Unilateral Buzzing Tinnitus Intense at Night

[Shreya]

Hi, I'm 30 and had a spell of pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear last year. I had undergone all tests - audiology, and all the scans - CT, MRI/MRA and even angiography. They did not find anything particular (such as a tumor or AVMs) causing the tinnitus then - it gradually reduced and went away in around 6 months.

However, recently, I have started noticing this buzzing sound in the same (right) ear - it is not pulsatile as before.

It is very intense at night, less during the day as of now.

Needless to say, this is again driving me crazy, I'm feeling lost and helpless and I'm really losing a lot of sleep.

Can someone please suggest anything?

 

[Meagan G.]

Hi Shreya, I also have a buzz that is worse at night. Mine presents like an overhead sound. The sound can be a buzz or hiss but at night it is almost a crackly, staticky sound and even a slight vibrating feeling. So far the best coping mechanism I have found is playing on a loop a sound that masks the buzz. For me it is a nighttime jungle or forest recording with the sound of crickets. I have a library of sounds I found on Spotify that I find soothing or that can at least partially mask the buzz/hiss/static. Listening to crickets all day on low volume allows me to get my mind off the tinnitus and focus on what I actually want to focus on. Also at night I sometimes put my phone under my pillow with the soothing sounds playing on very low volume. That helps, too.

Good luck.

 

[BuzzyBee]

Spotify has a lot of good cricket sounds. I like Porch Crickets and Florida Swamp Crickets.

 

[Shreya]

Thanks Meagan, BuzzyBee.

@tiniturtle @Greg Sacramento, what are your views?

Please help. You guys were very helpful last year when I was dealing with the pulsatile one. It has come back in another form. It has been so difficult.

 

[Shreya]

Hi, I am desperately in need of some help and advice from people with unilateral tinnitus. What should you really do to feel better? I feel it is worsening with time. I have mine since a couple of months.

Will this ever go away?

Previously I had unilateral pulsatile tinnitus also on the same side (one year back - it went away in 5-6 months).

Also, is it related to stress? Can stress make it worse?

How scary is it, based on the fact that it can point to an underlying condition such as a tumor?

 

[Ben Winders]

Hi, I am desperately in need of some help and advice from people with unilateral tinnitus. What should you really do to feel better? I feel it is worsening with time. I have mine since a couple of months.

Will this ever go away?

Previously I had unilateral pulsatile tinnitus also on the same side (one year back - it went away in 5-6 months).

Also, is it related to stress? Can stress make it worse?

How scary is it, based on the fact that it can point to an underlying condition such as a tumor?

There are always MRI scans if you want to rule out tumors, but I see you already had that, so I think you can let that one go... They are not as scary / loud as you think/people say. I've had one where the MRI scanner was really old, but still did not sound insanely loud (while wearing hearing protection of course).

I have buzzing tinnitus too, unilateral, it started 12 months ago. First month it was constant (hell) - now, 12 months later I don't have it anymore, if I don't want it.

I'll explain: if I keep my ear filled with white noise (low drone sound on MacBook) the entire night, my right ear needs to be open, listening to the white noise, I have no more buzzing in my ear (day or night).

The only time when it turns back on is when I drive my car after I turn off the engine. It'll buzz/drone for 2 minutes and then it starts stuttering, like brrrr... brr... brr... br and then it STOPS completely.

I have no clue if anyone else's regular tinnitus does this too. The stuttering I mean. I haven't read about it in too many posts (if any).

 

[Shreya]

There are always MRI scans if you want to rule out tumors, but I see you already had that, so I think you can let that one go... They are not as scary / loud as you think/people say. I've had one where the MRI scanner was really old, but still did not sound insanely loud (while wearing hearing protection of course).

I have buzzing tinnitus too, unilateral, it started 12 months ago. First month it was constant (hell) - now, 12 months later I don't have it anymore, if I don't want it.

I'll explain: if I keep my ear filled with white noise (low drone sound on MacBook) the entire night, my right ear needs to be open, listening to the white noise, I have no more buzzing in my ear (day or night).

The only time when it turns back on is when I drive my car after I turn off the engine. It'll buzz/drone for 2 minutes and then it starts stuttering, like brrrr... brr... brr... br and then it STOPS completely.

I have no clue if anyone else's regular tinnitus does this too. The stuttering I mean. I haven't read about it in too many posts (if any).

Thanks, Ben. Yes, I use white noise for sleeping as well. However, mine does not go away like that yet. There are days when it is always there, constantly - I cannot work or focus on anything. It also makes me dizzy I feel. The fact that it is one-sided worries me terribly - if they did not find anything a year back (in the scans) - I am hoping it is not bad I think I have that kind of stuttering as well. Mine is terribly loud early morning - I cannot go back to sleep if I wake up.

Based on the fact that you had an MRI, I assume you've had your tinnitus checked by specialists. What did they say/find?

 

[Ben Winders]

Thanks, Ben. Yes, I use white noise for sleeping as well. However, mine does not go away like that yet. There are days when it is always there, constantly - I cannot work or focus on anything. It also makes me dizzy I feel. The fact that it is one-sided worries me terribly - if they did not find anything a year back (in the scans) - I am hoping it is not bad I think I have that kind of stuttering as well. Mine is terribly loud early morning - I cannot go back to sleep if I wake up.

Based on the fact that you had an MRI, I assume you've had your tinnitus checked by specialists. What did they say/find?

I've had my tinnitus checked by MRI, specialists in 2 countries (3 University Hospitals) and by Brai3n, world renown tinnitus center in Belgium.

TL;DR: They are clueless on the buzzing part. There is however a video on YouTube about a Dutch DJ that also has the buzzing, but he has a 70 dB dip at 4000 Hz. My dip is only 20 dB at 4000 Hz. But I've learned in all my research that tinnitus does not equate to hearing damage in a 1:1 relation necessarily.