Hi. I am 40 years old, and just recently got tinnitus in June following a retirement party of all things, at a local banquet hall, and it wasn't a loud event but its the only thing I can think of that would have triggered the weeks and weeks of noise afterward. Earlier in the year I got a new set of earbuds, though, and I had them in at the gym in attempt to drown out other noise and the lame music they use at the gym itself, and Im pretty sure thats what did it for me. Anyway, I woke up the day after this retirement party to a very quiet house and a "eeeeeeeeee" in my left ear. I didn't panic because I had ETD earlier the year so I just figured it was related.
But one week went by and then 2 and I started researching, and found out I wasn't alone and no decongestants for my ETD were working ... I read that this happens all the time and sometimes its permanent -- and THEN I panicked because my dad suffers from tinnitus. I spent one or two nights where the noises seemed to be completely raping my peace. I mean it was like a grand circus in my ears at night, and yet forgettable during the day. When I panicked, it seemed to reinvent itself into new tones, and all kinds of frequencies....uhmmmm I was LOSING it. I looked at my partner with envy sleeping peacefully...ugh. I wondered if I ever would again.
So I went to the doctor ASAP. He found nothing wrong with my ear, physically. I deflated. I was hoping it was ETD. Nope. So he asked for an audiogram to be done. I did that the next day expecting to fail. I passed with flying colors - he said I could hear a mouse fart. So if it is a hearing loss its probably at a higher frequency (me guessing, not the doctor).
As of yet, I do not know the for sure cause of my case. I can tell you that the "eeeeeeee" in the morning has almost gone away completely. I mean, I have always heard head noise of some sort, but there's no train whistle going off when I lay down anymore. I do hear, however a constant low frequency hmmmmmmm - at night usually, which wasn't as intrusive as the train whistle, but its not as easy to mask as the train whistle either. Oddly, though, when I wear plugs, I can't hear the hum as well or even at all. Otherwise, I find I can take Clonozepam and it knocks it right out, but I try not to use it much. I am hoping this hum too will go away.
In the meantime, I have been protecting my ears at any potentially loud events. I went to go see fireworks and live comedy shows with ear plugs and I am getting married in 3 weeks so I will also be wearing plugs at the reception.
I think its super important on these posts to declare age. I think is early onset tinnitus and age related tinnitus, and Im not sure yet, but the etiology, progression, and prognosis in older adults appears to be different than those of younger adults. Generally, in my research, I have found that younger sufferers tend to get it from headphones, loud music, acoustic trauma resulting in high frequency hearing loss NOT apparent in a regular audiogram. Older adults tend to suffer from extended long term noise exposure which DOES impact the standard audiogram. Not always the case as I asked the audiologist if people my age ever "fail" the audiogram and they do, and Im sure older people also pass it with tinnitus, but declaring an age can offer some kind of context.
Thanks for reading.
Jordyn
But one week went by and then 2 and I started researching, and found out I wasn't alone and no decongestants for my ETD were working ... I read that this happens all the time and sometimes its permanent -- and THEN I panicked because my dad suffers from tinnitus. I spent one or two nights where the noises seemed to be completely raping my peace. I mean it was like a grand circus in my ears at night, and yet forgettable during the day. When I panicked, it seemed to reinvent itself into new tones, and all kinds of frequencies....uhmmmm I was LOSING it. I looked at my partner with envy sleeping peacefully...ugh. I wondered if I ever would again.
So I went to the doctor ASAP. He found nothing wrong with my ear, physically. I deflated. I was hoping it was ETD. Nope. So he asked for an audiogram to be done. I did that the next day expecting to fail. I passed with flying colors - he said I could hear a mouse fart. So if it is a hearing loss its probably at a higher frequency (me guessing, not the doctor).
As of yet, I do not know the for sure cause of my case. I can tell you that the "eeeeeeee" in the morning has almost gone away completely. I mean, I have always heard head noise of some sort, but there's no train whistle going off when I lay down anymore. I do hear, however a constant low frequency hmmmmmmm - at night usually, which wasn't as intrusive as the train whistle, but its not as easy to mask as the train whistle either. Oddly, though, when I wear plugs, I can't hear the hum as well or even at all. Otherwise, I find I can take Clonozepam and it knocks it right out, but I try not to use it much. I am hoping this hum too will go away.
In the meantime, I have been protecting my ears at any potentially loud events. I went to go see fireworks and live comedy shows with ear plugs and I am getting married in 3 weeks so I will also be wearing plugs at the reception.
I think its super important on these posts to declare age. I think is early onset tinnitus and age related tinnitus, and Im not sure yet, but the etiology, progression, and prognosis in older adults appears to be different than those of younger adults. Generally, in my research, I have found that younger sufferers tend to get it from headphones, loud music, acoustic trauma resulting in high frequency hearing loss NOT apparent in a regular audiogram. Older adults tend to suffer from extended long term noise exposure which DOES impact the standard audiogram. Not always the case as I asked the audiologist if people my age ever "fail" the audiogram and they do, and Im sure older people also pass it with tinnitus, but declaring an age can offer some kind of context.
Thanks for reading.
Jordyn
but, then in the morning when i told my hubby, he said he heard it too!!! So again, idk if we are hearing different hums but i'm pretty sure it's my ears. i've even visited the most quiet places i can think of - a mausoleum for example- to see if i could still hear it in my ears! i couldn't but uhmmm the mausoleum was alive with its own hums - AC, fans, lighting etc etc. one of the worst things is i cannot trust my ears.... ugh. Keep me posted on your recovery!!!
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