[Charlie_J]

I've had pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear for about five years. I went to hospital outpatients again and again and nothing works. Had endless hearing tests, an MRI scan, and tried a white noise generator, but it's still the same.

It's easier to live with now, because I'm used to it, but being aware of your heartbeat is a bit panic-inducing at times.

It's psychological they say, because my brain has decided not to tune it out anymore. They've more or less decided it's linked to my PTSD and left it at that. Nowhere else to go with it.

[ringtailcat]

Here is a link that should give you info you are looking for... http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/directory search tinnitus & niose indused hearing loss. If that doesn't give you the answers you want, PM me, I belong to a hearing loss group & we have quite a bit of info available.. & I know the frustration you face..

[sewerrats]

ptsd could well trigger your tinnitus. anxierty hylights things more an make you think to much. Cool your anxierty an it may even go away, if its a trigger like thing You know the first thing you think out on wakeing up.If your on AD,s try an get one with a high anxierty agent, like ZOLOFT

[salukigirl]

I have had random ringing in my ears for years and started getting dizzy. Then my vision started going black during the spells. I ended up getting an EEG and it seems it's from temporal lobe epilepsy. My neurologist said there is a chance all these things could stem from years and years of sports injuries and concussions :-/

[NoBread]

Allergies can cause tinnitus.

So can food intolerances.

Nerve damage (from mal-absorption) can cause it too.

[Charlie_J]

Anyone who suffers from tinnitus/dizziness should check into this with their doctor as a possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_canal_dehiscence

Diagnosis requires a CT scan at a specific resolution.

Good luck, ppl!

[Koko2]

I avoid medications because most of them seem to make it worse.

[pondbc]

Originally Posted by Charlie_J

I've had pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear for about five years. I went to hospital outpatients again and again and nothing works. Had endless hearing tests, an MRI scan, and tried a white noise generator, but it's still the same.

It's easier to live with now, because I'm used to it, but being aware of your heartbeat is a bit panic-inducing at times.

It's psychological they say, because my brain has decided not to tune it out anymore. They've more or less decided it's linked to my PTSD and left it at that. Nowhere else to go with it.

Did you have an ultrasound of the carotid arteries in your neck?

[sewerrats]

tinnitus does get worse with meds, it,s on the fact sheet. I get it most at night , but dissapears in the day. A side effect of meds DONT WORRY

[Yady Smith]

I suffer from severe tinnitus caused by operations on both ears. Sometimes I can hear songs or about three or four different pitches. My psychiatrist tried to give me an anti psychotic that I didn’t want to take and the screaming was terrible. Don't know whether it was the stress or the meds.

[Charlie_J]

Originally Posted by pondbc

Did you have an ultrasound of the carotid arteries in your neck?

Nope, only an MRI. But with my diagnosis of bipolar, I am determined to get some help with it again. It's impossible to live a normal life with this. My heartbeat is the sound of my life ticking away, and I hear every... single... one.

*growls a bit*

I'll update this thread as things happen, or not, as the case may be.

If they tell me about "habituation" again I'm going to ask them how much it will cost to make me deaf in that ear. At least then I could go back to studying.

[ECHOES]

Deafness is no guarantee. The noise isn't coming into your ear from the outside.
I am hearing impaired in both ears and I'm told that tinnitus comes with the territory. Doesn't make it any easier..

Soft noise can help. There are also 'maskers' that are like hearing aids but instead emit a sound that will 'mask' the tinnitus sounds.

I live with a "plane flying slowly overhead"

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by Happy Chappy

My psychiatrist tried to give me an anti psychotic that I didn’t want to take and the screaming was terrible.

I am hearing shrieking laughter... oh wait, that's me.

[arcangel]

Tinnitus...sure. Too many Marshall stacks and huge bass rigs and the occasional accidental feedback from those or the PA system. Of course my drums were entirely innocent
It was the guitarists and the damned sound men who are to blame lol.
The high tech earplugs came much too late for me. Oh and my sister came in once when I was listening to the stereo through headphones and turned the volume to 10. Ouch. Toss in some loud machinery exposure and cars w/ open headers or straight through exhausts and yeah...you get tinnitus.
Lucky me its just a constant ringing and a loss of a few tones in the upper registers. It can't be ignored but I try not to dwell on it. I'd go crazy(er). I've heard that some have it much worse.
My hearing was always well above average (almost wrote "normal" lol) and it's still very good. It just somehow ...doesn't seem as clear as it used to.
Medication could be a contributing factor but in my case there are too many other, more obvious causes.

[Charlie_J]

Originally Posted by ECHOES

Deafness is no guarantee. The noise isn't coming into your ear from the outside.

