Tinnitus poll: Do you experience it?

Just curious to see how many of us suffer tinnitus that can't be attributed to a particular cause i.e. not caused by exposure to extreme noise levels etc.

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus):

Tinnitus is the hearing of sound when no external sound is present.[1] While often described as a ringing, it may also sound like a clicking, hiss or roaring.[2] Rarely, unclear voices or music are heard.[3] The sound may be soft or loud, low pitched or high pitched and appear to be coming from one ear or both.[2] Most of the time, it comes on gradually.[3] In some people, the sound causes depression or anxiety and can interfere with concentration.[2]
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ETA: OK, just realised that some may have tinnitus but not all the time. For the purposes of this poll, if you have tinnitus at all, please answer yes.

 

My tinnitus only affects my right ear and is the only predictor of a flare up in my ME symptoms. When I go to bed and I can hear the buzzing in my right ear I know I have overdone things that day and will be ill when I wake up in the morning. The buzzing will remain for a few days but will subside as I slowly improve.

 

I first experienced tinnitus as a kid, straight after having my tonsils and adenoids removed. My mother used to get cross with me because she often found me roaming the house in the early hours trying to find what was making the noise.

It is there all l the time and can become very loud, especially if I think about it. Like now. Thanks!

Before I got ME I dealt with it by always having music on in the background. Sadly, I can't cope with that anymore.

Perversely, wearing earplugs because the Invisible Man snores made it seem a lot worse.

 

I have tinnitus all the time, worse when my ME is worse. I can't remember when it started but I've had it for years. I think it started after my ME started. Before that I just had occasional whistles, buzzes or hums in one ear or both that didn't last long.

It seems quite loud to me - its a continuous noise in both ears - sort of electronic hum sound that varies in pitch from low to high, but usually feels like a range of pitches all playing at once - really hard to describe.

I find complete silence difficult to cope with because it makes the tinnitus seem so much louder. I tend to have the radio or audiobooks on softly a lot of the time, including at night to try to drown it out or at least distract me.

 

I occasionally try visualization exercises to take a break. Ones that involve noises I enjoy:

Walk on the beach on a windy day with the waves crashing over rocks.

Lounging on a river bank by a weir ona sunny day.

Waterfalls...

The wind rustling fields of long grass

A walk in the woods - the sound of wind in the trees.

Imagining sitting watching the northern lights and the sound is from the lights.

or a combo -watching the lights from a beach etc.

As many include water I strongly recommend a trip to the loo first! Also note a miraculous recovery from ME in these scenarios.

 

It's interesting to hear about the tonsillectomy connection, @Invisible Woman. I really don't remember my onset of tinnitus, but it has been ages, and I had terrible tonsil issues all through my childhood until they were removed as a late teen. It would make sense that they could be connected.

I've had different "tones" going on for years, several pitches at once, with the loudness modulating from factors unknown. It doesn't particularly bother me (bigger fish to fry) but there was a decade or more during which there was an additional, deeper and louder on-off tone not unlike morse code. I used to joke that aliens were trying to communicate with me

 

I had a light case and it was not constant. I also have Fibromyalgia and knew it was often a symptom of this. However, I went on Minocycline and Vertigo which I never had and Balance and Unsteadiness, which I had every now and then and not bad, set in. The Vertigo lifted when I went off the Minocycline.

Now I have Tinnitus, which hums, I hear a tone, my ears feel full, and deep into the ear canal, my eardrum "hurts" although there is no pain, with me 24/7.

My doctor said Minocycline rarely causes Tinnitus that won't leave but of course, having ME/CFS and Tinnitus probably gave the problem legs.

 

You might have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction :

https://patient.info/health/earache-ear-pain/eustachian-tube-dysfunction

 

My tinnitus appeared when ceasing an anti-depressor. All anti-depressors are ototoxic, meaning they can cause tinnitus. I wish I had known that at the time...

 

I think I must have this - perhaps as often as twice a week and in both ears. It feels a little like I've been swimming and I've got water in my ears. It can last for days but usually goes on its own after a couple of hours. It can also be made worse, or even triggered, by bending down suddenly. I've had ME for over eighteen years but it only started happening when my symptoms got significantly worse three years ago.

The tinnitus I have is ringing in my right ear only. It's quite a high frequency, between 5 or 6kHz I think. It's always there but increases in intensity when I'm not feeling so well.

 

My tinnitus is like bag pipes sound, drives me crazy. Diddly didly dooo!

 

I just tried the recommendation of inhaling and holding my nose closed and mouth shut and "exhaling" and I felt my left ear, the one where I feel the hurt, and it did make a little pop and feels a little better. I only have this in my left ear. Tinnitus is in both ears and I just had VNG testing for which I am waiting on results. I passed my hearing test.

 

Yes, I do have tinnitus, however, I'm guessing that it is my love of loud music that is likely the cause. I've had it for years.

 

Permanent tinnitus. Very quiet, but louder when I get ill. It's like really distant, high-pitched crickets. I just assumed for many years that that was what 'silence' sounded like--a sort of busy, alert vibration, seething beneath the molecules of the universe. Maybe it is?

 

Mine sounds like an amplifier that is plugged in (sort of a hum/buzz)...it can get very loud. It tracks with my cognitive dysfunction.

 

Had it realy bad fpr a long time. It slowly became better and then disappeared. It has not come back for many years now.

 

I have mild tinnitus (self-diagnosed... my hearing tests are fine). Overall, I don't think about it much, and actually find the sound helps with sleep. Low volume music usually masks the tinnitus, and is probably one of the reasons (besides housebound boredom) I listen to so much music.

The cause is likely the 3 dozen inappropriate antidepressants, off-label antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and psych med cocktails (not as festive as it sounds) I've been prescribed over decades. But it will forever remain a mystery.

About 15 years ago, the psych med pushers ran out of new pills to prescribe and abandoned me (except for stimulants). The tinnitus has been pretty much the same since then. But it does wax and wane daily and over longer periods. Some days it's barely noticeable.

Oddly, the severity of the tinnitus seems random and not related to other ME/CFS symptoms.

 

same here.

 

Constant. Same frequency as a mosquito and about the same volume. Volume doubles after meals, no idea why, and also when ME worse. Not sure when it started but don't think I had it before ME.