Poll: Approximately How Often Do You Get Fleeting Tinnitus?

[Elinor]

I'm interesting in knowing how often you experience what we call "fleeting tinnitus". I'm also interested if you believe there are certain things that affect how often you get these attacks (e.g emotions, foods, sounds, physical activity, sleep).

For those who are unfamilliar with the term "fleeting tinnitus"
Fleeting tinnitus is a sudden and temporary attack where your tinnitus either gets louder, the sound changes or you get a new sound. These attacks normally last for a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes and usually affect one ear. Some experience muffled hearing with these attacks as well.

 

[Paul10]

It's reassuring to know that other people get this; I thought I was a bit of a rare case at the beginning!

 

[maltese]

It's reassuring to know that other people get this; I thought I was a bit of a rare case at the beginning!

Even people with no tinnitus sometimes get it.

 

[Elinor]

I find it somewhat relieving to see that others get it on a daily basis too. I went from getting it maybe once a month to several times a day for no apparent reason. It has been distressing.

 

[Kekistan]

I find it somewhat relieving to see that others get it on a daily basis too. I went from getting it maybe once a month to several times a day for no apparent reason. It has been distressing.

I get it every evening it almost sounds like it's blocking everything else.

 

[joker1994]

gets its every morning when i wake up and holy shit it sometimes make me think i go deaf i can´t hear annything but that for minutes and its a new tone everyday today it was a dental drill yesterday it was a bell.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I had an interesting experience yesterday. My T was a high-pitch tone. Then I experienced fleeting T that made the volume ten times louder. When the fleeting T episode was over, the sound of my T became a hiss. So there might be a connection between fleeting T and your T...

 

[Gary P]

I have a constant background, fairly loud, high pitch noise. Sometimes, cant find any regular interval or cause and effect, one ear gets an even louder, single tone that drowns out everything for maybe 10 seconds then drops back to normal level

 

[Greg Sacramento]

When I first got T about 7 years ago it was a 10 for 3.5 years, then without meds or vitamins it dropped to 5-6. Then when I had a bad dental experience 3 months ago, it went back to a very high pitched 10. Lately I now have days when it goes from 10 to under old baseline. Sometimes I can't even hear it, then minutes later it goes back to a 10. Then maybe within minutes to a hour back down to a 2.

Doctors are studying 3CT scans and 4CT scans of everything from my shoulders up. I thought that I would have the full results today. They did already find things that no other radiological tests did - and I had all of them.

 

[Nikopol]

Random as hell. I had days when I got half a dozen of them and I had times when I didnt get any for over a month.

From where I stand it seems that there are higher chances getting it if my anxiety and stress peaks and also its related to how much I sleep.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Nikopol

I totally agree. Stress, sleep, anxiety and not enough fluids.

 

[newbieT]

the first time i had fleeting T few weeks ago, i was talking to my coworker and my normal T went 10x louder. I literally stopped talking mid sentence, looked around and said what the hell is that sound??? my coworker looked at me like i was nuts

 

[Karl28]

Maybe once every few months!

 

[Mentos]

I get it couple of times per week, it's scares the shit out of me, always afraid it's a new sound that will stay permanently.

 

[Ed209]

I get it all the time. Not necessarily every day, but I'd say it's likely to be more than twice a week. I've had times where it's happened every day for a period, but if we average things out, then it's not consistent enough for me to declare it's a daily occurance. So, I'd say it's fairly regular, but totally random.

 

[JurgenG]

Once every two or three months.

 

[Abbadem]

Before the onset of T I got fleeting tinnitus almost every day. At the time I saw an ENT because I wanted to make sure there was nothing going on - and of course after my hearing tests came back fine he just said "Oh everyone gets it - I do too" and sent me on my way.

Even after my T I sometimes get fleeting tinnitus but at a lower frequency than I used to - maybe 2 times a week if that. I also notice its only when I'm sitting so it makes me think its vascular in order. The fleeting T is a completely different tone so I'm not sure if its even related to my T.

Drinking plenty of water and getting ample rest seems to lessen the frequency of it.

 

[EddieMar]

I get it about once a week but recently, the volume of my fleeting tinnitus has done down, a lot, sometimes I can barely tell I'm having it. What could this mean?

I've had tinnitus, the permanent kind for 18 months now. Before developing permanent, I don't recall ever getting fleeting.

 

[Ben In SD]

@Elinor Thanks for posting this survey. I was freaking out every time I would experience "fleeting tinnitus". But, now I know there's a term for it and that other people are dealing with it as well. Makes me feel a little better. Thanks again for posting this.

 

[Nick07]

For me it varies. Sometimes I get it a lot. Other times like now it seems like it hasn't happened in a while. Seems like when I down a lot of Voltage Mountain Dew I get it a lot.

 

[Tweaker]

I used to get it before my tinnitus got bad. I get it more frequently since Tinnitus got bad. It always sounds like a bell or gong. It can hang around in the background for a few hours after the initial loud blast.

 

[MajaC]

I don't get fleeting tinnitus in a regular basis. Before having permanent tinnitus, I could have that each days or 3 times in a week. Now that I have an hearing loss and a permanent tinnitus, I have them sometimes.

 

[Ruse]

Glad to hear others get this as well.

I get this several times a day and it usually lasts for 10-20 seconds accompanied with muffled hearing.

 

[Clint Azzopardi]

This bloody fleeting tinnitus drives me mad. I started having it just before I got tinnitus permanently. In the early days I tried to track what drives fleeting tinnitus but I can't seem to follow a pattern. Chocolate and sweet drinks ramp it up for me, not a spike but a fleeting tinnitus. I sometimes even get it while I'm asleep and then I wonder, was it just a dream or was it really a fleeting tinnitus, which is kind of funny in a way.

Fleeting tinnitus used to cause me a lot of anxiety, I would like freeze for 5 seconds. After I got tinnitus permanently I once almost fainted when I got fleeting tinnitus.

From what I have read (in this forum), it looks like it doesn't mean that your tinnitus is getting worse when you get fleeting tinnitus.

However, I never was able to find any medical/scientific papers on fleeting tinnitus. Has anyone found any?

 

[Mathieulh]

Multiple times a day, but my tinnitus is a new thing.

 

[bellecooper77]

Ive been getting fleeting tinnitus for as long as I can remember. When I first got my tinnitus I thought that it was simply fleeting and waited for it to go down to silence since that was what I was used to. It hasnt gone down yet, but I miss those days where it would go down and all I could hear was silence.