugged hearing It happened to me one time and my ears fell like wrapped in a cocoon for a week after that. LOL. So do take your situation as a positive. I have the high pitch T too and it is loud. When it spikes bad, I can practically hear it above most everyting. Besides hearing it above jet noise, I can hear it even above the raging rapids of the wild salmon rivers I fish. So you may have a mild case of T. But of course each person reacts to T differently. So we need to learn some good strategies to deal with T. Some of the effective methods to help us not so annoyed by T is by CBT and mindfulness. You may want to read up all discussions on CBT and mindfulness by searching the forum or internet. There are many youtube videos on these too. The idea is a gradual exposure to the T sound, keeping an open attitude to face it and trying to accept its presence without running away. This will gradually remove the fear response and in due time the brain will not be so bugged by T. You can read up Dr. Hubbard and Dr. Gans as they are doctors on Doctor's Corner. Good luck. Take care. God bless.

 

[Maija]

@billie48
Thank you for your reply! I am so relieved to hear I may have a "mild case". My T actually went away again for 9 days - and now it is back again. It seems like one of these helped: 1) trigger point massage 2) my new corticosteroid nasal spray (used to have a different brand before) 3) a herbal product called Sinupret Forte (for my on and off sinus problems). Or maybe my T just comes and goes with no logic at all.

I am sad to hear your T is that loud! Thank you for your tips, I will most certainly try anything that can help me get rid of my T for good, or at least cope with it a bit better

 

[Mkc28]

@Maija, you are lucky, I wish mine would go away! I would take 9 days right now. So what was the new steriod nasal spray? I'm using Flonase but I got it last year and never used it and I think it's old. It's good to know that T can come and go away! I hope your's finally goes away for good! Oh and mine is usually low during the day but it still drives me nuts!

 

[Maija]

@Mkc28 Thank you for answeing and sorry for my late reply! I have not been visiting the forum for a long time because my T went away again! It has been away for several weeks and now it's back again

My Corticosteroid spray is called Nasofan. I don't know if it is available outside my country (Finland). It seemed to help, now I've run out, but I have to buy more since my T is back. I also think that Sinupret forte helped, I ordered it from Amazon. Also I started iodine supplementation and my T immediately disappeared and was totally gone for 5 weeks.

I just hope I could find something that makes it go away for good! BUT all in all, I am happy and thankful that I also have long periods T-free, thank God for those!

 

[Kolisar]

Hi @Maija , I think the fact that yours comes and goes may be a good sign. You are fortunate as many of us cannot escape it, even briefly.

Also thank you for posting the things that have helped you. That information will help a lot of people.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Could it be that your T has been coming back as a result of you being exposed to moderate noises (that a healthy person would not even notice)?

 

[Maija]

@Bill Bauer it may be so, I didn't even think about that! But this time I also have a common cold, started 3 days after my T was back, so I am really hoping my T is now back because of my stuffy nose and goes away when I am healthy again. We'll see.

 

[Maija]

I have not posted for months. But this is great news: singing made my tinnitus disappear!! My T has not been loud lately, but I could here it clearly in a silent room (I've been sleeping with a white noise app on). But now it is totally gone!

Long story short: I was singing karaoke yesterday evening and suddenly my ear popped. I didn't pay much attention to it, it was not painful or anything. Just kept on singing.

But this morning I woke up and NO tinnitus! I've enjoyed complete silence whole day today

I am wondering if my T was some kind of ventilation problem (?) in my ear and somehow singing fixed it. I really don't know. I have not been singing for over a year now before yesterday.

Now I just hope that my T is gone for good. So happy now

 

[Lane]

I was singing karaoke yesterday evening and suddenly my ear popped. I didn't pay much attention to it, it was not painful or anything. Just kept on singing. But this morning I woke up and NO tinnitus! I've enjoyed complete silence whole day today Now I just hope that my T is gone for good. So happy now

Hi @Maija,

Congratulations on your reprieve! Did it last? I hope!!!​