Two separate tinnitus tones.

[Tamar]

My current frustration which is that in addition to living with this very loud high pitched ear piercing tinnitus since November 2013, I've developed low pitched tinnitus as well, a completely separate tone, also on both sides. It's a low E (on the guitar) but isn't musical in quality. It's loud, constant and thunderous, like a plane that never flys away but stays nearby. Very ominous and frightening sounding. I was nearly habituated to the high pitched scream and doing quite well when this second tinnitus hit about a month ago. Oddly, when the docs told me that I had hearing loss at high and low frequencies that was causing my tinnitus, I wondered why I only had high pitched tinnitus.... That was apparently temporary! Anybody else have 2 completely separate types of tinnitus simultaneously?

 

[Markku]

I have high-pitched ringing in both ears, and a clicking tone in my left ear.

It's not that rare to have more than one distinctive sounds.

 

[cullenbohannon]

I have two in both ears as well

 

[Karen]

I have both ringing and pulsating tinnitus (both in right ear).

 

[Steve]

I have 2 different high pitched ones, one in each ear, and a low humming in both.

 

[Tamar]

Ok thanks friends. So does this mean that over time, I will habituate to the deep ominous second tone? Lately the high tone has become more piercing, but I think it's stress-related and I've had headaches again. I hope that will settle down eventually as it has before. But the low tone is a scary sound, like an airplane and thunder so it's puts my body into an anxious state due to the threatening nature of the sound. I have to keep reminding my brain that it's not real. I also worry about losing more hearing, but if believe it's the tinnitus interfering with my hearing rather than further hearing loss-- I hope

 

[Champ]

Ok thanks friends. So does this mean that over time, I will habituate to the deep ominous second tone? Lately the high tone has become more piercing, but I think it's stress-related and I've had headaches again. I hope that will settle down eventually as it has before. But the low tone is a scary sound, like an airplane and thunder so it's puts my body into an anxious state due to the threatening nature of the sound. I have to keep reminding my brain that it's not real. I also worry about losing more hearing, but if believe it's the tinnitus interfering with my hearing rather than further hearing loss-- I hope

Yeah you will. I've had a super low tone my whole life that I don't even notice/am affected by. The high tone is different and more recent, and I've been handling that.

 

[Karen]

I agree. I think you'll habituate to it eventually. It may take longer this time, however, because of the more anxiety-producing nature of the tone. That's how I feel about my pulsating tone --- it has taken me a lot longer to get used to it.
But, you will get there!!

 

[here2help]

Tamar, you have a very good chance of habituating both tinnitus tones. It has been just a short time since you developed the high-pitched tone in November and already you have nearly habituated it. The same thing should happen with the new lower tone if you give yourself some time. No one can say with certainty how long it will take. If there are things you told yourself or specific steps you took with regard to the high-pitched tone, you may want to try the same approach for the low-pitched tinnitus.

It is very common for tinnitus to consist of more than one sound.

here2help

 

[MattK]

Actually yeah. When I first got tinnitus, it seemed like a high pitched noise distinctly in my right ear. Nearly identical to the high pitched noise you might hear from on old CRT TV or CRT monitor. But then I began to hear a high pitched noise that didn't seem to come from my ears, but instead I perceive the sound in my head (my ENT said that means it is from both ears equally, but I don't think he is right). But the noise in my head isn't a constant/consistent whine. It more like wavers constantly in its frequency and sometimes it changes. Sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by cicadas or crickets. However, for the pass few weeks, the distinct high pitched whine in my right ear seems to have disappeared for the most part, but it comes back every once in a while... anyway, but the sound in my head still remains. I actually think it has been getting better lately... or I'm just getting better at ignoring it.

 

[Alex Senkowski]

In my left ear, it's a low hum that quietly fades in and out. It's more bearable than my right ear which has a razor-sharp hiss alongside a loud but low-pitched drone. The reason it's more severe in my right ear is because of a stapedectomy I had last year that was successful for a few months before the scar tissue gradually spread and damaged a nerve. I wish I never had the surgery, I should have just gotten hearing aids. Having T on top of Otosclerosis is terrifying because what hearing I do lose makes the T louder.

 

[Duane]

I have a hiss in both ears for 8 years, three months ago a new, high-pitch in my right ear, a mid-pitch in my left and a lower hum in both. From one "sound" that I had happily habituated to, now to four distinct sounds, how lovely! Forward!

 

[Tamar]

Oh wow Duane, you are really dealing with it. A Tinnitus Quartet! Yikes, well we will surely be challenged by these multiple tones, won't we? So I guess when we meet people with only one tone, we will think they are lucky and they will feel lucky. I would like to "hear" how you manage with your situation and I will keep you posted about mine. Thank you for sharing that. Life goes on... I'm trying to adjust

 

[Tamar]

Steve., I didn't read your post carefully. I see that you have multiple tones/sounds also and you are "happy" so that is very hopeful, thank you!!! Thanks to all of you. Feeling less alone really helps.

