Tinnitus for Many Years, Recently Got Worse: I Don't Know How to Go On

[Gluecksritter]

Hello all!
One thing I noticed about my new sound is: It's louder/more intense in the morning than during the day or in the evening. Do you have any idea why that may be? Possibly even some ideas on what I can do about that?

 

[Bill Bauer]

It's like a heating device, or maybe a bit like running water with some metallic sound.

Normally the sounds can be classified as either a high-pitch tone or a hiss...

 

[Gluecksritter]

Normally the sounds can be classified as either a high-pitch tone or a hiss...

That's interesting - it's definitely not a hiss. Its frequency is above normal noises, but not a lot. Maybe also a bit similar to ringing church bells in a distance. But definitely lower, more like a heating device.
Are there also reasons connected to the different types of tones? Maybe I couple draw some conclusions out of that...

 

[Gluecksritter]

Hi all!
Last night, my "new noise" disappeared - I couldn't hear it until I fell asleep.
When I woke up during the night and in the morning, it was there again in usual intensity.
So no it went from "strong in the morning, weak in the evening" to "strong in the morning, gone in the evening".
Do you have any ideas what that could mean or how I could try to enhance this effect?
Thank you!

 

[Gluecksritter]

Hi all!
Last night was a lot worse, unfortunately - the noise was there in the evening, and is quite loud now.
The difference between yesterday and the day before yesterday was: I was at work yesterday and looked at a screen for 8 hours. Could this be the reason? I'm a bit desperate, now, because things looked as if they were getting better, but now turned out worse again...

 

[Bill Bauer]

Are there also reasons connected to the different types of tones?

As it fades, it often switches from a high pitch noise to a hiss.

Do you have any ideas what that could mean or how I could try to enhance this effect?

Hopefully as time goes on, the times when it is quiet will get longer and longer.

things looked as if they were getting better, but now turned out worse again

What matters is the monthly (not daily!) trend and global lows. Your tinnitus has already established a quiet global low, indicating that it is Capable of being this quiet. Don't worry about the setbacks, they are to be expected.

 

[tbuzz89]

What matters is the monthly (not daily!) trend and global lows. Your tinnitus has already established a quiet global low, indicating that it is Capable of being this quiet. Don't worry about the setbacks, they are to be expected.

@Bill Bauer so what you're saying is that fluctuations of good days and bad days, where the good days seem to be getting lower, over the course of two or three months should lead to more of a decrease in time? I'm two months in and while I still have many 8/10 days, I have also have 2/10 days. The sound has been more of an 'electric buzz' than a tone regardless of volume.

 

[Bill Bauer]

@Bill Bauer so what you're saying is that fluctuations of good days and bad days, where the good days seem to be getting lower, over the course of two or three months should lead to more of a decrease in time?

That has been my experience. Unless you hurt your ears a second time (my case too), it ought to continue to fade. [Hurting your ears a second time might mean a permanent new tone, or it might just mean a 3-6 month setback.] I have been reading this forum for 39 months, and I know that that has been the experience of many others too.

The sound has been more of an 'electric buzz' than a tone regardless of volume.

Sounds familiar. The next big (positive) shift is when it starts sounding like a hiss (sharp high-pitch hiss at first, and then it will hopefully gradually soften). It normally takes many months (could take as long as 2-3 years), but one has a good chance of getting to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

A small minority of tinnitus sufferers have tinnitu that follows a pattern of X good days followed by Y bad days, followed by X good days, etc. That hasn't been my case [for me and for the majority of tinnitus sufferers the bad days follow being accidentally exposed to loud noises (e.g., noisy metal shopping carts) or happen at random], so I confess I haven't been following the unfolding of tinnitus of the people whose tinnitus has been following a rigid pattern. If this is your case, you might want to search this forum, find old posts of people describing a pattern, and contact them to find out what happened to them as time went on.