Tinnitus - what sounds do you have? And how many?

[mjf981]

I know I've been posting too much about tinnitus, but there hasn't been a thread like this recently, and it helps to know I'm not alone with my cacophony!

Mine:

Both ears - high pitched static (louder in the right ear)
Right ear - EEEEEE
Left ear - a deep 200hz hum/droning which also causes vibrations and echos/reverberations whenever I hear low frequency noise. It's truly horrible.

High pitched EEEEE in both ears, louder in the right. All day, every day, for at least the last thirty years. I can't actually remember it beginning.
I zone out. Reading posts like this brings it front and centre. I avoid support groups for the same reason. I also have NHS hearing aids playing white noise when I need it.

Mine’s the EEEEE. Great description! I usually call it a high pitched whine. It’s in both ears. Started permanently about 20 years ago the day my mum told me she had found a lump in her breast (which turned out to be cancer.) I had had it on and off previously during stressful periods, but this time it didn’t go away. The volume did decrease as my mum moved through her treatment, but it still goes bonkers every time I’m anxious, stressed or haven’t eaten or slept enough. Like most people, I mostly only notice it when it’s quiet or when I think about it. I can hear it now as I’m in bed and there’s no background noise to drown it out. Mostly it doesn’t bother me but I dread the addition of a new sound.

DP developed it a couple of years ago and was very upset as it drove him mad. I told him I had it, which made me realise I had never discussed it before. He has seen an audiologist which was about as much use as a chocolate fire guard. He doesn’t mention it much now, so must have made his peace with it. He struggled much more than me because he is a man is very sensitive to noise, like background hum, ticking, tapping, rumbling etc. Apparently he has the EEEEE sound too!

My poor 13yo has tinnitus due to his Crohn’s Disease.

Pulsatile tinnitus in my left ear 24/7 for over three years. I can tell you my heart rate just by listening. Whoosh whoosh whoosh. It comes and goes in my right ear.
MRI was clear.

Wow lots of tinnitus in your house! I only know 1 person who has it, and I'm spoken to over 50 about it. I think thats unusual but makes me feel very alone.

Mines a high pitched weeee too. Had it years. Try to ignore it and have a radio on to minimise its impact. Can't remember when it started, decades ago I think, probably as a result of clubbing and gigs in my youth.

Mine is different in each ear, with what I think is pulsation in one ear and whoosing in the other. I've recently started being treated as if I have Meniere's Disease, but have had the tinnitus for forever (can't remember when). I manage to distance myself from it during the day; it's at night that it drives me nuts.

To be honest, I probably sound as though I’ve made a bit light of it but I suppose it’s because I’ve had it for so long that it’s just a part of me. When it first kicked in at a very loud level, I was very anxious and depressed about it, but was distracted by my mum’s illness, so that ‘helped’ in a weird way. When DP got it, he complained a lot and, looking back, I may have sounded a bit dismissive when I told him he would get used to it over time. I was trying to make him feel better, but failed miserably. My grandfather also had tinnitus and sometimes he would become very distressed by it. He would go and play the piano or violin to drown it out! Or turn up the TV to a ridiculous level.

I’m now supposed to be writing out some info to support my eldest son’s ADHD assessment, but am - ahem - procrastinating. Say no more! But I’m in the kitchen with the washing machine going and the fridge humming and I can STILL hear my tinnitus because I also have a low level headache. Another trigger. But I’m not too concerned because I know the volume is temporary.

I’m so sorry that you feel alone with your tinnitus. How long have you had it?

My right ear is worse and it’s a high pitched ringing. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember and I’m in my fifties now. It’s more noticeable since I’ve lost some hearing in that ear after having labrynthitis a few years back.
I try to ignore it but it does get me down sometimes.

High pitched ringing in both ears, and also a hum.

I don't even remember when mine started. It didn't start suddenly but it has been there for over a decade now and I just live with it.

I can now zone out and it doesn't bother me unless I focus on it other than in times of high anxiety or stress when it increases.

I have made friends with mine because its part of me and I know it will never go.