Perhaps not, but I desperately want them to look into this:

"Pulsatile tinnitus is yet another of the typical symptoms of SCDS and is caused by the gap in the dehiscent bone allowing the normal pulse-related pressure changes within the cranial cavity to enter the inner ear abnormally. This pressure change thus becomes audible and an existing tinnitus will be perceived as containing a pulse-synchronized "wave" or "blip" which patients describe as a "swooshing" sound or as being like the chirrup of a cricket or grasshopper.

Brain fog and fatigue are both common SCDS symptoms and are caused by the brain having to spend an unusual amount of its energy on the simple act of keeping the body in a state of equilibrium when it is constantly receiving confusing signals from the dysfunctional semicircular canal.

The presence of dehiscence can be detected by a high definition (0.6 mm or less) coronal CT scan of the temporal bone.

Once diagnosed, the gap in the temporal bone can be repaired by surgical resurfacing of the affected bone or plugging of the superior semicircular canal."

It's a long shot, but I want to know.

Originally Posted by ECHOES

Soft noise can help. There are also 'maskers' that are like hearing aids but instead emit a sound that will 'mask' the tinnitus sounds.

Yes, I wore a white noise generator for a full year. Don't know about masking. Mine is so loud that I can use it to mask the sound of someone snoring loudly next to me. The noise level required to mask the tinnitus itself would definitely damage my ear.

Good luck, Echoes. I hope you can find some peace with yours.

[aimlesshiker]

Reviving this thread since I don't want to make my own. Maybe there are others out there who can relate. I really feel the need to build a community right now.

After being an avid-music lover for my whole life, maybe too avid, I now have tinnitus in my right ear. It's not that bad, I only hear it when it's fairly quiet. Right now with the windows open I can hear crickets and the faint tone of my tinnitus. 2020's been rough. I'm handling this OK, yet I also feel like my world's been turned upside down.

No more concerts. No more loud bars. (No, I wasn't going to those with COVID going on, but those were big parts of my life before). I'm only 25 and I feel like so much of my youth has suddenly been taken away.
I have to be very vigilant about loud noises. I now carry earplugs on my keychain, though I should have starting ten years back.
I've lost my hobby of unwinding after work with my headphones and just lying on my bed.

I just have to keep telling myself I'm OK. I can still listen to music, just carefully. I have great external speakers that I can keep at a moderate volume.

At this point I'm well aware of all the treatments, potential cures, temporary remedies etc. out there, but they're nothing to hold onto. This is something I have to accept and deal with on my own. I went to an ENT and at least I don't have hearing loss. My T was likely induced by too loud of headphones on top of several years of concerts. I've never been a fan of white noise machines but can kind of manage falling asleep with either the window open or a podcast or some calming songs. Although I'm on prednisone right now which was a failed attempt to fix the damage that was already done and makes me feel weird. Side effects have included increased BP, HR, and anxiety.

I'm hoping to connect with anyone who might relate, or even just wants to talk. Sometimes I'm OK, but sometimes I can't help but just feel like life just wants me defeated.

Cheers to you all. Take good care of your ears.... they're the only ones you got.

[justdougie]

I don't always suffer from it but when I do, it's mostly because of my Hyperacusis. That's why I do wear Big Ear custom earplugs now. Here's how they look but they also have filtered ones.

[aimlesshiker]

I've heard custom-made ones are the best for protecting your ears! Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out. Maybe a Christmas gift to myself?

From the many, many pages on the internet (mostly reddit and Tinnitus Talk), there are varying accounts of "going out into the real world" after tinnitus. Some people still go to loud places with earplugs and they're fine. Others warn that even a little bit of loud noise can cause permanent spikes in the ringing. Everyone is different so it's hard who/what to take seriously.

I'm glad yours isn't constant, but hyperacusis seems very bothersome, if not painful. How long does it take for yours to go away?

[*Beth*]

Yes, I experience tinnitus. I definitely listened to loud music through headphones for many, many years, until I started being concerned about my hearing. I still listen to music frequently, but not loud. So it could be that. I also think medication can cause tinnitus. For some reason it's a side effect of some meds. I hate it, but I try not to pay attention to it.

[ArtleyWilkins]

I have both tinnitus and diplacusis dysharmonica (which is this weird situation where I hear different pitches in each ear). I can deal with the tinnitus - mine is mostly the result of horrid allergies, but the diplacusis is a real problem as a musician. Fortunately, it also seems to be connected to awful allergies, so as long as I keep my allergies under some semblance of control, it is tolerable.

[Skeezyks]

I've had tinnitus (along with Meniere's Disease) for 20 some-odd years now. I don't know which ear it's in. I just hear this constant whistle. (How I ended up with it is a long story that's not worth going into.) I'm on a small dose of clonazepam for it. It seems to help. Over time it's gotten so I pretty-much just ignore it. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I'm old. So it's just one more thing to put up with...

[scatterbrained04]

I have tinnitus in my right ear. A constant high pitch ringing. I've had it for about 4 years or so after I had an ear infection that ruptured my eardrum. I've mostly gotten used to it, but occasionally it irritates me.