 

[Tamar]

In my left ear, it's a low hum that quietly fades in and out. It's more bearable than my right ear which has a razor-sharp hiss alongside a loud but low-pitched drone. The reason it's more severe in my right ear is because of a stapedectomy I had last year that was successful for a few months before the scar tissue gradually spread and damaged a nerve. I wish I never had the surgery, I should have just gotten hearing aids. Having T on top of Otosclerosis is terrifying because what hearing I do lose makes the T louder.

Yes, I also worry about louder tinnitus volume and new sounds due to hearing loss. Sorry to hear about your surgery gone bad and the regret you feel. You made the best decision you could given the info you had. If all these folks can cope with these crazy sounds then so can we, right? I have that awful drone as well as well as the razor sharp screaming in both ears so I really understand. It's most annoying when I just need and want silence, like now when I'm kicking back to read or write. But I'm still new to this so I feel hopeful that I will adjust. Sometimes I think, how much worse can it get? I don't really know the answer... I have to cope no matter what. One life... You too.

 

[Steve]

Steve., I didn't read your post carefully. I see that you have multiple tones/sounds also and you are "happy" so that is very hopeful, thank you!!! Thanks to all of you. Feeling less alone really helps.

I would be far happier without them, but you have to try and move on.

I can either have tinnitus and be miserable or have tinnitus and be happy, I'd rather try and enjoy life. That isn't always easy of course, I have bad days just like everyone else.

 

[Alex Senkowski]

Yes, I also worry about louder tinnitus volume and new sounds due to hearing loss. Sorry to hear about your surgery gone bad and the regret you feel. You made the best decision you could given the info you had. If all these folks can cope with these crazy sounds then so can we, right? I have that awful drone as well as well as the razor sharp screaming in both ears so I really understand. It's most annoying when I just need and want silence, like now when I'm kicking back to read or write. But I'm still new to this so I feel hopeful that I will adjust. Sometimes I think, how much worse can it get? I don't really know the answer... I have to cope no matter what. One life... You too.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up about the surgery; it was the smartest choice I had at the time. The complication that occurred months later and started the T was totally unprecedented; it shouldn't have happened but did out of sheer bad luck. I write as well, and it's impossible to relax and let the ideas flow when I have what sounds like a broken stereo speaker next to my head. As for the future, the best we can hope for is to either reach a zen-like state where the T doesn't bother us or bet it all on an effective treatment for T being invented.

 

[billie48]

I have ultra high pitched ringing like dog-whistle in both ears. It is so unearthly I haven't found anything in my experience with that kind of sound. If you take the dentist drill and multiply it 20 times in pitch, it may hit that range. Plus it is such a condense, piercing sound, like a lazer shooting up the dark sky. The right ear is worse than the left but they were both unbearable, at least at the start, to this anxiety & panic prone mind. I never thought human can tolerate such sound 7/24. That is why I had relentless anxiety and panic attacks on auto mode daily & hourly and I had to depend on meds to survive each long dark day. Nowadays, the brain gets used to the same repeated stimulus. I don't know how it does it. But it may be like my experience in learning to eat spicy hot foods. In the beginning my brain rejected the spicy sensation. It gave me quite an unpleasant sensation even with a small bite of a mild pepper and I had to use cold water to put off the 'fire'. But because I didn't consider this a threat to my survival and kept at it. Now heck I can chew a raw chili and and didn't feel it much, and surprisingly the brain now considers the 'fire' of spiciness a pleasant sensation. Go figure. So I guess in similar way, the brain has re-wired itself to accept that the ultra high pitched T sensation is tolerable and livable. It no longer dangles out the big 'S' word in front of me due to this ridiculously high pitched sound like it did during the worst time. LOL.

As far a a high and a low humming tone, after all these years of reading forum posts, I feel it is quite common, as illustrated by many posters here. I still remember the funny experience of watching that youtube clip of David Letterman who has the same high & low tone ringing. He was doing his comedian show with another T sufferer, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in 1996 and both of them talked about their T condition. Letterman was joking that his high & low tone T is like the emergency broadcast system on test mode non-stop 7/24, even when he was trying to entertaining his audience. So has some sympathy, he said jokingly. He said back then his T was getting worse, but as of today he is still cracking jokes and remain productive and entertaining. So his worsening T obviously hasn't stopped him from living a normal & productive, especially entertaining life. LOL. I had a blast watching this video and it helps be back then to feel not so desperate about my T. Hope you can have a smile watching this video:

 

[Tamar]