I've had mine about 10 months now.
I'm getting used to my high pitched noises quite well. I wish that's all I had. The hum/drone is a different beast (for me) - it can get very loud and deep and vibrates at times.

Mine is from infection. I can name the exact date and time it 'switched on.' I thought there was a machine running outside my window. Nope, just my buggering ear!

I only have it in my right ear but the high pitched eeeee mostly. Sometimes it's a deeper hum, I often start to wander round the house trying to figure out what the noise is then eventually realise it's just my tinnitus.

I only have the high pitched one, so don’t have experience of vibrating/humming sounds. That sounds very difficult. I’m sure you’ve heard all the suggestions, but I find that having an audiobook or podcast on headphones helps. I wear flat headphones because I find anything that cups around my ears amplifies the tinnitus and also I hate the tight, oppressive feeling of them. I know you can’t have headphones on all day every day, but it can give some relief at times. I would go mad without mine because I also have a lot of intrusive ‘chatter’ and they help to deal with that too.

I have a lifelong sensorineural (nerve) hearing loss with bilateral tinnitus for as long as I can remember- I don’t actually know ‘total silence’, it never happens. There’s usually 3 or 4 different pitched EEEEs or hums going, across both ears.
Thankfully mine is background, there’s occasionally a ‘ping’ as a new sound starts loud, but then it either quietens or my brain gets used to it. It doesn’t get in the way of hearing stuff (my lack of hearing does that!) but it’s a nuisance in audiograms when I can mistake it for a pure tone

Sometimes I think it would have been easier to be born with it (not to minimise what you've been through!).
Do you find the hummm intrusive, or don't care about it like your EEEs? I've read a lot of people say the low frequency noises are more intrusive, and I find that to be the case too.

A high pitched static noise in both ears. It sometimes, very occasionally stops for a brief second and I hope I’m cured. But then it starts again. Pitches can change a bit, moving my jaw seems to change it temporarily too.

I’ve had it 15 ish years. I thought it was a normal sort of fuzzing static that I got some times before a period migraine. But it never went away

Mine is more like a low hum, occasionally it gets higher, normally when I’m run down and unwell. Had it for about 8 years, I usually zone it out!

Me too. I’m pretty sure mine is an issue with my eustashion tube

I have a constant buzzing, droning noise in my left ear and a high pitched whine plus a jarring morse code type noise which I can't really describe, it's like a sequence of different types of buzzing noises that sounds like the tapping of morse code, in my right ear.
I am not sure when or why the left ear started but the right ear, by far the worst, began after taking a drug, supposedly to help my migraines (which it didn't anyway 🙄) I deeply miss the sound of silence, when I am sitting quietly with no distractions, especially as I meditate.

Same for me but loud in both - one isn’t worse than the other. I too cannot remember the noise ever not being there, so I always assumed it was normal.

I definitely notice it more when I read things like this!

Oh yours sounds rough :( The irregular pitches that constantly change are very annoying - my drone does this at times - it's really hard to zone it out when this happens. How long have you had it?

I have a constant hiss in both ears, and a thrumming sound which I can usually ignore, but in certain situations I hear it as voices murmuring. It's not actual words and I know its caused by (in one particular case) the ground-source heating system, but it becomes unbearable after a while.

@mjf981 I think I have had it for about 8 years now, initially just in my left ear, which I found I was able to accept as it was a low, constant noise. The different sounds in my right ear are harder to accept. I feel that having both ears affected, with a variety of noises all the time, has affected my ability to hear, in some situations, for example if someone talks softly or indistinctly or if I am talking to someone and there is a lot of background noise, which is a bit depressing.
On the whole I don't notice it, if I am busy, but at quiet times when I am relaxing, I notice it immediately.

A constant ringing plus frequent EEEEEE plus pulsatile tinnitus. 40 years and counting! Doesn’t bother me much though

@mjf981My lowest’hum’ is around 250Hz and doesn’t vibrate at all - interestingly, below the 250Hz mark my hearing is almost normal, which may be related!