Am I delusional to think this Tinnitus might go away?

[AFridgeHummingInMyEar]

About a month ago, during a time of extreme stress, I suddenly developed tinnitus: loud ringing in both ears (each with a different tone). I went to the GP, he couldn't see anything inside my ears due to wax buildup. Two private microsuction attempts, weeks apart with olive oil and bicarb drops in between, failed because it was so painful and the wax was so hard. So now the GP said they will refer me to ENT, but it will take months to be seen.

In the meantime the ringing in my ears screeched day and night and wouldn't let me sleep. About a week ago it suddenly changed to be less ring-y and more like a low fridge-like drone mostly localised in the more blocked ear (but sometimes it feels like it's in the middle of my head). This can be even more intrusive and annoying than the ringing.

Everything I read about Tinnitus says it's permanent, there's no cure etc. Am I delusional to think it may go away once the wax is dealt with, even if it's been here for a month already? Has anyone else had the same and got better? And what can I do to help the earwax problem myself if olive oil, bicarb and microsuction have failed?

So did yours go away completely eventually, after a month?

How long did it take for yours to go away, and how soon into Covid did it appear? Did it go away completely? What kind of noises were you hearing?

Appeared about at peak symptoms. High pitched constant ringing/whistling. Sounded almost like the house had a weird problem with the plumbing. Had peaks and troughs, but really settling took a couple of years.

A couple of years, wow! That's a lot. But also good that it finally went away. Would you say you are completely tinnitus-free now? Did the illness left you with any hearing loss?

I hope you are feeling better and that it's really settling for you! How are you now? Did you have noticeable hearing loss when your T first onset?

Finger crossed and touch wood, completely fine.

I think that your tinnitus is probably linked to the large wax buildup so, hopefully when ENT have treated you, you will be one of the lucky ones and it should reduce significantly, if not disappear completely.

I know someone who had tinnitus - cause unknown to me. She went to a homeopathic GP who gave her a short course of homeopathic little white pills, and it cured it - she never had it again even in old age. This wasn't a "first aid" remedy to buy over the counter, it was tailored to her, which is where an experienced homeopathic practitioner comes in. So don't give up hope yet! 😉

I do have some hearing loss in both ears, but not enough to warrant a hearing aid. The infection likely did cause some losses. I'm 40 but the audiologist said that in particular one ear, the downslope would be more likely I was 60-70 y/o..

I'm struggling still tbh. I try to get out and forget about it but the droning humming still really gets me down. I think its hear to stay after 9 months and I'm just hoping I can habituate in time.

Have you managed to habituate or is it too loud and intrusive?
This is what I fear with mine, it just seems impossible to 'put it in the background' as people say.

Ah sorry to hear that. Yeah irregular sounds are the worst, I am struggling with that as well and almost missing "the good old days" when I "just" had garden variety ringing. How are you managing with sleep?

It’s very common to get relief from tinnitus from hearing aids. You could get Bluetooth ones in the NHS, might be worth trying if you have some hearing loss. It’s not always instant relief though

Question for you kind mumsnetters with this experience: those of you who have hearing loss with tinnitus, did you notice the hearing loss yourself or only after a proper test?

lots of people don’t notice their own hearing loss, but there are signs such as mishearing things and finding the tv and other people’s speech less clear, people they live with sometimes suggest they need a hearing test

Mjf981, I had to learn to live with it. Without the hearing aids in it's worse, when I get up in the morning..there's a constant hissing,last year,2 other sounds joined in. I had a period where it sounded like there was a diesel HGV in the living room. Two nights ago, I woke up,it sounded like a lot of people chattering in a crowded restaurant..I didn't notice the hearing loss for a couple of weeks, I thought I couldn't hear because the tinnitus was so loud..I had to habituate. No one has mentioned other peoples reactions. I had audiology tests quickly, local hospital, then over a year wait to see the audiology consultant. During this time, people getting annoyed, and me spending all my time saying, then shouting "I can't hear you". People shouting doesn't actually work, even with hearing aids. Luckily I've always liked Scandi noires. The local audiology clinic was so lovely. Amazing medical history, from childhood, mental health, PTSD, accidents,absolutely everything.

How are you doing now OP? Any changes in your tinnitus? My pulsing drone is off the charts today :(

Hey! I've had my ear wax removed and that did make a bit of difference, not massively. I was told it may actually take many weeks before my hearing settles and we find out how much of a difference it will make. Apparently because it was so impacted and touching the eardrum for a long time, my middle ear structures are used to pressure and overreacting now, so it will be like a leg getting used to being out of a cast.

I still have both low frequency and high frequency tinnitus all the time. However, this week I had one or two days when I woke up in almost silence! This didn't last and by 5 pm or so it was back to the usual ringing, rumbling and droning but it did give me hope that I can have some genuine improvement in the long term.

One surprise I had was the hearing test after wax removal did reveal some mild to moderate hearing loss in one ear. I was not aware of this at all. However the doctors I've spoken to didn't think the tinnitus is necessarily related, since it is in both ears and came on with stress and wax impaction. I was told the most helpful thing is to RELAX which is very difficult, haha.

Oh interesting update. I hope yours continues to settle in time. I haven't had a moment off from my hum (unless it's loud around me) since it started after my infection, so I think my only way forward is habituation.

when you first get tinnitus, it is really upsetting and unsettling. I can feel that’s where you are and I sympathise. I had it mildly in tiny bursts over the years, then about 5 years ago it developed into a sustained, loud noise in one year. I did all the tests - hearing, some minor loss at a certain frequency but not the cause, MRI, de-waxing etc - nothing stopped it.

i did acupuncture for about 3 months, i did lots of relaxation work around it, i learnt to accept it being there instead of fighting it - and honestly, it just lessens into a more benign presence. If it stays, you will habituate. You don’t think you wlll, but you will. Now, whilst I have periods where it is more noticeable, I have other periods where I honestly don’t think about it. If I go to gigs, I will wear special noise cancelling ear pods. I try to stay hydrated.

try to accept it and almost meditate into it, if that makes sense, rather than freaking out - which is easier said than done. With so much impacted wax, it’s likely you will see it go anyway after that’s cleared.

Is your hum always at the same loudness/intensity and with the same sound/pattern? My tinnitus is extremely different day to day, no two days are the same. The high frequency tinnitus is sometimes very loud and almost screaming, other times it's a mild hiss. The low frequency can be a gurgling, a drumming, a thumping, an engine hurr, it can be reactive, it can be loud or very faint. It can be simple or layered sounds. This makes it very difficult to habituate but it also gives me hope that it can go away or stabilise.

Mine has a pattern like this: when it's totally quiet I hear it as a hmmmmmm. But when I hear noise around me in the low frequencies (planes flying over, the oven on etc), it makes a 'hmm...hmmm.hmm....hmmmmm noise. This stops as soon as the sound does and it just then becomes hmmmmm again. I suspect I have some hearing damage here and its really depressing :( Its also very loud at night, but quietish when I'm out and about and have noise around me.

However if yours changes a lot more then I'd say yours is more likely to settle in time, and maybe go away altogether if it's from the wax/ear drum issue.

Getting hearing aids has helped with mine. It’s not entirely gone but I no longer have to have background noise on all the time to drown it out, and I rarely think about it. I think the tinnitus coincided with the start of hearing loss, but it was a few years before I qualified for hearing aids.

You just get used to it. I have hearing loss as well (yay). Hearing aids have helped as I can now hear better overall and don't just hear the tinnitus. Mine also flares up with stress and gets very loud indeed. Honestly its just something you live with, I've had it 30 years and my dad and brother have it too.