I have ultra high pitched ringing like dog-whistle in both ears. It is so unearthly I haven't found anything in my experience with that kind of sound. If you take the dentist drill and multiply it 20 times in pitch, it may hit that range. Plus it is such a condense, piercing sound, like a lazer shooting up the dark sky. The right ear is worse than the left but they were both unbearable, at least at the start, to this anxiety & panic prone mind. I never thought human can tolerate such sound 7/24. That is why I had relentless anxiety and panic attacks on auto mode daily & hourly and I had to depend on meds to survive each long dark day. Nowadays, the brain gets used to the same repeated stimulus. I don't know how it does it. But it may be like my experience in learning to eat spicy hot foods. In the beginning my brain rejected the spicy sensation. It gave me quite an unpleasant sensation even with a small bite of a mild pepper and I had to use cold water to put off the 'fire'. But because I didn't consider this a threat to my survival and kept at it. Now heck I can chew a raw chili and and didn't feel it much, and surprisingly the brain now considers the 'fire' of spiciness a pleasant sensation. Go figure. So I guess in similar way, the brain has re-wired itself to accept that the ultra high pitched T sensation is tolerable and livable. It no longer dangles out the big 'S' word in front of me due to this ridiculously high pitched sound like it did during the worst time. LOL.

As far a a high and a low humming tone, after all these years of reading forum posts, I feel it is quite common, as illustrated by many posters here. I still remember the funny experience of watching that youtube clip of David Letterman who has the same high & low tone ringing. He was doing his comedian show with another T sufferer, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in 1996 and both of them talked about their T condition. Letterman was joking that his high & low tone T is like the emergency broadcast system on test mode non-stop 7/24, even when he was trying to entertaining his audience. So has some sympathy, he said jokingly. He said back then his T was getting worse, but as of today he is still cracking jokes and remain productive and entertaining. So his worsening T obviously hasn't stopped him from living a normal & productive, especially entertaining life. LOL. I had a blast watching this video and it helps be back then to feel not so desperate about my T. Hope you can have a smile watching this video:

Wow! I had no idea they were both tinnitus sufferers. That clip is fantastic. I will definitely watch it many times over and remind myself that peoples lives go on with this noisy syndrome. As far as your piercing noise, mine is piercing and loud as well so I get it and now the humming jet/thunderous drone taboot, ugh.... I do worry hearing Letterman say that it gets worse. I think that hearing loss does make it worse and I suffer from that so it concerns me, but hopefully I will just continue to habituate no matter how loud it gets. I think I will but it's REALLY annoying. Thanks again for your story and the video.

 

[MattK]

I had a blast watching this video and it helps be back then to feel not so desperate about my T. Hope you can have a smile watching this video

Certainly helps others who have the condition to see others who have it but are leading normal or happy lives. I have to admit that I am a little uneasy about them saying theirs is getting worse though. I feel like I have mine under control now, but it would be hard if it was always getting worse.

 

[Markku]

Thanks for posting the video, billie. I knew both of them had tinnitus, but I hadn't seen that clip previously.

Does anyone know what's the current situation of Letterman's and Shatner's tinnitus?

That clip was from 18 years ago, so I wonder if they've discussed it more recently.

Hopefully their tinnitus hasn't worsened much after that appearance.

 

[billie48]

Thanks guys. As far as I know, Shatner who was suicidal at one time (he admitted it to Letterman in the show) had received some form of TRT treatment (I think it was referred to him by ATA) and he turned around after some time. He later became the spokesperson for ATA for a time. I don't know what their T condition is now. But I think in 2012 there is another video of David Letterman interviewing Pete Townshend of the Who of the development of his tinnitus. This video seems to be taken out of youtube with a 'private video' message. I don't think Shatner & Lettermen are adversely affected by their T or worsening T. Shatner even played a big part in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 4 years ago. Letterman is just fine cracking jokes as usual, T high or low, LOL. But they are not superhuman because they are rich celebrities. If you watch the video again, you will hear them say that there is fear that the ringing can get worse. So they have the same kind of human limitations like us. But I believe they just get used to living with T high or low after a while, and perhaps there is such thing as progressive habituation, which means you get used to the T sound if it is gradually increased slowly. I am no expert on tinnitus. So such thing should be answered by others more knowledgeable about T from a medical background.

 

[Roger]

In my left ear, it's a low hum that quietly fades in and out. It's more bearable than my right ear which has a razor-sharp hiss alongside a loud but low-pitched drone. The reason it's more severe in my right ear is because of a stapedectomy I had last year that was successful for a few months before the scar tissue gradually spread and damaged a nerve. I wish I never had the surgery, I should have just gotten hearing aids. Having T on top of Otosclerosis is terrifying because what hearing I do lose makes the T louder.

Yep, "Razor Sharp Hiss". Nicely described. That's what I have. It does drop in volume a bit, now and again in cycles to reveal a warbling peep! But yeah, that hiss is a mongrel! R