Poll: How Much Does Your Tinnitus Volume Fluctuate?

[Alue]

How much does the volume of your tinnitus fluctuate on a day to day basis?

 

[GregCA]

How much does the volume of your tinnitus fluctuate on a day to day basis?

For me it doesn't fluctuate so much as increasing monotonically from morning to night. I typically wake up with a softer tinnitus, which ramps up all day until it's time to go to bed, at which point it's really horrible. Usually noon is the tipping point that turns it from bearable to unbearable.
The only consolation I have at night is that I expect it will be more "livable" by the time I wake up in the morning.

I don't know what "resets" my tinnitus, as I've noticed that when I wake up in the middle of the night, the tinnitus is sometimes screaming and at other times softer. Maybe it depends on how much REM sleep I'm getting.

 

[Mario martz]

i choose
Moderately; it never goes away, but it will fluctuate a lot in volume and intensity.
BUT
it has gone away for a few minutes before..but mostly its there changing in volume

 

[linearb]

I feel like the volume and pitch are pretty much constant, but it moves around in my awareness, sometimes seeming like more or less a boring background stimulus, and sometimes seeming like an emergent, painful siren. The volume is always quieter than the sound my fingers make if I rub them together right next to my ear, and yet paradoxically can seem overpowering, deafening at times.

Benzos cut the actual volume in half or more, though.

 

[Tinniger]

Bump.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Random ups and downs all day. Lately it has been going down but night times have been bad.

 

[Matchbox]

It only goes away if I almost pass out standing up or take tons of benzos/steroids.

 

[T Toledo OH]

My tinnitus has gone away for up to 14 days and then returned. Every month I will have a couple of episodes where it is gone for 2-3 days and then returns.

 

[Jebbis]

I chose "a lot" because if I really really want silence, I know I can go for a really vigorous walk or run, and I can experience a lack of my main tinnitus tone for up to 1 minute I'd say.

For the most part, though, my tinnitus tends to be the opposite of @GregCA. When I go to bed it is much quieter, almost static like, less irritating. I wake up to a more piercing and intrusive ringing. I also always wake up with my jaw clenched together, though.

 

[Momma28]

I got tinnitus while pregnant. It was pretty horrendous and loud 24/7 for 10 months.

Then one day it just went quiet for a few minutes and returned at 95% less volume than before. It stayed that way for over a year an half with some periods of silence and increases in volume for a few minutes.

Since having the COVID-19 vaccine, I've got a spike which will hopefully settle back down!

 

[Poseidon65]

According to my daily log, my tinnitus fluctuates between these levels:

"Tinnitus was pretty mild again today. It didn't distract me from work or leisure at all."

"Tinnitus was extremely annoying today. I thought about it nearly every waking moment."

I wish I understood why, or if there is anything I can do to keep it at lower levels.

 

[Óscar PP]

Nothing changes my tinnitus. It is the same constant annoying ringing, 24/7.

I know many people say it's easier to habituate that way but I'd give out a limb in exchange for one day a week of silence.

 

[Poseidon65]

I think fluctuation does make it harder to habituate.

However, if we could choose between "always loud" and "sometimes loud, sometimes quiet," I think we would all pick the latter.

 

[Psych]

How much does the volume of your tinnitus fluctuate on a day to day basis?

Quite a bit, at the moment. It's bearable, then super-annoying, then bearable, then super-annoying or worse. Totally over it, but it's not over me yet!

 

[Jebbis]

If I plug my tragus with pressure, I can make my tinnitus vanish.

 

[Compo]

I have tinnitus only nearly 6 weeks now but it seems to fluctuate a lot. It was barely noticeable on Sunday, then extremely annoying on Monday, a bit better Tuesday, a little worse on Wednesday and better today. Is that a sign that the tinnitus might eventually go away? I think my tinnitus is because of a neck injury/head injury.

 

[ASilverLight]

Mine changes with the second sometimes. What it reacts to is never ALWAYS the same thing. Sometimes the shower spikes it, sometimes it doesn't, etc. I'm trying to stop wondering and caring, I just have incredibly intrusive and reactive/fluctuating tinnitus.

That said I picked moderately because it never goes away entirely.